Game on (Stefanielle)

Chapter 1

"Stefania is the CEO?"

—o—

Stefania was good at masking her shock unlike Danielle who had her eyes bulging out, not even trying to hide her shock. The Italian sat down on one of the chairs, her eyes fixed on the blue ones.

Caterina noticed the look on the blonde's face, not really knowing the reason behind it. From the growing tension in the room, the boss decided it was the best to introduce the two...unknown to the fact that the two already knew each other very well. "Miss Doss and Miss Savre, I would like you to meet the CEO of ITROZA, Miss Spampinato." she introduced them.

A smirk made its way to the taller woman's face as she leaned forward, specifically extending her hand towards Danielle to shake, "Pleasure to meet you two."

Seeing as the blonde didn't make any move, Barrett lightly nudged her as she went forward to shake the CEO's hand. The younger brunette forced a smile, "It's nice to meet you too, Miss Spampinato." she said, and squeezed her hand a little too tightly before moving back to her previous spot.

Danielle finally caught a grip of the situation and cleared her throat, "S-Shall we begin?" she asked, her voice cracking slightly. She didn't wait for an answer, turning her attention towards the laptop in front of her. Barrett had noticed the crack in her voice and knowing her best friend for long enough, she knew she needed to start the presentation as quickly as possible.

—

"...And that is how we can expand our business all over the world with less resources and expenditure, but with a relatively high profit margin." the younger of the two concluded, finally taking a much need breath.

Danielle had barely spoken throughout the presentation, only adding a few words as Barrett spoke. Her mind was hazy yet at the same time had a million thoughts going through it. She was afraid that if she spoke, she would say things that weren't very professional. Or that she would break down in mid-sentence.

In times like these, she was really grateful for her best friend who had practically carried the entire meeting as effortlessly as possible.

Barrett came up besides Danielle and calmly rested her palm against the blonde's back, "Are you okay?" she whispered. Danielle nodded lightly with an appreciative smile adorning her face.

On the other hand, Stefania wasn't as appreciative of the closeness between the two women. She knew Barrett and Danielle were just friends back then, but that was years ago and she wasn't much updated on the two recently. 'Much' because even after years, Stefania still checked her ex's social media every now and then.

A cough from the Italian won the two women's attention back, "Very well then. I think the proposal you presented today could possibly profit our companies. But that is, if we can get it to a global market." she concluded.

Danielle wasn't sure if she should be celebrating her statement. Yes, she was happy that the proposal Barrett and her had been working on for months was liked by the CEO, but that CEO so happened to be the one person she thought she would never have to see again.

"Thank you Miss Spampinato. I'm glad you liked our proposal. As for the part where we would have to expand our business to a global market, that shouldn't be too hard. With the given reputation of our companies in the local market, we have been getting offers from companies all over the world asking to form an alliance or even for a collaboration." The younger brunette responded, earning hopeful looks from around the table.