Amber was stunned in an instant. The woman before me is Lisa? What have I just done?
Seeing that Amber was still in a daze, Tony immediately pulled her aside.
After Amber left, Nicole lowered her head and sorted out her design drafts. One of the drafts had a very visible footprint left on it, and it seemed that the footprint couldn’t be erased at all.
Colton glanced down at the woman. Seeing her trying to erase the footprint from the design draft, he paused for a moment before saying apologetically, “I’m sorry, Miss Anderson. It was my fault for being negligent.”
Nicole shook her head. She used to come across things that were even worse than this back when she worked as an assistant, so she didn’t take it to heart. “It’s okay, President Gardner. Perhaps your secretary was just trying to keep the ladies away because there are too many ladies trying to throw themselves at you,” she replied half-jokingly.
Colton opened the door and invited Nicole in without responding to her remarks.
Shortly after Nicole entered Colton’s office, Tony came in holding a cup of coffee. “Miss
Lisa, I’m not too sure about your preferences, so I brought you a cup of drinking water. If there’s anything you’d like to drink, please do tell me so that I can get it for you.”
Seeing how polite the man before her was, Nicole took the cup from him with both hands. Putting on a faint smile, she shook her head, saying, “Oh, it’s okay. Drinking water will do. Thank you.”
After Tony left the office, Colton explained what had happened just now. “You said you’d be coming in the morning, but I didn’t expect you to arrive so early. I had a meeting just now.”
Nicole looked up at the man before her, who was wearing a navy blue suit today. He wasn’t wearing a necktie, and the top button of his shirt was undone, revealing his Adam’s apple, which lent him a seductive charm as it bobbed up and down while he spoke.
Nicole nodded while laying the design drafts flat on the desk. “It was my fault for coming without notice. I had nothing to do at home, so I thought I might as well come here.”
“Not at all, Miss Anderson. Gardner
Corporation is lucky to have such a diligent partner like you,” Colton replied.
Both Nicole and Colton were sophisticated, so they exchanged nothing but polite remarks for a while out of courtesy. After flattering Colton a bit, Nicole came straight to the point by pointing at the design drafts, saying, “These are the drafts for the next summer season, as well as the fall and winter season, so I thought you might want to take a look. If these designs need improvements, I can revise them at home during the mid-winter holiday.”
Sitting beside Nicole, Colton lowered his eyes to glance at the drafts.
Nicole’s design was pretty dazzling, and it was mostly divided into two types. The first type was clothes for everyday wear, whereas the second type was clothes designed for fashion shows. The drafts were brief, but they had all the general features of her design outlined. Next to the drafts were comments on the suitable fabric and the details, so one could say that these drafts were very detailed.
Gardner Corporation had only dabbled in the clothing industry for five years. Despite being financially strong, its clothing brand’s reputation wasn’t as good as that of those old and established ones. Colton picked out the design of an evening dress and put it before Nicole, asking, “Miss Anderson, could you elaborate on this particular design?”
Nicole lowered her head and bent down slightly to take a look at the design. Then, she immediately began, “This is designed according to the Asians…” As she talked about work, the gentle smile on her face vanished at once and was replaced by a competent look. Despite having no makeup on, she looked very assertive, which somehow inspired a feeling of trust.
Colton quietly moved closer to her. Immediately, he smelled a faint and pleasant scent, which relaxed his originally tense mind a little.
Having finished her speech, Nicole turned her head, wanting to listen to Colton’s opinion. However, as they were too close to each other, her lips unexpectedly rubbed against the man’s cheek when she turned her head.
Nicole only felt an electric current spreading from her lips all the way to her heart that made her entire body go limp. “S-Sorry,” she apologized, her face blushing, and quickly sat back a little.
Colton lowered his head with a hidden flicker in his dark eyes. For some reason, the touch on his cheek just now made his heart itch. “It’s okay,” he replied impassively, having resumed a serious expression.
