Chloe hesitated briefly, observing.
8: Chapter 8: The Unseen Crisis Chloe hesitated briefly, observing.
It could be seen that this young girl carried a burning passion for the profession within her.
However, through what had been witnessed just now, the corporate culture of this M&G team was truly toxic.
In front of outsiders and a major partner, if the personnel were still infighting and mocking each other like this, the verbal abuse within their internal office was certainly even more horrific.
She indeed harbored the intention to recruit talent.
This little girl merely glanced over and was able to accurately identify the origin of the unique diamond ring on her hand, proving her foundational knowledge was incredibly solid and she possessed great aesthetic taste.
Chloe truly did not care about a bunch of empty diploma papers, because in this luxury fashion industry, the core essence lied in trend sensitivity and creative flair.
For young people carrying enthusiasm, she was completely willing to give them a probationary opportunity.
Ultimately, the extent of their capabilities could only be evaluated through a few practical projects.
As she thought, she touched the pocket of her sports hoodie.
Damn it, wearing gym clothes again, she absolutely did not bring her name card wallet with her…
Harper, with her arms crossed on the other side, watched Chloe’s rummaging action and immediately read her friend’s mind.
Harper took a long stride over to the intern, pulled out an exquisitely gold-embossed black card from her vest pocket, flipped her edgy bob hair, and said with an incredibly cool demeanor: “If you are interested in sending your portfolio to jump ships, you can directly contact this email of mine.
What is your name?” “I…
my name is Tara…” The young girl stammered her reply while instinctively looking down at the name card in her hand.
Glancing at the logo, her eyes immediately widened in a glare, and she instinctively read out loud like a scream: “GY Studio, Harper?!” Then she abruptly snapped her head up and cried out in a terrified shriek: “You are the Co-Founder Harper!?!!” “That’s me.” Harper smirked and nodded, somewhat enjoying Tara’s starry-eyed worshipful gaze.
Well, casually going for lunch and recruiting a fanatic fan, this feeling of flaunting prestige was also quite interesting.
“Oh my God…” Tara clutched her cheeks tightly, unable to believe this was not a dream; one of the two powerful founders of the GY brand was directly headhunting her to work at their company!
The expressions of the M&G agency staff were all incredibly unsightly; some were stiff with embarrassment while others were red-eyed with jealousy.
After all, none of this bunch of lowly office workers expected that in this shabby eatery, there would be a figure with such an imposing profile.
Initially, the only familiar faces they saw were a few technical staff from Cecile’s studio, so at first, they automatically placed Chloe and Harper into the ranks of the photography crew’s petty assistants.
Serena’s face at this moment turned as black as coal: “Is Miss Harper here openly poaching personnel right in front of her direct manager?
Truly lacking in business ethics!” Harper tilted her face slightly, jerking her chin and glaring sideways at Serena: “For Director Serena to use the term business ethics sounds too ridiculous.
If the M&G company lacks the ability to retain and value talent, leaving a rough gem to roll around running errands at your place is just a waste of societal resources.” “You…” Serena angrily bit down hard on her lower lip until it bled, bitterly looking up at Julian with tear-filled eyes, hoping this powerful man would consider their old affection and speak up to assert dominance and protect her dignity.
However, those teary eyes laden with affection became completely useless.
Julian fundamentally did not bother to lay eyes on this petty verbal spat; the secretary beside him was currently bending over, quietly reporting some very tense situation.
After hearing the secretary’s report, Julian’s brows knitted tightly into a sharp line; he glanced at Chloe sitting beside him.
“Is there an urgent issue at the conglomerate?” Chloe looked at his serious expression and could roughly read the situation.
“Yes,” Julian nodded slightly, his voice solemn: “The stock price has some abnormal fluctuations.” “Hurry back and handle it!” Chloe urged with some worry, but also followed the “non-interference” principle and did not press to ask what the crisis was ultimately about.
Recalling the time when the two first signed the marriage agreement, the maternal family pouring massive capital into the Quinn Group had already touched upon the proud ego of an Alpha male like Julian.
If she appeared too involved in the internal operations, it would be hard to avoid making him suspect she wanted to seize power.
This was the sensitive boundary she least wanted to cross, so for these two years, Chloe had always intentionally kept her distance from topics related to the company’s board of directors.
“Take your time with your meal.” Julian stood up, elegantly buttoning his suit jacket, his large hand naturally resting on Chloe’s slender shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze of comfort.
Serena on the other side suddenly pushed her chair and stood straight up, her face filled with astonishment mixed with blatant disappointment: “Julian, is the matter very urgent?
Why not linger to finish lunch before leaving?” “No need.” Julian retracted the hand resting on Chloe’s shoulder, bluntly refusing without emotion: “Please help yourselves, I will cover the bill for this lunch.” Having said that, he turned on his heels and, leading the secretary, strode out of the shop door without turning his head back even once.
“Julian!” While everyone was still frozen and hadn’t reacted in time, Serena, disregarding her dignity, rushed out of her chair and chased after him out onto the street.
Chloe blankly looked at the empty chair beside her, then directed her hazy gaze out the glass window.
The secretary stood waiting quite a distance away.
Julian was standing with his back toward the shop, while Serena, with her cheeks flushed in excitement, was tilting her head up and pouring her heart out about something.
Her deeply wet, affectionate gaze was pinned so tightly on him that it made Chloe, sitting inside, feel her chest slightly suffocated by jealousy.
