Unexpected Encounter: A Second Chance at Love

[Collins Cooperation]

[Meeting room]

"Is everyone ready?"

"Yes madam." Ben guided Rachael inside the meeting room.

When she entered the meeting room, everyone got up and greeted her.

Rachael smiled and greeted them back before taking her seat.

"Before we begin, let me thank each one of you for being so cooperative. We are facing a minor inconvenience here but I am sure there is nothing we can't solve and handle as a team." She gestured everyone to take their seats.

"Before we proceed, let's discuss what went wrong with the initial plan before moving to a new one," she stated. "Since the time is very limited, we can't afford to make the same mistake again."

"There was no issue from the research and development teams end."

"Same for the quality management team," another employee stated. "We were extra careful not to make any mistakes."

"The finance team submitted all the necessary documents before the boss left."

All the departments started submitting all the necessary documents emphasizing that they hadn't made any mistakes except for the marketing department.

Rachael looked at Carol who remained seated in her place without uttering a word. Unlike the last time she had seen her, this time she was fully dressed.

"What about the marketing department?" Rachael looked at Carol. "Ms.Dominic, do you have something to say?"

"The mistake was made by the marketing department," Ben remarked. "Out of the two samples we had received, boss had terminated the first one because of competency and liability issues. We had presented the second sample to our project partners and they had also approved it. The marketing team was supposed to run a test phase to check the response of the product but they made a mistake and advertised the first product which did not pass the test phase."

"Now the project collaborators want us to either change the plan or terminate the contract," he added.

Rachael did not say anything, she just kept looking at Carol waiting for her to explain everything.

"I—" Carol contemplated for a while before hesitantly defending her department. "We have many interns in the marketing department at the moment, I believe it's one of them."

"Don't try to push the blame on the interns," Rachael snapped. "And even if they made a mistake, you should have corrected them. The final review of the plan is done by you, right?"

"Yes madam."

"Then it's your fault for not being careful." Rachael got up. "I have already reviewed the back up plan for this project which had been approved by Andrew beforehand. Let's go forward with that. I want all the departments to start working on it. Let's go through everything again tomorrow morning."

"As for the mistake made by the marketing department, we will reflect on it after Andrew comes back," she added before walking out along with Ben.

...

After the meeting, Rachael inquired about her office to Ben. "Where is my office?"

"I am sorry madam but you can't go there at the moment." When she frowned, he explained, "Boss had your office renovated. He wanted to show it to you yourself."

"It's okay, just take me there."

"He was very excited to show it to you, I can't betray him."

Rachael: " "

"Then where do you want me to sit?" She sighed. Her husband was weird but his assistant wasn't any better.

"Until boss comes back, you can use his office," Ben suggested.

"Alright then," Rachael agreed. "Bring me all the documents related to the project." She had briefly read the essential key points of the project on her way to her office. She had to go through the details as well.

"Okay madam."

…..

[Andrew's office]

As soon as she entered his office, she walked towards his desk and sat on his chair.

Andrew's desk was neatly arranged, even the pens and pencils were symmetrically arranged.

She took her phone and took a picture of his desk.

[Rachael: Arrange my desk in the same way later, okay?]

She then attached the picture and sent it to him.

Just then someone knocked at the door.

"Come in." When Rachael saw who it was, she raised her brows.

"C-Can I talk to you for a second?" When she nodded, Carol approached her.

When she kept standing in front of her without saying anything, Rachael inquired, "What do you wanna talk about?"

"I want to apologise for my mistake. I should have been more careful," Carol lowered her head. Though she had managed to get into the company through her father, her position was permanent. She was still a temporary employee.

Carol knew Rachael wasn't fond of her and now that she had taken over the position of the VP, she was afraid Rachael would drag her out. This is why she decided to apologize to her personally.

When she did not say anything, Carol added, "I know I have disappointed Andrew but trust me, it wasn't—"

"Ms.Dominic—" Rachael interrupted her. She then got up and approached her.

Leaning against the desk right in front of her, she said, "I know you have had personal encounters with Andrew because of your father and I also understand this is why you think addressing him by his name is appropriate. But this is an office and everyone is obliged to follow the basic professional etiquettes."

Pausing for a while, she added, "Now you tell me, do you think addressing your boss by his first name is professionally appropriate?"

Carol shook her head. "No madam."

"As your boss, I would like to tell you not to forget to maintain your professionalism and as a wife I would like to remind you to always remember the boundaries," Rachael stated.

When Carol looked at her, she remarked, "One must always remember not to cross the boundaries no matter how much they want to. Do you understand what I am trying to say?"

Carol lowered her head and pursed her lips. She knew what Rachael was talking about. The way she had seen her in Andrew's office a few days ago, she knew Rachael would never let it go.

…..