Although Anya had closed the deal, it was not the end of the project. She still needs to monitor the construction of her designs.
And she could say it is not easy.
Since she was young and just starting in design, she was often bullied by the construction workers or even the engineers. They would not follow her plan and would even mock and slight her. This gave Anya a hard time.
And so, Anya now had a dilemma.
She just went to the site of one of her projects and saw that there was wrong with how the look of the house was going.
"Excuse me, why are the handrails this way? It should be horizontally and in that direction. And I remembered this is not the design of handrails I ordered." She said to the workers.
The labor force who looked at her and saw that she was just a woman brashly shrugged it off.
“This was the one that was delivered. And the direction of the handrails is better this way, that is already good.” They answered nonchalantly while continuing to laugh and talk with each other, not minding her presence.
Anya took a deep breath and said in a bold voice.
“I want to talk to the engineer.” She said. The construction workers looked at her and eyed her as if she was being ridiculous. But thinking their engineer might finally shut off this noisy woman, they brought her to the engineer with a smirk on their faces.
Anya arrived at the tent of the engineer and saw him sitting in a chair playing with his phone. Anya approached him.
“Excuse me,” She said. The man raised his head and saw there was beauty in front of him. He smiled sheepishly.
“Hey, cutie, what are you doing in this messy place.” He said as he stood up and rubbed his hands together. He thought as he glanced at his men at the side that this woman here was a gift for him.
Anya saw the disgusting look on the face of the man, and she cleared her voice. It was not that she realized how these workers had so much audacity to be disobedient and lazy in their work. It is because there is another engineer like this person who is just a disgrace to their profession.
“I am the designer of this project. I just want to say that there is something wrong with how the construction is going. This is certainly not from my design.” She said resolutely.
There was disappointment in the engineer’s eyes as he realized this beautiful woman was not his feast.
Anya pulled out the blueprint and showed it to him. she explained all the wrong placement as well as the miscalculations in the constructions. The man only lightly glanced at it and said lazily.
“Well, miss designer, in construction, it is better to do it this way. Your design is too idealistic and girly with all the meticulous details. It doesn’t matter in buildings. All it needs is to be livable and be sheltered.” He said, looking at her like looking at a child taking candy.
Anya’s head started to boil.
“What do you mean? What you are constructing right now is not just a mere building, it will be home for a family having their dream house. What about the feelings and expectations of the clients? They have their preferences and specified ways of how their house is to be built. We should only be following their wishes.” Anya retorted. This man was already getting on her nerves.
The engineer heard this and only laughed it off.
“When the building is done, and there, they won’t be able to do anything but live on it. What’s the point? Why don’t you just take back your little drawing and go back to your doll house and draw in your crayons.” He continued to mock and laugh. The construction workers around them laughed as well, and Anya’s ears were full of laughing and mocking from the construction workers.
Her eyes turned red, and she huffed in anger.
“Oh really? Is really just that, or are you pocketing the project's budget?” She said with a loud voice. The laughter stopped abruptly by her scary words.
“Hey, what do you mean?” The man asked, irritated. Anya saw this, and she crossed her arms.
“I have all the breakdown and receipts with me. The delivery and confirmation of orders were also connected to me. So, I know every transaction in this project. All the budget that was released and all the materials received is all passed to me.” She said. Anya then roamed her eyes around.
“And as I can see, the materials, aside from not the one I ordered, it is also not in the same quantity and quality as the budget can carry. Tell me, Mr. Engineer, why did this happen, and where did the money go?” She asked, now she was the one who was mocking.
The engineer was startled a little. He, in fact, did corrupt the money. He was used in these procedures. Giving substandard quality and the finished products was not new to the market. It is true that it is normal not to achieve the vision of the clients.
But that is also because of various factors. One of them was the human factor. And it was all influenced by them.
When he was doing this, no one would ever tell on him, the client, since he was the one who was in charge, or he would give commission to everyone who conspired with him.
But now, there was this woman who was being an obstacle to his project.
“Okay, look, I could give you a share of what I profited, but not much. That will shut you up, right?” He asked with a tick of his tongue. He felt it was a waste to have his money being shared with others, but he couldn’t help it since she had the breakdown and receipts of the transactions.
“Huh? Really? You think I am as stinky as you?” Anya said with a smirk. She stepped forward.