Her head slightly dizzy from a drop in blood pressure, Chloe lowered her eyelids, her right hand reaching up to massage her temples.
“That shameless slut!” Harper truly could not hold back her anger, hissing out a vulgar curse.
“Who are you cursing?” Employee C clearly wanted to bristle up and speak out to defend her boss, but ultimately, whether it was out of loyalty to Serena or trying to preserve the shredded dignity of the M&G team, no one knew.
“What are you getting so agitated and jumping up for?” Harper didn’t even bother to flick her eyes to look directly at employee C, merely fixing her stare on the two people standing out on the sidewalk: “Knowing full well that man is taken, with his legal wife sitting right here in plain sight, yet still brazenly tailing him and clinging like a starving leech; no person with a sense of shame would act so cheaply.” Employee C hesitantly glanced at Serena’s ridiculously submissive attitude out there.
Employee A beside her also lightly tugged her shirt hem to pull her down; employee C did not dare to utter another word and reluctantly muttered while plopping back down into her chair.
“Tsk!
With this kind of woman with terrible moral character sitting in the project manager seat, how professional could the work culture of this M&G team be?” Harper looked straight at Madison’s face with cold mockery: “I truly feel concerned for the revenue of your Lumina brand’s Fall/Winter collection this season.
Perhaps the Campaign that this showgirl director dipped her hands into won’t bring any decent media value either.” “You shut up!” Madison forcefully threw her fork onto the porcelain plate with a clatter, resting her hands on the table and jumping up, opening her mouth to argue stubbornly.
“What?
Hey there, dear Creative Director Chloe, remember well that if the Lumina brand wants to borrow sponsored jewelry for the New York Fashion Week runway this season, absolutely reject their application straightforwardly, you hear?
Our high-end GY brand cannot lower its own value to be equated with this cheap mess!” Harper looked at Chloe, loudly declaring with an air of powerful condescension: “Doing so would severely damage GY’s brand image.
Even if your husband – Chairman Quinn – steps up to negotiate through the back door, there will absolutely be no exceptions!” Not waiting for Chloe to react and speak, she continued her self-directed performance, speaking sarcastically: “Probably by the time this season’s disastrous TVC commercial is broadcast, the Lumina brand will be boycotted by fashion aficionados so hard they won’t even be able to lift their heads to organize a runway show anyway.
I guess I’m worrying too far ahead.” “You are Creative Director Chloe Quinn?” Tara at this point felt like she had definitely hit the jackpot today; she never expected to meet both legendary Co-Founders of the GY brand in the flesh sitting at the same table!
Chloe smiled gently: “Hello, if you are truly passionate about this field, prepare a top-notch Portfolio and apply for the Junior Designer position at GY.” “Yes, I definitely will!” Tara nodded repeatedly like a chicken pecking at grain.
At this moment, the steaming Mexican-style dishes were sequentially brought out by the waiter.
Everyone was perceptive enough that no one opened their mouths to utter another word, but instead lowered their heads to have their lunch.
Only the table of Cecile’s crew and Harper occasionally clinked glasses and chatted a few sentences, while the M&G staff, who had been very loudly gossiping earlier, were now as dead silent as tightly shut clams.
A while later, Serena pushed the door and walked in.
Seeing that the atmosphere in the eatery seemed unusually awkward, Serena guiltily shot a quick glance at Chloe.
Seeing that Chloe showed no expression of anger but was just elegantly using her fork to pick at a few pieces of salad, Serena didn’t dare to cause any more trouble, quietly sitting down and cutting her Tacos.
Having a perfunctory, bland lunch, Chloe and Harper paid the bill together and strolled back to Cecile’s studio area.
Just stepping into the noisy studio space, Chloe skillfully turned into the quiet VIP waiting room on the side, kicked off her sneakers, and curled herself up into a ball in a corner of the velvet-upholstered sofa.
Her head throbbing like it was being hammered due to tension, Chloe squeezed her eyes shut, her breathing somewhat heavy and exhausted.
A while later, Harper came in after using the restroom, striding to the sofa and reaching out to lightly touch Chloe’s cheek to check her temperature.
Seeing Chloe sluggishly open her eyes, Harper commanded: “Open your mouth.” Chloe’s small mouth slightly parted, and Harper immediately stuffed a sickly-sweet grape-flavored gummy into it.
The chemical sugar flavor spreading on the tip of her tongue helped pull her blood sugar up; Chloe pursed her lips and whispered: “Thanks, bestie.” Harper shot her a sharp glare, conveniently tossing a butter croissant and a carton of pure almond milk into her lap: “I am truly speechless with you; first it’s hypoglycemic symptoms, then it’s an anemia diagnosis, yet you still deliberately skip meals for silly diets!” Chloe sluggishly tore off the pastry wrapper, broke off a tiny piece to stuff into her mouth, chewed mechanically for a while, and swallowed with difficulty before speaking in a weak voice: “My mood is plunging down, I can’t swallow anything down.” Harper approached and snatched the milk carton, twisting the cap open and handing it to her.
She stood with hands on her hips, watching Chloe take a small sip before continuing her nagging anthem: “Can’t swallow down my foot, you are making me so frustrated I want to go crazy.
It took so much difficulty nourishing you these past two years just to gain a bit of standard weight.
Could it be that just because that precious husband’s coquettish ex-girlfriend appeared, you plan to go on a hunger strike and force your weight down to a dry skeleton?” Chloe’s hand holding the milk carton unconsciously tightened until her knuckles turned pale white; she remained silent and did not reply.