September 5, 2023 (Kiran’s second day at Baven Technology)
Is this their makeup room? Did I walk into the wrong place?
Kiran wondered as she entered the PR team’s makeup room at Baven Technology. There were two large mirrors there, each with a big vanity table. Both tables were packed with various beauty tools, for both face and hair.
In addition, there was even a shampoo station resembling those found in most salons, complete with a stack of clean towels and a hair dryer. What amazed Kiran the most was that everything there was provided for free by the Baven Group, including cosmetics, perfume, lotion, and various other beauty products.
Is physical appearance really the main weapon for the PR team across all of Baven Group? How much do they spend each month, to provide these amenities across all their offices?
Kiran now remembered Dika’s words from yesterday, explaining that the corporate secretary served as the spokesperson for the Baven Group and was responsible for the company’s image. This means that both the Marketing and PR Departments, which are the most prominent, are under Selia’s command.
I have to admit she’s really something. Selia cares a lot about what’s seen on the outside, because whether acknowledged or not, that’s always been the main attraction and the basis of someone’s judgment about others from the start. Selia… she’s really a master when it comes to charm.
“You’re even cuter now, Kiran. I love your look!”
That’s what Selia said to her when they met in the Baven Technology restroom. However, a few hours later, Aldi told her that her uniform had to be changed immediately and that she must wear makeup. Although it was good advice, Kiran was now quite certain that Aldi’s words were influenced by Selia.
Sneaky snake! She’s still the same as ever, saying one thing and doing another! I’m really having a hard time forgiving her!
Kiran now took a deep breath after venting her frustrations at Selia in her mind. She then glanced at the clock on the wall, reminding her that the time given to her for primping wasn’t much.
So, following Dika’s advice, she pulled out her phone and looked up a makeup tutorial video on YouTube. The girl was about to get ready to follow it, but just as she was about to look for her face cleanser and toner, the makeup room door suddenly swung open from the outside.
Kiran thought that all the PR staff had already been to the upper floor that morning to get back to their busy preparations for the Baven Group’s birthday event. She never expected that some of them would return there. To her surprise, the person who returned turned out to be someone very familiar to her.
Vira Anita!
“Kiran? You’re here?” said Vira, who used to be the leader of the bully gang in her school. “I’ve been so busy, I haven’t had a chance to meet you even though I knew you were joining the company. I didn’t expect to run into you today!”
Vira suddenly ran towards her and hugged Kiran tightly. The queen bee’s action clearly left Kiran dumbfounded.
“Don’t expect me to be like I was back in high school,” Vira quickly continued after catching the surprised expression on Kiran’s face. “My life now is so enjoyable that I wouldn’t want to bully people like I used to.”
Vira suddenly showed off the ring on her ring finger with a wide smile. “Last year, I got married, and now I’m pregnant. People say that when you’re pregnant, you shouldn’t be mean to people, or make people hold a grudge against you.”
Kiran fell silent and frozen. Honestly, she still harbored a lot of resentment towards the Vira who used to do cruel things to her. However, for some reason, she felt that Vira’s expression when she said those words looked genuinely sincere. She did seem genuinely happy with her life.
“You… pregnant?” Kiran finally asked Vira.
“Yes, two months along,” Vira replied. Her face looked beaming.
“Actually, this is my third pregnancy. Two months after getting married, I was pregnant but had a miscarriage. Three months later, I got pregnant again. Unfortunately, I miscarried again. I’m lucky now to have a third chance and can be more careful with this pregnancy.”
“When HR handed a stack of CVs for potential new receptionists to the PR team, I was surprised to see yours in there,” she continued. “So, I immediately gave your CV to Mr. Aldi, even though it had already been rejected by the PR manager. I knew if Aldi saw it, he’d hire you on the spot, and the PR manager wouldn’t be able to reject you again.”
Kiran, hearing this, was clearly taken aback. So… this person actually helped me get in here?
“You gave my CV to Aldi?”
Vira nodded and laughed. “Do you think a director’s position would still bother with small things like choosing receptionist candidates?”
