A Special Fragrance

The first thing Irene did after she arrived at her desk the next day was made a call to Mrs. Baker, the committee chairman who handled the execution of the International Best Original Perfume Competition 2022.

The elder woman was pleasantly surprised to hear from Irene.

"Why, Miss Gallagher! I did not expect to hear from you so soon! Have you read through the proposal that I sent a day ago?"

"Of course!" Irene lied through her teeth. She was not in the office the previous day, so how could she even read through the proposal?

"And that is why I make a call to you directly. Mrs. Baker, I am hoping to discuss the details with you in person before I forward it to the CEO, Mr. Henderson. Are you available for brunch?" she asked while at the same time clicking her way through a list of unopened emails.

Gotcha, she thought when she found the email from the committee.

The attached proposal was neat and flawless. There was not much to discuss, but Mrs. Baker was a polite, refined woman. She of course would not refuse Irene outright.

And that was what Irene counted on, because she had a hidden agenda.

"Of course!" Mrs. Baker chirped with a pleasant tone. "May I interest you to try the new baked goods that won our Best Original Pastry Competition 2022? The winner opened a branch just close by!"

Irene smiled to herself.

Mrs. Baker was always on the lookout for wealthy, reliable sponsors.

"With great pleasure!" Irene answered with faux enthusiasm. Anything so the chairman said yes.

"You would love it!" Mrs. Baker said full of excitement. "The store owner is also trying to start working on desserts, by the way. Her revolutionary take on baked Alaska is going to blow your mind!"

Three seconds after Irene got off the phone, her boss appeared at the end of the hallway.

"Good morning, Irene," Damian cocked his head at her with a charming smile on his lips. "I heard you got burned from a medical malpractice at a beauty clinic."

Irene put on a facial expression that hopefully emulated one that suffered from an equal mix of devastation and embarrassment.

"I feel inadequate," Irene said with a pitiful sigh. "Everyone here is so beautiful and charming. I feel like an ugly duckling in a lake full of beautiful swans."

For some reason, the CEO of Primavera neither showed compassion nor mockery.

"Aha," that was all he had to say.

"Do you know that you need to submit a medical certificate in order to account for your absence yesterday?"

Gulp.

Maybe she should not have lied so extensively about medical malpractice.

"I will hand it to HR Department by tomorrow, Sir. And oh, may I please excuse myself to go and meet with Mrs. Baker from the perfume competition committee?"

"Oh? Is there anything I need to know about?"

"None at all. She would like to discuss the proposal that she sent yesterday."

"I see. Go ahead."

Irene heaved a sigh of relief in her heart.

Why did she have the feeling that Damian did not buy her sick story?

At 10 AM, Mrs. Baker was already waiting for her at their agreed spot.

"Irene. Nice to meet you," she said with a smile that was as dazzling as a thousand diamonds. Irene might be ugly, but she was still a Primavera representative.

"Mrs. Baker, thanks for taking some of your precious time to come and meet me."

"Sit down first, no need to be so polite."

"I have the copy of the proposal with me," Irene said while sliding the brown envelope with the proposal across the table. "Mr. Henderson places great attention on details. He doesn't like to look at revisions again and again, so I want to make sure that this proposal goes through right away."

Mrs. Baker was touched.

"Oh, thank you very much!" she said, touched by the Primavera representative's sincerity.

"I can see how you rise to this position. Having someone like you next to the CEO of Primavera is a blessing for the perfume industry!"

Irene could not help but smile.

Oh, if every secretary was as amicable and agreeable as she pretended to be.

If she had remained Chris' secretary, she would have played the same card to innocently drive Chris to ruin. But ah well, she could still do that without being close to Chris.

"So, Mrs. Baker, when I read the proposal, this part..."

Mrs. Baker leaned closer to Irene to look at the printed proposal. When she inhaled, she unwittingly smelled an aromatic, pleasant smell. It was so heavenly that she just had to ask.

"Excuse me," she said, again taking a deep breath to enjoy more of the excellent fragrance.

"Can you tell me the brand of your new perfume?"

Irene's lips were pulled into a slight smirk.

As expected of Gregoriana Baker, one of the most famous noses in the world.

"Oh, this? I have no perfume on me, but I am using a very special facial cream by Éternelle..."