Chapter 24 - Never Mix Business With ...

"I'm not sure about you, for all I know, you think I am in no way qualified to give advice of any kind. If that is the case then, please, be my guest and leave. Now that all those who are only here to tell me how useless and unqualified I am at giving advice. Here is a titbit of absolute gold: never mix business with pleasure. Now, as demure as my upbringing has been, I have been called, by many people, on many different occasions: a scheming, petty b*tch. And some other, less than savoury variations which I will not trouble this blog with. However, in my, albeit short, time as a lady of high society I have learned one thing, a lesson so hard learned that I will never forget it, not even until the day I die.

Now I can hear the cries of outrage. Socialites do not have jobs! Technically speaking, no, however, we do, for the most part, provide the entertainment for the masses. After all, as much as we hate to admit it, we all love to gossip. It is in human nature to be incessantly nosy and so, as we are much obliged to not live off of our trust funds and various other monetary outlets forever. It is the least we, as socialites can do, to provide the ultimate entertainment.

Looking back at it all now, I am glad I only stayed for less than a year. Any more time in such a toxic environment could not have resulted in anything good for my character. However, one of the many scandals I managed to cause from my short time there stems from rumours of an altercation between myself and a member of the wait staff at the annual Spring Equinox ball and banquet. Hopefully by now, you'd know that I am not the kind of person to have a daliance with a waiter, well, not one that anyone would know about anyay. In all fairness to the waiter in particular though, he was a very handsome young man, but not worth the hassle. And from that moment on, it had been a sacred rule that I live by: never mix business with pleasure or quite frankly anything.

After all, when the lines become blurry, the problems come in a hurry."

Selena Yingyue Zhao, who was still very much a young woman, with no known underlying conditions couldn't help but feel like she was someone triple her age and was on the edge of collapsing into a boneless, spineless heap. She slumped in her seat and let her arms dropnext to her as if the very effort of holding her various body parts up was draining too much energy from her already depleted resources. White as a sheet with the look of a haggard woman who had just been to hell and back, she couldn't help her hands shaking, even as she clasped them tightly in her lap. Both Adrian and Elise disappeared out into the front room of the board room and returned with plates of various delicacies and a jug of squash and three glasses.

"I do not think that was the best idea I've ever had, I'm sorry Elise, I can imagine that there will be a lot of PR and sweet talking you'll need to do to smooth this one over, even though it was my fault. I can imagine we've definitely lost the support of the older men on the board, especially Sigmund and the two sitting beside him; The on on his right looked like he was going to pass out due because of oxygen deprivation." Selena was ashamed of herself. She had been a socialite, she had been to university, hell, she had even worked retail and dabbled in hospitality and yet here she was, blowing off her elders like a petulant child. Selena know that she should have waited, at least let the men get a word in edge ways.

However, it felt almost sinfully good to know that although she had possibly made the biggest managerial blunder that Zhao Hai Industries had ever faced, but in one fell swoop had also finally begun to make a name for herself and be know for something other than being the daughter of a tyrannical business tycoon and a disgraced socialite. Her father's image scared her but stepping out from his shadow felt too good to be true: in equal parts exhilerating yet terrifying, much like a rollercoaster.

Adrian sat down and inhaled three biscuits and a slice of cake before shaking his suit to get rid of any crumbs before leaning back in in his chair and fixing the two women with a blank stare. Elise thrust the plate she had come in with at Selena and motioned for her to eat. "Are you ill?"

Selena swallowed her cake and shook her head. "I don't think so, just a headache and nerves probably. I haven't been eating or sleeping regularly. I'll be fine soon."

"Your speech was certainly quite something, I don't believe Sigmund Holdenfield-Wu had ever challenged quite as you did. Everyone else was too afraid to yell at him, when Zhao Bohai was alive." Adrian mused, selecting another bisuits from his platter.

"What do you mean? Also that surname, seems familiar?"

"Sigmund Holdenfield-Wu was the third party, one of the original three founders, you father and the Uncle are the other two and so they held higher shares until you father bought Sigmund out. And the surname..." Elise hadn't quite finished when Selena cut in.

"I remember! The man at the reading of the will, his surname was also Holdenfield-Wu, are they related?"

"The man you spoke to the other day was Harold Holdenfield-Wu, thinks the world of himself." Adrian said matter-of-factly through his biscuits so that his word came out rather muffled.

"So much like you then," Selena couldn't help but take the jab at his questionable character.

"Yes, but the key difference is that he doesn't have the goods to back up his outrageous claims. I do." Adrian said with a completely straight face and the proceeded to chug some orange squash.

"Do you know that you are indeed the most egotistical person I have ever had the misfortune and displeasure to meet, Mr Lee?" Selena retorted before chiding herself silently for reacting to his baiting like a child would have.

"I absolutely do," he smirked and winked and Selena marvelled just a little how, he could be completely pigging out on a pile of confectionary and still make her heart flutter a little. She shook her head quickly to rid herself of the thought.

"Back to the matter at hand," Elise slipped into the conversation after a small pause. "As strange as it sounds, I do actually think that your speech may have gained you the respect of the majority which may be a good thing. I've been working to modernise the upper management for years now and also Rosalie hold a lot of sway power so that fact that she gave you the ok says a lot. Maybe all is not lost."

"Rosalie?" Selena's head was a huge whir of names ad faces.

"Skater girl, your style if I remember." Adrian added.

"Rosalie Blake."

"Elise, would you just send me a list of names, faces and some files and I'll look over them so then I have at least some clue as to who I am talking to and who to not offend."

"You know, usually, everyone would be the answer to that one."

"Please kindly shut your mouth Adrian," Elise sniped before jotting something down on her notepad. "Well, if everything is all done here, I have a mountain of paperwork and no bonfire in sight to throw them into so, if you'll excuse me. Adrian please remember the ball this weekend. "

"What ball?" Selena asked, swing around at an alarming rate which caused her chair to creak worryingly.

"The Spring Equinox ball, it'll be held at Heartfordshire Gardens this year, he's your date." With that, she hightailed it out if the door.

"Yeah that, you're my date to the Equinox ball," Adrian's smile faltered as he coined the darkening, almost murderous look in Selena's eyes, and also made his swift exit. "I'll have Elise let me know which colours you're wearing on Saturday!"

And with that he also left the room. So much for not mixing business with anything.