CEO's Cat Lady [Complete]

Chapter 12

The day that Vance was dreading arrived and Chris took it upon himself to be a pillar of support for his bro. He talked to Ms. Amy, but even then, he was not sure if that was going to pull through Vance because the company obviously had grounds on firing him, but he also hoped he would appealed to Ms. Amy's emotions, however little she may have got. Vance, on the other hand, was visibly nervous and Chris was tempted to smack him on his head for being such a fool. Chris' best friend wouldn't have been facing this problem if he was not so bent on breaking the company's rules.

Exactly nine in the morning, Vance was sent to the HR Head's office. Chris and all their officemates went out of their cubicles to chatter, giving predictions on what could the verdict be. Of course, there were the usual blaming and finger-pointing, to which Chris exactly did not object to because everyone knew that Vance was a bit of a troublemaker, but the thing that surprised him was the collective wish of their department for Vance to remain in the company. Surprisingly, Vance was well-liked despite his penchant for trouble because he was seen as their resident comic relief and ice breaker, making their little office a tad bit lively.

After 30 minutes, Vance returned from Ms. Amy's office. However, instead of a relieved face, they were greeted by his mournful expression. Chris immediately went to his friend's side to ask him about what happened.

"Hey, what happened?" Chris asked.

Vance grimaced before shaking his head. "Dude, I was fired. I am given until tomorrow to fix my things."

"What?" Chris asked in shock. He couldn't believe it. He had high hopes that Ms. Amy would be considerate.

"Yeah." Vance then suddenly had a moment of terror, as he turned to Chris to ask him: "What am I gonna tell my parents later?"

That was then Chris had a decision. He would confront Ms. Amy today and he was going to get his answers.

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Amy felt terrible, even if only her serious expression can be seen outwardly. She actually was wondering if she was suffering from that magical condition called the resting b***h face syndrome, for even if she was just listening in silence during meetings, once or twice, her older colleagues would tap her shoulder and whisper just to ask her if she felt okay. Lots of times she would be forced to give a smile (that actually looked more like grimace), and instead of being relieved, Amy could see that they would feel annoyed at her, because they thought she was being snob. Well, it was not as if she was trained to smile professionally, not when a show of emotion would definitely be frowned upon by her aunt and brother.

She heard knocks just two minutes after she sent off Vance away from her office with the final verdict of the whole HR Department. Thinking that it was their troublemaker employee again with some questions, she told the person behind the door to come in. However, it was not Vance's face that greeted her, but Chris, and he looked pissed.

Amy faced him, her forehead creased. "Yes, Mr. Pascual," she asked.

Chris went to her desk until he was directly in front of her. It seemed that he was struggling on how to answer her, but when he did, he said, "Ms. Amy, why did you fire Vance? Couldn't you somehow give him a second chance? Is it that hard?"

Amy's mouth went slack at the tone of reproach that could be heard from Chris' voice, but she immediately assumed a businesslike stance as she proceeded to reply. "Mr. Pascual, I understand your concern for your friend, but the decision regarding Mr. Tercera's case was decided upon by the whole department and I cannot change that."

"Can't or just won't? You're the head of the department, so surely you could change the decision."

"To be frank, Mr. Pascual, the unprofessional actions of your friend during the company outing was not the only reason why he was fired. The quality reviews of his outputs are also not satisfactory."

"But Ms. Amy, how about his family? Can't you give him another chance just for the sake of his family?"

"I'm sorry but the decision is final. Please tell Mr. Tercera that I wish him the best in his next employment."

Chris scoffed at her as soon as he heard what she said. "You're lying. You don't wish Vance anything good at all. You wish him misery because you're a miserable person yourself and you like to spread that to others. No wonder why you seem to have no friends and remained a virgin this long."

Amy stared hard at him for awhile, almost like a glare, then nodded. "Alright. If that's how you think of me, I can't do anything about that. However, if you truly care about your friend, I think you need to advise him to be a better employee next time. You can go back to your work now."

Chris did not reply anymore and just turned around to exit the room. Amy watched him with silence, an unreadable expression on her face. After a few seconds, she shook her head and went on to fix her things. There was no reason to be affected by such accusations anymore, since she wouldn't be working here tomorrow anyway.

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Arthur was back to talk with the man who had been guiding him ever since he became the head of the clan and the chairman of the Ledesma Group of Companies. He had just received some very disturbing news and he wanted to hear the opinion of someone he trusted on how he should plot his next actions.

