Miss Unattainable

5

"Georgiana," her father greeted, not looking up from his computer. The son had already sat over the horizon, and the New York skyline twinkled brightly behind him. Georgie had always loved the floor to ceiling windows in the office, and her father's corner office offered the best views of all.

Her papa, David DeAngelis, was the co-founder and current CEO of Angelis investments, the biggest up-and-coming investment banking firm in North America. He usually worked out of the Toronto head office, but frequently flew into New York for meetings about the US operations.

He had just flown in from Toronto that afternoon, and it was the first time Gianna was seeing him in a month. She smiled. "Hi Papa! How's the homebase?" She asked. Her father didn't look up.

"Gurtpreet, Deshawn, Oliver, the rest of your peers are adding value to this company. And what are you doing? Producing lackluster work behind schedule," David said coldly. Gianna has to look behind her seeing that the door to her father's office was open. She took a step to close it, and her father just held up a hand.

"The Novak deal fell through. Noah told his father that he didn't enjoy his time in New York. I wonder why that is," he growled, finally looking up. Gianna tensed. "Papa, listen. I did my best, I really did. I just didn't want to sleep—"

Her father slammed his hand down on his desk. Gianna jumped back a bit, frightened by the sudden noise. Her father's voice dropped to a whisper. "Listen. All I know is that this $20 million deal fell through because you couldn't keep some brat entertained for a weekend. You get drunk with those silly friends of yours twice a week, doing knows what, but this time you wanna be choosy?"

Gianna willed herself to be strong. Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry. She clenched her fists as hot tears laced their way down her face. Yes, she was a crier, she always had been. Thing was, her Papa wasn't exactly wrong. She got drunk at least four times a week, and was really fond of the nightlife in New York. Papa knew about this of course, and didn't really have a problem with it as long as it was benefiting business, and kept her out of his way.

Frequently, she was sent out to network and entertain prospective or current clients and their children. Sending along the CEOs daughter, highlighted how important her father and Angelis Investing thought the connections were. She missed a lot of work hours this way, and would usually voist off the remainder of her assignments to Ann Mei or some other associate. Usually, she was quite good at this, but occasionally, some people got the wrong idea about what her role was.

She had always known that papa was all too aware of that reputation, but didn't care enough to correct it. Gianna never thought ... that he expected it of her. She didn't know what hurt more, the fact that her father thought she was a whore, or that he had no qualms about using her like one to acquire clients. She didn't even like men that way, to make things worse.

"Papa. You know there's little to nothing I wouldn't do for Angelis or for you. But I can't do this. I won't do this," she said seriously. It wasn't often that she stood up to Papa, but this was one thing she could not do. Her father sighed, clearly frustrated. "I keep hearing that you never finish your deliverables, or that the work is so shoddy it has to be redone. How do you think this looks on me?" He asked, dropping his head into his hands. "Papa—" Gianna interjected.

"Gianna. Just look at your peers and seniors. Look at Ann Mei. That woman works three times as hard as you, produces significantly better work, and does it on time. She understands the meaning of loyalty and hard work," David said, his tone rising in anger. "A few parties with clients shouldn't be stopping you from getting work done. Do you think I'd let that get in the way?"

Gianna just shook her head, saying nothing. There is nothing she could say anyway. It wasn't just a few parties, but multiple daily events that had her ubering across Manhattan. She knew it didn't look good. The CEO's daughter skipping out on work, only to go party with clients. But she had gotten some successful deals that way— papa had always stressed the importance of working outside the boardroom— it was where a lot of business was done.

"I do not want to hear anything like this again. This foolishness, Gianna, is jeopardizing your position at this company. At least Ann Mei seems to understand what I'm looking for in a leader," he yelled. Gianna just stood there, humiliated. Her father sighed, "see yourself out."

Gianna walked as calmly as she could down the hall, rubbing at her eyes. Opening it, she was greeted with Ann Mei with a pile of folders, heading towards her father's office. "What are you doing here?" She hissed venomously at the other woman. Ann Mei looked upset, "Gianna, you—" she trailed off, in a soft voice. Gianna scoffed. "You don't need to pretend you care. Just get out of my way," she spat, storming away. Of course perfect Ann Mei was meeting with her father, probably staying late to finish something of hers. The other woman just reveled in being better than her.

But the next time her Papa had screamed at her for her drunken behaviour, it was 9am and so loud that half the office heard. He had tried to be discreet about it at first, screaming at your kid in the office wasn't a great look for him either either. But he had lost any semblance of patience— not that he ever had much for her to begin with.

Once again, he compared her to the perfect Ann Mei. Then broke the news that he would be passing over Gianna, and formally taking Ann Mei on as his successor. Once again, Gianna stormed out, tears running down her face. She tried so hard to ignore the insidious whispers of her colleagues, leaving the office and heading straight to the nearest bar that was open.

Ann Mei came to get her that afternoon, her voice gentle as she pleaded with Gianna to let her take her home. One of the bartenders had made a call for someone to come get her as she'd gotten so drunk she couldn't even see straight.

Gianna woke up the next morning, confused and furious with herself. She had been trying so hard to stop drinking, she hadn't even had anything the last few weeks! She had turned down so many invitations from friends and clients to go out for drinks. Really, she was trying to be better. And now she was right back where she started.

Turning on her phone, she had four texts from her father, clearly livid. He said that Ann Mei had cut an important meeting short to come get her, and half the office found out his daughter was plastered at noon on a Wednesday. She apparently had been screaming at the walls in the bar, yelling about someone taunting her that wasn't even there.

Wow. Ann Mei must've had a fun time telling that story. When she wasn't lecturing her about missed work, she was chastising her for drinking so much, even in front of other people. It was humiliating, having a woman barely 3 years older being paid to make sure the CEOs kid didn't end up in a dumpster.

It was at that moment that Gianna knew she had to get rid of Ann Mei.