Chapter 4: It will only get better

Rica couldn't be happier. Though Uncle Sam could not attend her graduation ceremony, she knew he was proud of her for getting the highest distinction in the University. Amy and Victoria were also very supportive when she gave her speech to their entire batch earlier. And although she would still hear people say that no matter how smart she is, bad blood still runs through her veins, she doesn't care as much as she used to anymore. What matters was that today was her day. She will celebrate the fruits of her labour. She worked hard for it and she deserves it.

"You will fulfil your promise to treat us for dinner today, right?" asked Amy.

The three friends were walking out of the school, Amy and Victoria's parents just walking in front of them.

"You have great memory about those things. Why can't you apply that to our studies too?" asked Rica, laughing

"Not everybody can use their intellect on studying, Rica. Some people can only use their intellect on specific things like Amy, for example, she can only use her memory on guys and free stuff. Me, I can only use my intellect on Arts." said Victoria, passionately.

"Arts? You think putting make up is an art?" asked by Rica

"Nothing can be more obvious to a woman than the art of putting make-up." said Victoria with all her pride. "Have you not seen the videos of women's lives changed by make up? So many women got rich because of makeup. Heard of Kiley Jenner?"

Rica sighed.

"Well then, if you are really passionate about it. Then you must pursue it seriously." said Rica

"That's the plan. I want to work for a cosmetic company." said Victoria. "Who knows… I might learn a thing or two I can use to open my own business someday."

"All right, I will support you. When your business opens, I'll be sure to buy one lipstick a week." said Rica.

Amy laughed.

"That's too much!" said Amy.

Amy stopped walking and noticed that a lot of people were gathering by the gate.

��What's the commotion about?" asked Amy

"An accident maybe? Or…a celebrity?" asked Victoria

Amy and Victoria went running towards the school gate.

"Hey! Wait! I won't pay for dinner if you leave me!" shouted Rica. But the two were already too far away to hear her.

"Our friendship is less important than a celebrity, huh?" said the irritated Rica. "Oh well, He better be good looking. Or I'll really not pay for dinner."

Rica ran towards Amy and Victoria.

It was hard to see who the commotion was about. There was just too many people and all Rica can see were heads.

"I think we should give up. I can't see anything." said Rica.

"With your height, you still can't see? What more Victoria and I?" asked Amy.

Just then somebody pushed Rica hard making her fall on the ground. When she was about to get up, a man held his hand to help her. Rica took the hand since she was in dire need to lessen her humiliation. When she was finally standing up, she noticed that everyone's attention was focused on her and the man who helped her.

"OK…So… Why are they all looking at me?" thought Rica.

Rica finally looked at the man who helped her. And she gulped, audibly. Because it's none other the man of her dreams!

David Lopez.

"I thought the graduation ceremony will end half an hour ago. And so I went here early." said Dave

Rica was confused, was she seeing things? Why would David Lopez be in her school?

"You looked surprised. Oh, yeah, you weren't expecting me to congratulate you on your graduation. But you should at least say thank you right? I came all the way here after all." said Dave smiling.

That smile can make a heart seize to function.

"You…" Rica felt like her throat suddenly lost its ability to produce sound. "Why are you here?" asked Rica, almost in a whisper.

"I'm here to pick you up, Rica." said Dave. "I'm here to officially give you a tour of your 'soon to be office' for the next month."

"Soon to be office?" Rica was now more confused than ever.

Dave grabbed Rica's arm and brought her to his car. This was probably the reason why people were gathered . It's a very luxurious sports car! And Dave was of course the most sought after bachelor of his generation, a celebrity no doubt.

"Don't worry about us, we can go to dinner tomorrow!" said Amy waving at Rica.

But Rica did not hear it. She was confused and her body was just acting on its own. It just followed where Dave led it. Her mind was floating.

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Inside the car, Rica still can't grab hold of what was happening.

