❇ Rachel's POV ❇

On my way to the office building, I spotted a few familiar faces and gave them a polite smile. The smile slowly turned into a grin. Today is my first official day as Deputy Accounting Manager. I could barely contain my excitement. I know with this new role, it comes with greater challenges and responsibilities.

I don't want to disappoint Mrs Wright and anybody else who believed in me. Of course, I have doubts about how I could even manage this new job and colleagues. Considering the wonderful impression I've left on Rylie and Christie. At the thought of that, the grin fell away.

I turned left instead of right when I stepped out of the elevator. I gave Amelia, who was on the phone, a quick nod of acknowledgement.

"Good morning," Jackson greeted and walked over as soon as he saw me.

"Good morning," that was all I could say before Jackson pulled me aside.

"I've called for a meeting in 10 minutes," Jackson started. "I'm aware of the hostility both Rylie and Christie have been giving you. I'm going to try and make things easier for you. But, ultimately it depends on how you handle it."

I looked at him in surprise. "Oh okay. Thank you."

"Rylie, she's a good person. Just give her some time to adjust. As for Christie.. I'm still figuring out how to deal with her," Jackson admitted.

"But, I look forward to working with you," he added with a smile.

"Me too."

I quickly walked to my office, I kinda liked the sound of it 'my office'. I put down my bag and switched on the computer. Scanning through my mailbox, there was like tons of email that I need to reply. Pushing the upcoming work aside, I picked up my notebook and made my way to the meeting room.

Standing outside, I took a deep breath to calm the butterflies in my stomach. 'Let's do this' I murmured under my breath and pushed the door open. Most of my colleagues were already seated. They were talking but the room instantly became silent when I came in. I sat down on a chair next to Jackson's as the awkward silence grew even more awkward.

"Just to be clear, we don't want you as our boss and we won't treat you like one," Christie smirked. My hand itched to slap away the smug smile that was etched on her face. I clenched my fist tightly as I fought to control my anger.

"You don't have to like me," I said tightly.

"Is it too much to ask for you to be professional? If it's too difficult for you, maybe you're not suitable for this job afterall." I heard a few gasps and people were staring at me like I was crazy.

"You're making a terrible mistake here. You'll reg-"

"No, you are the one who's making a terrible mistake. Like I said, you don't have to like me. I'm not here to be a people pleaser. I'm here to do my job and so are all of you. Why do we have to make each others' life so hard?"

"Life isn't fair. So suck it up," Christie hissed.

"Well you can heed your own advice then! I am your boss now whether you like it or not and don't think that I would tolerate such nonsense from you!" I bristled at Christie's rudeness.

Christie looked like she wanted to scream at me but was interrupted by Rylie.

"Enough! Stop arguing, let's try to work together." Rylie raised her voice to get our attention.

"Rylie is right," Jackson commented as he strolled into the meeting room. Once again, the meeting room became silent as a mouse.

"None of this will happen if Rylie was promoted instead of Rachel."

"Regardless of what you think, Christie, your cooperation will be much appreciated. It's only fair if we give Rachel a chance to prove that she is capable of leading. I don't think it's nice to judge a book by its cover. We are a team. Each and every one of you play a crucial role in ensuring that the company runs smoothly. We wouldn't be able to do that if we have trouble working with each other," Jackson said as he looked at each and everyone one of us.

Murmurs of yes could be heard around the room. However, Jackson was looking at Christie. She caught his gaze and gave a reluctant nod. Jackson seemed pleased that everyone agreed with him and told us to get back to work.

The rest of the workday went past without anymore arguments but I could still feel the tension from this morning's incident. I went back to my office straight after the meeting and concentrated on my work. However, after cooling down, I did realise I could have handled the situation better. Perhaps I shouldn't have said all those things to Christie. It wasn't nice of me and certainly not what a boss should do. I shook my head to stop myself from overthinking.

I shifted my attention back to the task at hand but found myself rereading the email for three times and still couldn't process it.

Frustrated at the lack of concentration, I twirled my chair around to face the glass window. Rylie did seem to have accepted my promotion which was a relief to me. I did mention that I'm not a people pleaser but seriously deep down I do hope that people like me. I mean, who doesn't right?

I turned back the chair and read the email one more time before I put this task on hold and move on to another one. This time, I found an information that I previously missed. I was supposed to analyze the company's financial data from the last 5 years and provide recommendations. Here's the catch. Those required data has been compiled by Christie.

Terrific.

Now I've got to somehow find a way to get those files from someone who would rather not see and talk to me. Just marvellous isn't it?

Rather than sitting at my desk and plan out the possible strategies I could use, I just went with my gut and opened the door. Realising that I have to do something about the problem with me and Christie before it gets even worser. I crossed the room in a couple of strides and stood in front of Christie's desk.

