Chapter 3: She Loves Control, She Wants It Her Way

3.3K 77 4
                                    

24th June 2021 6:30am

*beep beep beep*

I grabbed the pillow next to me, using it to cover my ears to block out the sound...

*beep beep beep*

I turned over, setting off the alarm and sitting up in bed, wiping my eyes and seeing the captivating sunrise forcing its way through the blinds. I made my way into the bathroom- feeling the cold tiles press up against my feet. I squinted- trying to block out the bright lights that illuminated the room. I completed my morning hygiene- showering, brushing my teeth and putting on some light makeup. I slowly walked over to my open bag resting on the floor below me- grabbing my white turtleneck, black trousers and grey trench coat- and putting it all on before slipping on my black heels.

I grabbed my phone, glasses and wallet from the wooden side table- leaving the room and closing the door behind me, slipping the key card into the pocket of my coat and making my way into the elevator.

24th June 2021 7:15am

As I made my way through the hotel lobby and into the warm morning air outside, I was greeted by Jenkins. He had parked in a small space in front of the hotel entrance and was stood waiting patiently in front of the same black Mercedes as yesterday.

"Good morning Miss Cabello" he spoke happily, giving me a small smile before opening the back door of the car.

"Good morning Jenkins" I replied, getting into the car and opening the newspaper to my right...

During the drive to Jauregui Multinational I tried to stay focussed on the paper in front of me, but I often found myself getting distracted by the gorgeous Miami scenery on the other side of the glass. The beautiful environment was hypnotising me: the slender palm trees aligning the side of the road, cars speeding down the street- desperately trying to get into work on time, the pedestrians rushing up and down the paths... It was becoming increasingly evident that my life would never be the same if I chose to leave Miami again- something about it was pulling me in, and for a reason I didn't know, I couldn't bring myself to want to leave.

The closer we got to the office, the more the nerves began to slowly take over my body...

24th June 2021 7:45am

"Here we are Miss..." Jenkins said, turning around in his seat to smile at me sweetly.

"Thank you so much Jenkins" I said, reciprocating the smile and opening the car door, making my way outside and looking up at the vast building towering above me.

Although the building was incredibly large it was still beautiful, it was a black high rise building with circumambient windows coating it's outside, it thinned out at the top- forming a point that almost touched the beautiful Miami skyline above. As I made my way to the entrance, I examined the large sign written in gold above the large entrance:

'Jauregui Multinational'

The sign was reflecting the sunlight- giving it a striking yellow appearance. It perfectly contrasted against the black exterior and allowed Jauregui Multinational to protrude from the rest of the buildings on the street. The building had an authoritative feel, holding its position as the centrepiece- belittling every other building, car and person below it.

The lobby of the building was fascinating. It had an incredibly modern design with smooth hardwood floors and white walls with an assortment of black, white and grey paintings dispersed across the room. The room had grey elevators positioned in the centre of the back wall- contrasting with the large, ivory pillars symmetrically allotted throughout the room. There was a large desk in the middle of the room- situated next to the small chairs, lamps and small tables that were randomly allocated throughout the lobby- purely for the use of visitors. Lots of people in suits had occupied the furnishings- sat engrossed in papers or engaged in important conversation. As I walked further into the lobby a few of them noticed me- looking up from their papers briefly before going back to work.

"Welcome to Jauregui Multinational" said a voice behind the desk "How can I help you?" said the woman, smiling politely and looking up from the computer screen in front of her.

"I'm Camila Cabello..." I said nervously "I'm here for Lauren Jauregui, she, uhhh, requested my assistance for a project..."

"Oh Miss Cabello!" said the woman"I'm Normani Kordei... I'm assisting you on the project! It's a pleasure to finally meet you, I've heard lots of good things..." she said, flashing me a friendly smile before holding out her hand. I returned the smile, reaching out my hand and letting her take it in hers- shaking it eagerly.

"If you would like to follow me... I can take you on a tour of the building? Show you your office? Take you to meet the rest of the team? Lauren isn't out of her meeting until 10- so luckily for you we have time to settle in before we get to work!" said the woman excitedly, pressing the 'up' button on the elevator.

*dingggg*

The doors opened- and people came pouring out, who knew an office complex could be so busy at 8am? Normani and I stepped inside- the walls were made of marble, with handrails of polished metal. Along the  back wall there was a full length  mirror- showing my nervous reflection staring back at me...

24th June 2021 8:15am

"We only have small team" Normani said, walking in front of me and opening the doors to the conference room, "But we still meet the deadlines so don't worry... I don't think we've ever submitted a project late..." she continued.

"For this project it will just be me, you, Ally and Dinah. Lauren will come and go, overseeing everything we want to submit- she decides what ideas Jauregui Multinational takes to the board..."

I nodded thoughtfully,

"Lauren's job is to speak to the directors- we just do the background work. Here at Jauregui Multinational we work with all of the top US sports leagues: from the NBA to the NFL, the NHL to the MLS... you name it, Lauren basically runs all of the sports events for America. She plans and promotes events, and encourages investment from large companies- most of which aren't even involved in the sports sector. But she does it better than anybody else could- hence why Jauregui Multinational is the place everybody comes too... and why we've started expanding into Asia and Europe..." her face lit up,

"Oh, I almost forgot! Shawn and Austin are also on the team... but they only get involved when we are working with the NBA or the NHL, so you might see them for a little bit while working on the project- even more so if you stay..." Normani trailed off...

"Anyway!" she said,"This is the conference room where we spend a lot of our time, this is where we will present our ideas to Lauren- and each other. This is also where we will have all of our meetings, so try and remember where it is...and try not to get lost newbie." she winked playfully, laughing at her joke as she opened the door, taking me back out into the corridor and walking towards a row of offices.

"Let me take you to your office and then we can meet Dinah and Ally!" said the woman excitedly, turning back to look at me and giving me a mischievous grin...

Expectations: WLW (Camren)Where stories live. Discover now