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Trembley’s face reddened visibly and the hardness in his eyes remained. “Waiting for Andrea?” he growled. “Are you being funny or did you just get here and don’t know that interpersonal relationships are forbidden in this company?” “Well, I’m a slow learner but I tend to imitate,” Zack replied sarcastically. “Maybe I was mistaken when I saw you climbing on him like an iguana lacking sunlight.” The old man gritted his teeth and released Andrea abruptly before walking up to him. “Don’t get in my way, kid, you’re just a newcomer and I can…” “What? Fire me?” Zack interrupted him in an icy voice. “Well… you can try, but you’ll see that my job here doesn’t depend on you. I belong to the dream team of this company and only he can fire me. I’m sure he wouldn’t look kindly on the manager on duty trying to fire me without just cause.” Trembley clenched his fists and looked at him with a wicked, defiant expression. “Well, maybe your job is safe,” he spat, “but hers leaves a lot to be desired. Maybe because she’s hanging around with the new guys instead of getting to work.” Zack took a step towards him and looked down at him. “To start with, I kindly recommend that you watch how you address your staff, that’s no way to treat anyone, and to finish, I recommend that you listen to me while I’m still nice,” Zack growled with obvious annoyance. “You’re right, I’m the new guy, and since I have a lot to learn, from today on I’m going to work glued to your assistant’s skirts to make sure nothing gets away from me. Oh! And make sure you put these extra hours on your payroll!” Trembley looked at him with a mixture of disgust and hatred and walked quickly out of the copy room. He had been working on Andrea for months, looking for a way to minimize her and subdue her without scandal, and now the imbecile new guy came to defend her. She had to find a way to get rid of him! Thanks for reading on LeeNovelas.com. Andrea took a deep breath, she didn’t know if it was relief or terror. She knew that Zack had tried to protect her, but she had that feeling that she had only succeeded in provoking the monster that was in Peter Trembley. “Very well. Now, to work,” Zack said as if nothing had happened and the two of them quickly got to work to finish printing those reports. Zack not only helped with the copies, but he took the opportunity to dive into the books and examine each transaction. But he couldn’t be meticulous and thorough, making sure that all the finances were in order, unless he did it calmly. Half an hour later they had finally managed to print everything by working together, and Zack discovered that the finances were as bad as they had feared. “I don’t understand it,” Zack muttered. “I thought Unike Sport had better numbers. The truth is that they don’t represent bad athletes… although not the best ones.” Andrea nodded, showing him a special folder.Remember. Read this novel only on LeeNovelas.com, not on other sites. “Well… there are several factors there,” she told him. “The athletes are good, but the boss focuses on what they can achieve and not on what they can sell.” Zack frowned and looked at the contracts Andrea showed him. “He gets the athletes competitions and events. That’s not bad,” Zack murmured. “I know. But this is Canada,” Andrea replied. “The Winter Games are once a year, in the meantime they can only train and how do they live? How do they save?” “I know how the Winter Games work,” replied Zack, who had been champion of a few. “Then you know there’s not much to be made from them,” Andrea replied. “Many of our athletes are young, they have fans, thousands of followers on social networks, they could sell ice if they wanted to! But Trembley refuses to get them contracts with advertising agencies.” Zack thought about that. Nexa Sport Representation had an agreement with the KHC group, the largest advertising company in the United States, and they got spectacular contracts for their athletes. Zack was well aware that being a winner in a sport was not enough to have money. “It takes a lot more to turn a great athlete into a relevant figure,” he recalled. “Exactly,” said Andrea. “You have to get them good sponsors, good advertising contracts, good events. But Trembley wants athletes to work for him and not the other way around, as it should be. He only makes them compete and takes a percentage of their earnings for representing them. Nothing more. So I predict: you have it tough, because the entire team of representatives there is very spoiled. Zack frowned for a moment. “How long have you been working here?” “Four months,” she answered. “Were you a sports representative somewhere else?” he asked. “Who, me?” laughed Andrea. “Of course not!” Nothing so glamorous, she was a teacher. Zack thought for a moment. The woman had no bad ideas and knew the company’s finances and reports well. It seemed like her potential was worth exploiting. —Well… if you want I can teach you. You already have the basics, I can train you in the more complex so you can be a sports representative. Andrea was silent for a moment and then looked up at Zack. —And do you think they would take me seriously? —He had been a champion of a few. “Then you know that you don’t earn much from them,” Andrea replied. “Many of our athletes are young, they have fans, thousands of followers on social networks, they could sell ice if they wanted to! But Trembley refuses to get them contracts with advertising agencies.” Zack thought about that, Nexa Sport Representation had an agreement with the KHC group, the largest advertising company in the United States and got him spectacular contracts for his athletes. Zack was well aware that being a winner in a sport was not enough to have money. “It takes a lot more to turn a great athlete into a relevant figure,” he recalled. “Exactly,” Andrea said. “You have to get them good sponsors, good advertising contracts, good events. But Trembley wants the athletes to work for him and not the other way around, as it should be. He just makes them compete and takes a percentage of their earnings for representing them. Nothing more.” So I predict: you have it tough, because the entire team of representatives there is very spoiled. Zack frowned for a moment. —How long have you been working here? —Four months —she answered. —Were you a sports representative somewhere else? —he asked. —Who, me? —Andrea laughed—. Of course not! Nothing so glamorous, she was a teacher. Zack thought for a moment. The woman had no bad ideas and knew the company’s