Her secret passion

'Welcome to Star agency where all our customer wishes and needs are met! No task is too big or impossible for our agency! At Star agency, we make sure that our clients are happy with the work we provide!' Chirped the actress in the advertisement role that was the face of 'Star' marketing agency. Once the advertisement was over it automatically started from the begging making the person that sat right across the large TV groan in agitation.

Alice has been sitting by the CEO's office door for fifteen minutes now and hell, that chirped-up voice started to get on her nerves. Who in their right mind would put a TV with companies own advertisements right by their own office waiting room?! Andy Star that's who! And why would he do it, why because the big blond in the advertisement was no other than Andy's wife Amber – the face of the company and a big pain in everyone's ass.

Alice sighed repeatedly and looked at her wristwatch. It was lunchtime and she should have been on her lunch break, but the boss called her in to discuss something important. She got up and started to walk back and forth in the small hallway.

After another five minutes, the door to Andy's office opened and Andy walked out licking his greasy lips after eating his own lunch. Alice stopped in her tracks and looked at her boss and rolled her eyes as she saw the man licking his lips once more and then wiping them in his shirt's sleeve.

It was not like Andy was some old geezer, on the contrary, he was a good-looking man in his late thirties. He was smart and was easy to work with, but sometimes the man was just a large pig. Well fine, maybe not a large pig, more like a very messy eater.

''Alice! My little mousy! Just the woman I was looking for!'' Andy shouted as he approached Alice. Andy loved to give nicknames to everyone and he called all agency employees by the nicknames he gave as he was lousy with names and this way it was easier for the CEO.

Alice smiled at him and adjusted her large-framed glasses and pushed some of her hair locks out of her face. She was dressed in a black sweater, blue jeans, with her strawberry blonde hair pulled up in a messy bun, she looked more like an over-exhausted student than a technical design divisions leader. When Alice started work at the company she was just a regular assistant that no one paid much attention to because of her looks. At first glance, Alice looked like a plain and not-good-looking mouse, but Andy realized fast that the woman was good at realizing and drafting customer ideas and making them what they needed.

''Come in my office'' he patted Alice's back and let her in his office.

As they walked in Alice could smell the strong odor of meat and beer. The smell made her stomach let out a demanding sound of food. Yes, she definitely was hungry. Alice sighed again and patted her stomach. 'Soon we will eat...' She drifted further into the office and plopped down on the crisp white couch. The office was large with a glass writing desk on one side that was accompanied by a white leather chair and a chill-out area on the other side with a glass coffee table, three white leather sofas, and some decorative figures. This is where she sat down.

She watched as Andy sat down opposite of her on a similar couch and smiled. ''The work you did for Johnsons was good!'' he chuckled ''Johnson himself called me this morning and thanked me for the agency's well-done job. It's all thanks to you!''

Alice smiled at him and nodded ''Without my team and the cooperation of mister Johnson it wouldn't be possible'' After working with a big name like Johnson for three years and hours of hard work, her team pulled off one of agencies biggest orders yet – total rebranding for large scale IT company. It was hard and a lot of times Alice wanted to give up, but she loved what she was doing and was happy for the outcome.

''Now I know you probably want to take a break and relax, but I have another big customer that wants to work with us''.

Alice nodded ''Alright, no need to worry about my team, we can start a new project ASAP if needed''.

''I know, buuuut....'' Andy clapped his palms together, ''I haven't decided who to actually give the client to... I wanted to give the client to you, but Maria sniffed up who the customer was and also wants to work with the client...''.

'I am sure that Amber, Andy's wife, tipped Maria about the customer, how else could she know it' Alice took a deep breath. Maria was Amber's friend so whenever Andy got an offer from a new customer and Amber knew it, she went straight to Maria to gossip. In a way that gave the other woman an advantage, but not always it helped.

