“Did you have a good weekend?”I asked.
“It was passable.I’d ask how yours was, but I already saw.”
He held up his phone, showing me two pictures side by side.One was a distance shot of me standing in the pond—no one would ever know it was me since I was facing away from the camera.The second one was of me walking through the building, smiling, waving, and completely drenched.
I scrolled to see the headline:First fire, now water.What’s next for Steele Corp’s newly acquired infamous employee?
I kept reading.
Sophia Elmantas, Steele Corp’s Walking Catastrophe, is splashing headlines yet again after a dramatic plunge into a golf-course pond on Sunday during an outing with Mrs.Steele herself.This happens just weeks after her involvement in that eyebrow-raising data leak (from which she was cleared with remarkable speed), and her home mysteriously caught fire last weekend, leading to a Friday arrest that some netizens say wrapped up a little too neatly.
Netizens can’t help noticing that each calamity only seems to pull Sophia closer into the Steele family’s inner circle, raising the question: Is she simply the unluckiest employee on record, or is her meteoric rise through misfortune a bit too convenient?Whether she’s social climbing or just cursed, one thing’s for sure: The saga of Sophia Elmantas is far from over, and we’re watching eagerly to see what disaster—or opportunity—she stumbles into next.
“It just popped up a few minutes ago,” Edi said.“I was going to call Mr.Steele to see how he wanted to address it.”
They’d written the article carefully this time, making sure to lean on public speculation rather than sources that could be proven incorrect.
“Not my best picture, that’s for sure,” I said.“Leave it.”
“You sure?”
“Positive.Only take down the stuff that’s a lie or infringes on privacy—like that car photo.”
He nodded and turned away.
I realized what it meant that he’d gone to me instead of Konni about this.He knew I had the final word.Wrinkling my nose, I faced my computer just in time to see a message pop up from Konni, asking us to join him.
Thinking it was about the article, I was mentally preparing reasons to back my choice when I walked into the office behind Edi.
“I need to pull together a meeting with the project managers as soon as possible this morning.All of them,” Konni said.“I’ll need you there too, Sophia.”
“Why?”I asked.
“The work you did last week highlighted an issue with the planning phase.”
The designs I’d reviewed last week had been in the operations phase, pre-construction, already out of the project development queue.
Konni read the question in my gaze.
“I’d like you to keep looking for improvements on the bigger projects currently in the project development queue.Especially the projects that are hesitating to sign a contract.”
I immediately thought of the Riverside project that was supposedly on hold because of my presence.Konni was giving me a chance, not only to prove myself to the co-workers and clients who questioned my place at Steele Corp but also to shift public opinion about why I was here.
He was also handing me a golden ticket for something even better.
“Lianna will be thrilled to hear I’m reviewing projects.I look forward to bringing in more contracts for Steele Corp in her place.”
Konni chuckled.“Thought you might.”
Edi was already checking the project managers’ schedules on his tablet.“How much time do you need with them?”
“Fifteen minutes should work.”
“I can make room first thing this morning.”
“Perfect.Thank you, Edi.”
Edi left while I lingered.
