Meeting again (3)

Mr James was the head of marketing department. He led 5 individual teams under him and Sophie's team was Team 2 which handled the marketing for F&B products launched by Star Inc. Their most recent product was the multipurpose marinated sauce called Magic Sauce and this sauce was still in its active promotion. They just released this product two months prior to Sophie entered the company and had remaining one month left for the active promotion.

Considering that the last month only needed a small event to conclude the promotion, Mr James decided that assigning the event to the juniors would be good for company's image in advocating employees development as part of Star Inc's policy. Plus, it was a small scaled promotion so lesser likelihood for mishaps to occur. If the juniors failed to execute the event successfully, it indicated that the juniors they recruited were incompetent unlike what their resume stated.

Pulp! Mr James threw a thin file onto his large table as soon as Sophie entered his office. He then gestured Sophie to pick up that file which had Cooking Show Proposal (Multipurpose Marinated Sauce) written on its front page.

Sophie was baffled when she saw that complete proposal and as she flipped through the content, she perceived that Mr James would really like this idea. So at first she thought Mr James called her to give this as guidance for the mini project but surprisingly what she heard next shocked her.

"You'll be in charge of this project and you have half an hour before the presentation for today's meeting," said Mr James in a condescending manner.

She no need to ask. It was very clear that Mr James forced her to accept the task.

"Any problem?"

Sophie immediately shook her head. She had no trouble to do it but she knew how unfair it was stealing someone's else idea. At least, the minimum respect the creator should receive was to be able to present the idea to the whole department and given the credits.

"If there's nothing, take this drive and get ready for the presentation. I'll see you at the meeting room later," said Mr James as he passed the tiny stuff in his hand to Sophie.

Sophie obediently took it . Guilty inside her built up as she involuntarily fell into this situation to the point her mouth blurted out the forbidden question, "The person who..."

She was rudely cut off and Mr James knew exactly what was on her mind. "Ahh you're talking about Neil. No need for him. You're alone is enough. Relax it's only a small event. Big projects are waiting for him in future."

Really?? If you're unable to claim your own work for the mini project, how can you get the credit for bigger events? Nonsense.

Sophie and everyone else were conscious of that brutal truth. It was an empty promise and the outcome was pre-determined.

Sophie left the boss's office with mixed feelings. Agreeing to this arrangement was against her moral but was there a way out of this predicament? Their boss clearly wanted Neil to remain as the lackey while she got the good deals. Recalling Neil's abnormal action earlier, he must have wanted to talk about this but she ignorantly brushed him off because of her discomposure.

Going back to her desk was the worst idea at this moment. She had to settle the meeting first and then afterwards she would figure out the solution to this. So Sophie decided to study the proposal at the customer lounge to avoid meeting Neil.

Although Neil was treated badly, he still designed a good idea for the cooking show. He must have spend many nights researching and compiling the materials on top of the heavy workloads he got from others. This clearly explained the dark circles he had. The quality of his work was top-notch despite the limited time. Both of them were told of this task yesterday's afternoon but overnight Neil came up with the whole proposal that even received their boss's recognition. Mr James won't approve ideas that could jeopardize his own department especially when the marketing director clearly emphasized that this promotion must end well.

Thirty minutes passed by so quick. Sophie half-heartedly walked towards the meeting room and life played joke on her. She bumped into Neil at the in front of the meeting room. Neil apparently was waiting for her with stack of copied proposal in his hand. Damn, he must have well-prepared for this opportunity but then she cruelly stole it from him.

Sophie tightened her grip on the proposal file when she saw Niel by the door. She desperately wanted to apologize and explain herself but the words stuck in her throat.

As if he could sense Sophie's presence there, Neil uttered with his head hanging low, "Everything's ready. You just have to put up the PT. Others will be here soon." He then pushes open the glass door and put down the copied file one at each seat.

Sophie really wanted to slap herself hard for screwing up the chance. Neil probably would not forgive her as her apologize won't seem genuine even if she knelt down for his forgiveness. If she were truly sorry for him, she shall not agree to this in the first place.

Hearing the footsteps behind her, Sophie stopped dwelling and went into the meeting room to put up the presentation. Oh no! Because of the time crunch and she was too preoccupied with dilemma, she forgot to check the PT. She wasnt a careless person but she guessed today was just not her day. What if the content...

Sophie glanced at Neil who had already taken seat at far end of the meeting table where the juniors usually sat. The guilt ate her alive seeing Neil flipping through the copied set of the proposal file. He acted like everyone else in the meeting room as if this was the first time them reading it. No doubt, he was the only one among them who understood the most what was the proposal all about.

Ahhh whatever! It was inappropriate for her to even think that Neil would sabotage the PT. She deserved it tho.

Sophie resignedly clicked the file in the drive and it proved that Neil was the angel while she was the devil.