Winning My Ex-Crush

Fenella’s POV

“No! Fenella, we had to go to the office now!” Jessy snapped.

“But-”

“How could you even consider leaving your job for Laird? You should act professionally.” Jessy cut me off and started scolding me again.

“But this is my chance to meet him again,” I protested and half-pleaded with Jessy to let me go. “Just for a moment, it won’t take long. Just for breakfast.”

“No. Listen, Fenella. Don’t you want to get back at him? Don’t you want to win his heart?”

I fell silent as Jessy’s tone began to rise, a sign that he was indeed angry. I slowly sat back down in my chair, staring at my half-eaten-boiled egg.

“I’m very sure that the revenge you’re talking about will completely fail after all you’ve done. You won’t be able to make Laird like you. You know why?” Jessy’s gaze was now fixed on me, and I remained silent.Material © of NôvelDrama.Org.

“Because you like him too much.”

“I realized that you always put Laird’s interests above your own. You always depend on Laird until you forget how to make decisions without considering Laird’s feelings. No wonder he sees you as spoiled.”

“You want him to like you, right? You want him to feel worthless without you, right? Love yourself first.” Jessy stood up from his chair and squeezed my shoulders.

“Get up. Make yourself so valuable that he begs for your love. Show that you are a successful, independent, popular, and multi talented woman.” He pulled my arm and forced me to walk to his wooden wardrobe.

We stood in front of a full-length mirror attached to the wardrobe door. I looked at myself in the mirror, and Jessy slowly backed away, leaving me alone in front of the mirror.

“Look at yourself; don’t you want to be that cool woman? Don’t you want Laird to love you? Love yourself first because no one can love you as much as you can.” Jessy pointed to my own reflection in the mirror.

“Now, change into the best outfit to go to the office. Everyone from the office will be there, so make sure you stand out with your unique style from all the other models in the office. Then send a message to Laird that you are busy being a successful and independent woman.”

Jessy stood proudly with his hands on his hips. Then I turned to Jessy and smiled.

Yes, maybe Jessy was right. I liked Laird too much. I was too eager to get him, even though he had clearly rejected me before. Not once did I not think about Laird’s interests. Going to the same high school as him, studying hard for his praise, joining the cheerleading team to cheer him on, and now becoming a model to win his heart.

I did like him, but I wanted him to like me too. With my current situation, I would never be able to make his heart surrender to me.

“You’re right, Jessy. I have to control myself,” I said, turning to Jessy.

“Thank you. What would I do without you?” I hugged Jessy tightly.

“Oh, you poor girl,” Jessy hugged back tightly.

Following Jessy’s instructions, I dressed as best as I could. I wore a hot pink tweed blazer suit, a white bustier, and thigh-high shorts in matching pink colors. I completed my outfit with a small white bag and white high-heeled shoes. Not forgetting large gold hoop earrings and a gold lariat choker necklace as accessories.

‘Sorry, I’m in a hurry. There’s an office event. Raincheck?’

Laird replied to me.

‘Ok, no problem. Break a leg.’

“Done?”

I showed my message with Laird to Jessy. He smiled and nodded.

***

When we arrived at the office building, my mouth dropped with a blossoming smile. The office had been transformed into a luxury space with lavish decorations.

“Did they renovate the office? I feel like it’s been ages since I’ve been to the office,” I said, puzzled.

“It’s impossible. Two days ago, everything was still the same as usual.” Jessy shook his head as his eyes continued to scan every corner of the office lobby.

“You mean, there was a wizard who magically did all this to our office?” I still couldn’t believe that he knew nothing about this.

“No. It’s just that the contractors did their work to fulfill the new boss’s wishes.” He snapped.

The first floor, which used to be just a lobby with white sofas, a small magazine rack, and a short glass table, was now filled with wooden tables and chairs, making me think I had mistakenly entered a cafe. There were no more tall reception desks; instead, there were photo spots with spotlights and the word ‘Gene’ in large gold letters on the cream-colored wall.

As we ascended to the second floor, once again, we were amazed by the ambiance. The area closest to the windows had been transformed into a white runway stage with small lights. Small standing fans were on the main circular stage, and another was on the end of the runway stage.

The employee desks were arranged in rows against the wall, making the room more spacious than the previous office layout. The office walls in the employee area were no longer plain gray but adorned with close-up editorial photos of each model under Gene Management, including mine.

In addition to the office space changes, it seemed that specifically for today’s event, they had added a long buffet table. Various types of food were served with ice buckets containing bottles of champagne and wine at the ends.

“Wow, this is truly an office party,” I said to Jessy.

“I told you, didn’t I? Luckily, you listened to me. I’ll greet the other agents first. Go mingle with the other models.” Jessy walked away to greet the other agents.

While they chatted about office changes, I grabbed a glass of red cocktail served by a waiter. I sipped the cold cocktail and sighed. One, because I was relieved to arrive on time for the event. Second, I could enjoy a cold cocktail after boredom in the taxi due to traffic jams.

“Fenella,” someone greeted me, and I turned.