Chapter 14 Mid-level Designer
The car glided smoothly to a stop in front of Alicia's apartment building. As Alicia opened the car door, she turned to Damian, who seemed to be in a sour mood and flashed him a warm smile. "Thank you, Mr. Howard, for all your help today," she said.
For a moment, Damian's irritation melted away under Alicia's bright smile. He even forgot to insist that she call him by his first name.
Alicia then turned her attention to Lyon. "And thank you, Mr. Lyon, for restoring the CCTV footage to help me. You were cool! Really! "
Lyon's eyes widened in surprise at Alicia's effusive praise. He had never received a genuine thank you from anyone outside of the pack before. His chest swelled with pride. If Alicia became the Luna of the Moon Halo Pack, he thought, maybe it would not be a bad thing.
"Miss Scarlett, you're too kind," Lyon replied with a smile.
As Alicia walked towards the entrance of her building, Damian turned to Lyon with a steely expression, "Lyon, I don't want to see that redhead design director's name on any more designs,"
"Understood. What about Shinfancy?" Lyon asked.
"Leave it alone for now. My mate would freak out if she came to work tomorrow and found the company dead. I don't want her to have too many scares in her first week of knowing me," Damian said, gazing up at the lights flickering on the eighth floor of Alicia's building.
Damian fished out his phone and dialed Ellis. "Ellis, is the ninth floor of the apartment building on West Fifth Street still on the market?"
As Alicia stepped into her apartment, the silence of the empty space engulfed her. She gazed out of the window, the neon lights casting a dim light into the room but failing to fill the vast emptiness. This was a feeling she had grown used to over hundreds of lonely nights, and she let out a soft sigh before making her way to the kitchen to prepare her dinner.
Just as she had finished cooking pasta, her phone beeped with a message from Nadia.
\[Allie, super breaking news!\] the message read. \[Lilith has been kicked out of Shinfancy! Not the studio, the pack! I just left a pack meeting.\]
Alicia was taken aback. "WHAT?! WHY?" she replied, her fork slipping out of her hand and the pasta falling back onto her plate.
Nadia immediately followed up with a voice call request. When Alicia answered Nadia's call, she could hear the relief in her friend's voice. "Thank the great Moon God, Allie, you are willing to return my messages and answer my call. You know, after you and Mr. Howard left, I was really worried that you would never talk to me again."
"Why?" Alicia asked, genuinely puzzled.
"Because I didn't stand up for you at the meeting. I felt so bad about it," Nadia confessed, her voice trembling with emotion. "I know you would never copy someone else's work. But I'm just a Gamma in the pack. You know I can't argue against Beta Lilith. Sorry!"
Even though Alicia was an Alpha's daughter, she did not despise her at all after knowing that she was a Gamma. Besides, she really admires Alicia's hand-drawn designs. She tried to help Alicia when Lilith called Alicia a plagiarist, but no matter what level of designer she was in the studio, she was always a Gamma. Nadia thought.
Alicia felt a wave of warmth wash over her. She also understood the constraints that Nadia faced as a Gamma, unable to oppose the authority of the Beta and Alpha.
"Oh, Nadia, don't say that. You did nothing wrong. I mean it. You're a good friend," Alicia replied warmly.
"You're so sweet, Allie!" said Nadia, her voice now laced with gratitude.
Alicia's mind was still reeling from the news about Lilith, and she couldn't help but wonder what had happened. Alicia asked, "By the way, you just said that Lilith was kicked out of the pack. What the hell is going on?"
"Because she plagiarized, of course!" Nadia continued after taking out a tissue and wiping her nose. "You know 'plagiarism' is Alpha Rhett's bottom line."
"But didn't she get suspended? That's a severe enough punishment," Alicia countered, hoping that the situation wasn't as dire as it sounded.
"It's totally not enough. She pissed off DH," Nadia revealed, her voice dripping with glee.
"Who's DH?" Alicia asked, confused.
