20: Glamour Lane

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Patricia stared blankly at her phone when the line went dead, her office felt like all oxygen had gone. She had to get up and pace around for a moment, too distressed to form a coherent thought.

This was supposed to be a big break for them, being in the good graces of a Media Conglomerate was supposed to push her growing company forward but not getting that was the least of her problems, now she also had the possibility of losing everything to worry about.

She scratched her perfectly styled short black hair, her nervousness turning into anger as she thought of the person who had put her in this position. She walked back to her desk and aggressively picked up the desk phone to ring up her secretary.

"Send Lauren up to my office right fucking now!" She yelled into the phone, startling her secretary.

Patricia resumed her pacing as she waited for Lauren to show up and explain herself. The culprit fortunately didn't take very long to show up but that didn't soothe Patricia's nerves at all.

"Hello, Ms. Patricia, you called for m-"

"Shut up and sit down," Patricia cut her off, barely stopping herself from shouting again.

Lauren made a face but obediently sat down anyway, staring up at her with an impertinent expression.

"Now tell me," Patricia breathed deeply, mentally telling herself to ignore Lauren's attitude - maybe there was still a way to save her company. "What did you do at your appointment today?"

For the first time since she stepped in, Lauren looked a bit wary. "What do you mean?"

"I don't like to repeat myself, Lauren." She said tightly, already losing her hold on her patience.

"I did my job? I don't understand what you're talking about," Lauren rudely replied, eyeing up her boss.

"I don't need your fucking attitude, Lauren." Patricia spoke sharply, catching Lauren off-guard. She had never heard the lady curse before, it made her tense up and sit up straighter.

"So you will tell me why Mr. Reyes personally contacted me with complaints about you deviating from your job." She went right on.

Lauren was quieter now but she refused to admit to doing anything wrong, "I still don't understand what you're talking about, I went in and did my job and-"

"And you didn't say anything to the customer about tabloid headlines?" Patricia cut her off, coming around the table to stand right in front of her.

"Oh," Lauren mumbled in realization, "I-"

"Shut up," Patricia snarked, grabbing the long strands of her bleached hair. "What did I tell you before sending you off? The first and the second time?"

"That I should focus on my job and get the hell out of ther- Ow! That hurts, you bitch!"

Patricia let go of her and pushed a hand through her own hair, "Do you know what you've fucking done? Because of your nasty attitude? You've ruined me and my company but you also breached a contract so get ready for a fucking lawsuit from me." She jabbed a finger at her.

Lauren quickly caught up to what was actually going on, "W-What? You can't do that."

"Try me," Patricia shot back at her with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "For too long, I and my other employee have put up with your shitty attitude because of your skills but this time you've crossed a line you can go back from."

Before Lauren could say a word to defend herself, Patricia put the seal on her coffin.

"You're fired, Lauren," She said flatly, exhaustion in her eyes because she could take out her anger all she wanted on Lauren but she would still be the one to take the brunt of the consequences. "Effective immediately, get out of my company."

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When Nova got back to the mansion, she immediately took off her clothes and took the last shower she would be taking inside the gorgeous bathroom. After her shower, she checked her phone and saw that she had gotten a text from Roan.

Roan: I'll be back in a few hours, eat dinner with me.

Nova stared at it for two long minutes and was still unable to come up with a response. She had been expecting his text to be an instruction or a heads-up to let her know that she would indeed be helping him pack for his trip and not this.

She couldn't leave his text unanswered for the second time so she accepted his invitation, reminding herself that she lived in his house so it was only natural that they ate meals together.

Roan would be back in a couple hours so in that time, she had to have moved into a guest room. It wasn't difficult to move at all and Nova had already chosen which room she would stay in, it was only right that she stayed in the guest room that she had momentarily stayed in when Roan brought her to his home.

Firstly, it was the only place she knew and she didn't want to ask a maid, and secondly, it would serve as a constant reminder for her not to forget what she had been through.

Her only clothes were the ones that Roan bought for her so she would have to return to Levi's apartment to get her old clothes - she wasn't looking forward to that.

That would be after Roan had traveled and since she wouldn't be going anywhere it meant that she could hide out in her new room wearing nothing but a bathrobe for days while she put the trip off. She had to do it eventually though because she needed something to wear.

Nova wore the clothes she had worn to the lunch date again with nothing else to wear, she would have it laundered along with the dinner dress so she could return it to Roan, and all the accessories too.

She moved quickly and efficiently, moving to her new room in a single trip. The lounge that was just a short distance from her new room was a perfect place to unwind if she wanted a break from staying inside all the time.