Euphoria

Greetings

Stacy's POV

I woke up to the ringing of my phone, not my alarm sound but a phone call,
Stace: Hello?
Caller: Goodmorning, Stace. I am sorry to disturb you on a Sunday.
*I immediately looked at the caller ID and it was the Chief
S: Oh. Goodmorning to you too, Chief. What seems to be the problem?
C: None at all but I have a favor to ask.
*I sat down to get my notepad on the bedside table
S: Please proceed.
C: I need the yacht ready around 16:00. I want to take Val on a quick cruise around the city waters.
S: I will arrange that for you, Chief. Anything else?
C: Set a meeting for the leaders of our school, Gabby and you for Monday at 15:00. That's basically pretty much it.
S: Sure will, Chief.
C: Thank you. *and she hung up

I got up and had breakfast after taking a shower. I had to ensure that the yacht is ready before the time that the Chief requested. I have called the captain of the yacht and they will be leaving the yacht for the Chief's use later today. I had to inform all of the board members of the school about the scheduled meeting. I grabbed my phone and dialed Gabby.

G: Hi, Stace! What's up?
S: Hey, Gabby. The Chief scheduled a meeting for us and the board for tomorrow at 15:00. Just wanted to give you a heads up.
G: Yeah she mentioned something about her taking a week off or whatever.
S: Oh. Well, alright. I'll see you tomorrow then.
G: Yeah. See yah! *and she hung up

The Chief was taking a week off? That'd mean that we have to take care of the GIM Project. What was she planning to do about it? Who's going to direct if she won't be around? As I was lost in my thoughts, my phone rang,

S: Hello?
P: Hey, Stacy.
S: Yes, Direct Pao?
P: The Chief called me and said I should pick you up since you know where Ms. Hofstetter lives.
S: Why should I be picked up? I could just give you Valerie's address.
P: Hey. I'm just following orders here, Stacy.
S: Alright. See you then.
P: Yeah. Bye. *and he hung up

Well, I guess the Chief needs me at the pier. A few hours passed and it was already half past noon, when my doorbell rang. "Coming!" I said and ran towards the door. And checked the intercom and saw Direct Pao. I opened the door. "Hi, Stacy. You ready?" He asked. "Lemme just get my purse and tablet and we can leave." I told him and walked to my bedside table and picked my purse and tablet. "Let's go." I locked the door behind me and he opened the passenger seat for me. "Thanks." I said and he smiled. He went and hopped into his seat and asked, "Address?" He pointed at the gps on the dash. I typed the address in and he drove us there.

Paolo's POV

Stacy entered the address and I instantly remembered where that place was. "You sure you got the right address?" I asked her. "Yeah. Why?" She asked. "Nothing." I said nervously. I drove us to the editors' house and parked right in front of the building itself. "I'll stay here." I told her. "Valerie might not yet be informed about this trip so please come with me so that we can convince her to come with us." She said demandingly. I just nodded and we got out of the car.

I was walking a few steps behind her as she got to the door and rang the bell. A few minutes later the door opened and there she was. "Hello, Ms. Anys. We would like to see Valerie." Stace said. "Oh yeah. I'll get her. Please come in." She gestured for us to enter but when I was about to come into the house she blocked my path with her arm. "Why are you here, Pao?" She asked me. Stace looked back at us and said, "You know each other?" "Yeah. He's my ex." M said without hesitation. "Wait. What?!" Stace exclaimed. "We're here to pick up, V." I told M. "Care to explain?" Stace asked me as M let me thru.

M left me with Stace as she called V for us. "What's more to explain? M's my ex. That's it." I told Stace. She was about to say something when M came down. "V just woke up and she said she'll be down in a few." M said. She was about to leave when Stace asked, "So how do you know each other?" Stace asked looking at M. "Why didn't Valerie recognize you?" She continued looking at me.

Stacy's POV

"Well?" I asked looking at them. "Ms. Reed." Ms. Anys said. "Stacy." I told her. "Okay, Stacy. Pao and I were together before I started working for GIM which was what? A year or so ago? We had conflicts of schedules and we got held up with work so we decided to split up a few months ago." She said. "And why didn't Valerie recognize you?" I asked Pao. "We honestly haven't met face to face before but I thought she was familiar when I saw her yesterday at the callbacks." He said.

"So that's why you looked so familiar to me too." Valerie said as she came down the stairs followed by a white fluffy dog. "Hey, V." He said. "Hi." Valerie said. "So, where are ya'll going?" Ms. Anys asked. "Ms.-" I was about to say her last name, "M. Just call me M, Stacy." She said. "The Chief asked us to pick up, Valerie and take her somewhere." I said somewhere as I didn't know if this was a surprise. "Oh. Okay?" Valerie said. "Should I wear something different or pack something or what?" She said worriedly. "We got you covered." I said.

"Uhmm. I just texted the Chief if Pao needs to be there and she said no. Can he stay here, Stacy? I need to talk to him." M asked. "The thing is we drove here using his car so, Valerie and I won't have a ride to the place." I said. "We can use my car." Valerie said. "I guess that's settled." M said and mouthed thanks to Valerie to which the latter nodded. "Shall we?" Valerie asked and gestured to the door. I just nodded. Valerie and I walked out the door but when I was about to close it, Pao said, "I'll call you later." I just shut the door.