The Secret Admirer

Chapter 1: First Job

VANESSA Mae Abella started working as a pharmaceutical sales representative after she graduated from college. She has been with the same company for five years, and has been one of the company’s top performers. Because of this, she has been promoted twice, and she has been headhunted by other top pharmaceutical companies. She refused to move to another company despite the higher offers because she is happy where she is.

She graduated in college with a BA in Philosophy. She wasn’t really sure what career she expected to have as a philosophy major, but she didn’t really have any inkling at the time, so she just went along with it. She figured she’ll just take up another major once she decides on a career path. After four years, she still hasn’t decided what she wanted to be when she grows up (or when she finishes school).

When she graduated, she had an option to continue studying and get a master’s degree, or go to law school. She’s done with school and she’s not considering any of these options at all. Her family is well-off, so there’s really no pressure for her to start working right away.

She also has the option to continue her modeling career. Being good looking and tall, Vanessa has been working as a part-time model while studying. She has been doing print ads and ramp modeling since she was 16. She was invited to join beauty pageants as well but Vanessa has vehemently declined. That’s just not her cup of tea. Unfortunately, the modeling world does not attract Vanessa anymore. She’s had enough of being ogled by men when walking the runway while being scantily clad.

She could have also taught in her university as a philosophy instructor while working on her masterals and eventually her PhD. She’s not the most patient person in the world though, and she’s never even considered teaching as a career option.

She did not want to be a bum and just continue living off her parents. Despite her privileged upbringing, she was never a spoiled brat, and she always preferred earning her own way. This is the reason why she started doing modeling in the first place. She wanted to be able to afford the things she wanted to buy on her own.

This leaves her with two options: start a business or find a job. She figured starting a business will require some capital, so she decided to do both and start off by applying for a job to save enough money to start her own business.

She went online to look for any job that will suit her qualifications. She found a lot of call center and BPO job openings, but she’s not confident that she can handle the pressure of handling customer calls. She’s also not amenable to working the night shift.

She read somewhere that those working in sales are among the ones who are earning the most. This is because aside from the basic monthly salary, they also get commissions based on how much they actually get to sell. This prompted Vanessa to look for a sales job online. Unfortunately, most of the sales jobs she found require prior experience, which she doesn’t have.

An advertisement from a pharmaceutical company looking for pharmaceutical sales representatives caught her eye. This piqued her interest because in the job description, it says that fresh graduates are welcome to apply. She didn’t waste any time as she filled out the application form and submitted her resume. Once she’s done, she looks for other sales jobs that she can apply for, and submitted her application as well.

After about four hours, her eyes are tired and she’s hungry. She went downstairs to the dining area and joined her family for dinner.

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The next day, Vanessa got an email from one of the pharmaceutical companies she applied for. She remembered it as the one who encouraged fresh graduates to apply. Her interview is scheduled the day after tomorrow, so she made sure to prepare herself as much as possible. She read up on the company and learned about what a pharmaceutical sales representative usually does. Once she’s confident that she’s ready for any possible questions, she headed to the mall to shop for clothes to wear for the interview.

On the day of the interview, she woke up early and ate breakfast before she showered and got ready. She wore a light blue long-sleeved button up blouse, a black pencil skirt and black three-inch heels. She’s already 5’7” tall, so the heels would take her up to 5’10”. She loved that she’s taller than the average woman. This makes her feel more confident and makes her stand out more than she already does. She didn’t wear too much makeup and just went with the natural look. She put her long brown hair up in a ponytail to keep it neat.

Despite her efforts in taming down her looks, she still looked stunning. Her tight skirt hugs her ample b*tt, and walking in those high heels just accentuates her curves. She wants to look professional, but at the same time, she knows that aside from doing well in the interview, her beauty will help her get the job. She read that to be successful sales representative, a pleasing personality as well as a pretty face are definitely useful

She decided to take an Uber since she didn’t want to be stressed by driving through traffic. She arrived at the location 30 minutes earlier than her interview schedule. This works perfectly for her, since she plans to visit the restroom and retouch her makeup if needed.

As soon as she arrived at the office, she introduced herself to the receptionist. She was asked to log her name in and sit in the waiting area. She started reviewing the acceptable answers to possible interview questions while waiting. When she got called in for the interview, she was asked to sit at a long table in a panel of three interviewers. Because she was thoroughly prepared, the panel was impressed with her and was hired on the spot. She was told that they will contact her for the contract signing schedule and welcomed her on board.

When Vanessa got home, she invited her family to eat out to celebrate her getting hired for her first job. Her mom and dad are both proud of their daughter and wished her all the luck. 

The next day, Vanessa was asked to come back to the office for the contract signing. The basic salary offer was modest, but she can earn as much as five times her salary in commissions if she meets the monthly quota. There are quarterly and annual bonuses as well. She signed the contract and was told to come back so she can start her training for work on Monday.

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Over the weekend, Vanessa went shopping again since she did not have a lot of appropriate clothes for work. She stocked up on skirts, dresses, blazers, work jackets and shoes. She also bought shoulder and hand bags. She was both excited and nervous to finally join the workforce full-time.

When she came to work on Monday, she was excited to learn that she will be training along with 9 other newly hired pharmaceutical sales reps. Most of them are fresh graduates, while some already had prior similar work experience. They were asked to introduce themselves, and when it was Vanessa’s turn, all eyes were on her. There were six women and four men among the trainees, while their trainer was also a man.

