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Twenty-Three
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Fallen Apart Twenty-Four
DAVE'S POVIt came as a surprise to me when Nixon came to eat lunch with me in my office until he told me that Lena was out of the building. Many times Nixon has tried to make me join them for lunch in the cafeteria but I refused, not wanting the attention of the employees on me instead of their food.After lunch hours were over, Nixon left my office and I went back to work. A few minutes later, defeated-looking Nixon walked back into my office and slumped on the couch."What got into you?" I raised my eyebrows at him."She knows." He sighed."Who knows what?" I stood up from my chair and went to join him on the couch."Lena. She knows why we were at the restaurant yesterday." "How would she know that?" I gave him a confused look."I don't know how she did it, but she went to the restaurant and somehow she was able to convince them to let her check the CCTV." He ran his fingers through his hair."So she confronted you?" "Yeah, and I had no choice but to tell her the truth." He sat u
Fallen Apart Twenty-Five
DAVE'S POV"You want to change the rules?" My dad asked after I told him what I was there for. "Can you give me a good reason why I should allow that?""Well, I don't see the need to have such a rule in the first place because it only makes things difficult for the employees. The rule doesn't stop them from having feelings for each other which will push them either trying to suppress their feeling, causing distraction in their work, or they get together in secret, trying to keep it from everyone else," I explained. "I'm sure 20 to 30 percent of the employees have fallen victim to the things I said which wouldn't have been the case if that rule does not exist in the first place. Employees being in a relationship shouldn't affect the performance of a company as long as the employees can keep professionalism and not let it come in the way of their duties," I concluded "I think he's right," Mom added. "The rule is doing nothing but inconveniencing the employees. They will be busy on how
Fallen Apart Twenty-Six
ARIA'S POVIt didn't come as a surprise to me when Lena told me what Nixon did. He liked her a lot and I understand that every other man in his shoes would have been jealous to see Lena with another man, but Lena didn't as she was boiling in anger. She went ahead to confront Nixon and instead of apologizing to her, he ended up confessing his feelings. I felt bad for him when Lena told him that she rejected him, but I had to also see things from her point of view. If I was also in her shoes, I wouldn't jeopardize my career over a relationship that I wasn't sure would last long.The rest of that day went with Lena avoiding talking to Nixon in every possible way. She was only forced to talk to him about work and that was it between them. The next day started with Lena ignoring Nixon and greeting Dave with a forced smile when we came across them in the parking lot. Dave noticed the cup of coffee in my hand and ask me to give it to him in the parking lot so that I won't waste more time b
Fallen Apart Twenty-Seven
DAVE'S POVThe large hall inside the Mendez mansion was filled with lots of people who are my parent's acquaintances, the company shareholders and investors, the press, family friends, and also employees of Styles Company.The party was just about to begin and Nixon was getting restless beside me because Lena was not around yet. The relationship between the both of them went back on track after the stunt Nixon pulled in front of their apartment. As Lena predicted, the videos that their neighbors took went viral and people started to tag them as couples. Some people who recognized them as Styles employees reacted to the clip saying that Styles Company has lost its discipline to the point that the superiors are the ones breaking the rules. It didn't even help that some people recognized who I was in the clip.At first, Nixon and I agreed to keep quiet about it until I announce it after I am appointed president but he decided against it because the gossip was affecting Lena at work. So h
Fallen Apart Twenty-Eight
ARIA'S POVThe party was to start by 8 in the evening and all employees were expecting to be there by 7'o clock. But thanks to Lena who spent the entire night on her makeup and hair, we left our house by 7:30 pm. I nagged at Lena throughout the drive to the Mendez mansion but she ignored me till we got there. She stopped the car in the Driveway of the Mendez which was filled with many expensive cars. We stepped into the mansion and I couldn't help but gasp in awe at the beauty of the place as we made our way toward the ballroom. The large wooden doors of the ballroom were pushed open as Lena stepped in a matching outfit except mine was blue and Lena's was yellow. I had wanted to wear some of the new clothes I bought during our first shopping spree when I arrived in Chicago but Lena refused. She warned me that most of the guests were rich and influential people who were looking for opportunities to show off their wealth, so it was advisable to look presentable in their midst which w
Fallen Apart Twenty-Nine
DAVE'S POVAs Aria made her way out of the room, I spotted Richard dancing with some girl a few feet away from me and I approached to let him know that I would be outside by the swimming pool in case my dad was looking for me.I stepped outside to meet Aria standing a few feet away from the pool with her head raised toward the sky. The moonlight reflected on her, giving her skin a beautiful glow."It's a beautiful night, isn't it?" I said as I moved to stand beside her."Yeah." She turned to me with a bright smile on her face.Looking up at the sky, I sighed. "I can finally breathe after getting out of there." "I thought you rich people enjoy this kind of atmosphere, why do you seem to be different about it?" she asked.I turned to meet her eyes which were filled with curiosity. "I don't know why, but I had never been a fan of all these wealthy people bling. The main reason why I hid my identity from the public was because I didn't like the attention that came with my family name."
Fallen Apart Thirty
DAVE'S POVDue to the constant urging from Nixon, I announced the termination of the 'No Dating' rule on the first day I resumed work as the President. I was surprised to see the number of employees that were happy about the change of rule. Not long after, most of them started coming out with their relationships. It came to my notice that some of them have been planning to resign from the job just to be together but thanks to Nixon who made it possible for them to be together in the company. It wouldn't have happened if he had given up on Lena because of the rules.That same week, the probation test for the designers began and I requested each one of them to design and sew a dress for a dinner party before the end of the week. I also called in some of the company's models to work with them as they would be modeling their dresses in front of the judges.I picked out the judges from the heads of every department in the company, including me and Nixon. I knew there was no way Aria would
Fallen Apart Thirty One
ARIA'S POVThe new week started great for me, most especially for Lena though. She was over the moon when Dave announced the termination of the 'No Dating' rule that Monday morning but she didn't show her excitement to Nixon because for some reason she was playing hard to get.We also had our probation test that week and it turned out well for aSummer and I as well as the few designers who got to keep their jobs. I wouldn't want to take all the credit for passing that test with ease because Summer and I wouldn't have been able to do it without the support of our teammates. Their advice and correction were of great help which made the test a walk in the park for us. Seven designers from Teams 1, 2, and 3 were fired, so the company put out a vacancy for designers.When work hours were over on Saturday, Lena and I left immediately because she had to go visit her sick Grandmother in the South side of Chicago. It was an impromptu visit that made her cancel her date with Nixon. As we stepp
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