Nicole’s face showed a hint of embarrassment, and there was a blush behind her ears. Ever since she slept with that guy five years ago, she had rarely had such intimate contact with other men except for work. After lowering her head and hemming a few times, she quickly found a topic, saying, “Actually, my idea is to separate the everyday wear from the haute couture ones. The everyday wear can be sold in-store, whereas the haute couture ones will be tailor-made.” She paused for a moment, her eyes lowered. Then, she continued in one breath, “Once your brand opens up the haute couture market, it will rise in status. By then, we can have a separate label under the brand name for the specific purpose of making high-quality clothing.”
Colton nodded with satisfaction, for Nicole’s words had pointed out nearly all the difficulties Gardner Apparel was facing. He lowered his voice to make it sound deeper, saying, “These are also my expectations. I didn’t think you would point them out directly in just a few words, though.”
Nicole only thought the man had said so out of courtesy, though. Without taking his words seriously, she continued, “These are my preliminary design drafts, but since we’re working with your company this time, I hope that your company’s designers can get involved in this too.”
Colton nodded with a faint smile on his face. “The entire Design Department of Gardner Corporation will be at your disposal, Miss Lisa.”
Nicole stood up while holding the design drafts in her hand. “Okay. In that case, I’ll be going to the Design Department to familiarize myself with the department first. I’ll come in right after the turn of the year.” She breathed a soft sigh of relief. Seems like Colton has much confidence in my design. He barely has any suggestions about these drafts.
Seeing her standing up, Colton stood up as well. “Let me take you there.”
Recalling what had happened when she had just arrived, Nicole put out her hand and interrupted him with a faint smile on her face. “No, you don’t have to. I’d like to go there alone and find out what they’re really like. That way, I can work with them more smoothly.” If she went there as Lisa, those in the Design Department would at least be respectful toward her in front of others, but that would be too hypocritical.
Colton mulled over Nicole’s words. Realizing what she meant, he nodded. “In that case, I’ll have my assistant show you the way to the Design Department. Please familiarize yourself with the department first.”
Nicole politely said goodbye to him and picked up the design drafts. After sorting the drafts in order, she left his office.
After Colton watched Nicole leave, a meaningful smile appeared on his face. Seems like my previous efforts weren’t all in vain, he thought. This was the first time Lisa joined the company for the partnership. As far as Colton remembered, during his company’s past collaborations with F&M Apparel, especially Lisa, she would only let her assistant submit the design drafts without much exchange with his company. With the official collaboration with F&M Apparel and Lisa heading the Design Department, Gardner Apparel would establish itself as the leading company in the country’s clothing industry.
Tony led Nicole to the Design Department before respectfully escorting her to the door. “Miss Anderson, the Design Department’s here.”
Nicole nodded before putting away the drafts in her hand with a modest smile on her face. “Thank you for showing me the way, Mr. Larson.”
“You’re welcome,” Tony replied. After bidding goodbye to Nicole, he turned around and left right away.
Nicole adjusted her collar and patted her hair in place to make herself look less slovenly. As soon as she entered the department, she heard a noise. It wasn’t loud, but she could vaguely discern the word “Lisa” from among the noise. When she calmed down and leaned forward, she heard those in the department talking about her.
“Did you hear that F&M Apparel’s Lisa will be coming to our company to work with us to launch the new fashions for the next summer and winter?”
As soon as the person finished speaking, a high-pitched female voice could be heard saying, “Bah! What’s so great about her? She’s only famous because she has F&M Apparel backing her up. Without her job at F&M Apparel, she’d be nothing.”
Nicole turned her gaze slightly to the speaker. The speaker was a woman with wavy hair and heavy makeup, and her oxblood red lipstick made her look like she was ready to devour someone alive.
The woman’s words were instantly met with displeasure from the listeners. “Even if Lisa has F&M Apparel backing her up, she has to have certain capabilities to be able to take up the position of Chief Designer at the company, no?”
“That’s right. I’ve seen Lisa’s designs, and they’re very novel and spectacular. Sabrina, you’d better stop saying things like these. Lisa is one of the best designers in our profession.”
However, the person named Sabrina turned a deaf ear to the others’ words of advice. With a disdainful look on her face, she said with a soft snort, “We have Miss Schmidt leading us in the Design Department. Even if Lisa never comes in, Gardner Corporation will be the No. 1 company in the industry sooner or later. However talented she is, she can’t hold a candle to Miss Schmidt.”
