A Business Love

chapter 3

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Cindy, the graphic designer that was sitting in the work station in front of Jessie turned around and rolled her chair closer to Jessie's desk while still sitting on it. "Jess, what do you think of my design?" she asked.

Jessie got up, got around her cubicle and leaned over Cindy's shoulder to see the advertisement graphic she had created. "I absolutely love it!" she exclaimed. "You know what though? I would switch these two images."

"These two?" said Cindy as she immediately did what Jessie suggested. Her eyes then illuminated. "Oh man! You're the best. I'm sure you were a graphic designer in another life."

Two months had passed since Jessie had first started working at the Moretti Group and she was thriving. She knew without a doubt that the business world was made for her and she was made for it. As opposed to her regular life, here, everything she said meant something and was interesting. She was praised for all of the things that she was criticized for in her regular life. Work had quickly become her safe place.

After Jessie finished talking with Cindy, she headed towards Massimo's office.

"Hey! Are you busy?" she asked, peeking her head in his office.

"Yes, Jess, but come in," he said routinely. He had lost track of the number of times Jessie came into his office per day. But he liked her so much that he could never turn her down.

She did not hesitate to come in and sit in front of him with her left leg up on the chair and tucked under her right thigh. "I sent you an email about the ROI, did you have time to check it?"

"No. Wait," he said as he scrolled through the messages in his email box to find the email she was talking about.

Once he found it, he looked at it and shook his head positively. "Yup, that's excellent, Jess!"

She grinned. "Thanks, you're the best!" she said while excitedly getting up.

"No, you are the best," he immediately responded, meaning it. "You know what?" he said while suddenly snapping his fingers. "What are you doing at 2 today?"

"Hmm. I think have a meeting with someone in the IT department. Why?"

"See if you can be available at 2. I want you to start attending the real estate and marketing meetings. We meet with them every two weeks to align our strategies. I want you to get a good grip on the partnership we have with them."

"Awesome!" she said with light in her eyes. "I'll move things around to make sure I'm available."

Lucy, who was listening in on their conversation as much as she could since her office was next to Massimo's, sighed loudly in exasperation. She wasn't too fond of Jessie for obvious reasons: she felt threatened by her stamina, determination and business acumen. There was no denying that Jessie was a high performer, ready to go all the way to the top.

Prior to Jessie's arrival, Lucy was the one who was closest to Massimo. And even then, she never dared to visit his office at any time of the day. She made sure to take an appointment before bothering him with her questions or she waited for their weekly one-on-one meetings. Yet, Jessie knocked unannounced at his door multiple times per day, and he never complained or turned her down. He was clearly favoring Jessie over her and she hated that.

She also hated that Jessie was so loved by the other team members. They constantly asked her opinion as if she was their supervisor. Needless to say, she felt immensely threatened by a twenty-three-year-old fresh out of school bubbly girl.