Chapter 5

Hannah’s POV:

               

I came out of the bathroom with my towel tied around my chest, and when I looked up, I saw Adam standing by my bedside.

“Adam, when did you get in?” I held my towel tightly to my chest.

He instantly turned his back to me. “Sorry, I didn’t hear you come out. I came to drop off an outfit I got you for your first day at your new workplace.” He pointed to the suit on the bed.

“I’ll leave now.” He scurried out the door. The awkwardness was expected as it’s just been one week since we started living together. We were still in the adjustment phase. 

I walked over to the bed and picked up the black suit jacket matched with a pencil-sharp skirt. The outfit screamed elegance and prestige. 

It will certainly make a good first impression.

I had finally accepted Josh’s offer to join his company after he pestered me all week. He had an idea he was working on and begged me to work with him on it since my schedule was now open after quitting Hayes's company.

I got dressed and headed out. When Adam saw me in the suit, he could hardly peel his eyes away from me. The dress hugged me in all the right areas and brought out my curves.

Adam forced himself to be comported and asked one of his drivers to take me to work. When I arrived, Josh was already waiting for me at the door.

“Hannah, thank you for agreeing to this.” He jogged up and pulled me into a hug. “Alright, let me take you in and introduce you to everyone.”

He led me into a conference room filled with people; it seemed he had gathered everyone beforehand. 

“Alright, everyone, so as I said I have an important announcement to make,” Josh read out to the entire room. “Well, Miss Hannah here will be joining our team starting today; please make her feel welcome and give her a round of applause.”

They all clapped but I could sense how adamant they looked. It felt like they had something to say but were holding it in.

“Hi, everyone,” I greeted with a smile. “I can’t wait to start working with you all as head of the development team. I hope we can learn and lean on each other.” 

There were slight nods and grunts accompanied with the clapping this time and then someone spoke.

“Emm…. Hi Hannah, I’m Charles, the HR manager,” he introduced himself. 

He hesitated slightly before he continued. “We’re glad to have you join us but I must be honest with you. Some of us have our doubts with you filling out the development head position because we already had someone else in mind who has been working tirelessly for the past year to be promoted to the position.” He pointed at a lady with black long hair who was visibly angry but masking it with a false smile.

“Miss Selena here is one of our hardest workers who we all unanimously agreed to be development head before Mr Josh demanded you for the position.” Charles added.

Josh wanted to say something but I stopped him. I needed to win their trust on my own if I was going to be working with them. “I totally understand how you all feel. Especially you, Miss Selena,” I looked at the beautiful lady.

“But please know I’m not here to steal anyone’s spot. I’ve worked in engineering all my life and the very tech you guys are working on, it was I who drafted the core magnum that it runs on.” I revealed.

They all looked at me in disbelief. The core magnum was the life source of the project. I had helped Josh out with the idea years back.

“You’re the one who built the CM?” Selena asked with her mouth wide open. “The CM is such detailed work. It’s one of the projects that inspires me. Mr Josh here never agrees to tell us who the developer is because he said you wanted to be anonymous.” 

I nodded. Back then I told Josh I didn’t need credit for the work. “That is why Josh has requested I join the team and head the project because I’m the one who knows the most about it.”

Their disposition morphed into understanding. “Oh! I agree with that too and I’m so excited to be working with someone who inspires me,” Selena beamed.

I smiled. “If you don’t mind, you can be my second hand on it?” I offered.

Selena's smile widened. “Yes. I’ll love to.”

Everyone now seemed to be in agreement but there was still a perturbed expression displayed on Charles' faces.

Josh looked at him and asked, “Charles, is there something else you’ll like to say?” 

He let out a sigh. “It’s just we’ve heard somethings Mr. Hayes said about Hannah from internal information. Some very…alarming things that talk about her ethics and professionalism.”

“What?” Josh growled.

“Yes. It’s all over; I’m surprised you haven’t heard it yet.” Charles continued. “They said Hannah was always disrupting work activities, she tried to steal credit for others' work, and she was a very rude working partner.”

I couldn’t believe my ears. What kind of a coward spreads lies about someone and tries to destroy their reputation simply because the person chooses to leave them and their bullshit?

If anyone was a thief and a disruptive work partner, it was Hayes himself.

“I’m going to say this once.” The seriousness in Josh’s voice drew me out of my thoughts and back to the present. “Everything that was said is a lie.”

He extended his hand to me and drew me to his side, his confidence in me spilling out after each word and seeping into my very essence.

“The very technology that launched Hayes’s company into stardom was thanks to Hannah here.” He declared loudly to everyone in the room. “I’ve watched her constantly carry the workload every time to make Hayes' company what it is today, and it’s because of her brilliance I BEGGED her to join us here.”

“Make no mistake, she wasn’t just an employee; she was a shareholder.”

They all looked at me with a renewed mindset. Seeing Josh stand up for me like that didn’t just change their minds about me; it also assured me that someone else also saw me and the work I did. 

“Please,” I spoke out. “Give me a chance to prove myself and to let you know me for who I truly am.”

All of a sudden the hall erupted into a resounding round of applause, and they all stood to their feet, putting me in the spotlight.

I felt my eyes water up, and I sniffed. They were clapping for me. 

