4. Workaholic

"Celine, please come to my office for a moment?" Mrs. Jane, the Head of Department, approached her desk a few minutes after the start of work.

Celine, who had just started arranging the shoe materials from the preparation department to be checked and then deposited to the sewing department, looked up and replied, "Sorry, Ma'am. Can I call Kylie to continue checking this material first? Because today it have to enter the sewing job line."

Line is a term for the division of the sewing department because of the shape of the work team, which is lined up lengthwise. Mrs Jane nodded as she said she was expecting Celine soon.

"Yes, Ma'am. I'll follow you right away."

She hurried towards the sewing department room and called Kylie, one of the Line members who often filled in for her when Celine was assigned to another department or helped her when multiple jobs came up. Celine was overwhelmed by checking alone.

"There, Kylie! The boss came calling." A person Celine later found out was named Emma, said with a deliberately cynical tone. The pretty-faced girl with straight hair typical of salon work said so while making an annoyed face at Celine, who had just arrived.

Celine, who didn't know the girl's problem with her, was annoyed. However, since she was in a hurry, she ignored Emma's strange attitude and immediately went to Mrs Jane's room after finishing delivering her task instructions to Kylie.

Arriving at the Head of the Section's room, it turned out that Mrs Jane was about to delegate a new task to Celine. She placed a relatively thick file in front of a glass table with several other files and sample shoe models in front of the girl.

"You read that for a while. If there's anything you don't understand, then ask me." Mrs Jane, known for her stern and no-nonsense personality, immediately gave the order.

                   

Celine then sat on the chair provided and began flipping through the file. It was a list of job orders that came into her department, along with the deadline for delivery and all kinds of details about the type, material, model, and so on.

"Mmm... is this our job list for next month, Ma'am?" she asked hesitantly.

"Next week. Not next month," replied the Head of Department while glaring at Celine.

Celine was stunned. She was shocked beyond belief.

"Oh my gosh, but, Ma'am. How can that be? Job K56 is just about to enter the Line, and it's three thousand four hundred pairs; there's no way it can be completed in just a week, Ma'am."

"That's why I called you here. There was an error in scheduling the incoming orders. K56 should only go to the Line after this one is finished," replied Mrs Jane, pointing to the file Celine had put back on the table.

"Let's put K56 on hold first and then operate this new job. Is that right, Ma'am?" Celine asked for confirmation.

"We can't suspend everything; the production report will be empty. Let's keep it running. We'll slip this job into the process of some teams so that each department will work on these two jobs together." Mrs. Jane explained at length.

Celine, who felt she was only a subordinate and had no right to decide anything, nodded resignedly while imagining how complicated the process would be. Working on two jobs with different models simultaneously was complicated and something she had never experienced before.

"Uh, for myself, I only asked for help from two assistants, not just Kylie, Ma'am. It's because these two jobs are different types and models so that we don't mix up the materials." With some trepidation, Celine expressed her objection.

Mrs. Jane gave her a playful look, then unexpectedly nodded, "There will be two people checking the materials, and you are not one of them. Appoint one additional person who looks meticulous and dexterous. You hold this job. Report directly to me. Let Tiffany take care of the K56 job that's already running."

Celine stayed where she was. Mrs Jane had already moved out of her room; still determining where she went.

"Well, what did she mean just now?" she wondered.

She hesitated whether to follow the Head of Department and ask for clarity on her ambiguous instructions with the risk of being yelled at or glared at with equal horror or to go back to her place and start doing what she was told with only her understanding.

Finally, she went to the Line and discussed it with the Head Foreman, Miss Tiffany. She told her everything that Mrs Jane had just told her, and then she asked if it was confirmed that she was said to be the foreman for the new job that was going to be inserted.

"Yes, it is. Yuhuuuu, here is Celine who suddenly became the next foreman," Miss Tiffany mocked her with a smile. But then her smile disappeared, replaced by her usual stern demeanour.

"Already there, hurry up and find your team, take Line's person, don't be inconsiderate. Just take the ones whose work is not vital," she warned Celine. She wanted the ongoing job to have a limited amount of reduced production deposits if Celine took the wrong team because she was responsible for the initial appointment.

"Huuuft ...."

Celine sighed tiredly. It was left to her to rack her brains to empower only a small number of employees in the team for the new job, even though there was just as much work to be done as the old job.

She had been racking her brains all day. At lunchtime, she used the time to eat with Miss Tiffany while discussing how to divide the team at Line. Fortunately, although she seemed fierce, Miss Tiffany was fair and cooperative.

Miss Tiffany also helped direct her on what she should do as a foreman. Well, even though she was only an incidental foreman because she had a job lined up, she still had the same responsibilities as an actual foreman. Therefore, Celine did not want to be careless in her new duties.

When it was time to go home, she could breathe a sigh of relief. She could finally go home and rest at home. She missed her bed. She wanted to sleep all night and only wake up the following day. That would be enough to recharge her energy for tomorrow's hard work.

Leo - her boyfriend - was waiting to take her to a café near her workplace. Celine agreed. She thinks it's not bad; it can refresh her brain, which seems to be boiling all day.

And what she got was even more surprising than just the arrival of a job slip or the fact that she had to become an impromptu foreman. Leo delivered the upsetting surprise guiltlessly, making Celine furious and super annoyed. Her anger was far greater than her heartbreak. Several times, experiencing heartbreak has made him more self-controlled.

Leo's confession that he had just met his ex by accident and decided to take a short walk together in the name of nostalgia for his first love made today complete the most historic day in Celine's life. She will genuinely remember today's date. It will be recorded in her memory, the day she was appointed foreman and her love ran aground for the umpteenth time: January 20th, 2021.

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