“I would warn you, Mr. Engineer. Fix the designs and materials according to the blueprint. If not, then I will have no choice but to tell the client, and not only that, but I will also report you to the federal department. I bet what they would do. Take your license? Make you pay for the damages? Or what? You think, engineer.” Anya said.
Not just because she was a woman, she would back down. The engineer paled as he heard Anya’s words.
“I will come back next week and check the construction. Until that day, engineer.” Anya said with a professional smile as if nothing had happened. But to the man, it was such a scary smile.
Anya left the site resolutely.
And after a week, when she came back, she finally saw improvements from the construction. Anya was satisfied and patted the engineer, who could not even look her in the eyes. She left satisfyingly.
And finally, her projects were finally done. All of her clients were deeply satisfied and very happy with their new homes and restaurant. Anya, who was looking and accepting their praises, was so happy as well.
Coincidently, one of her clients was the aunt of her friend, Hanna. Her aunt was very satisfied with Anya’s work, so she endorsed her to her friends and colleagues. Shortly after, projects kept coming at her. Anya was so happy and was very busy at the same time. But she felt a big sense of satisfaction.
Because of her successful projects, she earned an ample amount of money. She asked her best friend to celebrate with her, and it was Anya’s treat. And, of course, Marie won’t reject free food, so she happily agrees.
They agreed to eat in a resto-bar.
Anya was the first to arrive. And when Marie finally got there, she walked to Anya’s table and grabbed a champagne bottle in a bucket from a waiter passing by.
She announced as she approached Anya.
“Congratulations to Architect Anya the Great!” She cheered as she popped the champagne cork loudly.
Anya laughed at her best friend's craziness and just faced balm from the embarrassment in the process.
But when they sat, they laughed happily and ordered a lot.
“Congratulations, Darling. I am so proud of you!” Marie said sincerely. Anya smiled at this.
“Thank you, I could not also imagine that this was happening.” She said, heartfelt.
“What do you mean, silly girl? This is what you deserve! I know you could do it! Keep it up, and I know you will do great!” Marie said as she thumped her fist in her chest. Anya once again burst out laughing at her best friend’s quirkiness.
When their food arrived, they ate happily and contently. Anya’s night ended with a blast, and the next morning, she woke with a smile on her face.
For the following days, she worked with bliss.
Andrei sat in his office. He was not in the mood for the past few weeks. Although he repaired their relationship with the Castellano Group of Company, he still felt irritated and not satisfied. It took him days to realize what upsets him. it is that wench, Anya.
So now, he hired someone to look into what the woman was doing. He just received the report that she was working and living a good life.
Wow, good for her.
In addition, she has lots of clients right now, and others still waiting for her to free her schedule.
Andrei clenched his fist in anger. He could not help but feel hate, seeing her happily living her life while he was here, holding a grudge, a failed marriage, and a broken ego.
He slammed his hands on the table. He raised his red eyes, and malice flashed across them.
He stood up from his seat and took his coat as he walked out to leave. As he was walking, he took his phone and dialed a number.
“Let’s meet.”
Andrei was lying in a messy bed with a cigarette in his hand, blowing smoke lazily. In his arms lay a woman who was naked, and the hotel room had the smell of after-sex.
Clothes were scattered all over the room, and the man and woman were entangled in the bed.
“We did not meet for so long, I miss you, darling,” The woman said coquettishly. Her red lips carried a sensual pout, and her black and long hair was sprawled across the pillow. Andrei only moved his hand and gripped the woman's bottom in response.
As he pondered for a moment, he finally opened up. “I need you to do something,”
The woman in his arms is named Loisa, which is also an architect. Which is the same field as Anya. This woman was just one of his many mistresses. And he thought that she was convenient and he could use her to his advantage.
“What is it? I would do anything for you,” Loisa flirtingly said as she brought her mouth to kiss Andrei’s lips.
Their tongue entangled and was in a sensual war with each other as the sound of smooching rang in the whole room. Andrei kissed her for a while and continued.
“I need you to steal all of Anya Collins’ clients.” The woman whimpered and pouted.
“Your wife again?” She whined.
“Ex-wife.” Andrei corrected as he blew out thick smoke from his cigarette. “Oh, is this revenge~” Loisa excitedly said. She jumped on top of Andrei. “Can you do it?” Andrei asked, smirking.