Alice frowned at her boss and shrugged ''Alright if she wants it so bad, she can have the customer''. Maria was the leader of another division that worked mostly with Social media marketing and advancement. She was a good-looking woman that was popular in the company and well, a bit of a money chaser. Just because she wanted to work with the new customer already gave the idea to Alice as of what kind of client it was - rich and good looking, totally Maria's type. As the woman was obsessed with Insta fame and made sure that she was well known and popular it wasn't a surprise that she wanted to chase and 'befriend' people who were the same. It also gave a notion of what kind of customer Andy was talking about.

Even though both divisions worked with different sources it wasn't uncommon in the company for a division to do different style work.

''Yeah, but I just don't think it's a good idea. I would like your team to take the offer, but to be fair to Maria's team I was wondering if you would be up for a little competition?!" Andy smiled at her.

''A competition? You want me to compete with Maria's team over a client?'' Alice had to ask.

''Yep!'' Andy bobbed his head'' I already pitched the idea to the client and he thought it was amusing and fun! That way he can choose which one of you to work with. Fun right!'' The boss chuckled and clapped his palms together again.

'Fun my ass... you ass! The hell. Is this middle school or something' Alice thought to herself as she nodded back at Andy. ''Fun... not really Andy...'' She sighed again and looked at her boss with an irritated look.

Andy got up and sighed ''I am sorry Alice, but it will be fun, I know you will kick Maria's ass and the client will looove you! I feel deep in my bones that you are the one to work with him'' he walked to the door and opened it as a sign for Alice to get back to work. ''The client will be here in two days and I already sent all the needed information to you and Maria''.

Alice stood up and sighed. She was a serious woman who took her job seriously not like some competition so it annoyed that her boss decided to make of this all such a deal. Childish. But he was right, the customer will be able to determine what he liked and choose the team to work with.

''Fine...'' Alice replied and walked out of Andy's smelly office.

''That a girl!'' Andy patted Alice's back and closed the door behind her.

'That a girl my ass...' Alice thought to herself. She took her phone out of her jeans pocket and started to text her teammates 'Gang, meeting and pizza time!'

'... At Star agency, we make sure that our clients are happy with the work we provide!' That high chirped voice announced again as Alice walked past the large advertisement TV.

After Alice picked up pizza from a small place by her work, she slowly made her way back to the company. Star agency was located in the industrial part of the city, it was a four-story building with large windows that allowed to overlook the city from one side and the close by river from the other side. Over the past three years thanks to 'Star' agency, the region became the new hang out and party place where all famous faces liked to hang out and just have a good time. At night the view was spectacular and that was one of the things Alice liked about the building.

The lobby was newly refurbished and was decorated with large posters of the best agency's works and flower decors. The 'Star' agency CEO made sure to change the decor of the company every other year just so it would look stylish, fresh, and interesting to everyone that walked by or entered the agency.

Alice greeted the receptionist and b-lined to the elevator. As she waited in the lobby she felt that someone else stopped by her side. She took a deep breath, letting a faint scent of flower scent perfume hit her nose. Immediately Alice understood who it was standing next to her.

''Hello, Maria!'' Alice greeted her coworker and moved her head to look at the other woman. Maria was the total opposite of Alice. She dressed fashionably and always wore clothes that accentuated her body. She had golden-brown skin, plump lips, and lush dark hair. She looked like a supermodel all the time.

''Hi, Alice. I see that you are having pizza for lunch, huh. How nice!'' Maria smiled, but Alice could sense the sarcasm in her voice. ''I just finished my lunch actually... Very delicious five-leaf salad and smoothie'' Maria declared.

''Sound delicious, Maria'' Alice didn't look at her coworker. 'Well no wonder you have a body like that if you eat only grass and blended berries...' thought Alice to herself.

It was not like she was jealous of Maria. Fashion and that insta guru lifestyle were not for Alice. She liked the life she had and was happy to eat what she wanted and when she wanted.

The elevator door opened and both women got in.

''Third floor, yes?'' Maria asked as she pushed the third-floor button.

''Yes...'' Alice replied and sighed.