*

*

During lunch, Josh suggested we all go to eat at ‘MAXWELLS’, a popular five-star restaurant, to celebrate me joining the company team.

I was the first to enter the restaurant to get our booked seat ready while Josh and the others parked the office van. 

“Hi,” I waved at the girl at the reception. “We booked a table for a group, please, under the name J.Tech Company.”

“Alright, one minute, please.” The girl typed into the computer screen in front of her, and her bob jiggled with every movement of her head.

“Okay, your table is No. 7, over there.” She pointed to the left.

“Thank you.” I smiled and followed her direction towards the table.

As I approached our table, I heard someone call from behind me. “Hannah?” 

Stunned, I spin my head to see who called me, and I met the two people I’ve been trying to avoid all week sitting in front of me.

Lenora was wearing a white jumpsuit and sat beside Hayes, who was also wearing white. I rolled my eyes.

Lenora's face morphed from surprised to a devilish smirk. “You’re a waitress now?” She concluded just like that.

She dragged out a crude laugh that made her head jerk back and forth as she laughed. “Ew… you’ve really hit rock bottom Hannah.”

I was fully unaffected by Lenora’s statement, it came as no surprise. She was the type of girl who derived joy in mocking any woman she can step on. She completely believed there was nothing shameful about being completely clueless,  but saw earning a living as something disgraceful and embarrassing.

She isn’t worth my time. I’m leaving.

“Miss Hannah,” someone else came into view. It was Joyce, the partner I was working with on the project I dropped, and Lenora had volunteered to take it up.

She extended a handshake to me, and I shook it. 

“Sorry, but I must say, the last time we spoke on the progress of the project, it was doing just fine. How did it suddenly turn around and hit a dead end like this?” 

Oh! So the reason they are here is to meet Joyce because they had boomed the project. Just as I expected.

“Oh, I’ve resigned.” I mentioned. “The project has been off my hands for some time now. There’s now a new person in charge.” I looked at Lenora.

“I knew it; some basic mistakes happened, and the person who took over should apologize to you and learn from it properly.” Joyce stressed.

Lenora abruptly interrupted. “Hannah intentionally left the project with loopholes because she was spiteful and jealous.”

It was plain as day that Lenora was now grasping at straws trying to soil my reputation as all of her other stunts had failed. 

 It is so pathetic, I almost feel sad for her. Almost.

“I’d be careful what I say if I were you. Defamation comes with legal consequences.” I gritted my teeth, forcing myself not to slap her lying mouth.

“How is it defamation?” Lenora roared. “Isn’t that why no company would hire you? Because they already know the kind of person you are, and I’m sure you even got this waitress job by hiding your identity.”

“Don’t you—” 

“Enough!!” Hayes slammed his hand on the table in annoyance, causing everyone’s attention to turn to us. “Is this how a waitress should behave? I would make sure you get fired.”

“I want to see the manager!” Hayes yelled out, drawing even more attention. “I DEMAND TO SEE THE MANAGER!!!”

A middle-aged man with a grey beard at the edge rushed out from behind the inner door, and at the same time, Josh and the other team members came into the restaurant.

“Sir, is there a problem?” the restaurant owner asked calmly.

“I want this useless waitress fired. She lacks respect for customers.” Hayes demanded with full authority.

“Yes! She must be fired.” Lenora nodded in agreement.

“What is going on here?” Josh stepped in; he looked from Hayes to Lenora and then to me. “What happened?”

I sighed. “I coincidentally met them here, and now they’re trying to make a big deal by lying as usual.” I explained the ordeal to Josh.

“I want her fired!” Hayes repeated, and this time he stood up to face the restaurant owner clearly.

“I’m sorry, sir, but she can’t be fired.” The man replied.

“And why not?” Lenora vomited harshly.

“Because she’s not a waitress, she is our VIP customer.” He revealed.

“What?” Lenora said, aghast.

The other customers began to mumble. “You both would have to leave because of the unnecessary commotion you’ve caused here today.” The restaurant owner added in finality.

“But…but…,” Lenora tried to cajole the man but he stood firm, unwavering. “Don’t make me call security.”

Josh slid in, facing Hayes head-on. “And let me make one more thing clear before you’re kicked out. Hannah now works for me, and I swear with everything in me, if you spread one more lie about her again, online or anywhere else. You’d be getting a lawsuit you won’t be able to recover from.” Josh spat in full anger.

Hearing all of this, Joyce picked up her bag. “I can’t continue working with you, Mr. Hayes. I don’t do business with dubious people.” She turned around and left.

With shame and embarrassment, Hayes and Lenora picked up their stuff and slowly started to walk towards the door.

If only you both had just let me be, this wouldn’t be happening. 

“How dare you try to bring Hannah down?” Josh fumed, seeing Hayes and Lenora walk by him.

Just then Hayes stopped, and I heard him whisper to himself, ‘How dare you…’ Like he was trying to piece something together.

His head twitched, and instantly he ran and grabbed Josh by the collar. “I knew I recognized your voice,”

Hayes's eyes landed on me, and a cold chill ran down my spine. There was a murderous glint bubbling in his eyes.

“He’s the reason you want to divorce me, right?” Hayes glared at me.