Location Sky Blossom City, Fine Gold Sky Blossom Branch, Fine Gold Tower no.2
'This girl…' looking at her younger sister wagging her tail in front of their boss waiting for his praise, Diana could not help but sigh.
"Thank you, for trusting me." What else am I supposed to say? Not wanting to cause any more misunderstandings I thanked Jaya for her trust in me.
"..." Jaya felt like a dog who was expecting a bone but instead got a pat on its back from its master. Covering the disappointment she felt, Jaya awkwardly responded, "No problem, boss. You can always count on me."
"..." Diana shook her head hearing the conversation between her dejected sister and their dense boss. Diana had a little experience with unrequited love, and the heartache that came with it, she didn't want her younger sister to go through that. So earlier she tried to hint about her younger sister's feelings for their boss to the boss but he was denser than a stone slab. Therefore she decided to not give up and become more obvious. As the saying goes with persistence even a drop of water can punch a hole in a stone.
Cindy felt threatened, hearing the conversation between her boss and the little slut Jaya. She blamed herself for overreacting earlier over an obvious misunderstanding, now she had doubts about being asked be the in charge of the new slime fairy project. If earlier the chances of Jaya being involved in the new project were low, now because of what just transpired Jaya's chances of being involved in the new project seemed pretty high. This is the reason she felt threatened hearing the conversation between their boss and the little slut.
Cindy thought hard of the ways to salvage the situation but nothing came to her mind, she could only hope that her boss would still trust her enough to let her lead the new project. The chances of that happening in Cindy's calculations were very low. Cindy couldn't help but blame herself for the current predicament. If there was a time travel card she really needed it right now. So that she could go back in time a few minutes and slap herself silly before she stupidly pushes away the opportunity that came knocking on her door.
"So, which one of you going to hire a sex worker for the R&D of the slime fairy card? " I asked Diana and Cindy since I couldn't as the legal age limit limited me from doing so.
"I will do it right away, Boss." Cindy enthusiastically offered in hopes that active participation can help her come back in her boss's grace and be assigned as the lead for the Slime fairy card project.
"Hold it—" Diana was about to stop Cindy from calling a sex worker but was interrupted by Cindy instead.
"CEO Diana, there is no need to fight over this small stuff, whether you do it or I do, it is all the same." Cindy mistook Diana's interruption as her trying to compete with her for the task.
"No you moron, I have other concerns related to security risks of hiring a sex worker for the research and development of the slime fairy card." reprimanding Cindy for interrupting her, Diana then turned to me and said, "Boss trust me, the sex workers cultivated by the authorities are operatives trained to collect intel on their client for the royal families. If you were to involve them in the R&D then the southern royal family will know about the slime fairy card even before we introduce the cards in the market. Which is equal to us dropping a stone on our own foot."
Reprimanded by Diana, Cindy wasn't pissed as she had already gotten used to it working under Diana for years. Instead, she thought that by off chance if Diana's outlandish conspiracy were correct then the consequence would be very dire so she didn't dare to blatantly reject Diana this time around claiming that Diana did not have evidence to back her claims.
"..." hearing Diana's warning I released that using a sex worker for R&D for the slime fairy card was not without consequences, therefore I asked Cindy her opinion about this, "Um, what do you think Cindy?"
Toxic work environment, a term coined back on earth, I won't go no much details about it as the name itself is self-explanatory. It speaks about a unhealthy work environment where employees are stressed, communication is limited, blame culture is at its peak, and people are rewarded tacitly or explicitly for unethical, harmful, or nasty attitudes and actions.
Blame culture was the problem I was trying to avoid by involving Cindy's opinion in matters that matter, I didn't necessarily require her opinion on this particular incident yet I asked Cindy for her opinion hoping she doesn't feel I am blaming her for the misunderstanding earlier. As the boss, I am responsible if my subordinates chose to betray or leave me. So as the boss it was my responsibility to do everything to avoid such a thing.
"Boss, even though I don't agree with CEO Diana due to the lack of evidence to support her words but I do believe this is worth looking into." hearing her Boss ask for her opinion, Cindy's mood recovered believing that if she worked harder she will be back in her boss's good grace once again.
"Um.. then how do you plan to do that?" I asked
"..." Cindy was surprised that the boss was actually asking for her opinion for the second time in a row, Cindy didn't know why but she felt appreciated. These kinds of things were a regular Monday morning for her, yet she could not help but like the attention. What she didn't know was that her blaming herself was helping her boss win her trust and loyalty with a little attention and a few words. Cindy answered, "Obviously asking them if they are spies working for the southern royal family is not an option."