May 31, 2024 [Day 2—Five-day ultimatum for plan B]
In Lance's Research Lab,
"Ma'am, I don't think it's necessary for you to..." Eileen's voice cut off, but so did the sound of another female's voice blast outside the doors.
"Eileen, move out of the way; it's not like I'm going to look for trouble or anything!"
Lance and Damian shared a glance, raising their safety glasses, before looking behind them at the door where the noise had come from.
Then a knock followed.
"Are we meant to get that?" Damian looked uncertain, but Lance gave a small nod.
The door creaked open without as little as an approval from Lance, revealing a woman who looked to be in her mid twenties. She was a brunette with long, glistening hair that waved slightly down her back like a waterfall.
Her eyes were the most incredible shade of hazel Damian had ever seen.
"Lance," Damian leaned to the left as he spoke in a hushed whisper, his eyes locked to the lady. "Do you have a score to settle that I should be aware of? Because the last person I want to come face right now is this one."
He clearly didn't expect Averna to barge in so suddenly or to be in the department; he hadn't had time to scout around, yet the prey was walking towards him.
Licking his lips, he opened his mouth to speak, but she stopped him with her hand on his chest, gripping a handful of his shirt.
"Is this the new recruit you spoke of? I'm seeking someone who possesses a slightly higher level of sophistication and capability."
Damian frowned at the sarcastic reference she made about him; this gave off an unsettling similarity with Ramon back in WSYL, but he remained silent.
"No, Averna..." Lance stepped forward to intercede, but a look from her sent him back.
"Is it wrong to know who my employees are now, Lance?" She snapped.
Lance gave a slight nod. "Averna, this is Damian. Damian, meet Averna."
"That would be Miss Averna to you." She clarified, her eyes cold as ice.
Damian cleared his throat. He wondered what had triggered such a reaction as to make her barge in unannounced. "Miss Averna, it's a pleasure to meet you; you seem to have taken a rather..." He paused, mimicking her dry and sarcastic tone earlier: "an unsophisticated approach in such a humble corner of your company."
As she glared at him, Damian could see her eyes widen momentarily. She was not impressed. But Damian didn't care. He was not here to impress her; he was here with a mission to complete. His mission wasn't to make friends, but he was going to do his best to complete it while manipulating his way through it.
As if reading his mind, Averna sneered, "If you are here to cause any trouble, I frankly don't know why you are even here."
"Easy does it, Averna; you would scare him." Lance pulled Damian to his side to prevent anything from happening.
"Sc–" Damian did a double take as he realized what Lance was doing—he was trying to protect him.
'Scared of Averna? Ha!' He shook his head at how things were playing out for him.
"I am not some common lackey, Lance, and I am not scared to be here." Damian spoke so clearly and decisively that he received a small smile in return, as well as Lance's understanding gaze.
"Averna, please refrain from doing this in the future; you are scaring away all my partners. It's not that they were competent, but at least let me have the honor of firing them." He joked.
Averna looked at Damian with narrowed eyes and said, "You got something to say?"
He kept silent.
"Do you have something to say?" Her voice got progressively colder as she continued to stare him down.
Damian realized that he would have to get to know Averna on his own terms. She appeared distinct from those he had previously encountered, and he enjoyed the minor benefit of not feeling intimidated by anyone.
"Miss Averna, my work showcases my capabilities." His response was a bit too swift for her comfort.
"No, you will show me your capabilities when I ask you to. For starters, we have a new product set to launch in a few days; fragrance A had an awful setback due to its choking effect."
Damian nodded his head in realization. 'No wonder when I got here yesterday, I was almost choked by the scent of various mixtures of essential oils.' He shook his head at how fitting his arrival was.
"Are you even listening, Damian?" Before she could continue, Averna inquired.
"Yes, Miss Averna." He replied, snapping back into attention with a smirk on his lips. He could clearly use whatever task was assigned to him to his advantage.
"Now that Plan B is in action, Damian, I want you alone to discover what caused fragrance A to have the choking effect." She shot a glare at Lance as she said this.
Lance crossed his arms and slid his hands through his hair. He didn't want to admit he'd made a mistake while researching the product at the time. For all it's worth, she shouldn't have expected perfection when he was given a few weeks to work on fragrance A.
Turning her attention back at Damian, she continued, "And you will have to come up with a plan to ensure that it doesn't happen again in five days."
Damian mentally nodded before he did a double take on the number of days she gave him.
"Five days—is that all? Why so short a time?" He asked; he wasn't expecting it; he didn't know if he could complete such a mission in five days; this was not something he had been prepared for.
"Averna, that's way too short. Remember, it takes weeks, months, if not years, to perfect a fragrance before it's taken to the testing department, which you obviously ignored the last time. This would be like asking an artist to paint a masterpiece in a night! No. No. No." Lance said it in a tone of reproach.
Ignoring Lance's defiance for the sake of their familiarity, Averna kept her eyes solely on Damian.
"We will cover the basic information for the new fragrance; it takes research to pinpoint the cause, and we want to have the product out in time to give full promotion to the new perfume we are about to set out." She replied smugly.
"And what do I get out of this?" Damian asked, as he too was curious about the reason why he was given such a short time.
Lance's lips hang loose at his question; he too knew that he was getting the short end of the stick.
"You prove your competence, you prove my ability to trust you with our future fragrance research, and you prove that you can do your job effectively and efficiently. Besides, you get a bonus for each successful breakthrough in your work; Lance could fill you in on that later; he knows what happens if you fail me." She replied, leaving no room for argument.
"Five days." Damian muttered under his breath.
"Now, do you accept?" She asked, and Damian was silent for some time before he nodded in acceptance.
"Excellent. We will discuss the plan for the day after. I have calls to make, and I will leave you to work. No help from you, Lance whatsoever; remember, I got eyes watching." She reminded Lance of the CCTV linked solely to her office.
Lance bit his lower lip, careful not to give the impression that he was offering assistance.
Pointing to the two of them and giving them each a crisp glance, she turned her back and walked out of the room.
"You know what she did, Damian?" Lance asked rhetorically, and Damian was still trying to grasp the concept.
'She gave me a mission to complete in five days; what are the chances that I could finish it in five days?'
Lance looked over at him worriedly. "Are you alright, lad? It's not like you to panic."
Damian shook his head. "Not exactly, if it's a challenge she wants, then that's exactly what I need."
Lance was stunned by the statement and stared at Damian in confusion. He had never seen Damian that way before, and there was a sense of determination and purpose in his eyes. Lance was confident in his ability to meet Averna's challenge, but he never anticipated the short time span.
He could have never imagined such a mission from Averna; she was usually cool and collected. This was clearly out of the norm.
"I got this," Damian said after a few moments of silence.
"Oh, well, that's it, isn't it?" Lance smiled; he felt relieved that Damian was okay.
"It's definitely not over yet, Lance." Damian grinned back at him—something more than a smile, something that looked like pure joy.