CHAPTER 8 FRIENDS OR FOES

JADE’S POV "Have a seat," Tom tells me when we reach the company's cafeteria. "Thank you," I murmur, sliding into the seat he pulls out for me. He sits down, directly facing me, and stares at me quietly. I hope he doesn't think my clothes are too formal or casual because that could be a problem. "Can I ask you something?" I say, breaking the almost awkward silence. He nods as a sign for me to go on, so I continue, "I wouldn't say that my interview with Mr. Miller went smoothly, so although I'm happy I got a callback, I'm not sure why," I admit, and he smiles before adjusting himself properly on the wooden chair. "You see, Miss Thomas, unlike most people who flared up at Mr. Miller's straightforwardness, you were calm, collected, and remained professional, which is one of the many things we're looking for in an employee. Besides that, I've been watching you for some time. At family gatherings, public parties, and other events, I couldn't help but notice that you have impeccable style and a wonderful sense of understanding about all things that relate to and attribute to fashion as a whole. So because of all this and many more, I'm willing to allow you to help you grow by properly nurturing you fashion-wise if you'll have me. "Of course," I say breathlessly after a moment, smiling as wide as I can. "I would love to work here, and hopefully, with your assistance, I can become bigger and better than I ever imagined," I tell him, relaxing in my chair. "Wonderful, now let's go and get you all settled in," he replies, standing before going over to my side of the table to pull out my chair. "We'll be going to meet Claire, my assistant, who'll help show you around the company," he drawls as we quickly walk over to a booth where a tan, black-haired girl sits. In a minute, I'm being led around the entire place, which screams luxury and is gigantic. Claire seems like a cool girl, which I'm so happy about since most girls I've met seem fake or dislike me. "What does that lead to?" I ask her, pointing at a large door I walk towards, and she stirs me away. "That is the conference room, which is specifically used for crucial meetings and people. They're having a meeting now, so it's best not to go through there in the meantime," she explains, and I nod, trying to remember all the places we've gone in the past half hour. "Although Mr. Warner asked you to, I really appreciate you showing me around," I tell her when we rest in the lounge area. "You're welcome, and besides, it was nice talking to you," she replies, fixing herself a cup of coffee before smiling at me. "You'll need a lot of these when you officially start coming to work; I know I do," she continues, plopping down on the couch beside me. "I bet I will," I respond, blowing out a tiny breath, and like that, we chatted for about an hour discussing various things I needed to know while working here, like the dos and don'ts among fellow workers, the people I shouldn't piss off for any reason, and the significant gossips circulating the company, which, if you were to ask me, were quite shocking. "What's all that noise?" I ask, hearing some commotion outside, "Oh, the meeting with Mr. Miller must be over." She responds absentmindedly, and I immediately become tense. "Did you just say Miller, as in Greyson Miller?" I ask hurriedly, and she nods her head slowly. "Is something wrong?" She questions me as she watches me pack my stuff hastily. "Let me guess, you're one of his numerous fans, and you want to get a picture with him or sell him a business idea," she continues, and I laugh humorlessly. "Oh, that's far from it, actually," I manage to respond as I head to the door. "The last time we met wasn't exactly... what I'm trying to say is that it wasn't amicable, so I have to leave before he sees me here because what the hell will he say next?" I explain, and she smiles. "You're a first," she says, which confuses me, and so she continues, "I mean that you're among the rare breed of women who don't fancy him, and also, although he's not so welcoming to people, he's not so hostile either." "Then what is he?" I ask, not believing for even a second that people don't consider him rude or hostile. "I don't know much, but I know that he's not the type to engage in conversations most of the time, so if he said something to you, then you probably really pissed him off, or he seriously dislikes you," she states like she's so sure of what she's saying. "Well, it's good that we feel the same way, right?" I mutter as we exit the lounge and immediately see Mr.Warner near the elevators, so I bid farewell to Claire before walking straight to him. "Thank you so much for this opportunity, sir. I need to go, but I promise I'll keep in touch and do everything I need to before I resume on Monday." I say this and watch him stretch out his hand to shake me. "That's good to hear, and I hope you do," he says, holding onto my hand for a second longer before letting go. I immediately press the open button on the elevator and step in, still smiling back at him, before a prominent figure bypasses him and steps in. The elevator closes, and I try not to glance at the person beside me to verify who it is since I can already smell his cologne. "You've got to be kidding me," I think as I watch the elevator take an eternity to get to the last floor. "Are you that oblivious?" He asks, breaking the peaceful silence, and I finally glance at him with a confused expression, "To what?" I respond by checking my brain to understand what he means before speaking again. "Warner," he breathes quietly, and I become even more confused but push," What about him?" I inquire, and he sighs loudly before continuing. "From the way he stares at you, you should know that," he continues, and I cut him off. "What the hell should I know except that he wants me to work here?" I am already getting annoyed at the nerves of this man, who almost cost me this job. "Maybe the obvious fact that he wants to fuck you," he replies so casually, which makes me silent for a while before I scoff loudly. "Excuse me?" I managed to say I could not believe what came out of his stupid mouth. "He has the look in his eyes," he continues, and I turn to face him directly. "And what look might that be?" I question, which makes him turn to face me too. "The look of a predator," he clarifies before we hear the elevator ding. "And you?" I ask, which stops him from walking out, "What about me?" He asks, seeming uninterested in whatever I have to say. "Do you want to sleep with me, too, or are you just unbelievably rude for no reason?" I respond, which makes him turn and walk towards me until we're not up to one foot apart, and I can see his blue eyes simmering. He takes a second to stare at me before he opens his mouth. "Maybe, maybe not," he whispers, and just like that, he turns and walks away, leaving me completely dumbfounded. What the hell just happened?