If I’m a Fan-Favorite, Why is No One Saving Me
“Miss Young?”
Beatrice looked up from her monitor screen at the knock on her door to see her secretary standing in the doorway looking a little unsure of herself.
“Jessica, what did I say?”
“Sorry, I mean, Beatrice.”
Beatrice smiled at the concession.
“One day, I will succeed in getting you to remember to call me by my name. I don’t care how Asian you and I are. My professional world cannot function without you running it.”
Jessica smiled at that. They have had this conversation multiple times over the many years she had been working for Beatrice.
“I’m afraid that this time even I cannot keep your world running.”
Beatrice quirked an eyebrow at that statement.
“The secretarial pool is abuzz with rumors that John Vincent has been assigned to Ava. I was wondering if you knew of it and if I could be of assistance in helping you deal with this.”
“I see we share the same opinion of John Vincent. Alex suggest that we dump him on Vincent.”
Jessica’s eyes widened with glee at that. The chaos that it will cause in Real Estate would be unparalleled.
“That sounds like a brilliant idea?”
She ventured cautiously. To the best of her knowledge, Beatrice had never once badmouthed a single person in the firm. It was rather difficult to gauge where her boss stood on this issue.
Real Estate partners would love to see the last of Vincent and Adriel. I’m sure they would have a field day knowing that John Vincent is being dumped on Vincent. They have had their fill of cleaning up the mess the pair made. If it wasn’t for the fact that Adriel is a founding partner, they would have rioted and thrown Vincent on his ass a long time ago. Bet all of them would get a kick out of knowing that it was sweet innocuous Ava who pulled it off.
“Jessica?”
Beatrice waved her hand in front of her unusually spacey assistant.
“Sorry, I must have zoned out. You were saying?”
“I was saying that we cannot do that right now. Because this would be linked directly to us. I’m sure everyone in the firm is well aware of the power struggle between Adriel and Suzanne. Even though I think… nevermind. But this also means that we cannot be too blatant in going about this. If there was an indirect method that would be best.”
“What does this have to do with Adriel or even Suzanne?”
“Because, as Lilith said and I quote, Vincent is a wanker and he is sure to kick up a stink in Suzanne’s office once he finds out that we are the ones who dumped John Vincent on him just to spite us. Even though I would probably have chosen another descriptor, Lilith is not wrong.”
Jessica could not hold back her shout of laughter at that reply.
“Was it something I said?”
“Beatrice, I have been working for you since you made partner 5 years ago. I don’t think I have ever heard you call someone a wanker or anything remotely close to crass. This is all too much to take in but it is so good.”
Beatrice smiled. She knew the reputation she had in the firm and that between her and Ava, Ava was the one with the potty mouth.
“It is an Asian thing?”
Beatrice offered her assistant a half shrug along with her response, causing Jessica to snort loudly at that response.
“Don’t tell me it is an Asian thing. I grew up with a tiger mom and somehow evolved into my own mom when I had kids. It is…”
As Jessica trailed off, Beatrice smirked.
“Fine, it is an Asian thing. But damn it, you do it so well.”
Beatrice laughed.
“Not everything is a competition Jessica.”
“Says the most competitive partner in the firm.”
Jessica shot back without hesitation.
“But back to the matter at hand, please let me know if there is anything I can do to help. Nothing would bring me more joy than to see all three of them kicked out of this firm or let go in disgrace. Either works, I’m not too picky.”
Beatrice smiled, touched by the offer.
“Sure thing, we will let you know if there is anything that we could use your assistance in.”
“Also, one last thing.”
“Hmm?”
Beatrice was about to return to her work when Jessica hesitantly added.
“I heard that Ava made at least 5 junior associates and 3 senior associates cry the last two days and she made 4 more cry today.”
“Ava did what?!”
Beatrice locked her computer and shot up from her seat.
“Next time lead with that. Could you please -”
“I’m already on it. Your appointments for the rest of the afternoon have been canceled, I have also spoken to Mrs Dobbs about clearing the rest of Ava’s day for her. Damn, I’m going to miss that old woman. I don’t blame Ava for taking this badly. Hopefully retirement would be so boring and she misses Ava enough to come back.”
“You are a lifesaver Jessica. Could you also please -”
“Lock up, make sure everything is in order for tomorrow’s presentation and that the senior associates have the materials and deck of slides sent to your inbox by the end of the day?”
“Have I ever told you how much I appreciated you?”
“Many times but you have to hurry or we would not have a customer satisfaction department left and your wife would be out of a job.”
“Bye!”
Beatrice threw a wave over her shoulder as she rushed to the lift lobby, furiously pressing the down button.
This bloody thing is taking too long. I’ll just take the stairs.
Leaping her way down the stairs, she reached the customer satisfaction department two floors below hers.
“IS THIS HOW WE DO THINGS HERE? WHAT HAVE I BEEN TEACHING YOU GUYS?”
