Savannah ate in silence with a heavy mood, wondering how Katrina would deal with her. But to be sure, she would make full use of every chance to make things difficult for her.
Savannah's guess came true when she went back to work after lunch.
As soon as she returned to the design department, Katrina came and threw a pile of papers on her desk.
"Type the papers right away. They're wanted in a meeting later. Hurry up," she said with superior affection.
Savannah glanced at the stack of papers. "Sorry, typing is not my job. I suggest you give it to a clerk or an office assistant. And I still have other work on hand, Miss Kaif."
Katrina's face changed. "If I remember correctly, Director Jenkins said, I have full authority over all the designers in the design department right now. Are you disobeying your superior?"
"What's the matter?" Jenkins walked by.
Before Savannah could speak, Katrina filed a complaint, saying, "Jenkins, I asked Savannah to type some papers for the meeting, but she didn't want to. I know, having designer type doc.u.ments might seem like a bit of a waste, but aren't we running out of people? What's wrong with typing files? I'm new here, and many of my colleagues in the department may not approve of me. If so, I'll just quit being the chief stylist of Fashion Queen..."
Jenkins was in a quandary.
He was one of the few people knowing the unusual relationship between Savannah and the big boss and used to take much care of Savannah in the company, but Katrina was recommended by the lady from the Rowe family, who was said to be engaged to Mr. Sterling.
Katrina was the bestie of Mr. Sterling's fiancée, and he didn't dare to offend her.
Jenkins hesitated, looking at Savannah.
Savannah knew it was tough for Jenkins. He was usually good for her on the job, and she didn't want to make it difficult for him.
"I will do it right now." She had to bear Katrina's provocation.
Katrina smiled triumphantly and left.
The doc.u.ments she left were all handwritten papers in spidery scrawl. The writings were notoriously illegible.
It took Savannah a lot of effort to get it done. The meeting had already started, so she made some copies of the printed doc.u.ment and walked to the conference room.
"Excuse me. I come to deliver the papers," she knocked at the door and said.
The top management would discuss with the design department about the clothes and costumes for Fashion Queen in the meeting.
The play was about some female fashion designers scheming against each other in the fashion design industry. The company had spent a lot of money on the new play to make it a big hit this year, so the management gave great care to the play.
Savannah went in but stopped there when she looked up.
In the conference room, along with Jenkins, Katrina, and two other executives, Dylan was there too.
He sat at the head of the conference table, listening to Katrina's report with an impassive face.
Savannah's heart was pumping, and the color upon her cheeks spread over her face and neck.
But Dylan didn't seem to notice her, his dark eyes looking very cold. He didn't look at her, ignoring her completely. No one could see that he'd had the most intimate affair with her just the other night.
"What are you doing there? Come in." Katrina raised her voice.
Charlotte told her Mr. Sterling was mad at this bitch now. Besides, Charlotte was about to get engaged to Mr. Sterling, and he treated her quite well these days. No wonder he agreed immediately when Charlotte recommended her for the post of the chief stylist for Fashion Queen.
So, even if she deliberately bossed Savannah around in front of Mr. Sterling, Katrina didn't think much of it.
Savannah collected her mind and gave out the copies with bent head.
When she handed the copy to Katrina, Katrina knocked her coffee over when she raised her hand to take the papers.
The steaming black coffee spilled on to Savannah's shirt and pants!
"Oh, I'm sorry," Katrina said, an insincere apology.
Savannah felt a burning pain in her leg, but she had to bear it. She took the paper towel from Jenkins, wiped her pants, and turned to go to the bathroom.
"Wait a minute," Katrina shouted.
Savannah stopped and looked back at Katrina.
"Pour a cup of coffee for me, Miss Schultz, my cup's empty," Katrina ordered bluntly.
Everyone in the meeting room could see Katrina purposely created difficulties for Savannah. Actually, they knew the cause of Katrina's personal dislike for Savannah. The two were competitors in the design competition this year. Originally, Savannah had won first place, but she quit for no reason. Katrina, who came second, became the winner. Many people said Katrina was only too lucky and undeserved her place. So, they were not surprised to see Katrina finding fault with Savannah.
But they also felt Katrina was too narrow-minded to spite the little designer.
Jenkins, who had always taken care of Savannah, spoke for her first, "I'll ask my secretary to bring in the coffee for Miss Kaif."
"Yes, that's the thing that a secretary should do, Miss Schultz's a designer, it's not suitable to ask her to serve coffee," corroborated another manager kindly.
Savannah looked gratefully at Jenkins and that manager, but a cold, unsympathetic voice cooled her again.
"Can't a designer serve coffee?"
The meeting room went silent.
"Mr. Sterling's right," Katrina smiled triumphantly at Savannah. "Disobedience cannot be allowed in the company. Since you're the employee in the company, do what your boss asks you to do. Understand?"
Savannah took a deep breath. "I didn't mean to be disobedient. Employees should perform their own duties. I just think it's a waste to ask a designer to pour coffee."
Katrina's face turned purple. She clenched her fist and stared at her, unable to speak.
Dylan's cold gaze fell on Savannah's face.
"Since you're so proud, why come out to work? You have a facile tongue but are not willing to pour a coffee for your superior. It seems a waste of your talent for you to stay in Zagreb Film as a designer," he said tartly.