At the mention of Miss Schmidt’s name, the others had a somewhat troubled expression on their faces, and they stopped speaking for Lisa. After all, Joanna Schmidt was the head of the Design Department and had been heading the department ever since Gardner Apparel started business. Furthermore, Joanna had single-handedly brought Gardner Apparel to where it presently was. Therefore, even if Lisa was well-known in the industry, they dared not say she was definitely better.
Seeing how these people had nothing to say, Sabrina spoke with even greater zeal. “Miss Schmidt is currently one of the best designers in our country, whereas Lisa is only famous abroad. We can’t glorify everything foreign so much, right?”
Those in the Design Department were all sophisticated. After all, Joanna was their immediate superior. However capable Lisa was, she would leave after staying with the company for no more than a few months. Eventually, it was Joanna who would be supervising them.
Sabrina was brought in by Joanna herself from the outside. Since the two were on close terms, Sabrina always flattered Joanna both openly and discreetly, which was why she couldn’t help speaking ill of Lisa. Seeing that her colleagues had fallen silent at the mention of Joanna, she lowered her voice and continued, “I heard from my friend that President Yates of F&M Apparel had once courted Lisa.”
At the mention of such gossip, those women instantly became curious. They scrambled to ask, “Really? This actually happened?”
“Yes, of course.” Sabrina nodded. Then, she continued, “I have a relative who works at F&M Apparel, and he told me that Lisa only became F&M Apparel’s Chief Designer because President Yates was courting her. Now you all know the shady details behind this.”
Nicole was speechless, but she wasn’t very surprised to hear Sabrina’s words. After all, she had seen enough of the intrigues and plots within the Design Department at F&M Apparel. Back when she took up the position of Chief Designer, many had gossiped about her behind her back, saying that she landed the job through the back door. After all, everyone in F&M Apparel knew that Zachary was courting her at the time. Because of that, she had even asked Zachary if he only offered her the job because he liked her.
At the time, Zachary smiled a lighthearted smile and gave her a reassuring answer, saying, “Even if I wanted to do so, the board of directors wouldn’t have agreed to it. You were selected for the position with more than 70% of supporting votes from the board of directors. After all, this matter concerns their interests.”
Nicole was a self-assured person in the first place, and she firmly believed that she was good enough for the job.
Those in the Design Department didn’t want to offend Lisa, so they made a few casual replies without responding to Sabrina’s words. After chatting for a while, they returned to their desks.
It wasn’t until everyone had dispersed that Sabrina noticed Nicole’s presence. Holding her head high, she looked at Nicole with a slight frown and chastised at once, “Who are you? Don’t you know that outsiders aren’t allowed into the Design Department?”
Nicole’s lips curled into a graceful smile as she looked at the ferocious-looking woman before her.
With expressionless eyes and a barely perceptible smile on her face, Nicole looked completely different from the ferocious woman before her. “I’m Lisa, the woman you talked about who got her job by relying on men.”
As soon as she said that, silence instantly enveloped the noisy Design Department, so much so that even the sound of a paper dropping to the ground would sound unusually obtrusive. After all, everyone in the department had just been gossiping about Nicole right before her, especially Sabrina, whose expression instantly became very interesting to watch.
Sabrina didn’t expect Nicole to come to the Design Department at this hour. She was on close terms with Joanna, so she had only said those things about Lisa to lick Joanna’s boots, but she never really intended to offend Lisa. After all, more friends meant more opportunities, whereas more enemies would bring more obstacles to herself. She had only spoken of Lisa like that just now because she thought Lisa wasn’t here. After all, as F&M Apparel’s Chief Designer, Lisa’s status was well-established, for F&M Apparel alone was directly capable of leading the country’s fashion trend. If Sabrina had known that Lisa was here, she wouldn’t have dared to slander her so recklessly.
Instead of getting angry, Nicole looked quite unperturbed. Staring at Sabrina with complete indifference, she said calmly, “I’ve heard about Joanna, and she’s a partner who’s worth working with. Her design work is excellent.”
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