finances and reports well. It seemed that her potential was worth exploiting. —Well… if you want I can teach you. You already have the basics, I can train you in the most complex so that you can be a sports representative. Andrea was silent for a moment and then looked up at Zack. —And do you think they would take me seriously? —He had been a champion of a few. “Then you know that you don’t earn much from them,” Andrea replied. “Many of our athletes are young, they have fans, thousands of followers on social networks, they could sell ice if they wanted to! But Trembley refuses to get them contracts with advertising agencies.” Zack thought about that, Nexa Sport Representation had an agreement with the KHC group, the largest advertising company in the United States and got him spectacular contracts for his athletes. Zack was well aware that being a winner in a sport was not enough to have money. “It takes a lot more to turn a great athlete into a relevant figure,” he recalled. “Exactly,” Andrea said. “You have to get them good sponsors, good advertising contracts, good events. But Trembley wants the athletes to work for him and not the other way around, as it should be. He just makes them compete and takes a percentage of their earnings for representing them. Nothing more.” So I predict: you have it tough, because the entire team of representatives there is very spoiled. Zack frowned for a moment. —How long have you been working here? —Four months —she answered. —Were you a sports representative somewhere else? —he asked. —Who, me? —Andrea laughed—. Of course not! Nothing so glamorous, she was a teacher. Zack thought for a moment. The woman had no bad ideas and knew the company’s finances and reports well. It seemed that her potential was worth exploiting. —Well… if you want I can teach you. You already have the basics, I can train you in the most complex so that you can be a sports representative. Andrea was silent for a moment and then looked up at Zack. —And do you think they would take me seriously? ——How long have you been working here? —Four months —she answered. —Were you a sports representative somewhere else? —he asked. —Who, me? —Andrea laughed. —Of course not! Nothing so glamorous, she was a teacher. Zack thought for a moment. The woman had no bad ideas and knew the company’s finances and reports well. It seemed like her potential was worth exploiting. —Well… if you want I can teach you. You already have the basics, I can train you in the more complex so you can be a sports representative. Andrea was silent for a moment and then looked up at Zack. —And do you think they would take me seriously? ——How long have you been working here? —Four months —she answered. —Were you a sports representative somewhere else? —he asked. —Who, me? —Andrea laughed. —Of course not! Nothing so glamorous, she was a teacher. Zack thought for a moment. The woman had no bad ideas and knew the company’s finances and reports well. It seemed like her potential was worth exploiting. —Well… if you want I can teach you. You already have the basics, I can train you in the more complex so you can be a sports representative. Andrea was silent for a moment and then looked up at Zack. —And do you think they would take me seriously? —She asked, a sad tone in her voice. “I was just a teacher… even if I knew everything, Trembley would laugh in my face just for applying.” “And who cares what Trembley says? After all, a new owner is coming, right?” Zack muttered angrily. “Yes, one who will soon realize that I am just an impostor,” she murmured, shaking her head. “No… I could never do something like that. People would probably laugh at me, and trip me up…” There didn’t seem to be anything else to say and Zack sighed. He understood Andrea very well, he knew the system inside out and he knew that sometimes it was difficult for others to give her a chance. But in any aspect of life it was like that. Some decided to fight and others decided to give up. “The way I see things,” he finally said in a tired voice, “you don’t need anyone to trip you up, you do that perfectly well on your own.” Andrea pressed her lips together and lowered her head, and Zack rolled his eyes before standing up. There was less self-esteem in that woman than in a box of cookies and he didn’t understand why that made him so infuriated. “We’d better go,” she said, taking his jacket and as soon as they reached the first floor, Zack stopped her. “It’s already dark, I can take you home.” “There’s no need, really,” she replied. “I don’t want to bother you.” She started walking before he could say another word, but Zack knew that he wouldn’t be calm letting a woman walk home alone at night, so as soon as he got out in the car onto the street, he followed the same direction he had seen her take before and it didn’t take long for him to locate her. He followed her from a distance, discreetly, just to make sure she arrived safe and sound; but a quarter of an hour later she was still walking quickly and finally forty minutes later he saw her stop, out of breath, in front of the ugliest building Zack had ever seen in his life. Andrea walked up the stairs and he stood there, wondering why on earth anyone would walk forty minutes from work to home in the freezing cold… unless they had no other choice. “Damn it, Zack! You’re just making your life difficult!” he growled, turning around and walking away. He had no idea that in that building, Andrea would kiss and hug her little girl, then go to work at Mrs. Wilson’s house, doing all the chores until she dropped. The next day Zack stopped on the first step of the building’s lobby, but then turned around and walked through the cafeteria. He bought coffee and pastries for everyone, which the cafeteria employees brought out immediately, but he made sure to put a latte and a bag of muffins in front of Andrea himself… the delicious kind, not the cheap ones they put in the office. “I want you to think again about what I offered you yesterday,” he ordered rather than asked. “This company needs people with brains.” But before she could open her mouth to answer him,Trembley’s unpleasant figure appeared at the door of his office. “Andrea! Take all the reports to my office! Now!” Zack saw her lower her head and nod as she began to load those folders full of uselessly printed reports. His gaze met Trembley’s for a second, and he realized that this… this was war! He had already seen the reports, now he wanted to know how much Trembley would be able to change them… and if Andrea was going to help him with that.