Azalea's POV
I was given the rest of the day off by Mrs Drywoods who felt guilty for making me work with Ciara. She admitted that the only reason I was employed in the first place was because no one else wanted to work for her, given the ugly reputation she had made for herself over the few years she had been working with Ash Studios.
Mrs Drywoods apologized multiple times for setting me up, claiming that it was desperation that forced her into doing such.
I forgave her because unknowingly to her, she did me a huge favour. Even if I only work with Ash Studios for a month, other companies wouldn't think twice before employing me because I'd have enough experience to work with them.
I just hoped I could put up with Ciara for at least one month. She reminded me so much of my sister.
Seated on the couch in Lara's place, I watched my best friend pace around the living room, describing the one million ways she would make Ciara Cowell pay for what she did.
"Once I get hold of that blonde bitch, I would squeeze her so hard that all the blood in her body would rush out. I'd squeeze her like an orange." She said, bringing both her hands as close as possible and squeezing them, demonstrating just how hard she would drain all the blood off of Ciara Cowell.
I placed my hands under my chin, watching her murder plan in amusement and admiration. "You already said that one, babe." I chuckled, my eyes tracing her every move. "I think you're running out of ideas."
Lara glared at me, folding her hands. With an audible huff, she joined me on the couch, annoyed by my amusement.
"It isn't funny, Azelea. If she already caused this much damage on the first day, I wonder what other crazy stunt she'd pull, especially since she already threatened you. You know you're pregnant, if anything happens to you, the child would be in danger too. I don't know why you insisted on getting a job when you have a friend like me."
With a defeated sigh, I pulled her over to me, gently forcing her head on my lap. "I promise you, nothing would happen to my baby…our baby. Ciara is just a harmless woman who hides her cowardice and insecurities with the venom that pours out of her mouth. She is only projecting her own insecurities on me. If she doesn't get a reaction from me, she'll give up. Trust me on this."
Lara didn't seem the slightest bit reassured by my words. "I don't know, Zelea, I don't want you to go back to that dark place."
She didn't need to go into details before I knew what she was talking about.
She didn't want me to fall into depression and become suicidal like the last time.
I rake my hands through her hair, staring into space as I recalled the horrible incident. "I understand your fear and I promise that I'll be fine. I'll be very careful. And if worst comes to worse, I simply quit. Deal?"
"Deal." She agreed, snuggling closer into me.
The next morning, I went to work as early as possible. I ignored the rude receptionist, heading straight to the elevator. I went to Mrs Drywoods office to thank her for her help yesterday before going to the room which my current nightmare was.
Luckily, Ciara Cowell was nowhere to be found when I went in, I only saw a few workers and I waved to them all.
"Hello!"
I turned around to the area the voice came from to see a tall beautiful redhead, staring at me with eager hazel eyes.
"Hi there. I'm Hazel. I started working here a few months ago. I'm so sorry for what went down with Ciara yesterday. She is a horrible person. I always thought working with her would be a dream come true since I always watched her and she looks so gracious and kind on TV and in magazines. I never knew she was only a beautiful devil." Hazel ranted off as she bounced on her feet, her curly red hair bouncing along with her.
"Oh, it's fine. I was a fan of hers until yesterday. I'm Azalea, by the way."
She takes my hands from the side, frantically shaking it. "You have such a lovely name."
I smiled awkwardly, her jolly personality seeming too far-fetched to be real. The vibe oozing out of her is similar to those of sweet, nice and caring crazed villains that would kill you while smiling at you.
"Thank you," I mumbled, looking for a way to get out of the conversation.
Luckily, the 'queen' herself, Ciara Cowell, arrived. Her blue eyes scanning the spacious room until it landed on me.
She rushed over to me, her hands flying around as she ran over. "Oh, darling. I was so scared. I thought something had happened to you and your child. I feel so horrible. I'm so sorry." She cried, hugging me like her life depended on it.
I cringed, prying her off me. Her hug felt uncomfortable and I could tell that she was only pretending.
"It is fine. I hope we can cooperate." I said, distancing myself from her a little bit.
"Oh, we surely will. Starting now in fact."
I nodded my head, shifting awkwardly on my feet, uncomfortable and suspicious of her motives.
"Oh my, where in heaven did I keep my handbag? I must have thrown it somewhere around here when I rushed in to apologize." She placed her hands on her forehead dramatically, closing her eyes and placing most of her weight on her right foot in an awkward stance. "Could you find it for me…"
"Azalea."
She screwed her face up momentarily, acting as if my name disgusted her before fixing her expression into a forced smile. "Could you find my bag, Azalea? I need it right now."
"Okay," I walked off in search of her bag, rolling my eyes at her dramatic attitude.
I am almost positive that the only reason she was pretending to be nice to me is because she doesn't want Noah Hale to fire her.
I found her bag easily and took it back to her.
She squealed when she saw the bag, gave me a peck on the cheek and snatched it out of my hand. "Oh you found it."
At her reaction, I rolled my eyes so much that I got scared my eyes would become permanently stuck at the back of my head.
She went through the contents of her bag, searching for something and swearing she brought it with her. I headed to the other side of the room, joining the other employees in doing other jobs that needed to be done.
A sudden scream rippled through the room, starling everyone.
The scream was came from Ciara, as fat tears fell from her eyes.
"Stop what you're doing everyone. Something terrible just happened. I can't find my golden necklace. If you've seen it, I need you to have it over now! That necklace is the only possession I got from my late mother and it has been passed from generation to generation. It is worth millions of dollars." Her voice echoed around the room as everyone silently listened to her information.
Her tear filled eyes suddenly landed on my bored looking ones across the room and she gazed at me suspiciously. "Azalea, have you seen my golden necklace?"
"No, I haven't." I answered, nonchalantly going back to the task I was doing before she interrupted me with her tantrums.
"You took it, didn't you? You stole the necklace when I asked you to get my bag for me. Is this payback for what I did and said to you yesterday? Even after I apologized?"
"I don't know what you're talking about. I didn't even see what was in your bag not to talk of attempting to steal something from it." I told her, and concluded that she had a loose screw for accusing me without evidence.
She moved closer to me in a controlled manner, her eyes burning with fury. "You are the only person in the room that has set eyes and has touched my bag today. And you are the only wretched looking pauper that would stoop low enough to steal the properties of her employer here."
"I didn't steal shit!" I insisted, my voice coming out strong and harsh.
Hazel, the overly dandy redhead from earlier, came forward, making movements that attracted all eyes on her.
"I think she stole it. When she came in this morning, she told me that she will make you pay for embarrassing her yesterday. She said she'll make sure you lose something precious. I'm pretty sure I saw her place it in her bag. That was why she moved away from your side of the room after handing you the bag. She didn't want you suspecting her." Hazel lied smoothly.
"I did no such thing," I yelled, the accusation overwhelming me and making me lose my cool.
"What is this commotion all about?" Noah Hale walked in, Mrs Drywoods closely following.