Janine Mayer's Big Problem

Following Mr. Collins' resignation, everyone in Primavera strived to create a healthy working environment. Never mind that they contributed to the toxic environment in the first place, everyone wanted to shine as a model employee who said no to bullying and harassment!

Nowadays, while Chris Henderson strutted around Primavera looking like he personally drafted the Bullying and Harassment Prevention Law in Varmount, Janine Mayer sat at her office desk, biting her fingernails nervously.

The perfume competition was approaching and she had absolutely no idea what kind of perfume she should make. Of course, as a scientist, she could mix some powerful notes and create an acceptable fragrance, but what she needed was something original. Something no one else before got their hands on.

Something like Charpillon Cherry Extract.

When June Henderson came to visit that evening, Janine Mayer was exhilarated.

"Mrs. Henderson!" she chirped in a honey-sweet voice as she caught June at the front of the elevator. "Can I please ask for your time?"

Now that June Henderson was a general manager's wife, she was less inclined to associate herself with the lesser beings, and that included Janine Mayer.

She thus pompously said, "I am sorry, I am rather busy right now. Raincheck, okay?"

If someone had slapped Janine two times across her face, she might still look better than now.

The poor woman bit back her tears and returned to her desk with long strides.

The brief and yet humiliating exchange turned into another round of harmless chatter between Barbara Scott-Johnson and her friends during lunchtime.

"I tell you, Janine was so red that she resembled a ripe tomato!" Barbara cackled.

"Oh, you are so bad, Barb," her friend Allison giggled in response. "We should tone down a little bit, though. What if someone accuses us of bullying Janine?"

"Oh, Allison, you are so boring," Barbara rolled with her eyes and clicked with her tongue. "Mr. Henderson is strictly prohibiting bullying and harassment, not gossip. Besides, if we office workers do not feast on gossip materials, we will starve and cannot focus on our work!"

Becky, Barbara's other friend nodded fervently in agreement. "Of course! We need to talk about something! Such gossip is harmless, Allison!"

"Right, right, silly me!" Allison giggled.

Oh, such gossip was indeed harmless. Unless of course someone planned to do something with the information.

Irene Gallagher wiped off the corner of her lips with a paper napkin. She waited patiently until Barbara and her friends left before she too left the canteen.

There was only one reason why Janine wanted to talk to June.

Previously, it was Janine who handed over Amalia Jones' files to June Henderson. It contained all sorts of perfume recipes that Amalia had yet to try. These recipes were useless in June's hands, but Janine could give birth to those perfumes.

So Janine, the lazy researcher, suffered from creative burnout?

Not that she was particularly creative otherwise.

Irene smiled to herself.

In her head, she listed out the many recipes that she put together in her files from three years ago.

Back then, sure, the perfumes might just sell like hotcakes. After three years, they might come off as boring. Definitely not good enough to win the perfume competition.

Now, what could Irene do to help poor Janine out?

Luckily, Damian Henderson gave her a helping hand. When Irene returned to her workstation after lunch, Damian shared some great news with her.

"Irene, how many researchers participate in the perfume competition from our company, again?" he asked.

"Twenty-three people, Mr. Henderson," Irene answered readily.

Damian pushed a printed flyer in Irene's direction.

"Take a look at this flyer. What do you think about this laboratory?"

Irene took the flyer to her hands and scanned its content.

A certain laboratory building that comprised almost fifty workstations was up for rent. These workstations would be perfect for the researchers while preparing for the perfume competition.

The only problem was the monthly rental fee for a single workstation.

It was more than half of a normal researcher's monthly salary.

"I believe that this is a very good suggestion, Mr. Henderson. Alas, I don't think that the researchers can afford the high rental cost."

Damian leaned back in his seat and beamed at Irene.

"I will cover it."

"That is very generous, Mr. Henderson," Irene was mildly surprised. For someone who did not know the perfume industry, he sure took the competition seriously.

"I am thinking to use this competition to assess the capability of our researchers. If someone stands out, I will give the person a chance to perform as an R&D Manager."

Ironically, it was the exact lie that Irene told Laura and Janine to make them fight for the position. Unexpectedly, all the researchers fell for the lie. Now, the lie was about to come true.

Damian raised an eyebrow at Irene.

"Don't you think that it is a good idea?"

Irene clutched the flyer in her hands and beamed at Damian.

"It is a marvelous idea, Mr. Henderson."