Chapter 8

Allison's POV

Rachel shoots out of her chair so quickly that I flinch back. I can feel my knees starting to tremble. She doesn't just look like she's going to slap all the teeth out my mouth. She looks like she's going to transform and tear me to shreds.

Oh no, I think. Did I go too far?

Rachel glares at me for a moment that feels too long, chainsaws in her eyes. Then, all of a sudden, the anger gives way for apathy. It's like she's trying to say, "I'm bigger than that. And you're not worth beating up anyway."

"Fine," she says, already turning her back to me. "I'll discuss your demands with the CEO, and I'll get back to you tomorrow."

With that, she walks away. She leaves me staring after her, my fingers digging into my forearms where I had gripped them to steady myself. I'm still shaken with fear from our encounter. However, I'm also more than a little excited.

If all goes well, I think giddily, I could have my old life back.

……

"Oh my gosh!" Elsa screams. "You did what, again? Let me hear you say it louder, honey."

My cheeks are warm from her reaction as I pour myself more of the lemonade Rachel refused to drink. Her loss.

"You've heard me say it a thousand times," I say, slapping her shoulder playfully.

"And I want to hear it again!" she replies with a grin.

"And you, Ian?" I tease, "Are you part of my newly formed fanclub, too?"

Elsa reaches over to throw her arm around his shoulders.

"This one?" she says with a laugh. "Trust me, he's the president of the fanclub."

I raise my eyebrows teasingly, looking at her arm around his shoulders. Elsa notices where I'm looking and blushes, but doesn't remove her hand. She's probably been looking for a chance to touch him this whole time, the little sneak.

"Ooh. Brave, are we?" I remark.

She blushes harder. Ian looks confused.

I see him parting his lips to ask what I mean, so I stuff a cookie into it and leave him to splutter in surprise. Just to make sure that he'll never get to ask, I say,

"Fine. I'll tell the story again."

"So Rachel came here yesterday morning…" I begin.

"Looking like the wicked queen, come to stuff the poisoned apple down Snow White's throat!" Elsa puts in, in an exaggerated evil voice.

"Elsa!" I exclaim through my laughter. "That's not how either story goes!"

We're still laughing over this when my phone rings. I pick it up, recognizing Rachel's number this time, and accept the call.

"Allison Carter," she says reluctantly, as if she doesn't want me to hear what she has to say.

"Good afternoon, Miss Fisher," I reply.

"I've spoken with the CEO," she continues, ignoring my greeting as usual. "We agree to your terms."

Her tone suggests that she might be doubting Xander Black's ability to make sound decisions. She clearly did not expect him to agree to my terms. I had not been sure he would agree, either.

But I'm glad he did.

"We're expecting you here first thing tomorrow morning, to sign the contract and proceed with fixing the bug," she informs me.

"Understood, Miss Fisher," I respond.

"And if it turns out that you're unable to fix it after putting us through this trouble…"

She lets the threat hang in the air for a moment, before cutting the call without another word.

"Oh well," I sigh, turning to my friends, "I guess I'll just have to fix it, then."

Elsa's eyes widen at that.

"Let me guess," she says with a growing grin, "they agreed to your terms?"

I grin back at her.

"That, they did. I've been invited to the company tomorrow to work on the system."

"That's my girl!" she cheers. "You go there and show them all who's boss."

I let her words seep into my mind, making me feel in good spirits. I know I'll need the memory of her faith in me tomorrow.

……

I very nearly lose my good spirits as soon as I walk into company the next day. The atmosphere is more oppressing than I remember. I wipe my sweaty palms several times on my black skirt, looking around nervously. The back of my neck prickles with the awareness of several eyes staring at me and not even bothering to hide it. When I look up, it's to see the executives themselves walking towards me. My eyes widen, and I can't hold back a gasp. I find myself searching the faces of the four men in black Armani suits walking behind Rachel. Searching for Xander Black, even though I've been trying to convince myself that I don't want to see him. He's not among them.

Of course he's not. He's the Alpha, and the CEO. He would never walk behind his personal assistant. Neither would he come in person to welcome me, of all people.

"This way," Rachel says. "Let's put those supposed skills of yours to the test."

I'm too nervous to even pick offense. I follow them without a word, and they lead me down a long hallway to the executive tech room. My jaw drops in awe as I stare around the place, at sleek computers I can't afford even if I sold my soul.

"You can access the company's main database using this one," Rachel says, gesturing to an intricate system. "Now, get to work."

"You said I was going to sign the contract first," I summon courage to say.

Rachel purses her lips, clearly displeased. She presents me with the documents anyway. The company lawyers are summoned, and only after the contract is signed do I get to work.

Hey, I think, suddenly realizing something surprising, this is actually pretty easy.

The hacker who did this is clearly skilled, but I'm done debugging the system in less than an hour.

"I'm done, Miss Fisher," I say.

The executives stare back at me with clear disbelief.

"That's impossible," Rachel declares. "Let me see it."

She marches forward and clicks through the computer for a while, as if determined to be at it till she finds proof that I'm lying. Eventually, she straightens and looks at me like I've grown horns and a tail.

"There has to be some mistake," she insists. 

More like you were mistaken in thinking I can't do it, I think smugly.

Rachel goes as far as sending for the company's other software developers, but all of them confirm, with varying expressions of shock, that I have indeed debugged the system.

The

corners of my lips lift before I can stop them, until I am flashing a big smile at Rachel.

Checkmate, bitch.