“By the way,” she continued, “don’t let anyone else hear you referring to Mr. Aldi as just ‘Aldi’. It’s an office etiquette rule I have to tell you about. Aldi and I might pretend not to notice, but others will definitely consider it disrespectful if you only use his first name since he’s the company director.”
“Oh, sorry, I… always forget about that,” Kiran said, looking embarrassed. “Dika reminded me about this yesterday too. He said we should address all bosses or seniors here with ‘Mr.’, ‘Ms.’, or ‘Mrs.’, regardless of whether they’re young or not.”
“That’s right,” Vira confirmed. “It’s a bit awkward since many of our high school friends are here, and we have to address them formally, but you’ll eventually get used to it.”
“Do you often meet with Sel… I mean, Ms. Selia?” Kiran suddenly asked, curious.
“She’s the one who hired me here,” Vira’s smile widened as she replied. “She’s even going to promote me after the Baven Group’s birthday. She said she’ll make me her new secretary on the top floor.”
Vira looked extremely happy and giggled as she spoke. But then, she suddenly noticed something about Kiran’s uniform and stopped laughing.
“Kiran, don’t wear such loose uniform to work under the PR,” she said suddenly serious. “Receptionists need to look pretty and tidy here.”
Kiran suddenly looked down at her own uniform and appeared embarrassed again. “Uh… yes, I’ve been told about this too. I already gave HR my updated size yesterday. They said my new uniform will be given to me in two days. I thought this size would be enough for me; little did I know this office expects me to wear tighter uniform.”
“Not tight, but one that fit well and make you look attractive,” Vira corrected while taking a red lipstick from the makeup box on Kiran’s desk. “I’ll take this upstairs because others said I look a bit pale today. You won’t be using this lipstick, right?”
Kiran shook her head and pointed to the products she would use later. “I’ve chosen what’s here to learn how to use makeup.”
“Learn how to use makeup?” Vira repeated with a surprised expression. “So, you rarely wear makeup?”
“Not rarely, I… never wore makeup before.”
“Huh? So, how are you going to…”
Vira suddenly stopped talking and glanced at the clock on the wall. She then took a deep breath and immediately rolled up her sleeves.
“If you’re just starting to learn how to apply makeup, it’s going to take you a long time to start working,” she said as she touched Kiran’s face.
“Leave this to me. I have half an hour to help you, and you have to learn every step I take on your face’. Then, you’ll have to do your own makeup every day before starting work. Got it?”
“But I…”
“Just stay quiet!”
Though still feeling hesitant, the girl reluctantly nodded. Within a few seconds, someone she never would have expected before began assisting her in applying makeup. Someone… who used to make her high school days feel like hell.
___
People say that wounds and the desire for happiness are the two things most capable of changing someone. Could it be… true?
“Are you sure you don’t have any kind of relationship with Mr. Aldi?” Dika whispered, suddenly interrupting Kiran’s reverie at the reception desk. “He’s been back and forth here and keeps glancing at you. Are you sure there’s nothing special between you two?”
Kiran looked at Dika with confusion. “Mr. Aldi has been back and forth here, looking at me?”
“Didn’t you see him earlier? He seemed really amazed by the change in your face. I have to admit, Mrs. Vira is really something. She managed to make you look beautiful now. If you change your uniform into a better-fitted one later, you’ll surely make heads turn.”
Hearing that, Kiran quickly grabbed a small mirror from under Dika’s desk to check herself. “I didn’t even recognize myself. Is this what qualifies as beautiful?”
Dika chuckled. “When I saw you before, I felt like I was looking at Megaloman. Your skin was too pale, and your hair was dry and puffy. Thanks to Mrs. Vira, you now deserve to be called a female employee of the Baven Group.”
Kiran, still looking in the mirror, began to blush. “Vira said she was actually in a meeting on the upper floor. Yet, she’s so kind to still make time to help me.”
“Mrs. Vira,” corrected Dika. “She’s our senior.”
“Oh yes, Mrs. Vira,” Kiran remembered. “Is Mrs. Vira always this nice?”
