Book 2 Chapter 25
Everyone at the office seemed to be getting used to Yalda, they were beginning to become chill with having her around, but of course, Helen and Marina hadn't changed at all. Nothing had changed on Helen’s end, if anything, her irritation seemed to be hardening and she was becoming outrightly hostile now.
But Yalda was adjusting, she was forcing herself to ignore all the drama and simply focus on rebuilding herself. She was even considering other options now, perhaps she'd learn something new, art perhaps, or she'd go back to her cooking classes.
Or perhaps she'd open a beauty saloon, a parlour for all the gossip in Greece, it would seemed almost appealing, but Yalda had never been one to entertain gossips and she wasn't sure it would actually interest her. Maybe she'd find it captivating for a week or two, but that'd be it.
The day was progressing well today at the office, or at least that was until Helen appeared in front of her desk smiling, a smile Yalda knew better than to trust. Nonetheless, she let her speak.
“Oh, Yalda,” she said, tapping her nails on the desk. “Did you get the file for Mr. Lysander’s review?”
Yalda blinked. “What file?”
She knew nothing about a Mr. Lysander, not to mention his review.
Helen’s brows lifted in mock surprise. “The annual projection draft? I forwarded it to everyone last week.” She turned to Marina for backup. “Didn’t I?”
Marina shrugged, smirking. “Of course. Someone didn't get it?"
Yalda kept her expression calm, but her chest tightened. She knew a sabotage when she saw one, they were trying to get her in trouble or undermine her before an executive or something.
“I haven’t received anything.” She told them.
“Well,” Helen said, already turning away, “he needs the corrections before noon. I suggest you get started. I'll resend the file.”
With that, she returned to her desk, and she could tell she felt really good about herself.
Yalda glaced at her wristwatch; 11:02am.
Of course, she knew nothing good would come from Helen's smile.
She inhaled slowly, clicked open her email and refreshed, and it wasn't long before a single message from Helen timestamped 'Just now' popped up. The message was displayed 'Submit on fourth floor, first office.'
She shook her head as she opened the attachment.
The document was a mess. Not in structure but in formatting errors, mismatched numbers, and inconsistencies someone should have fixed before handing it to anybody. This wasn’t a normal oversight.
This was deliberate.
Yalda leaned back for a moment, she let herself breathe and take it all in before she returned with more determination. Surely, she could handle a sloppy report within some minutes.
And did she really have a business handling another person's report? She was here to work as an assistant to Ioannis and nothing more, but nonetheless, she got to work.
She tended to it line by line, row by row, and formula by formula.
Her fingers moved steadily, instinctively.
In a way, she was grateful for this, she was grateful for how it made her mind entirely focused on the task at hand, she was grateful for how it didn't let her mind wander to places she didn't want it to.
And by 11:50, she finished it, she double-checked it quickly and exported the clean version. It was ready to be presented.
When she stood from her desk, Marina’s eyes flicked up quickly.
"Can you do it on your own or do you need help?” she asked smirking.
Yalda only smiled. “No, thank you. I have it under control.”
Marina’s expression tightened, and Yalda could only smirk at how easy it was to get to her.
She followed the directions Helen has given, and it wasn't long before she found Mr. Lysander’s office. His door was half-open, a deep voice filled the room as he ended a call.
Yalda could see him from where she stood, he was tall, broad-shouldered, and had dark hair. He carried himself with an air that made her know he was quite an authoritative person, perhaps strict even.
She understood why Helen had tried to set her up now.
He looked up when she knocked softly.
“Yes?” he asked, his tone was curt, like he had no time to waste.
“Mr. Lysander, I brought the corrected projection file.” she said, her tone matching his. She also had no time to waste, she wanted to get this done and over with.
He motioned her in and she stepped into the spacious office, the sea was visible behind him through towering glass windows.
“You corrected it?” he asked, taking the folder.
“Yes. Helen said you needed it before noon.” she replied.
He opened the document and flipped through several pages, his eyes sharpening with interest.
“Who made the corrections?” he asked.
She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Why would she be delivering it if she hadn't made the corrections?
“I did.” she replied nonetheless.
He leaned back, studying her face like he was trying to place her.
“And you are…?”
“Yalda Harris,” she said with a small nod. “I’m assisting Helen’s department.”
He continued flipping through the report, but now with a small, impressed smile at the corner of his mouth.
“These numbers were a disaster,” he said honestly. “Whoever handled them before you made a mess.”
Yalda’s lips curved politely, though inside she kmew it wasn't just a mess, it was a sabotage.
“You fixed all this in under an hour?”
“I did."
“Well.” He set the document down. “That’s impressive.”
Yalda offered a polite smile. She was done with this and she wanted to leave but his voice dipped slightly, appreciative in a way that clearly wasn’t just professional. His gaze lingered longer than necessary, he looked at her with too much interest.
“When did you start here?” he asked.
“Recently.”
“Good to have you with us,” he said, offering knowing smile. “Very good, looking forward to seeing you around, Ms. Harris.”
She thanked him, then excused herself. She headed back to the shared workspace where Helen and Marina expected looked up, hoping to see her shaken or upset or something. But her face was perfectly neutral so they couldn't tell what had happened.
“Well?” Helen asked.
“He was satisfied with the corrections,” she replied simply.
The faint flicker of annoyance in Helen’s eyes was almost satisfying. But Yalda pretended not to notice, she returned to her desk and settled down to resume her tasks.
Her brow arched slightly on seeing that within the minutes she'd been away, Helen had dropped a stack of folders onto her desk. Hee gaze flickered back to hers questioningly.
“Please sort these old documents into the archive room. They’re badly organized, and they need proper labeling.” Helen told her with her another smile.
Yalda looked at the mountain of outdated files, she had no business with them. The interns were supposed to be doing such tasks, but still, she nodded.
“Of course.” she replied.
Yes, Helen was a lot to deal with, but then, the tasks she assigned her always distracted her, and that was why she was here in the first place right? To get distracted.
Helen added, “When you’re done with that, I need you to reorganize the digital archive folders. They’ve been cluttered for weeks. And when you finish that, someone needs to deliver these packages to accounting.”
Her brow arched once more. She was being assigned such demeaning tasks and she had a feeling it was all out of spite. Not wanting to give her the satisfaction of seeing her react, she simply nodded.
Marina leaned back in her chair with a smirk. “Lots to do, huh?”
"Yeah, nothing I can't handle though."
She began sorting immediately, refusing to let irritation settle inside her. Menial tasks were just tasks. They didn’t diminish her worth, they didn’t erase her abilities in any way.
Now, she just had to try to finish up before lunchtime.
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