24 Back to the time when I met Ms. Grey - part 1
Shane Ricardo saw the resume and then glanced at her.
Jenna was still a fresher with no prior experience as an editor. She had applied to the 'Editor' position at KeyLine publication.
"So, you did participate in a lot of club activities. As far as I see, you have excellent grades, but no experience in this field. I'm still thinking Ms. Jenna," Shane replied after going through her resume. He was not sure if the girl can play her role with confidence.
"I can manage, Sir. I am willing to take this step. So, whatever responsibility that I get, I will make sure to handle it with diligence. I need this opportunity, Sir."
Jenna announced in a pleasing tone.
Although she lacked both experience and bold confidence, Jenna had the spirit; the drive to live on and survive. She looked active and curious-minded. Usually, it takes guts to appeal for the editor position directly from graduation. And on top of that, to apply for a reputed publication company, one can say that Jenna was a reckless girl trying her best shot without any skepticism.
"Alright. I require an editor who can start immediately. But I wasn't able to find anyone who could give me a positive feeling. But I guess you are okay. Make sure to be always curious and learn fast. I can help you if you face any problem here. But," Mr. Ricardo paused before giving her the warning signal.
"Be agile and learn properly. I am going to give you an author who's the most notorious one in this field. She's my close friend from college. And I can also guide you easily if you work for her. I said she's the most notorious one, right? So even if she troubles you, do not worry. I can bring her down. On the other hand, she's a great writer. A solid writing skills and she doesn't make a lot of mistakes in her job, only in her personal life. You will have time to learn and explore how things work around here. We've got our information guy who will provide you with any data that you may require. I'll introduce you to him later. For now, if it's alright with you, I will book a meeting with your first author, and then we can discuss it."
Mr. Ricardo spoke as if it was easy and not complicated. But Jenna didn't have a lot of options. She heard him word by word and then accepted the offer to work with determination.
As said, Mr. Ricardo booked a meeting with the new author and Jenna the next day.
**
The following day- at the meeting place inside the office of KeyLine publication:
Shane and Jenna waited in a private conference room right on time. The author hasn't arrived yet. Jenna was nervous throughout the whole course. She didn't know anything about this person or what might happen in this meeting. After 20 minutes of idling, the author had finally arrived. Shane received a message from the security team. It will take another 5 minutes for the author to reach the conference room.
That was the moment Jenna first met Lillian Grey. A female in her late 20's dressed casually but wore long coats with her hair down. She had sunglasses on and appeared daring. Jenna was astounded, looking at her.
"You are late," Shane said coldly. He was furious but still felt happy that Lillian didn't forget about the meeting and went to play somewhere.
"Fashionably late, brother," Lillian replied casually. She entered the conference room and then took a seat opposite to both of them. She removed her sunglass, placed it on the table, and then glanced at Jenna with a bright smile.
..
"Without any further adieu, I will do the introduction. Lillian, this will be your new editor from today onwards, Jenna. She had recently graduated and got no experience. However, I'm leaving her in your care, so train her well, and make sure to teach her properly."
Turning towards Jenna, he continued,
"Jenna, this is one of our best writer Lillian Grey. And- that's all," Shane bluntly cut the words which made Lillian mad.
"That's all! Wow, so much for the friendship, Mr. Ricardo," Lillian burst out sneering. She was clearly angry about the rude introduction and gave Shane the look of 'I won't let this go without a fight later.'
Nevertheless, Lillian immediately stood up to shake hands with her new editor.
"Jenna, right?" she kept smiling as she stared at the girl.
"Ah, y- yes," Jenna hasn't recovered from the amazement. She loved how confident the author seems as she addressed.
"This is your seventh editor, Lilly. Now behave and make sure you don't give her any trouble."
Shane switched to his friendly tone. After the short introduction, the conversation went from being in a meeting to a friendly chat.
"Did he tell something bad about me, Jenna?" Lillian looked at her new editor with a mournful gaze.
Jenna went into a further shock of how the other two spoke so casually. She then got reminded that Shane Ricardo and Lillian Grey were college friends. She began to join in the conversation.
"Nothing like that, Ms. Grey," Jenna spoke for the first time.
"Oh, please call me Lillian, I'm not used to the formal way of addressing," Lillian replied.
For the next few minutes, Shane advised Lillian about not troubling her new editor. Lillian listened to him silently. She never spoke against him. Jenna would often reply in between, but she made sure to listen to their conversation and finally got the feeling of their personalities and character. Later that afternoon, Shane left their meeting after giving each of them their own responsibilities to carry. Jenna planned to leave when Lillian requested her to accompany her.
They came out of the office and walked towards the nearby park.
..
Jenna dared not to walk next to Lillian as she still needed time to get comfortable. However, she maintained the distance and paced similarly without being rude or invading personal space. She studied her Author as she kept walking.
Lillian was quick on her feet and moved pretty fast. Jenna struggled to keep up at first, but soon got used to the rhythm.
"Shane isn't the type to talk without any reason. He is a good guy. And for the record, Shane and I aren't dating. So, you are free to fall in love with him if you want." Lillian stated it out loud. Jenna was startled, hearing those words. She stopped walking and stared at Lillian with a terrified look on her face.
"What? You don't want to fall in love with my friend. Why not? He's handsome, isn't he?" Lillian replied with a serious grimace. Jenna couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"Ms. Grey, I didn't- I'm not-" Jenna stuttered poorly.
Lillian kept looking as if she's expecting a response until eventually bursting out into laughter. Immediately Jenna knew that Lillian was only toying with her.
"I apologies for my words. My last editor, after she joined Keyline, had a lot of opportunities meeting Shane, and one day, I still remember it clearly. She managed to plan a fake meeting inviting Shane, me, and herself. It was all awkward until I decided to step into the situation to resolve. Later that day, she got mad at me. Slowly, she would often ask me where I was? And, if I'm with Shane, then she would appear in front of us shortly. I don't know if she stalked me or something like that, but I got the feeling that she was so into Shane and then completely messed up her role as an editor."
Lillian shared a story about her ex-editor.
"Then, what happened, Ms. Grey?" Jenna was into the story as she listened, which Lillian noticed too.
"I ended up doing all the work, and she got fired by Shane. The girl, later when she met me, informed me that she had a crush on Shane and wanted to date him. It was already too late. Yet, I advised her that if she had liked him, then she should confess to Shane directly, instead of using me as an excuse and ignoring her responsibilities which Shane hates more than anything," Lillian ended the story.
"Mr. Ricardo is strict in his work," Jenna said, grasping the idea of her boss's temperament.
"Strict, Shane is just working so hard to bring out a lot of talented people. Just like you, I guess. You will see it." Lillian felt proud of talking about her friend. She then looked at Jenna, a very young girl really in need of a job, and very active to take on any role. Lillian felt something positive from her.
'Shane must have felt the same.' - she thought.
"Jenna, do you want to grab something to eat?" Lillian asked.
"Ms. Grey, it's alright. You shouldn't be bothered." Jenna replied; the girl is still nervous.
"My treat. I think you will become my permanent editor. So, let's celebrate. Come on now. You can't back off from an eating request. That's rule number 1." Lillian pulled her close and then walked together.
"Rule number 1?" Jenna was curious.
"Yeah yeah, If you're going to work with me. I got some rules. So listen attentively, got it? Now, let's have some food. I'm starving." Lillian replied and took Jenna out for a place to have lunch together.