Christie was busy typing away, unaware that I was staring at her. I could feel everybody's eyes were on us. Christie finally glanced up to meet my gaze and lifted an eyebrow.

"I'd like to have a word with you."

"Sure."

"Come to my office."

"You know you could have just called from your office right?" Christie had a puzzled look on her face.

"Yeah, I know. I just wanna.." I trailed off as I was trying to think of an explanation.

"It doesn't matter," Christie waved off her question as she stood up. She closed the door behind her and took a seat.

In my mind, I was thinking of what to say. I have to be careful here because I definitely don't want to repeat the mistake I've made this morning.

"So.. Is there anything I can do for you?" Christie asked.

"Well, first of all I wanna apologise for this morning," I said which surprised Christie.

"Oh, um..."

"I really hope that we can work together. So I wanna know why are you so against with my promotion? Other than Rylie of course.."

"Honestly it is only because of Rylie. She had been through a rough time. She really deserved and needed this promotion."

"I see.. I didn't know.."

"You couldn't have known anyways," Christie murmured. "I'm sorry for disrespecting you in front of everybody. I believe we'll work this out," she continued.

I smiled at Christie which she returned with one of her own. "As for the question you've asked, I do need a favour. Can you pass me the data you've compiled on the company's financial data?"

"Yeah, of course."

My neck and back started to ache as I've been sitting for God-knows-how-long. I stood up to do some stretches. One look at the clock I quickly pack up and got out of the office. Ella was picking me up to go visit Helen at the hospital. She immediately flew over after knowing that Helen has given birth.

By the time I stepped out of the building,  Ella's rental car was already there waiting for me.

"Hi there," I greeted as I climbed into the passenger seat.

"Right back atcha! Can't wait to meet Helen's little boy!" Ella giggled as she pulled away from the curb.

"How have you been?"

"Doing great actually. Who knows I could have a career in interior design?" Ella slid me a sideways glance.

"Hey, we all know how talented you are as an artist. So how's things with Adrian?"

"We bicker a lot. We're both stubborn people," Ella's emphasis on 'a lot' caught my attention. "Oh don't worry, bickering actually makes us even closer. I love him, Rach. Even though he drives me crazy with his stubbornness." Ella added when she noticed the concerned look on my face.

"Alright, enough talking about me. What about you Rach? How's your new job?"

"It's tough but I like the challenge," I replied.

Once we got out of the car, Ella could hardly contain her excitement. She practically ran to the entrance and nearly ran past the receptionist. I had to shout for Ella to stop and register at the counter since she's a new visitor.

"Is Zach, Nicole and Jake coming?" Ella asked as we stepped out of the elevator.

"Yeap, Zach is picking Nicole and Jake up at the airport."

Ella nodded as she pushed open the door to Helen's room. Helen was sleeping so we tip toed into the room as quietly as possible. But when I sat down on the couch, it made a loud squeaking noise. I froze, didn't dare to move, hoping not to make anymore noise. However, Helen stirred and open her eyes.

"Ella? Oh my God," Helen exclaimed and slowly sat up. The both of us were by her side in an instant. Ella pressed a button to raise Helen's bed and I turned the pillow upright for her to lean back comfortably.

"My, oh, my, Helen you look great for a person who've just given birth," Ella said with a wink.

"Why, thank you," Helen chuckled as her cheeks turned pink.

We heard chatters from outside and it was getting louder and louder. The door swung open and a nurse was pushing Helen's baby into the room. Behind her was Dylan and the rest of our friends.

Everyone in the room was busy hugging each other as it has been a long time since the 7 of us were at the same place.

"Hey gorgeous," Zachary grinned and put his arms around me.

"Hey handsome," I returned his grin with one of my own.

"How's your first day?"

"Didn't start off well, but I believe it ended better than I thought. I'll tell you more later," I answered, giving him quick peck on his cheek.

"So, have you guys thought of any names?" Jake's question had us focused our attention on the new parents.

"We're thinking of Eli [pronounced as e-lye]."

"Eli Walker," I murmured and took an instant liking to the name.

"I like the sound of it, Eli Walker," Nicole commented.

"Eli here is so blessed to have so many aunties and uncles to dote on him," Dylan had a smile on his face as he cradled his baby.

Author's note:
Hello everybody! 😄

Here's a special shoutout to @Melmelmazzzz!! Thank you for your suggestion on Helen and Dylan's baby name heheh 😚💖

I gotta be honest with y'all, I don't think I can update as fast as I did for the past month for a while. My school is starting next week 😔 I really appreciate your patience and I hope you'll still continue to support my story! ❤️ If you guys have any comments, feel free to share them! 😘