"Wait. Help me understand. When you said future office, you mean FlyAir right? But you don't work for Uncle so why are you going to tour me?" asked Rica "Uncle can just ask someone in the company to do that."

"It seems you haven't talked to your Uncle recently. I thought you two were close." said Dave

"Yes we are, but he had been busy the past week and I was also busy preparing for the graduation. Wait, so Uncle knows about this? Maybe we should go to his office. I think I need to know what this is about. Wait. This is not the way to FlyAir…" Rica just saw the only street that goes to the FlyAir's office. Dave just went pass it without a care.

"Why didn't you turn right? Where are we really going?" asked Rica nervously.

Dave couldn't contain it and chuckled.

"Certainly not to FlyAir."

The streets were familiar to Rica. There's only one other place that she knows Dave can possibly take her.

"SkyRock. You're taking me to SkyRock?" asked Rica surprised by her own conclusion

"Bingo! You got it, smart girl." said Dave.

Rica could not believe it. Her future office is SkyRock? Uncle Sam agreed for her to work for another company? But why would it be SkyRock?

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Dave tried his hardest to not show how much he wanted to laugh. Rica had been really surprised. Well, surprised might be an understatement. Shocked might be a better word. She had been quiet since she realized that she'll be an intern for SkyRock. She had been biting her lower lip and had completely ignored him in the car as if he's just her chauffeur.

Looking at Rica, she had already changed from when Dave first met her. She looks a bit more matured now. She's no longer just the cute girl from the elevator incident. She now had that woman air around her. From the few times he had seen her in parties, she had often been the topic of discussion especially to the circle of single men. But being young, Rica's admirers did not have a choice but to wait. As for Dave, the image of the cute teenage girl was hard to erase. He realized she must've been a bit older than she looked. But that elevator incident had fixed the way he saw Rica in his mind.

But now looking at her closely, she was everything a beautiful lady should be. Plus, she's intelligent. Her future boyfriend would surely be the envy of men during social gatherings. From what he heard from here says, however, Rica had decided not to get a boyfriend yet. Rumour had it that Rica wanted to finish her studies before getting a boyfriend. Yes, men talk. And they talk a lot.

But now that Rica had already graduated college, Dave was sure that Rica's peaceful single days will soon be over.

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Rica can't look at Dave. Whenever their eyes meet, something inside her melts. Her heart hasn't beat normally since Dave helped her up earlier. She doesn't know what her Uncle had in mind, but being around Dave was not easy for her, nor her heart.

Dave introduced Rica to all the members of his team. There were three men on their forties, two women on their thirties and a girl possibly just a few years older than Rica. Everyone welcomed her warmly. And then Dave toured her around the building, he showed her where the pantry was and even brought her to the rooftop.

Dave noticed Rica fidgeting. He knows Rica was worried and he can't blame her. Working for him was obviously not part of her plans.

"I will be honest with you, Rica. I don't know what your Uncle is up to. But I brought you here today because I need your help." Dave said.

Rica doesn't understand what kind of help Dave would ask of her. He's a business genius. Newspapers and magazines had articles of him almost every month. He's a successful man. What can she possibly do to help Dave?

"SkyRock is in a shaky position right now and FlyAir is the only company that can help us. I've submitted a proposal to your Uncle but he said he needs time to review it. During the time that he's reviewing it, he wants you to work for me as an intern. I also find it weird why he would ask for that. I'm sure FlyAir has a lot of outstanding leaders who can train you. But knowing the proposal will only give minimal benefit to FlyAir, I had to oblige to whatever request he asks. I just want to be really transparent with you that's why I'm telling you all this." said Dave.

"You need Uncle to accept your proposal. And you need my help to convince him." said Rica.

"If you help me to convince him, I will be very thankful beyond words. But more than that, I want you to work hard in your training. I will be your boss and you will work for me. I can't show special treatment just because I need something from FlyAir. My people are the best in this company. They work hard and they deliver." said Dave. "I can't be lenient to you or show any favoritism. You understand that, right?"