Beatrice could hear Ava’s voice all the way at the stairwell across the office.
“HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO REPEAT MYSELF? I have had it with the sloppy and shoddy work that you have been turning in. Now take it back and redo the entire proposal. Give it to me by the end of the day or else!”
Beatrice could hear the door slam. It was as though she was standing right there next to the poor associate who was just unceremoniously yelled at by her wife. Ava was never a partner who raised her voice or make threats.
Things must be pretty bad for her to be behaving this way.
As Beatrice made her way to Ava’s office, a whole floor of associates looked at her with gratitude, knowing that at least for the rest of the day, they would be spared from Ava’s wrath.
-- Ava’s office --
This sucks!! It has been almost 2 whole weeks and I am no closer to getting rid of John Vincent. Damn it!!
She slammed her hand on the table and the associates walking past jumped at the noise.
Also I was too harsh on poor Brian. But he is a dude, he needs to toughen up. They cannot expect me to be all sunshine and rainbows every day when they turn in shit like that. That level of work is dismal. This is so not helping my stress levels. Ugh. If I tell Bea about it, she would just worry and offer me Jessica. I cannot do this to her. I cannot -
Ava’s inner monologue came to an abrupt stop as she felt a pair of hands on her shoulders kneading at the knots in the muscle.
“You’re the best. How do you know I needed this?”
Ava sighed as the fingers on her shoulders worked their magic.
“What is this that I’m looking at here?”
Beatrice’s voice cut through the haze brought on by the impromptu massage.
Wait, that is Bea’s voice. So… who the fuck is this touching me?!
Ava wrenched her shoulders away, whirled around and stared at the person standing behind her chair.
“Who the fuck are you?”
Ava could feel her skin crawling.
“Yeah, that is what I would like to know too. Who the fuck are you and why were you touching my wife?”
Beatrice looked menacing at the newcomer.
“My apologies. I was standing here the whole time, there are a couple of documents that required Ava’s signature urgently and Jonathan sent me to make sure they get back to him by today.”
“It’s Mrs Silva-Young to you.”
Ava shot back with an instant correction.
“Sorry Mrs Silva-Young. It is just that you looked like you could use a shoulder massage from all the stress that you have been carrying.”
“So what if I am stressed? Who are you anyway? You work for Jonathan, yes. But I’m pretty sure you have a name unless you prefer I call up Jonathan and ask him why he sent a creep to my office for signatures?”
“I’m so so sorry! I really meant nothing by it.”
Beatrice watched the conversation unfold in front of her.
This guy is good. He looks contrite enough to seem genuine but so far he has managed to side-step Ava’s press for his name.
“Love, just call security. He obviously isn’t interested in volunteering his name no matter how many times you asked for it. You call security while I call Jonathan.”
Beatrice reached forward and placed a hand on Ava’s shoulder.
“No, no, no, no. Please do not call security. I’m Matthew. Matthew Hardy, personal assistant to Jonathan over at Litigation.”
“Just leave the documents on the table and I’ll get someone to run them to Jonathan after I’ve signed.”
Matthew did as he was told and stood to the side of the room.
“What are you still doing here?”
“You said to leave it on your desk?”
“Yes, which implies you are dismissed. You can go back to whatever it is that you are doing for Jonathan before he sent you on this run.”
“Yes, Mrs Silva-Young.”
Matthew made his way to the door, brushing by Beatrice in the process. She shot out a hand and stopped him in his tracks.
“If you ever pull a stunt like that on my wife again, you will have me to contend with.”
Beatrice said in a low voice.
“Do you understand me?”
Matthew nodded, his face white as a sheet. While Ava was the brightest, most guileless person among the OCS partners, Beatrice was a force to be reckoned with. Always polite and kind until someone crosses her, then they wish they were never born.
“Great, glad we cleared that up.”
She patted him on the back.
“Now leave.”
She growled out, squeezing his bicep. It was all Matthew could do to keep his wince in as he hurried out of Ava’s office.
“Love, we need to work on your situation awareness.”
Ava pouted.
“Bea…….”
She whined.
“I feel gross and violated.”
“Come here.”
Beatrice folded her wife into a hug.
“Jess cleared my schedule and had Mrs Dobbs clear yours. Pack up your stuff darling, we are going on a date for you to de-stress.”
Ava looked up from Beatrice’s embrace.
“How did you know I was stressed?”
“You mean apart from the yelling I heard from the stairwell?”
Ava blushed. She rarely lost her temper in general but the whole situation was impossible to deal with.
“I have never heard you yell this loudly before. Besides, Jessica was the one that alerted me to it.”
“Jessica?”
“Yeah, Jess. Apparently things were bad enough that the secretarial rumor pool is going wild and they are all concerned about you. Can’t have their favorite partner of all time ranting and raging at all the associates now can they?”
Beatrice teased. Ava knew she was a fan favorite among the secretarial pool.
Then why is no one swapping with stupid John Vincent to come work for me!
