CHAPTER 3

I could only count myself as blessed because I was given an extraordinary chance most people could not boast of. My parents, after adopting me never missed an opportunity to show me how much I meant to them.

Everyone was surprised that my father left the company to me at a young age of 27. He was still very active, but he insisted that he wanted to rest and spend the remainder of his time touring the world with the love of his life.

I always envied the relationship he had with my mother and secretly hoped for that same grace.

Subconsciously I tugged at the locket around my neck as I thought back to the only person that had truly comforted me at the darkest point in my life.

I didn't even know his name or anything I could use to remotely recognize him other than the locket, and that was subject to him even recognizing the locket too.

I allow myself to swim in the beautiful fantasies I often conjured up in my head. The thought that I will meet him in a beautiful way, we would fall in love and everything will become even easier. “A girl can dream," I said to myself, and I dream in every way possible, both the good, real and bad.

Most people who know me always know I wore the locket everywhere, and if it wasn’t around my neck, it was incorporated into my outfit for the day. No one truly understood why I always had it or what it meant to me, but they knew the line they should never cross when the locket was involved. I genuinely hoped to meet him again.

Breaking out of my thoughts, I stepped into my car, and instructed the driver about my daily stop for a cup of coffee before going to work. He nodded silently and drove. Half an hour later, I was seated in my office with Livia delivering an unsettling news that shook the entire company.

Our major business rival the Bassano Empire launched a new fashion line with their designs similar to the drafts we had. Alvera Corporations have fashion as their major business line. However, due to the size and necessity of the times, we have branches in finance and arts. We collect art pieces all around, sponsor major arts houses and help with the display and initial push they need.

In the enticing city of Milan, where fashion was the main order of the day, we should have been able to comfortably say we had successfully dominated this sector, and are referred to as the kings in that speciality, however, we have a major headache and competition - Bassano Empire.

‘Who names their company an empire?’ I often thought rolling my eyes internally at the sheer arrogance of even their name. The Bassano Empire deals in all things Fashion. Just like us, they could say that they were a major power house that was driving the entire fashion world in Milan.

I hate to admit it, but they had some pretty good designs for their materials, and their cosmetics too was worth the wait. However, the problem did not lie in the competition itself, but in the fact that for the past year, it felt like the Alvera corporations had been stuck.

As much as my father claims he retired for his ever so enticing holiday, I knew that he felt like he was out of tune with the recent fashion trends and could not adequately relate to the processes.

He strongly believed that as a leader in any company, it was extremely necessary to get acquainted with all processes related to the company. This ranges from the top managerial roles, to the cleaning roles in the basement where the scraps of fabrics are stored for reference.

This quality was one I picked up. Before resuming my role as the CEO, I had spent 5 years working for the company, and ensuring I understood all processes.

This ensured I could listen to the new ideas, and everything needed to transform Alvera into not just the beauty of its glory days, but to even greater heights that incorporates ideas from people whose opinions would have been originally discarded.

I stand up and step out into the frenzy the office had become. I went to the offices in order to check up on the progress of the documents and designs I had approved for the previous week.

Getting to the design room, I noticed the gloomy look on everyone’s faces. ‘I think these designs are still not there. There is too much similarity with what they released today.’ Dylan the head designer told me.

I would have normally said they a little similarity won’t hurt, but we were currently trying to revamp all of those thoughts and regular patterns in order to birth an entirely new line. ‘Do you think we need a fresh perspective on this? A different environment maybe to inspire us, or a vacation perhaps?’ I asked the team.

They all had that silent but guilty look on their faces. Knowing that was a silent approval, I instructed Livia to organize an office vacation for all teams.

It was time to invest some money into changing perspectives and narratives. Hopefully this will give birth to more creativity that will enhance the growth of the company and workers too.

I go back to my office and instructed an official memo be sent to everyone to prepare for the trip. I also informed the HR department that I needed an executive assistant.

The work load on Livia has become more than before, and she needed some time off for herself to attend to personal matters too.

Within one month of sending the request for the position, we have hired two people for the role, however, they could not stand the workload and pressure, so they left within two weeks of their resumption leading the long search and an increase in the salary that could serve as an extra incentive for the role.

“Good day everyone, I’m Leandro, I have been working as an executive assistant in a small-time firm for about 2 years. The name of my previous firm is Alletra holdings. It was a law firm.” I overheard a deep husky voice say as I walk across the hallway to go to one of the departments.

Filled with a chill I had never experienced before, my head churned and I felt excited and giddy at the same time. I stopped in my tracks, and was compelled to go in.

Walking in, I fitted myself in the background of the office, gestured for the interview to not get interrupted and observed the whole process. I knew I had other engagements but I could not resist the pull to this man.

I signalled to the HR Manager to hire him. I normally never got involved with lots of processes despite knowing about them, but at times like this, I just had to make an exception because the long wait was getting under my skin.

I have a complicated look on my face, and my hands are slightly tapping the side of my dress. I took one last glance at Leandro showing a longing I have never experienced and trying extremely hard to not show it, in order not to raise suspicions before I turned to leave.

I couldn’t help but notice that Leandro was a very handsome young man with a chiselled jawline. His silhouette in his suit made it easy to assume that he would boast an athletic build. His dark wavy hair makes me want to run my hands through them.

He has an expressive brown eye that I want to get drowned in, and an effortlessly stylish presence complemented by his warm olive skin and impeccably groomed stubble.

In addition to his stunning and captivating looks, stood an aloof aura that I guess was meant to keep people out, but only made me more interested in him. I smiled briefly on her way out thinking to myself “I definitely have found a very interesting executive assistant this time around.”