Chapter 141 - Pay Me Back

Jessica Carlson is a strong woman with high moral ethics and integrity, she would never spare a person for making any ethical fallacy especially those who are disloyal to their work. This is what made her a strong business woman in the business circle. 

Working under her is considered as a prestigious opportunity, she herself is a brand in the fashion industry and that's why more than hundred businesses wanted to collaborate with her. 

She created a strong name for herself in the fashion world as she collaborated with different businesses to launch different brands for casual wear, for wedding dresses etc. 

In the past she has been invited to be one of the judges to many top fashion shows in Paris. She has been invited to many universities and companies for a ted talk. 

She attended every big event as she too got to learn a lot through these events and it was an opportunity for her to promote her brands and also take inspiration from others.

Her employees personally believe she is a tough boss but was also very supportive and is concerned about her employees as although she was tough with them, she guided them to achieve greater heights in life and if they went through any personal crises she even helped them, earning herself very loyal and dedicated employees. 

Jessica believes toughness extracts the best out of people and it would be worse if more and more people rely on her, she believes making them capable and independent, as that would not only be beneficial for her but for her employees too. 

She knew even in this modern society, men still dominate the business sector and to survive here she needs to be tough. 

Only a few people who are very close to her know her real personality and if they would ever tell how she is truly with the people close to her, friendly and sweet, no one would believe them that's the kind of image she created for herself, a cold and complicated person who is tough but if need comes she will show concern but she is always has that aloof aura around her.

She looked like a perfect person and no one seemed worthy to be around her but that is not true, she too is a human being and just like others she too makes mistakes but she always learns from them and ensures one mistake she commits never repeats itself but she is a strong woman who is immune to external influence, she has her own thoughts and feelings which she firmly believes in and strongly follows.

After being a brand name in the fashion world she now decided to enter the world of cosmetics. She is planning to start a new brand named Eli which would have all kinds of cosmetics available at one place. But her idea is a bit different than usual, she wants to collaborate her fashion industry with cosmetics, she wants to launch exclusive products that would pertain to a particular dress type.

'If people wear different types of clothes for different events then why don't they use different cosmetics products for different events' This thought is what provoked her to go with this idea.

A person doesn't wear formals for a casual gathering and similarly they won't wear casual clothes to formal meetings which should be applied to cosmetics is what she believed and she conducted research to understand more about this market.

Her research showed most women use the same cosmetics for the workplace or for casual gatherings. 

So, she wanted to tap into this market and create cosmetics for different lifestyle events. For the beginners she was planning to sell cosmetics free with her clothes and would study more about the response of her clients and would delve deeper into this idea based on the customers' response. 

She wanted to sell clothing and cosmetics under the same roof so she thought instead of setting up a new industry for cosmetics, she decided to collaborate with already established cosmetics brands in Europe, this would save her the trouble to start everything from ground zero and it is easier to create more products under an established brand name as it would carry more weight than a newly launched brand.

Cosmetics is a very sensitive industry, it is a make or break sector, there is no middle ground in this industry and that's why she decided to collaborate.

Rachel wanted to expand her business across the world, her cosmetics brand was very popular in Europe but she wanted to expand it to other countries and was waiting for an oppurtinity where her business can be expanded, when she got to know about Jessica's idea, she loved it and wanted her brand to collaborate with her fashion brand and therefore she worked hard for it.

Just like Rachel many other companies wanted to tie up with Carlson company and were in the race to grab the project. 

While Jessica was going through the proposals, after every proposal she read, she was either rejecting them, accepting them or keeping them on hold.

She rejected some proposals straight away if she found their business plan over the top and not practical or if she felt it wouldn't work. She accepted the proposals which were practical and she felt things would work perfectly if she collaborates with them. She kept those proposals on hold where she liked a few suggestions but was not sure if it was sustainable enough.

As soon as Jessica decides to shortlist a proposal she asked her assistant to research on the business that sent that particular proposal, if their background was clear and they were never involved in any criminal offences or in any unethical practices then she would shortlist them for the next round where she would be personally meeting their head.

For Jessica only a perfect business plan is not everything, the way they do their business equally matters to her, she doesn't want to be associated with unethical people for the sake of money and popularity. 

....

Jimmy's Rehearsals 

Megan had a very tough day because of her car troubling her last evening. She switched buses to reach her university and all the way she kept on cursing Ronald. She was happily living in the university dorms but he insisted they live together so she left her free accommodation in the middle of the city to move with him to the other end of the city.

She called the mechanic as she hoped he would drop her car at the university she is working in as they discussed earlier but he informed her there were more problems with her car and if he temporarily fixes it then it won't be of any use as it would give her trouble again and so he asked for one more day and promised to deliver her car at her apartment early morning the next day.

She had no choice but to agree to it. 

The theater was around 20 minutes from her university so she decided to manage again for today. 

She boarded a city bus as it is a cheaper option to travel. She tried to be excited and more cheerful as it was the official first day of her play.

After sitting in the bus she received a call from Ronald.

She stopped feeling the excitement when he called her, in the past she used to get excited whenever he called her but now she only gets annoyed but nevertheless she answered her phone.

"What is it?" She rudely questioned him.

"Hey why the fuck are you being rude?" He shouted at her.

"Ronald, do you even know my car broke last night and I would get it back tomorrow."

"Are you dumb? What am I asking and what you are saying?"

"Oh then let me explain more clearly, you remember you borrowed 5000 Pounds from me?"

"Why are you bringing that up so suddenly?" He was sweating when she mentioned that amount.

"Well I wanted to buy a car with that money but since you were in dire need of it, I lent you my money, you promised you will pay me back in a week and it has been over a month now, do you realize how much I am suffering because of moving in with you? And now with my car gone, I am suffering even more." She was really frustrated today, she had a tiring day and his rude behavior was not helping her, initially she decided to not say anything but then she thought why should she suffer in silence.

It is his fault and he should be the one suffering and not her as it was his fault for not paying her back.

Somewhere she felt the role of Holly that Amanda wrote is somewhere inspiring her to revolt and voice her problems instead of suffering in silence.

Holly the second female lead in this play was the character who plays Jimmy's character, Rick's wife.