Chapter Forty-One

"You are all late."

Those were the first words they received when they opened the conference room doors. The growl had come from impassive Hector himself, his lips taunt and eyebrows creased. He was not pleased with their lack of punctuality.

All eyes glanced in their direction, making the situation more awkward than it already was. 

Sharlene and Rita bristled. 

Hector was standing next to the whiteboard where the projector light reflected on. Glancing at the time on her phone screen, Sharlene was astounded to find they were five minutes earlier than the meeting time. They were not late but early. 

But because the meeting started five minutes earlier, they were considered late. Everyone watched them with frowns adorning their faces, but Rita was not intimidated. 

Janice and Sharlene, on the other hand, were a little flustered from the unwavering eyes. 

Clearing her throat and not planning to sound rude, Rita spoke up. She took it upon herself to speak up for their rights.

"I am afraid you are wrong, sir."

Taken aback by her statement, though it did not show on his face, Hector raised an eyebrow as he half-heartedly questioned.

"Why am I wrong, Miss?"

Putting on her best smile while ignoring Sharlene's and Janice's deterring signals, Rita was not offended by the man's indifferent tone.

"That is because the meeting started five minutes earlier than its original time."

Humming as if her comment made sense, Hector quickly dropped the matter, for it was a complete waste of his time. 

"Please take your seats."

Dubiously, he stated before switching back to his professional facade.

Rita thought otherwise of his defeat when she knew her intelligent comment was enough to shut him up. A smug smile adorned her face as she winked in the girls' direction.

It was one point for Rita Kim and zero points for Hector Thomas.

Instantly, they took their seats while ignoring the frowning faces looking in their direction. 

'Why are they frowning?'

Sharlene thought with a frown of her own. 

Madam Sinclair briefly looked in her direction, a tiny smile spotted on the edge of her lips, before turning back to face Hector since he had cleared his throat to capture everyone's undivided attention. 

"As I was saying earlier, before the disturbance, after careful consideration and comparison, we have finally chosen the designs for the jewelry. And as shown on the whiteboard, these are the materials we will be using. Silver, nickel, palladium, artistic drawings, and platinum."

As he listed the materials, he shifted through the slides that showed pictures of each. 

Everything looked expensive and high quality, even the odd and zigzag artistic drawings. Sharlene could bet her nonexisting five cents that the popular artists had a hand in the drawings.

When he got to the thirteenth slide, her drawings came up, and he glanced at her with an unknown look and a frown before averting his eyes back onto the whiteboard.

"These were drawn by the secretary of Madam Sinclair and the face of the Visual and Arts Department, Miss. Cunning-ham. There are various types of drawings used in the same design, but different shapes, as you can see."

With the pointer, he pointed at the drawings. 

"There are necklaces, wedding rings, promise rings, engagement rings as well as recreational rings, ankle bracelets, wrist bracelets; the list goes on. There are also tiaras and hair ornaments. Everything else shown was drawn by the rest of the team." 

Expressively, he spoke while looking at the astonished audience. 

"These were carefully considered and approved by Mr. Ross. But the main design and product chosen for the display during the event are these."

Soon, the most beautiful drawings came up on the screen, and Sharlene and Rita gasped, for one of them was the necklace and earring set she had been struggling to replicate for the past few days. 

She had sent the draft for Madam Sinclair to take a look at but had never gotten feedback. Looking at it now, she realized the woman had approved it without informing her. Wasn't that professional stealing? She shared a glance with the woman, and her peacock feathers were showing. 

Sharlene could only sigh because the smug look on her face said everything she wanted to ask.

"Dew Drops Spring twin earrings and necklace made from pure diamond and rose gold, and Forever Shinning 2.0 addition of ankle and wrist bracelets made from multi-colored pearls and platinum gold. Both beautifully drawn."

Gasps of awe filled the room. Everyone was captivated by the beautifully drawn jewelry. It was completely different from the sketch they had seen last week.

Soon, the slide reached its end, and Hector turned to face them. 

Leaning against the desk, he smirked.

"Everyone from the Visual and Art Design Department, you all have a lot of work to do for this week only. That is why I gave you all a head start by showing you this slide show. Everything else is in the booklet I gave you this morning. Good luck. As for the Planning and Event Department, the first move is to find the best hosting area and sign a cooperative agreement with them. With all this said, get to work. We have much to do but little time."

Turning off the projector, Hector zipped his briefcase and glanced at Ashanti and Robin. He nodded before leaving the room. Everyone was amused but confused, their frowning not holding a candle to the massive preparation due in less than three months. 

"The clock is ticking. We have no time to linger. If you have any queries or questions, please email Mr. Thomas or me."

Madam Sinclair added as she stood from her seat and gathered everything she had come with from the table. Everyone mimicked her action while glancing at each other with the is-that-all and I-thought-there-would-be-more-said looks.

"Did you not hear what Mr. Thomas said? We have a lot of work to do, so get back to your workspace."

Madam Sinclair's tone was sharper now, for she was becoming irritated. 

Without hesitating a second more, everyone rushed out of the room. 

"See you tomorrow?"

Janice questioned as she gathered her pile of papers in her hands.

"Of course, Jan."

Smiling in her direction, Rita and Sharlene had enjoyed her company. 

"Enjoy your work then."

"You too."

Nodding, Janice walked out of the room.

