Chapter 13 A Small World

• Jane had already headed out when Yasmin and Serena were getting ready to work early the next morning.
• Wednesdays were usually less hectic than the previous two days of the week for Yasmin, but that day was an exception. She was swamped right from the moment she clocked in for work because the Human Resource Department was welcoming a new manager.
• At a quarter to ten, Simon strode into the office followed by a bunch of people, clapping his hands in an effort to draw everyone’s attention to himself. Upon making sure that everyone in the department had stood up from their seats with their eyes glued to him, he began introducing the people behind him.
• One of them was a young woman dressed immaculately in a formal dress with exquisite make-up on her face. Looking to be in her late twenties, the woman was gorgeous in an intimidating way like “Becky G” due to her penetrating gaze.
• Yasmin was slightly dumbfounded the moment she laid her eyes upon the woman. Wasn’t she the woman who freaked out at Auburn Café that day, claiming that she was pregnant with Lionel’s child? Is she the new manager?
• Yasmin refused to believe that her speculation was true. The last thing she wanted was to have another enemy at Miller Corporation, considering that she was already hardly able to cope with Lionel at the moment. Nonetheless, her hope was dashed when Simon introduced the woman to the entire department.
• “Ladies and gentlemen, she’s the new manager whom you guys are going to work with, in the future - Becky Ingram. Let’s welcome her with a warm round of applause!”
• She’s called Becky too!
• Everyone in the department put their hands together as they soon gave out perfunctory claps.
• Becky gave her speech according to the standard operating procedure. Listening to her arrogant and condescending tone, some of the senior employees of the department couldn’t help but frown in displeasure.
• Just then, Serena whispered to Yasmin, “Tsk, tsk. Yasmin, look at the bag that Ms. Ingram is holding! It’s a bag from Hermès that costs several hundred thousand! Also, she’s wearing a Versace dress that’s worth six months of my salary!”
• Yasmin was not in the mood to check out Becky’s look at the moment. Feverishly, she prayed that the heavy make-up she put on her face that night at Auburn Café would stop Becky from recognizing her.
• Why are women named Becky always beautiful?
• “I don’t like it when people are distracted when I’m talking!” All of a sudden, Becky spoke with a sharp edge in her voice. She fixed a menacing glare at Serena as she raised a brow at her in question. “You! Do you have any issues with what I’d said earlier?”
• Serena did not realize that Becky was talking to her until Becky made her way over and shot her an icy stare right in front of her. “Ms. Ingram, are you talking to me?” Serena asked while pointing at herself.
• “Is there anyone who’s talking other than you?” Becky stared straight at Serena, her eyes brimming with despise.
• “What do you mean by that? Were you not talking as well? Are you not a human?” Being short-tempered, Serena couldn’t stand the humiliation as she immediately retorted in response.
• Becky, who was accustomed to garnering the obedience and respect from the people around her, went livid with rage upon hearing Serena’s remark. As it was the first time that someone had the guts to talk back to her, her finger trembled with fury when she pointed at Serena. “H-How dare you! How could you speak to me in such a manner? Do you have any idea who I am?”
• “I don’t care who you are! You’ve humiliated me first!” Holding her chin high, Serena looked unperturbed and undaunted.
• “I-I will fire you right now!” Becky was so incensed that her face had turned rather pale.
• “I’ve signed an employment contract with Miller Corporation to work for them as a full-time employee. If you fire me before my contract expires, I’ll launch a complaint to the Department of Labor demanding compensation!” In the end, Becky was left speechless.
• At long last, it was Simon who broke the stalemate. “Well, it’s Ms. Ingram’s first day here. Serena, you should know that Ms. Ingram has only criticized you for your own good.”
• Meanwhile, Simon kept throwing signals to Yasmin, hoping that she would talk some sense into Serena.
• “Serena, that’s enough.” Yasmin issued a warning to Serena lackadaisically.
• Yasmin did not harbor a favorable opinion of Becky, who injured her hands at the cafe that day. Without any reason, Becky had lunged at her as she tried to scratch her face with her long nails. If Yasmin had not covered her face and dodged Becky’s attack just in time, the scratch mark would have been left on her face instead of her hands.
• Although she possessed a personal grudge against Becky, Yasmin simply could not allow Serena to continue the argument with Becky. After all, Becky would be working with them as their superior in the future. Thus, they should avoid offending Becky too badly or she would surely give them a hard time in the coming days.
• Serena, who was of the same mind, followed Yasmin’s advice by keeping her mouth shut.
• Becky shot Serena a baleful stare before she was ready to walk away. Just then, she paused in her tracks and whirled around to size Yasmin up. Her eyes gleamed with recognition before she asked Yasmin with a crease on her forehead, “You look rather familiar to me. Have we met before?”
• Yasmin shook her head as she took this as an opportunity to butter Becky up. “Nope. There’s no way that I would have a friend who is as elegant as Ms. Ingram.”
• Becky seemed quite pleased with Yasmin’s compliment. After giving her a nod of approval, she was brought to the manager’s office by Simon.
• After her departure, the rest of the employees dispersed and went back to work. As soon as Yasmin sat down at her place, she received a message from Serena.
• Serena: Yasmin, do you know that b*tch?
• Yasmin: She’s the woman who spilled coffee on me the other day!
• Serena: My goodness!
• Yasmin: We’d better be careful not to offend her. I think that she’s pregnant with Mr. Holloway’s baby!
• Serena: Gosh, is she Mr. Holloway’s woman? This is unbelievable!
• Yasmin heard a loud thump coming from Serena’s place at that moment. She craned her neck to look in Serena’s direction only to find Serena slumping on the ground after falling from her chair.
• After the clash with Serena that day, Becky was scarcely seen around the office, probably due to the fact that she was too tied up with the handover of work from her predecessor. When Yasmin and Serena were leaving the cafeteria at lunch break, they spotted Lionel walking out of an elevator with large strides. Behind him was Becky, who was struggling to keep up with him as she was wearing a pair of four-inch high heels.
• “Lionel, please wait for me!” Instead of looking aloof and condescending as usual, Becky appeared rather desperate at the moment.
• Yet, Lionel ignored Becky as though he had not heard her voice at all. He strode ahead as he soon reached the space in front of the cafeteria where Yasmin and Serena were standing. Immediately, the duo bowed their heads as they greeted Lionel respectfully, “Mr. Holloway!”
• In spite of that, Lionel merely walked past them as if he did not hear them at all. Knowing Lionel well, Yasmin did not feel awkward or disappointed being ignored by him.
• Becky did not notice their presence at all because she only had her eyes on Lionel at the moment. When she walked past them to catch up with Lionel, Serena gave Yasmin’s arm a nudge as she commented in an undertone, “How can she wear high heels when she’s pregnant? Tsk, tsk, tsk. There’s one thing about her that I really admire - her audacity!”
• “Shhh! Keep your voice down!” Yasmin hastily dragged Serena away. She thought that it was best to stay as far away from Becky and Lionel as possible, as her life had turned into a mess ever since she encountered the couple in her life. Apart from that, she did not want Becky to recognize her either.
• There was truthfully a feud between them after she gave Becky quite the hard punch at the cafe.
• Yasmin could not help her bafflement at the relationship between Becky and Lionel. Becky seems to be really in love with Lionel. What sort of conflict could they have, seeing that Lionel has been ignoring Becky even though she is pregnant with his baby?
• Is Lionel ignoring her, or does he not care about her pregnancy at all?
• Their interactions are really odd!
• Yasmin and Serena then hustled toward the elevator to get back to their department. Little did they know, Lionel was listening to their conversation when they were talking about Becky’s pregnancy just now.