It was just a small gesture, but Alexander caught it. He quickly pressed the button to raise the car’s partition that separated the driver and the back seat. Without waiting for Lily’s consent, he picked up her injured foot and placed it on his lap. With the interior light on, he could see that Lily’s ankle was red and swollen. Alexander frowned at the sight and asked, “Why are you so easily injured?”“How would I know?” Lily replied in a low voice. It was as though she was fragile when all she had was a sprain. Alexander was the one who caused this, or more accurately, the way Edward drove the car.“Your bones are fine. You just need to apply some cream on it after we’re back. Reduce walking for a few days.” Alexander made his conclusion after checking her foot.“You know how to check for injuries?” Lily was surprised.“Checking on simple bruises and sprains is not hard.” Alexander raised his head to look at her, and his frown deepened.“Your body…” Alexander said hesitantly
The first thing Lily did upon reaching home was to take a shower. After an hour, Lily finally came out in her pajamas when she was satisfied with how great she smelled from head to toe, thanks to the mix of body wash and fragrant essential oil she created herself.Alexander had already showered in another bathroom. He walked over with a prepared towel when he saw Lily coming out. “You didn’t dry your hair?” He realized Lily did not have the habit of blow-drying her hair after her shower. Even though there was a hairdryer in the bathroom, she always came out with wet hair.“I don’t like the feeling of hot air blowing on my scalp,” Lily explained and stretched out her hand to take the towel from Alexander. However, he moved his hand and covered her head with the towel instead. Then, he placed his hands on her shoulders. “Sit down.”“I-I…”Lily could not convince Alexander to stop, so she could only listen to him, sitting down obediently. Alexander pressed his hands on the towel and
“Yeah. I set that target for myself.”“Are you crazy?” Alexander loosened his hands on the towel, causing it to fall from Lily’s shoulders to the couch. As this matter was unusual, he had gotten Edward to talk to George. According to George, they were researching new products while experimenting with suppressing odor with fragrances. The plan was to get results within ten days, and three people were in charge of the experiment. However, Lily was not part of the trio.George was also surprised and promised to check on the matter immediately. However, Lily told Alexander that she would get the data within one day and that she was the one who set the target. He could only think that she was crazy when she made the promise.Lily did not understand why Alexander was reacting this way. Looking up, she said, “I’m not crazy. It’s not that difficult.”What she said rendered Alexander speechless. He did not know whether he should tell her that she was being overconfident or arrogant. The co
“Essential oil?” Nathaniel paused for a moment. “Didn’t we send some stock over this morning? Are those not enough?”“Mr. Hall, that batch of essential oil’s quality is subpar, so we can’t use it!”“Subpar? We got it directly from the lab. You’re telling me that we can’t use it now?” Anxiously, Nathaniel walked back and forth in the living room. “Was it a mistake on your side, and you’re trying to push the blame on us now?”“We would never do that. There has been an increase in orders, so my workers are all working overnight to complete the job. We adhered to the process closely and completed our factory assembly line work. It’s unlikely for us to be the problem here. Why don’t you come over and see for yourself?”The factory’s manager was helpless in this situation too. After all, something went wrong and affected the order’s completion time, which would delay production and bring dire consequences.“Okay, I’ll be right there.” After hanging up the phone, Nathaniel immediately go
Melanie cleared her throat and rephrased herself, “I mean, there’s nothing wrong with the formula, so it’s not my problem either.”Then she turned to look at the factory’s manager. “We produce everything in the lab strictly according to the formula. If there were something wrong with the formula, we would have discovered it long ago. It must be the factory’s problem. Have you checked all the other ingredients? Have you checked if your workers made a mistake? Don’t just think about pushing the blame on others whenever there’s a problem here.”“Ms. Thayer, be careful with your words. What do you mean we’re pushing the blame? We are merely reporting the problem to Mr. Hall soon after discovering it. We just want to find out why, and after checking earlier, we think the problem lies within the essential oil. If you disagree, help us find the root of the problem, as you are a professional in this field. It will help us start manufacturing the products as soon as possible.”His words rile
On their way over, Nathaniel told Melanie to get everyone who worked at the lab to gather there. By dawn, everyone rushed to the lab, not knowing what had happened, but they could guess it was something huge from the urgency.Knowing that it was an important matter, Melanie became severe at work. She repeatedly analyzed the components of the essential oil she brought back from the factory and compared them to the formula. There was just one thing she could not understand; the reason the finished product differed so much from the previous batches.Although Melanie had been unconcerned about work for the past two years, she still had the basic skills and knowledge it took to be a perfumer. From the analysis, she was sure there was nothing wrong with the essential oil components. Where was the problem from then?Nathaniel did not mention the problems with the essential oil and finished product to the lab’s employees. He just told them the company had received a new order, and he had to
Olivia looked at Nathaniel and then at her watch, “I’m not late. It’s still early!”“The company had notified all staff members to gather in the laboratory immediately. Where have you been?” Nathaniel asked with a livid face and stern tone.“I was sleeping at home,” Olivia said assertively. “What notice are you talking about? I didn’t see any. Also, I don’t read work notifications during non-working hours.”“How dare you talk back when you’re at fault? Everyone is working hard for the company. What about you? Do you think I won’t reprimand you because you’re a senior staff member? It seems like Lily has…” Nathaniel abruptly stopped speaking as if Lily’s name was taboo in the company. “Forget it. Go and check on the essential oils in the laboratory. See if there is any difference compared to before. If you do it well, I won’t hold you accountable for being late.”After some thought, Nathaniel felt that only Olivia would know the reason behind this matter apart from Lily. Olivia ha
“Alright!” Nathaniel pondered for a while and agreed. However, his call could only go through when he used a borrowed phone as Lily had blocked his and Melanie’s numbers.Meanwhile, Lily had obtained all the research and analysis data and prepared a detailed report, so she only needed to hand it to Jenny. Lily completed her task ahead of schedule since it was not a big deal for her. After all, she had talent. Also, she practically lived in a laboratory over the years and had grown accustomed to it.Due to her job’s nature, the laboratory included a shower room. She took a much-needed bath and got dressed before wiping her hair when her phone rang. “Hello?” Lily answered while wiping her hair, putting the call on the loudspeaker. “This is Lily speaking. Who’s calling?”She could not hear well as she had a big towel on her head. She smelled herself all over to ensure no odd smells lingered because she did not want Alexander to smell anything weird on her again.‘She must be doing thi