Victoria just kept looking left and right between her boss and the singer. She was about to ask if the two women knew each other but realized it would be wise to stay silent. The two women were surprised and showed a hint of fury.
“You are the singer???”
“Weren’t expecting the peasant, were you, Princess?” Gwen snarled. Azula couldn’t believe what was happening.
“There were no other musicians available?” Azula glared at Victoria who seemed to be stuttering.
“N-no ma’am, I was told that all the other artists were too expensive for our budget, some were already on international tours. We had to search YouTubers instead”.
“So she is only one of those people who do not have an actual record deal? She is just another anonymous singer?” Azula scoffed.
“Uh, why are you guys talking about me as if I’m not here?” Gwen frowned with her arms folded.
“The adults are talking Gee Gee”, Azula smirked.
“The fuck did you just call me???”
Azula returned her focus to Victoria. “Who was in charge of selecting musicians?”
“The sixth floor, the camera crew usually has permission to select models, musicians, and actors for the company’s ad campaign.”.
“You think I was not aware of that! I already know how this company is run fool! I was asking who was in charge of the department on the sixth floor specifically”, Azula said with a scowl.
“Mr. Burgane, Ma’am”.
“Summon him to my office, I would like to have a little chat with him”.
Gwen just chuckled. “Summon him? What are you, the evil queen from Snow White?”.
Azula made a deep inhale. Then she turned to Gwen. “That remark was not necessary Gee Gee”.
“Yeah? Well neither is the way you treat your employees. They are people, not slaves working for a tyrannical dictator”.
Azula eyed her, and with her critical mind, she realized the blonde could be a threat to authority. She seemed rebellious and had an obvious attitude problem. She didn’t seem to care who she had her spats with. Azula could predict her confidence by her sassy attitude alone. She was dangerous.
“Tell me, Gee Gee, what power do you have to decide how this company should be run?”
Before Gwen could say something witty, Azula just carried on as if her question was rhetorical. “You are just another anonymous YouTuber who hasn’t even done a face reveal. But you should be grateful my company even noticed you. And I assure you…” Azula said with acid in her tone as she was close enough for their noses to touch.
“One screw-up, one mistake during your time here, and you will lose everything”.
Gwen just glared, and Azula smiled triumphantly. Silence from her meant she was finally realizing her career was now at stake.
Then she turned away from the artist, walking to the elevator. “Plain Jane! I suggest you be comfortable with having this ‘girl’ as your main focus. Until she is no use to this company”.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
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“What the fuck?!”
“Please watch your language Miss Stacy”, the makeup artist scolded. The punk woman just rolled her eyes.
“She shouldn’t talk to people like that, and that’s the second time I’ve seen her acting like a stuck-up, bossy bitch!”, Gwen complained with her arms folded.
“Miss Stacy”, Victoria spoke up, “Azula may—”
Gwen barely held in her laughter, “Her name is…wait does that mean she’s Japanese?”
“I’d rather not ask questions like that (out loud anyway). And I don’t think it’d be wise to piss her off more than today”.
“But her being the CEO of a company doesn’t excuse her posh bitchy attitude”.
“Okay, stop talking now. I need to do your lipstick”. The stylist ordered. Gwen pouted but then her lips just straightened. She looked like a humanoid dull emoji.
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Azula was in her office, hesitating to use the laptop. This modern period was worse than…socializing and being normal. She already learned the basics of technology, but even her ‘mentor’ had difficulty teaching her the complex details of the internet. She tried other sources but it became impossible to catch up. She groaned in frustration.
“Why is this dimension torturing me with globalization?”
Then there was a ‘buzz’ sound on her intercom. “Ma’am, Mr. Burgane is by your office door”.
Azula pretended to be focusing on something important. "Send him in”.
A man who seemed to be in his early fifties came in. “Yes Ma’am?”
“I demand to know how you select the celebrities this company sponsors”.
“…we look for the youngest and overlooked artists, even if they are YouTubers”. He explained as he sat on the chair opposite his employer. She gave him a look to continue. “The reason why is because after the company’s failed launch we lost one million to the bank. So even looking for artists was affected by the budget”.
Azula placed her elbows on her desk, her hands pressed together vertically in front of her face. “I see…well since we cannot replace her as I observed you already negotiated payment with the artist. The thing I don’t understand is why you didn’t inform me about this before selecting that girl”.
“I was only aware of you being the new CEO two days ago, and the sponsorship plan was already being done long before”.
Azula stood up and walked to the man. “Well from now on…any ideas you and your team have for the company must be said to me first. I’m running this company so anything happening that I am not aware of, that could probably be terrible for publicity, you Mr. Burgane will have to take full responsibility”.
“Do you mean in the filming department or…”.
“What do you think I mean?” Azula deadpanned. Her tactics of fear were working, she could scare anyone in the building because most of them were pathetically dependent on their salary. “Well make sure Gwen Stacy doesn’t get too big for her shoes, understand? You may return to the department”.
She said with a “shoo” gesture. The man walked out. As he closed the door, he made a rude gesture at the door before walking back to the lower floor. Azula on the other hand breathed a long sigh of relief. She may be skilled with fear but her lack of modern slang needed more attention.
She remembered her ‘father figure’ teaching her how people like Gwen Stacy became famous in the current decade of digital technology. She was fortunate enough to learn how to access the profiles of YouTubers like any other young individual.
After finding her account on YouTube, she listened to one song. “…Her voice isn’t terrible. It is surprisingly…angelic”. It’s a shame she had an attitude problem. Although she wanted to fire her, she needed a more reasonable excuse, so she would put up with it for now.
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As Gwen was performing a photo shoot, requested a bathroom break. Despite the director's insisting that they wrap everything up today, Gwen said it was urgent. “(sigh) fine, but only five minutes. Got that Miss Stacy?”
“Uh Huh, yup!” Gwen answered as she walked out of the film studio. As she headed to the emergency staircase, another individual bumped into her. “Sorry about—what are you doing here?” Gwen seemed surprised and annoyed that she ran into the bossy/stuck-up CEO from earlier. Azula raised an eyebrow.
“I should be saying that to you”.
“I…needed some fresh air”, the blonde girl lied.
“Already having a mental crisis? Isn’t this your first day in the company?”
Gwen scowled. “Why am I explaining to you? How I spend my free time is none of your business”. And with that, she ran to the fire exit. Azula waited ten seconds before running to check where the company’s living profit was headed. Only to find that she was completely gone, there was no sign of her. This was odd and suspicious, but she had somewhere to be and didn’t have time to find out the blonde’s departure. So she left down the stairs.