Get Back To You 24 Back To The Time When I Met Ms. Grey - Part 1

"So, you did partic.i.p.ate in a lot of club activities. As far as I see, you have very good grades but no experience in this field. I'm still thinking Jenna." Shane Ricardo replied after going through her resume. He was not sure if the girl can play her role with confidence.

"I can manage Sir, I am willing to take this step. So, whatever responsibility that I get, I will make sure to handle it with care. I need this opportunity, Sir." Jenna said in a pleasing tone. Although she lacked both experience and bold confidence, Jenna had the energy; the energy to live on and survive. She looked active and curious. Usually, it takes guts to apply for the editor position directly from graduation. And on top of that, to apply for a reputed publication company, one can say that Jenna was a reckless girl trying her shot without any hesitation.

"Alright. I'm in need of an editor who can start immediately. But I wasn't able to find anyone who could give me a positive feeling. But you are okay, I guess. Make sure to be curious a lot in the beginning and learn fast. I can help you if you face any problem here. But," Mr. Ricardo paused before giving her the warning signal.

"Learn fast and properly. I am going to give you an author who's the most notorious one in this field. She's my close friend from college. And I can guide easily you if you work for her. Since we're best friends. Hmm... I said she's the most notorious one right? so even if she troubles you do not worry. I can bring her down. On the other hand, she's a pretty good writer. A solid writing skills and she doesn't make a lot of mistakes in her job; only in her personal life. You will have time to learn and explore the areas of how things work around here. We've got our information guy who will provide you with any data that you may require. I'll introduce you to him later. For now, if it's alright with you. I will book a meeting with your first author and then we can discuss. okay?"

Mr. Ricardo spoke as if it was easy and not complicated. But Jenna didn't have a lot of options. She heard him word by word and then accepted the offer to work and learn. As said, Mr. Ricardo booked a meeting with the new author and Jenna the next following day.

The next following day- at the meeting place inside the office of KeyLine publication:

Shane and Jenna waited in their private conference room right on time. The author hasn't arrived yet. Jenna was nervous throughout the whole time. She didn't know anything about this person or what might happen in this meeting. After 20 minutes of waiting, the author had arrived. Shane received a message from the security team. It took another 5 minutes for the author to reach the conference room.

That was the moment Jenna first met Lillian Grey. A female in her late 20's dressed casually but wore long coats with her hair down. She had sungla.s.ses on and looked super cool and brave. Jenna was astonished looking at her.

"You are late," Shane said coldly. He was definitely furious but still felt happy that Lillian didn't forget about the meeting and went to play somewhere.

"Fashionably late, dude," Lillian spoke casually. She entered the conference room and then took a seat opposite to both of them. She removed her sungla.s.s and looked at Jenna with a bright smile.

"Without any further adieu, I will do the introduction. Lillian this will be your new editor from today onwards. Her name is Jenna. She had just graduated and she got no experience. I'm leaving her in your care, so train her well and make sure to teach her a lot of stuff. Jenna, this is our company's one of the best writer Lillian Grey. And.....that's all" Shane bluntly cut the words which made Lillian mad.

"That's all..... Wow so much for the friendship dude." Lillian burst out sarcastically. She was clearly mad about it and gave Shane the look of 'I won't let this go without a debate later'.

Lillian immediately stood up to shake hands with her new editor. "Jenna, right?" she kept smiling whenever she looked at the girl.

"Ah...y..yes." Jenna hasn't recovered from the amazement. She loved how confident the author looks as she spoke.

"This is your seventh editor, Lilly. Now behave and make sure you don't give her any trouble." Shane went into the friend zone. After the short introduction, the conversation went from being in a meeting to a friendly gathering.

"Did he tell something bad about me, Jenna?" Lillian looked at her with pity eyes.

Jenna went into a further shock of how the other two spoke so casually. She then got reminded that Shane Ricardo and Lillian Grey were college friends. She began to join in the conversation.

"Nothing like that Ms. Grey," Jenna spoke for the first time.

"Oh, call me Lillian. I'm not used to this Ms. or..... like that." Lillian replied.

For the next few minutes, Shane advised Lillian about not troubling her new editor. Lillian listened to him silently. She never spoke against him. Jenna would often reply in between but she made sure to listen to their conversation and finally got the feeling of their personalities and character. Later that afternoon, Shane left the meeting after giving each of them their own duties. Jenna planned to leave when Lillian asked her to accompany her.

They came out of the office and walked towards the nearby park.

"Shane isn't the type to talk without any reason. He is really a good guy. And for the record, Shane and I aren't dating. So, you can fall in love with him if you want." Lillian said it out loud. Jenna was startled hearing those words. She stopped walking and looked at Lillian with a scared face.

"What? you don't want to fall in love with my friend. Why not? He's handsome, isn't he?" Lillian replied with a serious face. Jenna couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Ms. Grey. I didn't..... I'm not....." Jenna started stuttering.

Lillian kept looking as if she's expecting a response for her wingman work until she burst out laughing. Jenna knew immediately that Lillian was just playing with her.

"Don't worry. I didn't seriously play with you. Trust me. My last editor, after she joined KeyLine as in my editor. She had a lot of opportunity meeting Shane and one day, I still remember it clearly. She managed to plan a fake meeting inviting Shane, me and herself. It was all awkward until I decided to step into the situation and clear it. Later that day, She was mad at me. And she asked me often where I was? If I was with Shane she would soon appear in front of us. I don't know if she followed us or something like that. But I got the feeling that she was so into Shane and then completely messed up her work as an editor." Lillian shared a story about her ex-editor.

"Then, what happened Ms. Grey?" Jenna was into the story as she listened which Lillian noticed too.

"Then, what happened, I had to do all the work by myself and she got fired by Shane himself. The girl later when she met me, told that she had a crush on Shane and wanted to date him. I told her if she liked him then approach him directly instead of using me as an excuse or messing up her own responsibilities which Shane hates more than anything." Lillian completed the story.

"Mr. Ricardo is really strict in his work," Jenna said grasping the idea of her boss's personality.

"Strict, Shane is just working so hard to bring out a lot of talented people. Just like you, I guess. You will see it." Lillian felt proud of talking about her friend. She looked at Jenna, a very young girl really in need of a job and very active to take on any role. Lillian felt something positive from her. Shane must have felt the same.

"Jenna, wanna grab something to eat?" Lillian asked her.

"Ms. Grey, it's alright. You shouldn't be bothered." Jenna replied; the girl is still nervous.

"My treat. I think you will become the permanent editor. So, let's celebrate. Come on now. You can't back off from an eating request. That's rule number 1." Lillian pulled her close and then walked together.

"Rule number 1?" Jenna was curious.

"Yeah yeah, If you're going to work with me. I got some rules. So listen attentively, got it? Now, let's have some food. I'm starving." Lillian replied and took Jenna out for a place to have lunch together.