“Peace of cake,” Loisa said with an evil smile.
Anya’s fortune and good business continued for a while. But sadly, it did not last for a long time.
Anya did not know what went wrong, but one by one, her clients back out on her. Different reason each person, and even results to insulting and accusing her of things. These people who once praised suddenly pointed daggers at her.
Anya became so distressed. She had already worked on those design plates, but all of them were thrown in the trash.
She was so dispirited but she strived to pull herself together as she was meeting one of the clients that was left of her.
She dressed cleanly and professionally and went to the place they agreed upon.
His client was an old man who will be building a house as a gift for his son. They agreed to meet in a restaurant in front of his shop.
When Anya arrived, she spotted her client and approached him. But she stopped on her tracks when she saw that he was not alone.
Beside him sat a woman who was leaning so close to him. She was whispering to his ears and laughing seductively, while playfully slapping the man’s chest.
She was wearing a very short dress with a neckline that hardly covers her chest. Anya doesn’t know whether to continue or not, if she would be disturbing them or something.
She resorted to texting her client that she had arrived.
The old man received her text and looked around slightly, with a muddled expression in his face and a sheepish smile.
He spotted her and called.
“Oh, Ms. Anya.” He called. Anya looked at the woman beside him and then moved forward.
“Mr. Park,” Anya greeted.
“Uhm, am I disturbing something,” She asked.
The old man then realized the woman beside him too.
“Oh, this is Architect Loisa,” He introduced as his hands brushed the woman’s thigh. The woman smiled cutely at him and turned to Anya.
“Ms. Anya,” She nodded, but Anya felt that the woman was smirking at her. “Seat down, Ms. Anya, I have something to say to you,” MR. Park started.
Anya then sat at the seat in front of her and eyed the two. She have a bad feeling about this.
“You see, Ms. Loisa here offered me her business card. Surprisingly, she just offered everything that is to my taste,” He said as he gave Loisa an ambiguous smile. Then, seemingly remembering Anya, he cleared his throat and said.
“The house design, I mean.”
“Oh, Mr. Park, you flatter me.” Loisa said in a seductive voice. Mr. Park, who was staring at her felt dazed and suddenly agitated as he looked like he was about to devour the woman.
He rashly and clumsily explained to Anya after.
“Well, so that’s it, I apologize but not continue the project with you, if you don’t mind.”
Anya could only swallow the blocking in her throat. What was she supposed to say? Is there any choice she had?
She smiled stiffly and answered. “I understand, Mr. Park,”
“Alright then, if you excuse us. Let’s go, Loisa?” Mr. Park asked excitedly. Completely changing his address of the woman.
Loisa laughed at the stupid actions of the man but still winked flirtatiously. “Coming~” She stood, but she did not forget to glance and smirk at Anya.
Anya was left in the table with a heavy heart. She let out a sigh and looked around. She looked stupid here.
So shortly after, she also went out of the restaurant. When she arrived outside, the cold wind welcomed her, and she took a deep breath.
“Ms. Anya~” Someone called her. She turned back and saw it was Loisa. She was standing outside as Mr. Park fetched his car from the parking lot.
“I hope you have no hard feelings. You know, I just stole your client after all,” She said with a weird cheerful voice.
Anya narrowed her eyes at the woman.
“Were you doing this on purpose, perhaps?” She asked. Loisa eyed her mockingly.
“Who knows,” She shrugged her shoulders and gave her a fake innocent look.
“Oh, I am surprised at how extent someone could sell themselves, I admire your, uhm taste?” Anya mocked, as what she was proudly showing off in front of her was a 60-year-old man.
The smile on Loisa's face twitched. And she greeted her teeth as she forced to keep her smile.
“Well, whatever, at least I stole and got a hold of what’s yours. What does it feel?” Loisa continued to mock. Anya stared at her squarely.
Before the women could add words, Mr. Park had arrived in front of them. Loisa looked at him, and a flash of disgust lit in her eyes for a moment, but it eventually vanished as she changed her look into a seductive fox.
She faced Anya triumphally and waved.
“Bye, Ms. Anya~” She said and entered the car.
The car zoomed and left like flash, and Anya was left staring at it in disdain.