Chapter 7: Script

Alferra Cosmetics

"Secretary Cruz" Sereena called out to her secretary standing in front of her.

"Yes, Maam?" He replied while swallowing a mouthful of saliva. Although his boss's voice was always strict when it comes to business matters, the tone she used to call him was still on the scarier side.

"What were my instructions again?" Sereena asked and Secretary Cruz prayed to all the Gods out there before giving out an answer.

"To compile a list of potential husband candidates. They should at most come from a middle-class family, and the most important thing is their face value. They should look soft, vulnerable, a-and s-sexily cute while c-crying..." he answered while stuttering at the end.

Secretary Cruz did everything he could but while finding handsome guys from middle-class families and below with great reputations is easy, there is still one absurd criterion that is hard to fulfill.

How is he supposed to find guys that look sexy when crying? Is he supposed to meet every single one of them and ask them to cry in front of him?

The list that he just gave to Sereena is already the list that his abilities could compile.

However, after glancing at the photos of the guys on the list, Sereena started ripping the pieces of paper that contained their basic information.

She made sure to rip them into small pieces as if she was showing just how bad the list that her secretary made for her was.

"They are far from reaching the standards that I set. Not to mention looking sexy while crying, it's already good if they at least look okay while crying. One look is enough for me to know that they are far from the kind of men that I want"

"I don't want men that you think are strong and dominant. I want those that are the exact opposite of that. Do you understand? If you do, next time, don't give me this kind of garbage"

"Although I know that this is a personal matter but I promised that you will receive a bonus for it. If you don't want to do this job, you should have just said so. I won't force you to do it"

Secretary Cruz received an earful from his boss and he could only bow his head while apologizing repeatedly.

It's not like he doesn't want to do the job. In fact, he tried his best. But just how is he supposed to know the temperant of the candidates without meeting them personally?

The job given to him was too abstract!

"Just go" Sereena said as she waved her hand with a sigh while thinking. "Should I have asked that amusing guy his number? He's exactly my type"

Sereena only had that thought for a moment before shaking her head. "No, me, chasing a guy? Never!"

——-

Alferra Cosmetics, Creative Team Department

"Finally! Finally, we're done with the script!" A member of the creative team said happily as if she was just given a pardon.

Next to her cubicle was her coworker that nodded his head in response. "We worked even on Sunday to finish this as soon as possible" the man agreed before he asked the team a question.

"But who should submit the script?"

That question causes the entire team to become silent. None of them was willing to do it.

One of them has to submit the printed script to their CEO's secretary and the secretary would then pass it to the CEO.

Although they won't necessarily meet their company's CEO as they only need to submit the script to the secretary, there's still a chance that they would be unlucky.

The creative team still hasn't forgotten the words that Sereena gave to them through her secretary. As such, they are afraid of meeting their strict boss with a sharp tongue.

Due to the CEO's strictness, there's even a rumor that she would nitpick even the clothes that the employees are wearing.

She is like the devil in their eyes and no matter how small the chance is, they don't want to risk accidentally meeting her face-to-face.

Silence reigned inside the office before their eyes turned on a certain someone that was reading the entire script for the nth time to make sure that not the slightest bit of mistake would be left.

Almost everyone in the creative team is a new member as the previous members were fired after the corruption scandal even if they only play a small part or turned a blind eye to it.

Even their team leader is someone new and also young to be one. He was just lucky that the position was vacant and out of everyone that the company interviewed, he was the one that performed the best.

As such, although he was young, he was given the position of temporary team leader for three months. If in these three months, he performed underwhelmingly as a team leader, his position would be given to others that performed better than he is.

Because of that, the team leader no matter how many times he read the script still continue reading it to spot even the smallest mistake and fix it immediately. He doesn't want to lose the position that he only got from luck.

After sensing the gaze he was receiving, the team leader turned his head to his team while knitting his eyebrows.

"Why? What is it?" He asked and the others smiled sheepishly at him.

"If it's submitting the script, I think it's better for Team Leader Jayden to do it"

"I agree, he has the highest position among us, he is the only one with the right to meet the CEO's executive secretary!"

"Agreed!"

The team members pushed the responsibility to the team leader that almost threw his monitor at them.

The last time they submitted the script, all of them were fighting to do it in hopes to meet the CEO and receive her favor. But now, they are singing the opposite tune and are asking Jayden to submit the script.

They are even using Jayden's position as an excuse as if they were not harboring the thoughts of snatching his position.

However, since Alferra Cosmetics is a more performance-based company than most companies, Jayden decided to do it.

He more or less understood what the CEO wants to see from the script based on the input she provided. If the script matches her standards and Jayden personally submitted it to the executive secretary, he might gain some bonus points.

The first three months of his job is the time when he has to perform his best to keep his position!

"Alright, I'll submit it after checking the script once more" Jayden said to them and his team heaved a sigh of relief.

While shaking his head, Jayden continue checking the script and after making sure once more that the script is perfect, he had the script printed before submitting it.

The office of the CEO is not on the same floor as the office of the creative team and Jayden had to use the elevator.

While he was walking to his destination, he felt his phone inside his pocket vibrating

Jayden took out his phone to see his friend calling and he answered it.

"Hello?" Jayden greeted and Zesther's voice entered his ears.

"Hello, have you had your lunch yet?" Zesther asked and Jayden answered with a "No"

The creative team just finished creating and checking the script, and Jayden didn't have the time to eat.

"I thought so. I handed some food to the receptionist, get it and eat when you have time"

"Whether I have the appetite still depends on my boss. I hope she won't call our new script garbage" Jayden said while feeling a bit nervous.

If the second script still doesn't satisfy his boss, his position might be in jeopardy since most of the ideas came from him. He used his interpretation of the kind of script his boss wants using her input but who could say that he interpreted her will right?

If the script passed then most of the credit would be given to him but if it doesn't then most of the blame would also be on him to take.

"Don't be too pessimistic and just always do your best. Your evil CEO might even give you a bonus for a job well done hehehe"

Jayden chuckled at that. It was already good if his boss don't call his script garbage again.

"Meh, someone seems to be overcompensating again" Jayden teased pertaining to Zesther giving him food and also whispering sweet nothings to him.

It's not like his friend was not kind. In fact, he was very kind-hearted. Whenever he knew his friends are stressed maybe from their jobs or personal life, he would cook delicious food for them without saying anything.

He was a nice friend to have but at the same time, he is prone to overcompensating whenever he did something wrong which was another charm of him.