Most of the girls were sniggering as the gorgeous Vanessa stood up and introduced herself. She looks impeccable and speaks eloquently. The men are obviously in awe, and some including the trainer are already in love with her. They all wanted her.

It was fairly typical orientation, and some of the girls are obviously jealous of the extra attention the trainer is giving towards Vanessa. She’s used to both being hated by women, and being desired by men. She used to be affected by it, but nowadays, she just couldn’t care less. She couldn’t do anything much about it anyway, unless they started harassing her.

Come lunch time, Vanessa was surprised when one of her female co-trainees approached her and asked if she wanted to have lunch with her. She introduced herself as Alex. She agreed to have lunch with her, and they headed to the cafeteria.

Once they got their food and they sat on the table, the four male trainees asked if they could join them at the table. They introduced themselves as Michael, Ernie, Fiel and Ron. Of the four men, Ron caught Vanessa’s eyes. He’s tall, buff and very good looking but didn’t seem as eager to get her attention as the other men. When she shook his hand, she felt electricity flowing through her body. She smiled at him, but he seemed unaffected.

This surprised her a little. She hasn’t met a man who hasn’t responded to her smile. Even when she pouts, she always gets a positive response. She just shrugged it off, and just thought that maybe he’s not interested, or that he’s gay. She’s not looking to be in a relationship anyway, so it doesn’t matter.

After a few minutes, the rest of the other female trainees also joined them at the table. They obviously wanted to get the attention of the men, and Alex and Vanessa shared a knowing look as well as a chuckle with their gesture. Eventually, everybody got to know everyone else, and the earlier tension among each other dissipated. As Vanessa got to know the other women, she started liking them and even considered becoming friends with them.

The training lasted for a week, and once it’s over, Ramon (their trainer) invited them to eat out, and head to a bar to drink afterwards. They all came and had a great time. Ramon tried to get close to Vanessa multiple times, and started getting touchy with her once he’s had too much to drink. He sat next to her and started putting his hands around her waist or shoulder. As soon as she shrugged him off, he started caressing her arm and thigh. She was getting uncomfortable so stood up to move to a different seat, but Ramon forcefully held her down by her arm and pulled her to sit back down.

Ron reacted and removed Ramon’s hand away from Vanessa. He then held him by the collar which forced him to stand up.

Ron: “You’re drunk. I think you should go home now.”

Ramon: “I’m not drunk.”

Ramon took Ron’s hands off him and looked at me.

Ramon: “Vanessa, are you ready to go? I’m taking you home.”

Ron took him by the collar once more. Ron is six feet tall, while Ramon is only 5’7” so Ron was towering over our trainer. He had to tiptoe just so their eyes could be on the same level with each other.

Ron: “You’re not taking her home. You’re going home by yourself.”

They looked at each other menacingly for a while and everyone at the table was tensed. They were waiting for Ramon to react, and they’re pretty sure Ron will not be backing down if he does. Everyone let out a sigh of relief as Ramon grinned and told Ron to “Relax.” After that, he said goodbye to everyone as he left the bar.

Everyone resumed drinking and having fun after the trainer left. Vanessa was a little stunned and she felt some pain in her arm when Ramon pulled her down earlier. Ron was now sitting next to her and must have noticed her holding her arm. For the duration of the training, they've never said one word to each other, so she was surprised that he stopped Ramon from hurting her further earlier, essentially saving her.

Ron: “Are you okay, Vanessa?”

Vanessa: “Yes, I am. Thank you.”

Ron: “Don’t worry about it. Perverts like him should be put in their place.”

Vanessa: “I think I’m just going to go home. I’m a little tired anyway.”

Ron: “How are you getting home?”

Vanessa: “I’m just going to book an Uber or get a cab.”

Ron: “Will you be okay?”

Vanessa: “Yeah, I barely drank any alcohol.”

Ron: “Okay. Take care.”

She smiled at Ron and stood up to say goodbye to her co-trainees. Alex, who is now pretty inebriated gave her a hug and told her she loves her. After telling her she loves her too, she let go. They’ve gotten pretty close since they have a lot in common and she like how bad-ass and independent Alex is.

Vanessa was standing outside the bar still waiting for an Uber driver to get booked when a car stopped right in front of her. The passenger side window opened, and she saw Ron on the driver side telling her to get on and that he’ll drive her home. It’s a Friday night so she figured it might take a while to book an Uber, so she opened the passenger door and got in his car.

She put on her seatbelt after she took a seat and closed the door.

Vanessa: “I hope it’s not too much trouble.”

Ron: “Don’t worry about it. I just wanted to make sure you get home safe.”

Vanessa: “Thank you.”

Ron: “Would you mind if we get a cup of coffee first?”

Vanessa: “No, I wouldn’t mind. I’d like a cup of coffee myself.”

Ron: “Great.”

He then drove them towards the nearest coffee shop. They were just quiet on the way there. It was a little awkward since they’ve never been alone with each other before. After the car had been parked, Ron asked her to stay where she was. He opened the door for her and held his hand out as she got out of his car.

As soon as she took his hand, Vanessa felt electricity running through her body once more, just like when they shook hands the first time.