''So, I got an e-mail from Andy. Isn't it exciting! I don't know about you but I am excited about our little show-off. I just can't wait to see THE Liam Bell!'' The woman chuckled and licked her lips.

Alice frowned as she didn't know who Maria was talking about. She looked at Maria with a frown who in return rolled her eyes ''Don't tell me that you don't know who I am talking about''.

''You mean the client? I haven't read Andy's e-mail yet'' Alice replied and looked at the ceiling. 'Just shoot me!'

Maria opened her mouth to say something but the elevator door opened letting Alice escape before the other woman could say anything.

''Bye, Maria!'' Alice shouted and quickly headed to her team's meeting room to meet up with the rest of her gang.

The third floor overall was for meetings and division leaders to work in. The place was divided into five sections, each section meant for every division leader. Her workplace and meeting room were in the furthest corner just by the fire exit. Every meeting room was designed with shaded glass that let the people in the room see outside but not the other way around. Alice opened the glass door, her teammates were there already. She opened the door and smiled ''Guys, food is here!''

''Finally, I am starving!'' a young woman in a pixie cut jumped out of her seat and run to Alice to help her take the box of pizza.

''Gabby, you just had a pack of M&Ms!'' Laughed out loud a man that was sitting on the low windowsill - Tristan.

Alice walked around the round meeting table and sat down ''So you guys probably read Andy's e-mail that I forwarded to you'' she sighed and plopped down on her usual chair.

''Yup!'' a third person replied. The shape moved closer to Alice and plopped in front of her a can of Monster energy drink.

Alice looked at the person and nodded ''Thanks Ash''. The man smiled and nodded back at her. Alice opened the can and took a large gulp of the energy drink.

Her team consisted of Gaby, the young woman with a pixie cut who already munched on a slice of pizza, honestly, she could eat and eat and never feel full or get fat. That was her superpower.

Tristan, who just got up and sat on the table, was a tall man with a very androgynous look around him. Tristan always dressed neatly and looked effortless in anything he did.

And then there was Ash, who just sat next to Alice and was sipping coffee. Ash was a well-looking man who was like Alice's right hand and a shadow at a time. They both started to work at the company together five years ago and just so happened that became good friends who understood each other and worked very well together as well.

Tristan passed a box of orange juice to Gaby and watched as the young woman grab it with one hand but continued to stuff the slice of pizza in her face with the other hand. ''Liam Bell, a very popular face on social media who just a couple of months ago inherited his late father's men's fashion company that has been doing not so well in the old man's hands. So the new owner wants to rebrand the company from the ground up''. Tristan took a slice of pizza and slid the carton box to Alice and Ash.

Ash put a tablet in front of Alice with the client's Instagram profile on it. No wonder Maria wanted to grab the man. Liam Bell had a handsome face, square jawline, deep blue eyes, and blonde slightly curly hair. If cupid and Viking had a love child, Liam Bell would be it. In his posts, he mostly was well dressed or underdressed on some occasions with different women in almost every shot. 'A typical womanizer' Alice thought to herself. She nodded and took a slice of pizza for herself.

''And what about the company's social media?'' She asked her team.

''Nothing, only a website that is so outdated!'' Replied Gaby as she slid over the round meeting table to get closer to the pizza box.

Alice sighed and looked out the window to see the city around them. She started to think if this all was worth it, 'Somehow I don't feel good about this at all...'

She took a deep breath and looked back at her team ''So, that means we have to make a new image idea in two days... we have done worse...'' As Alice wanted to continue Maria opened the meeting booth door and waltzed in.

''Sorry to disturb you, but I just wanted to wish your team all the best. May the best team win, right, Alice!'' Maria smiled at Alice and blinked her lush fake lashes.

''...Right...'' Alice frowned at her coworker and moved her eyes to Gaby and Tristan who looked back at her with an annoyed look. One thing that united her team was the hatred for fakeness. At this moment Maria was the fake one.

What in the world was up with that woman!