After waiting for five minutes, Shi Xiao Xi was still left staring at a closed door. People hustled and bustled around her, making her feel a sense of urgency.
Shi Xiao Xi bit her lip. Taking a deep breath and smoothing out the papers she was clutching in both hands, she finally gathered enough courage to knock on the door.
"Secretary Wen?"
When no one answered, she tried to knock again.
"Secretary Wen? I'm sorry to disturb you, but it's me, Shi Xiao Xi. I have the shareholder agreements you asked me to revise."
There was still no answer. Shi Xiao Xi placed her hand on the door knob, about to open it, when a sharp voice stopped her movements.
"What are you doing?!"
Wen Yu was striding towards her, her expression clearly red with anger. Shi Xiao Xi flinched. Instinctively aware that she seemed to have done something wrong, her heart dropped into her stomach.
"Miss Shi! I know that you don't have the qualifications to become a proper secretary, but can you at least use your head?"
Wen Yu jabbed her finger at the door Shi Xiao Xi just tried to open.
"Do you know who's inside there? It's the CEO. He's busy enough dealing with all these paperwork, and you were about to barge in there like a bumbling airhead. Didn't you at least go to a high school? Or are you just illiterate in following directions?"
Shi Xiao Xi pinched the soft skin of her wrist and bowed her head.
"I'm sorry, Secretary Wen."
"Can all mistakes be forgiven just because you apologized? Miss Shi, I didn't have much expectations for you. All I wanted was for you to do basic work, and stay out of the way. Is that too hard to ask?"
Wen Yu supported her forehead with her hand.
"Ah, my blood pressure is going up because of you. How can anyone be this clueless?"
Shi Xiao Xi bowed her head even deeper, staring at the tips of her newly bought shoes. She could feel curious gazes looking at them, and the humiliation washed over her like a tide. At that moment, even Wen Yu's loathing of her could not compare to how much she loathed herself.
She shouldn't have allowed herself to have been swayed by Ah Lam's flow. She should have asked more questions to Wen Yu when she handed her this assignment. Why had she been so passive? Why did she allow herself to be swept like a mote of dust in the air?
Shi Xiao Xi felt her eyes beginning to get sore and panic rose up like lava in her throat. She couldn't cry, not here. They were all professionals. If she cried, they would only look down on her more.
"Forget it, why did I even expect anything from someone with no experience?" Wen Yu shook her head and sighed. "Just give me the damn shareholder agreements already."
Shi Xiao Xi silently handed it to her. "I'm sorry, Secretary Wen."
Wen Yu didn't reply and simply strode away. Shi Xiao Xi felt as if she couldn't breathe and hurriedly made her way towards the nearest bathroom. She made sure not to make eye contact with anyone along the way.
As soon as she locked herself in one of the cubicles, Shi Xiao Xi gasped like a drowning man. She clutched her chest, feeling as if she was being suffocated.
She fumbled for her phone, wanting to hear any voice other than the critical voice inside her head that was imitating Wen Yu. But when she finally got to her list of contacts, she couldn't bring herself to call any of them.
Her mother?
No, she couldn't possibly call her. She was the one who took care of her when she had been comatose for 2 years. She had depended on her long enough.
Zhenzhen?
Ye Zhenzhen was still scolding her about tolerating her jerk of a fiancé for too long. If she heard about this, she'll defend Shi Xiao Xi again like a bull. It would only reinforce in her mind that Shi Xiao Xi was a weak chicken who was too nice to people.
Mr. Han?
Shi Xiao Xi desperately shook her head. If he knew how badly he overestimated her....
Shi Xiao Xi couldn't bear to watch another person being disappointed in her.
"There's no one....I can contact."
Shi Xiao Xi numbly spoke out these words after coming to a bleak conclusion. Her fiancé had cheated on her, her best friend had abandoned her, and she was someone that had been rejected to become a secretary as soon as she walked into an office.
Didn't Lin Zhicheng say it quite clearly?
She was ugly, unqualified, and poor.
Why did she continue to believe in herself? Maybe even Mr. Han only pitied her and said the words she wanted to hear.
She didn't fit in this prestigious company with all of these highly qualified people. She was an ugly duckling waddling about in a lake filled with swans, too blind to notice her own reflection.
Shi Xiao Xi felt the warmth of her tears as it rolled down her cheeks. After feeling that she had cried enough, Shi Xiao Xi listened for sounds outside the cubicle and when she was sure no one was outside, she went out.
Shi Xiao Xi was startled when she saw her reflection on the large mirror. Her make-up was a mess, and her face was blotchy with red patches. Her eyes looked bloodshot.
Shi Xiao Xi couldn't help but laugh.
"Look at you," she whispered under her breath with a giggle. "The picture of sophisticated grace."
She didn't know why, but she suddenly felt better after laughing at herself. It was only her first day. Of course she would make mistakes.
After fixing herself, Shi Xiao Xi straightened her back and took a deep breath. She smiled at her reflection.
"Let's try again, Shi Xiao Xi."
She pumped her fist in a 'fighting!' gesture, and went out of the bathroom. Her heart was still filled with anxiety, but Shi Xiao Xi was also determined. If she failed this job the second time again, she might completely lose her nerve and never strive for higher ambitions in the future.
She couldn't fail herself again.
YOU ARE READING
CEO, I'm Not The Girl You Once Knew (Hiatus)
Romance"You haven't been drunk like this since high school," Shi Xiao Xi mused, looking down at the slumped form of Lin Zhicheng on her battered old couch. She was about to turn away, to get him some water to drink, when a hand grabbed her wrist, his hold...