Ava sighed and burrowed further into the embrace.
“Jess also said I should come save the department from you. Something about making about… 10 associates? By now there should be about 10. Cry?”
“I’m so stressed Bea.”
Ava whispered.
“I know, that’s why I’m here and we are going on a date right now for you to de-stress. I noticed in my calendar that Jessica had made a reservation at Esquina for 1pm. Later we will meet with the rest at Revival. I promise love, we’ll figure something out.”
“Esquina? You mean that Spanish place that I have wanting to try since forever? Reviews said they serve authentic Spanish food. As a Spaniard I am very much obligated to go test it out and see if it is as authentic as they say but we never had the time to. What with all these stupid things going on. Are we really going there? How did Jessica get the reservation at the last minute??”
“I never ask, she never tells. That’s just how we work. She can pull strings that I do not want to know about. That woman scares me sometimes.”
Ava giggled.
“You are scared of Jessica? That is something you don’t see every day.”
“Game recognizes game darling, and Jessica is good at it. I wonder why she is content with being a secretary.”
“Wait, if we are both skipping out on work in the middle of the day, does Mama S knows?”
“Check your phone.”
Ava disentangled herself from Beatrice and picked up her phone from the table. There was a message from Suzanne just as Beatrice had predicted.
“How did you…”
“If Jessica told me all about it, I’m sure Suzanne would have gotten the wind of it before me.”
Mama S: Take the afternoon off and clear your head. Tell your wife to stop working and work her magic on you. I don’t want my entire customer satisfaction department walking out on you. Now, vamos.
“Mama S is the best!”
Ava crowed as she sped around the table throwing her belongings into her bags and shutting down her computer.
“I’m done! Let’s go babe, we have a reservation that we cannot miss.”
Ava dragged Beatrice out of her office and locked her door. They made their way to the lift lobby hand in hand, Ava talking Beatrice’s ear off at a mile a minute as she scrolled Esquina’s food recommendations in the other.
Beatrice looked at her wife fondly and smiled.
Still as easily distracted by food as ever.
-- Later that evening --
“Bea…”
“Bea…”
“Bea…”
“Bea…”
“Bea…”
“Bea…”
“Bea…”
“Bea…”
“Bea………. “
Ava half groaned, half whined from her position on their living room sofa, her legs dangling off the armrest.
“Yes love?”
Beatrice looked up from her phone. The pair of them had spent a good part of the afternoon reconnecting over tapas, paella and bottomless sangria.
“I feel like I’m about to explode from all the food.”
“Love, I say this with all the fondness in my heart and then some, but what were you expecting? We had the tasting menu and then you decided to order an extra 2 mains, an octopus dish and half a suckling pig. To end off, you couldn’t make up your mind on the desserts so you got both the strawberries and the Guanja Chocolate Fondant. In your own words, to cover all your bases when it comes to desserts since the tasting menu has the other two.”
“Did I eat that much?”
Ava wondered to herself out loud.
“Hush Bea, that was rhetorical. You don’t need to answer.”
Ava cuts in knowing that Beatrice would seize the opportunity to be a smartass.
“I think the bigger question you should be asking now is, what are you going to tell Piper later when you cannot stomach the food she is going to be feeding you with.”
“Oh god, Pipes!”
Ava sat up suddenly, instantly regretted her decision and returned to her original position.
“Pipes is going to be so crushed. Especially since we haven’t been there in a while. I think it was the night that Lilith and I got so gloriously drunk.”
“I’ve texted the group chat to let them know of the plans. Piper mentioned that since Cam and Lilith are going to be late, she freed up our table for reservations till 9pm, citing that it is finally Friday and you can let loose all you want.”
Ava pulled out her phone and scrolled through the texts that was sent in the group chat whilst she was incapacitated by her food coma.
“Pipes’ the best! She said she would make sure to have all my favorite foods on standby.”
“Aren’t you too full to stomach anything else?”
“This is for 9pm Bea, by then what is lunch?”
Beatrice shook her head at Ava’s logic. Her wife is a metabolic miracle. Given the amount of food and alcohol she consumes, any regular human being would have ballooned and become a ball. Not Ava. Not her wife. Ava looked as good as the day they accidentally ran into each other in their freshman year.
“I’m going to go make a cup of coffee, do you want one?”
Beatrice waited for a reply whilst reading an email. After a prolonged silence, she looked over to find Ava fast asleep in the same position that she has been in ever since they got home.
“You are going to cut off the blood supply to your legs sleeping like this.”
Beatrice grumbled to herself as she scooped Ava off the sofa with one arm behind her knees.
“My poor baby. This whole thing really is taking a toll on you huh. You look exhausted.”
The dark circles under Ava’s eyes were more prominent close up. Beatrice placed Ava on their bed on top of the covers, set an alarm for 7pm to ensure that Ava has sufficient preparation time for dinner before pressing a kiss to her forehead and leaving the room.