"Welcome Ms. Lizette Fontaine, coming from Chantilly, France. She's a recent graduate in fashion design, and she will be working with you on all of your dream projects in the upcoming year."

As soon as he introduced me, everyone's jaw went slack. Some of them eyed me head to toe, but their gazes were much different from André's. Unlike him, their gazes were full of bemusion and wonder, something I had yet to get used to. But, I guess the bigger problem here was the fact that I was still thinking of André and his piercing gaze.

Ever since I met him yesterday, for some reason, I couldn't get his gaze out of my mind. Now, whether it was out of the anger that he had dared to call me such names, or out of some trance - I wouldn't know.

Brice's next words snapped me out of my fantasy. "I believe her designs were already mailed to you. You haven't checked them, have you?"

His prompting caused everyone else to whip their heads towards Sophie, who seemed to be flustered as Brice put her on the spot. The older woman was red in the face, with some of her blush traveling to her neck. The twins snickered beside her, and she shut them up with a glare.

Turning to face Brice, she still clapped back. "Oh, how would I know that the designer would be this young gorgeous woman? Or else, I would have checked it sooner."

She turned to me and said, "Welcome to Panache, Lizette. Nice to know you're French too, but can't I shorten your name to Liz? Lizette sounds like you've time travelled from the seventies."

Though her manner of speaking could easily be mistaken as rude, I instantly understood her good intentions behind it.

I said, "As you wish. It's my first time receiving a nickname, but Liz sounds better to me too."

Her eyebrows raised. "First time? Sweetie, did you not have friends in school?"

"No, not really."

"But, how could you not? You're so pretty and nice and-"

"Sophie. Please." Brice interrupted, sensing my discomfort.

This man was really insightful and sensed moods quickly. It was a trait I rarely found in people, and it made me respect him even more. How could he understand me so well, when he had known for only a day?

Sophie realized her mistake, and stopped herself. "Oh, sorry. Welcome to our team Liz. Although we're considered the least useful team of the company, we aren't completely worthless. We sometimes come in handy when the other successful teams need us. So, welcome to..... whatever this is."

"They are Amelia and Mia, the twins famous for trendy designs at Panache. Sadly they created a lot of trouble and ended up here. Then we have Martin, a pro at designing vintage clothes. And she is Maria, a year junior to me, and designs really cool and funky clothes. I hope we're clear here. Now, let's go back to doing nothing."

From that long speech, I deducted just one thing. Sophie talked fast. But even though she talked like a moving train, I could understand the part where she said they were the least popular team here. What was that about?

Confused, I turned to Brice, but found that he had left ages ago. All by myself, with these strangely nice people, I had to sit down on my desk and apparently, do nothing.

Frustrated, I sat down with a huff. The twins, Amelia and Mia, were busy playing a computer game. Martin and Maria, as similar as their name sounded, got along really well and were currently solving sudoku puzzles in the newspaper. Sophie finally found the time to go through my designs, and was marveling at their thoughtfulness. Well, that's because she couldn't do anything more than that.

Was this what Florian meant, when he said he would give me a job? Did he just want me to join this place in name, spend one year doing nothing, and walk out of here once my contract is over?

I was pulled out of my thoughts for the second time today, when I heard a distinct cackling noise. Raising my head to confirm the direction of the sound, I saw a new face standing by our desk. She had the typical American blonde hair, almond shaped eyes, and a nice build. She looked like a model, and judging by her immaculate clothing, dressed like one too.

"Its a new day guys, why are y'all sitting wearing such long faces? Oh, and we have someone new here today? Wonder who this chick is?" She said, her words dripping with saccharine.

I narrowed my eyes at her. Who the hell was she to come over to us and say all that? I faced Sophie, expecting her to give this mental woman a piece of her mind, but I was shocked when nothing happened. Instead, Sophie, and her other team members had their heads down.

The whole floor had become silent, waiting for the mystery woman to deliver her next lines. I could see exhaustion, nonchalance, and malice in some of their eyes. I could hear occasional snickers from across the room, but nobody stood up to this woman.

Was she an important figure here? Well, even if she was, I must figure it out.

Standing up, I extended my hand towards her. "Nice to meet you. I'm Lizette Fontaine, the new designer who joined today. And you are?"

Gasps were heard across the room, while the mystery woman stared at me like I was the insane one here. Confused, I looked back at Sophie, but she shook her head. Had I made a mistake?

"You- you don't know me? Is this bitch really a designer?" She asked me first, but directed her second one to Sophie.

My eyes narrowed again. This mystery woman had way too much guts to be cursing a total stranger on her first day at work.

"Sweetie, I'm Sasha Collins. I'm the reason Panache is what it is today."

As soon as she told me her name, I gasped internally. This was the woman behind most of the major shows Panache hosted, and I didn't recognize her even though I'd seen her so many times? It didn't change that she was a rude arrogant woman in person, but I scolded myself for not remembering her face. This was utter humiliation.

When didn't respond, the rude Sasha continued. "Are you even from the fashion world? Looking at your pale white lackluster shirt, and this.... this black thing which isn't even designer made, you're one of those wannabes who claim to know fashion, aren't you? Good thing they kept you in this team, the company knows your value too well. Have fun wasting time here, people."

She threw in her last taunt of the day, hopefully, and went back to her seat. Cheers and laughs arose from the room, and my teammates still had their heads down. Sophie looked at me with a sad, pathetic expression, which gave rise to more anger inside me.

So, this was it. This was his plan. I should have known it was too good to be true. I should have known that I wasn't allowed to dream to work in a place like Panache, where everything was high class.

How could a random girl from the countryside climb up the ladder this fast, this easily? And then, it was suddenly clear to me. I was only here as Florian Beaumont's son's babysitter. The only difference was that I would be treated a little differently, but I would certainly get paid such a hefty sum of a million euros, not for my passion or dream or skills, but for keeping his stupid son in check.

My fingers curled inwards, tightening themselves against my soft palm. I could feel my nails bruising my palm, but I didn't pay heed to it. It was a pain that was necessary to keep me from going insane.

At the same time, that pain reminded me how I had taken one brave decision in my whole life, but it had turned out to become one of the biggest acts of stupidity for me.

To say that my life was a disaster, was an understatement.

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