Adrienette Love Story

Chapter 6

Unfortunately, her executive assistant was far less willing to compromise when she could tear someone else down to make herself look good.

And she would know. She had to spend years in the same class as her being ahead of university.

Lila was the type of person who would trip her in the hallways and then pretend Marinette had injured her.

For a long time, even Alya never saw it. Then again, Alya never called Lila out as a liar, either.

Kim at least knew she wasn't fond of her and was adult enough not to throw her under the bus.

She drew her ire back at Francois Dupont. Now it was just easier to steer clear, especially since she was traveling around with her boss.

Everything was quiet until after lunch.

Marinette followed her co-workers into the largest meeting room Gabriel had in the building.

Moments after she sat down, Lila Rossi came in behind Nathalie Sancoeur, taking her place a few steps behind Ms. Sancoeur at the podium.

That was just enough to make Marinette slouch down in her seat a little further.

"Good Afternoon," Nathalie spoke, abruptly breaking the silence. "As many of you know, we have used design team submissions in the past to fill out our seasonal line. We have decided this time to open the floor to all Gabriel designers individually to ensure that only our very best designs are in play for the next season."

A rumble of comments from the crowd erupted at that, mostly positive from the tone.

A rare negative comment from another very tired assistant, Marie-Hélène, who was Marinette's senior by only a year or two, stepped up. "Will we even get credit?"

She had only said what Marinette knew they all were thinking. Junior designers at Gabriel didn't exactly get much recognition. Meanwhile, some members of the Administrative team seemed to progress to promotion in leaps and bounds, while the design staff kept getting reported for the smallest infractions.

Marinette bit her lip. The bad blood there wasn't exactly surprising... especially given that Lila's sneering smile was right at the center of it.

Nathalie Sanceour primly arched her brow. "I don't see why not. Past teams have gotten a byline when the runway show happened. We've just relied upon your lead designers to bring all ideas onto the table. This will allow us to be more efficient in order it is ensured into the case. Any other questions?"

As hands raised around the hall, Marinette half-listened.

Much to her amusement, Lila looked annoyed, walking off the stage and off to some of the other administrative staff who stood at the side.

That alone made Marinette all the more excited at the prospect of this contest. The opportunity was to get one over to Lila and actually get name recognition.

It was almost too good to be true.

Marinette sighed. Maybe it was better to run it past her co-workers before starting to sketch.

Nathalie straightened her posture, scanning the room one last time. "If there are no more questions, let's all get back to work."

"Marie-Hélène?" Sylvie, the junior design manager, stood just inside the door.

Marinette bit her lip and turned to look at her co-worker who looked very pale. It had only been a half hour since the announcement meeting.

Given Sylvie's grim expression, Lila had managed to do her worst.