Deciding that they should also leave, Rita and Sharlene were almost at the door when Madam Sinclair stopped them with her high-pitched shout. 

"Ah, ah. Not so fast, Miss. Kim and Miss. Cunning-ham."

Turning around to face her with confusion written all over their faces, Rita and Sharlene watched as she sashayed her way towards them. Glancing at Rita before looking in her direction, Madam Sinclair suddenly shoved her phone and tablet into Sharlene's arms. 

Her fast reflexes kicked in as she hastily gripped them. Holding them against her chest, she awaited her orders.

"Have you forgotten you are my secretary, Miss. Cunning-ham?"

Sharlene flinched. Every time she called her surname, it sounded forced and cringe. 

Nervously, she giggled but refused to answer. 

"Judging from your face, I am correct. Just because you are pregnant does not mean your job will not be the same. Until maternity leave comes knocking on your door, your work will continue as usual. Do stop rolling your eyes at me, Miss. Kim. The saying goes for you as well."

Sharlene glanced at Rita to see a blush had tinted her cheeks, though she did not look bothered by Madam Sinclair's statement.

Madam Sinclair wordlessly stretched a brown folder towards her, her face grimacing as she said.

"Here. Take it off my hands. I don't have anything else to do with it. It will be on you to figure out the foreign language written in its pages," she spared a knowing glance in Rita's direction. "By the way, Miss. Kim, Mr. Thomas is our new Team Manager, and I hope you know what that means."

Widened-eyed, as she shared a look with Sharlene, Rita assisted in carrying the document. She found it was as thick as her phone combined with another, and her phone was 6.2 inches. Inwardly groaning for a busy week ahead of her, Sharlene blew the loose strand of hair from her eyes. 

"In other words, I will be temporarily transferred from our department to the Planning and Event Department, right? In other words, again, I will be working with the jerk..."

Clearing her throat, for she had gained a warning look from Madam Sinclair, she hurriedly continued.

 "I mean for the ice-cold man? Better? But for how long?"

"For the whole time, the project is underway. That means no more smart mouth retorts, or you can say bye-bye to your position and job knowing you love to escalate something."

"You mean for two months?"

Almost on the verge of screaming while ignoring her latter blubber, Rita began to pace in her mind. While her finger lightly beat against the folder in her hand, she contemplated the days she would have to endure in the presence of a perfectionist for the next two months.

"Yes. You see, what Mr. Ross wants through Mr. Thomas is to join the two departments together. However, I am afraid this is going to complicate a lot of things. Change is inevitable. There will be something big happening soon. It might occur any day from now."

Speaking as if she was chewing on a lime, Madam Sinclair did not look pleased with the idea. It appeared she had not taken a liking to Mr. Thomas, much like Sharlene and Rita.

"Will that not be a good thing?"

Rita suggested with no regard to the sour expression on Madam Sinclair's face. Sharlene face-palmed, for her friend was always absent-minded at the oddest times.

Glaring at her with widened eyes, a fatal expression that looked as if someone had snatched her favorite wig from on top of her head, Madam Sinclair snapped.

"Are you saying I am not good at my job, Miss. Kim?"

Frowning, for she never intended her question to offend Madam Sinclair, Rita rapidly shook her head, but the woman was beyond redemption. 

"Do you know what will happen if Mr. Ross is successful? Bringing these competing departments together is not an easy feat. I will lose my say as COO, maybe even my position, and probably become Mr. Thomas's henchman. Tsk. That man. He is one devious one. He sent Mr. Thomas to pressure me. But why him? Did you not realize how he speaks and acts? He is worse than Silvestain if you have to think about it. Did you see how...? When he was the PA of the CEO..God, why...?"

Ranting, Madam Sinclair was getting agitated every time she mentioned Mr. Thomas. Sharlene and Rita did not care to listen to the rest of her unnecessary squabble until she suddenly shouted. 

"You are not listening to me because you did not experience his attitude firsthand!"

They both jumped out of their skins. 

"That daft man thinks he is on top of the world."

She barked while breathing as if she was drowning.

Sharlene wondered how much she had said in just so little time. She had never seen Madam Sinclair so out of her element, so human. 

She almost smiled at that thought, but the woman's glare as if she could read her mind made her quickly clear her throat. 

Mr. Thomas had rustled her prideful and arrogant feathers. A bit more than Sharlene and Rita thought.

"Of course we have, Madam Sinclair. Shar and I both. Did you not see how he addressed us when we entered five minutes earlier than the meeting time?"

"Now that you mentioned it, he did. Well, good luck trying to work with that bas..."

Earning a raised eyebrow from Rita, Madam Sinclair brushed her unsaid comment into the air with her hands. 

"Oh, whatever. Let us return to the office, Sharlene, before I get another scolding message."

Frowning, Sharlene curiously voiced. 

"Is Mr. Thomas keeping tabs on you, Madam Sinclair?"

Pursing her lips, she huffed. 

"As if I'll allow some skinny, handsome, and over-educated control freak to manage me. Wait. What had that got to do with you? I mentioned going to the office. Let us get going. We have things to report...you know what, never mind."

Huffing, Madam Sinclair matched towards the door as confidently as she could in her tiny heels. 

As she said those words, a blush had appeared on her cheeks. 

Rita and Sharlene shared a knowing glance with a wry smile as they followed behind her. 

There was always a thin line between hate and love, or in the case of Madam Sinclair, irritation and attraction.