Chapter 51 Invited to Lunch
Nicole also noticed how nervous the young lady before her was. With an amiable smile on her face, she introduced herself politely, saying, “Just call me Nicole. I’m looking forward to working with you in the next three months.”
Looking at the smiling person before her, Scarlett realized that she didn’t seem to be as ferocious as described by those in the office. After being startled for a moment, she immediately nodded, saying, “Just call me if you need anything.”
“In that case, do you know where my office is?” Nicole asked with a smile.
Scarlett promptly pointed at a room, saying, “It’s over there. President Gardner has specially ordered that a separate office be arranged for you. Let me show you the way.”
Nicole followed behind Scarlett. Only the sound of them conversing could be heard in the entire Design Department, whereas the others didn’t say a word, as though they were mute.
Scarlett led Nicole to her office, which was as spacious as her office at F&M Apparel’s headquarters. It seemed that some care had been put into it, for everything in the office was brand new.
Nicole entered the office. After looking around with a nod, she turned her gaze to Scarlett. Suddenly, she asked, “How old are you this year?”
Upon hearing her question, Scarlett felt extremely flattered. She quickly answered, “Uh, I’m 23 years old. I just graduated this year.”
Nicole replied with a smile, “I’m 26 years old this year. You don’t have to be too reserved with me. Just call me Miss Nicole in the future, and I’ll call you Scarlett.” Even though she always sought to be meticulous in her work, she felt it would be better to have a more relaxed attitude when dealing with people.
“Alright, Miss Nicole,” Scarlett promptly replied.
Seeing the gentle smile on Nicole’s face, Scarlett was confused all of a sudden. As soon as she arrived this morning, she had been assigned to Nicole. At the time, her colleagues told her in all earnestness that Nicole had fired a designer directly when she last came. According to them, she might not even pass her internship if she were to work for Nicole. Because of that, she had her heart in her mouth when Nicole came in. But now, it seemed that Nicole wasn’t as described by her colleagues, for she was clearly quite affable.
In the morning, Nicole briefly familiarized herself with Gardner Corporation’s Design Department. The Design Department was headed by Joanna, who had gone overseas before the turn of the year and had yet to come back; she wouldn’t be back until about a week later.
There were a lot of experienced fashion designers in Gardner Corporation’s Design Department, so Nicole called them over and had them introduce themselves briefly for her to get to know them. While she was at it, she explained the general direction of this collaboration, telling them to get their designs ready so that she could pick out the best.
It was almost noon when Nicole finished her speech. At first, she had wanted to have a simple lunch outside, but as soon as she left her office, she saw Colton standing at the door.
Colton was dressed in a royal blue suit today. It was now lunch break, and the crowd happened to be swarming out of the office, but Colton’s impressive height made him especially conspicuous as he stood. He had broad shoulders and a slim waist. His suit was somewhat brightly-colored, but it had a steady quality about it as he wore it, for his aura suppressed the flamboyance of the suit.
Nicole walked up to the man and stood upright with a smile on her face. “President Gardner.”
“Nicole,” Colton said in a soft voice as his gaze fell on her. Then, he continued, “I noticed that it’s almost noon, so I thought I might as well ask you to join me for lunch and find out how you feel on your first day on the job.”
Nicole smiled without turning him down. She replied with a nod, “Let’s go, then.”
Colton entered the elevator with Nicole. Even though it was rush hour, those in the Design Department didn’t take the elevator in order to make room for them. However, when the elevator door closed, they couldn’t help but begin to discuss what had just happened.
“Did President Gardner just come down personally to invite Lisa to lunch?”
“That’s right! Miss Schmidt has contributed so much to our company, but President Gardner has never come down and invited her to lunch in person.”
“Seems like President Gardner really has his eyes on Lisa!”
With that, their discussion continued.