"Oh, come on! I know. Trust me! I'll never tell anyone that you're his mate. After all, his name is a forbidden word on the Internet," Nadia said with a giggle.
"You mean Mr. Howard?" Alicia said, feeling a knot form in her stomach.
"Of course. Oh, yes! I heard that the glasses-wearing Beta told Alpha Rhett that they had added Lilith to his pack's blacklist, as well as the world's designer blacklist. So, you know. That bch is over," Nadia continued to gossip.
"What?" Alicia was completely taken aback by the severity of the punishment Lilith had received in just two hours since leaving the office.
"Yes, you heard me right! Where there are rogues in North America, there are members of the Moon Halo Pack. That bch will have to move to another country, no, continent to live," Nadia said with a gloating tone.
After ending the call with Nadia, Alicia let out a deep sigh. Despite Lilith copying her work and slandering her, Alicia couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for her former colleague. However, this incident also made her realize a worrying fact: never cross Damian Howard.
Alicia's phone buzzed again. It was a message from Rhett.
\[Allie, Lilith is no longer with us. I promise no one will suspect you in Shinfancy from now on.\]
\[You don't have to do that.\] Alicia replied.
\[Sorry, I didn't know you were his mate before.\]
Alicia bit her lip and didn't respond to Rhett's message. She sighed and thought to herself, "I wish you and the others never knew I was Damian's mate."
The next day when Alicia entered the office, the atmosphere was noticeably different. The lack of chatter and gossip among colleagues made the office eerily quiet. When Alicia greeted Cassie with a "good morning," Cassie responded briefly and then quickly averted her eyes, as if she were about to shift and eat her.
It wasn't until Nadia returned and greeted Alicia warmly that she began to feel a sense of normalcy again. However, her relief was short-lived when Rhett called her into his office to deliver a message from Damian's Beta.
"Alpha Damian is very pleased with your design and has approved it without any revisions. That makes sense." Rhett said, spreading his hands.
While Alicia was elated to receive approval on her first draft without any changes, she couldn't help but feel a twinge of disappointment. Did Damian approve her work because it was truly excellent, or was it because she was his mate? The thought left her feeling uncertain and uneasy.
"Do you think my design could use some improvements, Mr. Rhett?" asked Alicia, hoping for useful feedback.
"Not at all, Allie. The client is satisfied with your work and hasn't requested any changes. This business has been a success for Shinfancy," Rhett responded with a shrewd smile, clearly satisfied with the outcome.
"Business?" Alicia raised an eyebrow. Her confusion grew when Rhett continued, "I also wanted to thank you for introducing Alpha Damian to our studio. His Beta gave us the green light to make our collaboration public. It's going to be a big deal for the studio." His eyes lit up with excitement.
After knowing she was Damian Howard's mate, Rhett felt a surge of excitement because Alicia was now worth more to him than her talent. As long as he kept Alicia in the studio for the long haul, his pack, and the Moon Halo pack could have a long-term partnership.
Alicia's heart sank as she realized that her boss was only interested in her connection to Damian. "But I didn't introduce him. He did..." Alicia said, trying to explain, but Rhett cut her off.
"I know. It must have been Alpha Damian taking the initiative to support your work. Anyway, you're bringing a big client to Shinfancy. I've decided to promote you to Mid-Level Designer so you can take care of the regular Alpha-Level clients." Rhett said excitedly.
Alicia was stunned by the promotion. She had been hoping for it since the New Year, but the reason for her promotion left her feeling empty. She had always wanted to reach this level of recognition through her hard work and dedication, not because of her mate's status.
"To celebrate our partnership with Moon Halo Pack and Allie's promotion, I've reserved a ballroom at the Times Hotel," Rhett declared in the office area, "Everyone will be working from home tomorrow. The party will start at 6 pm. You can bring your family and friends."
As the office erupted in cheers, Alicia forced a smile, but her lingering memories of the messages Damian had sent yesterday told her something was wrong.
Wait!
Friday night? The Times Hotel?