"I received reports that my aunt has started having secret negotiations with the enemy. I'm afraid that she had shared some sensitive information already. What should I do?"

The shadow behind the door was silent for awhile. He spoke up after a few moments. "Wasn't it a bit negligent that you failed to monitor your own aunt? In any case, your most pressing concern now is for you to be more watchful of your sister. What happened to your meeting with the Schwarz boy?"

Arthur bowed his head. "I'm sorry. I take responsibility for failing to watch over my aunt's actions. We did not expect the enemy to be so bold so as to approach my aunt directly and for my aunt to be so foolish so as to make negotiations on her own."

The Ledesma Clan Head wet his lips before continuing on his report. "Trevor Schwarz expressed romantic interest towards my sister, although I'm not yet sure if that was sincere or not. I don't believe he had knowledge about the secrets of the hospital, but I'm guessing he could be an important player in our lives later on. However, what I'm most concerned is that he could be the one to expose Amy's existence to the public."

"Hmmm…" The man behind the slightly-open door seemed to be considering what he had just shared. "Considering that the enemy probably had already gleamed some very important information regarding your sister from your aunt, hiding her is not the safest option anymore. You're right though. Mr. Schwarz might play a role later in protecting your sister."

"I understand, Sir. Once I'm sure about his sincerity, I will have to talk to him about Amy."

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Chris returned to his cubicle immediately regretting what he just said to Ms. Amy. That was so unprofessional of him, and he must admit, the words were below the belt. He was thinking if he should go back to apologize to his lady boss, but he figured that it would be pushing his luck. He was not just able to stop himself earlier.

Really though… what was he thinking? He would wait for some time for things to cool down, and then he would apologize. He would make sure of that.

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After that grueling day at the office, Amy finally got home. That was her last day in the office, and her officemates didn't know about it. The director was still pissed with her and never addressed her after she submitted her resignation, and as for herself, she didn't actually want to make her exit fussy. Farewell parties and such were just going to be awkward rituals, especially for her.

So she got inside, saw Beerus waiting up for her (which was actually a surprise), picked him up when he got up to ask for a hug, went to her bedroom so that she could binge-watch episodes of BBC Planet Earth so that she could hear Sir David Attenborough's voice and relax as Beerus got around to kneading her stomach. She figured that there was nothing wrong with some relaxation because after this, her life would become messy again, and this time, probably more demanding as she would be working for none other than her own brother.

When she felt Beerus' claws kind of hurting her as they sank into the fabric of her shirt, she paused the DVD to talk to him.

"Why are you so obsessed with my tummy these days? Hmmm?"

The hairless cat responded with a meow, so Amy took the opportunity to ask her pet about his day.

"What did you do the whole day? I noticed that the couch is finally torn on all sides. You're really the god of destruction, aren't ya? Hmmm?"

The cat then stood up to cuddle right next to her neck. Sphynxes appreciate body heat since they're hairless and Amy liked it when Beerus was in this mode and not in his usual destructive one.

"You know what, I think you're so lonely at this house. How about I get you two other cats, and I will name them Whis and Champa. You promise you will never beat them up?"

The cat meowed as if saying 'yes,' but Amy was not sure if she should be convinced. She did not name her cat after the God of Destruction from Dragon Ball for nothing. As for now though, she would probably socialize Beerus with other cats at the shelter so that she would know if he would be okay with other cats.

The sound of her stomach rumbling amidst Beerus' kneading paws alerted her to her hunger. She set down her cat and trudged on to the kitchen to see what she got in her fridge. Beerus followed at her heels to check out food too. She frowned as she considered her options: ham, eggs, or a lone apple. Welp, she forgot to do her groceries… not to mention, she was missing her favorite pineapples. That was when she decided to go on grocery shopping at eight in the night; of course, not before dressing up Beerus in his yarn shirt so that he won't be cold while she was gone for awhile.

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She was comparing the quality of two pineapples when she felt someone come to her side. She did not pay much attention to it and continued on looking over her two choices. That was when she heard someone coughing, as if to get her notice. She did glance briefly, only to widen her eyes in surprise to see a familiar man smiling down at her.

"Hi. It seems like fate always leads us to see each other again," said Jensen del Rosario.

Amy smiled (or more like grimaced) as she replied with such unsure tone in her voice. "Oh, it's you again." She blinked. "Hello to you too."