Rica nodded.

"Yes, I also don't like to get any special treatment. I've always been reading articles about you and I've seen your achievements. I want to get this chance to learn as much as I can from you. Please treat me like your other direct reports." answered Rica.

Dave patted Rica's shoulder.

"Thank you."

And that made Rica's chest hurt a bit.

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Be careful what you wish because you just might get it. That lyrics was exactly what's running through Rica's mind.

Rica learned it the hard way. Since this morning, she had been making mistakes. At one point she's focused, then just by hearing Dave's voice, she immediately forgets what she was doing and would need to repeat everything from step one. Because of this, she would only be able to submit a document now that was supposed to have been submitted at noon. With shaking hands, she put the document on Dave's table.

"Um…This is the document you asked for." said Rica

"The document which was due at twelve noon?" asked Dave, not looking up at Rica

"Umm, Yes, I'm sorry I kept making errors so I…" Rica tried to explain why the report was late, her nervous heart beating fast.

"I know you are just starting, but do you know the impact of the two hours that you haven't given this to me?" asked Dave, his face looked like he's trying to control his anger.

"Yes." Rica closed her eyes as she answered. "The delivery will be late too. I apologize and will try my best not to repeat the errors."

"Delivery? Is it just the delivery? The customer on this document is one of the biggest customer we have. It's not just an ordinary delivery we're talking about. It's millions of dollars worth of delivery. Do you get the picture now? Any delay on the delivery would possibly terminate the chances of continuously supplying for them." explained Dave.

Rica winced at the harsh words. Dave took calming breaths.

"This should not happen again." said Dave

"Yes." Rica answered. "I will make sure to submit on time moving forward."

Dave nodded.

Rica went back to her seat. She doesn't know why this was happening to her. She had never felt so down in years. She feels so incompetent as if all her graduation honors were nothing. Rica browsed through her files and saw all the mistakes she had to repeat earlier. She shouldn't commit any of these again.

When Rica looked up, she saw a cold canned coffee on her table. She looked around and could not find who gave the coffee. She was so focused on what she was doing that she completely ignored everything else around her.

"Small good things still happen." said Rica holding the can in her hand. "I should move forward. I should not let what he said get to me. Or else I will not be able to give him the documents he needs tomorrow morning."

Rica opened the canned coffee and drank it.

"Hmmm…it's good." said Rica looking at the can. Rica placed the can on the table.

"There's no time to waste. I can do this."

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Dave went to the wash room and saw that Luis was there. Luis was the most experienced direct report Dave has in his team. Luis was older than him by fifteen years but he had been very supportive of Dave since day one.

"You were a bit harsh." Luis said.

"I had never been the gentle type." said Dave

"You were especially harsh earlier." insisted Luis.

"That's how I treat everybody in the team. I've always been like that." said Dave

"You are a perfectionist and you're very strict. You normally scold people but you were always composed and in control when you do so. You almost lost your cool earlier. You know she's new, but you still gave her that customer's account. With all the complex discounts and taxes, you should know that there's a possibility of her not meeting the timing." said Luis

Now that didn't sound right in Dave's ears.

"Wait a minute. Are you telling me I did it on purpose? That I set her up to be scolded? " said Dave. "Do you think I'll be bothered to do that? Wait… is this what I think this is? Are you mesmerized by her too?"

"When you say TOO, do you mean you're mesmerized by her?" asked Luis

"No! I mean…"

Luis laughed.

"Other men are saying she's pretty. Anyway, I have high expectations of her. She finished on top of the class. She had been exposed to business since she was young. And she said she's here to learn."

Dave went out of the wash room followed by Luis.

"If she really wants to learn, she needs to be tough." said Dave

"But then, she's still a trainee. It's not a good idea to scare her like that." said Luis

"Scare her?" Dave smirked "You don't know her Luis, she's braver than you think."