“She’s a bit fierce,” Dika replied bluntly, “but she rarely deals with receptionists. How was Mrs. Vira back when you guys were still in high school?”
“Um, just the same as now,” Kiran lied. Of course it wasn’t appropriate for her to reveal Vira’s past notoriety, especially now that she had changed for the better.
“By the way, you seem busy,” she quickly attempted to change the subject. “Is there anything I can help with?”
Dika, who was indeed busy with the phone on his desk, sighed.
“It’s just a meeting issue, really. Baven Energy is having trouble finding a meeting room because the ones on their floor are all occupied. They should’ve had the meeting on the upper floor, but suddenly Mrs. Selia received government guests there and it hasn’t finished yet. So, they asked for our help.”
“Couldn’t they borrow a meeting room from another floor?”
“It’s nearing the Baven Group’s birthday, so all the meeting rooms on every floor are booked,” Dika replied. “The only empty meeting room we have right now is ours. The problem is, Baven Energy asked for our help at the last minute, so our General Affairs team is overwhelmed trying to prepare everything. That’s why the GA team asked for my help to check the room preparations.”
“Aren’t the Baven Energy people supposed to prepare it themselves? Aren’t they the ones borrowing our room?” Kiran asked.
“They should!” Dika burst out angrily. “But they’re Baven Energy, after all! Just because they’re the most famous company in the Baven Group, they act all bossy and arrogant! Do they think we’re their slaves?! And their meeting is about to start in ten minutes!”
“Are you sure you don’t want me to help?” Kiran asked with emphaty.
But the man shook his head. “It’s okay, the GA team has it worse. I’m just waiting for the catering team to bring some snacks for the meeting later. They should be here by now.”
Just as Dika said it, suddenly, a few people in catering uniforms entered the Baven Technology office carrying several boxes of food. Dika was about to accept them, but because a phone call came in to his desk, he gestured towards Kiran to receive them instead.
Kiran, with some free time, immediately assisted Dika. She had just finished receiving the boxes when Dika abruptly stood up from the reception desk and rushed over to her in a panic.
“Kiran, it’s urgent! The GA team just called and said that both the Baven Energy group and Mr. Jevan’s group are already heading to the ninth floor. We need to quickly put these food boxes in the meeting room before they arrive!”
“J—jevan?” Kiran’s face suddenly filled with shock. “Y—you didn’t tell me earlier…”
Creak!
The doors of Baven Technology’s office opened before Kiran could finish her sentence. Several security personnel in all-black uniforms from the building suddenly entered to pave the way for the owner of Baven Group, Jevan Baven.
With them, appeared someone who was likely an employee of Baven Energy, striding in faster while holding a cup of coffee in his hand. Without permission, he stood next to Kiran, eagerly waiting for their meeting entourage to follow in with his cheerful grin.
Sure enough, within seconds, Kiran saw what she feared most, causing her heart to feel like it might leap out right then and there. A tall, handsome man stepped through the open doors of Baven Technology, conversing with the leading members of the Baven Energy group who walked at the forefront with him.
I’m so dead!
Kiran internally screamed in shock as she saw the man, now just three meters away from her. Unprepared to face Jevan, she felt panic rising as she watched him seemingly move like in slow motion towards her and ready to lock his gaze onto her face.
But before Kiran’s worst nightmare could come true, she instinctively snatched the cup of coffee from the Baven Energy staff standing beside her earlier. To everyone’s surprise, Kiran suddenly poured the hot coffee over her own face.
Splash!
Dika hysterically screamed, the Baven Energy staff near Kiran yelled in protest, all the Baven Energy entourage froze in shock, while Jevan and his guards… were stunned in their tracks.
In a half-dead shock, Jevan’s hand reflexifely reached towards Kiran’s face, which was now red and blistered from the spilled black coffee. However, Kiran, still frightened, suddenly bowed quickly towards the man.
“Welcome to Baven Technology, Mr. Jevan! May you always be in good health and live long!” she shouted in a high-pitched voice… while still bowing deeply, like a palace servant from ancient times welcoming their king.
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