Chapter Seven – Verity
CHAPTER SEVEN
VERITY
“ S he’s in a mood this morning.”
I flop down onto my seat and turn to Imani.
“Isn’t she always in some sort of mood?”
She rolls her chair from her cubicle to mine, bringing her voice to a low whisper.
“Yeah, but this seems worse than the usual Monday moodiness.”
“Great.”
That’s just what I need this morning. I spent all last week toiling away on my big presentation, and it could all be for naught because Celine is in one of her moods.
Everyone knows you have to be careful around her.
If you catch her during a bad moment, it could be the end of your career.
But, if you are lucky enough to land in her path on one of her good days, your career could be jetted up to the stars.
It is a rough environment, but the potential payoff is worth it… or at least that’s what I tell myself.
I’ve been working at Delute Designs for three years now, the first as an intern and the second as an assistant before finally being promoted to a junior designer.
I’d gotten my big break when my design concepts had caught the attention of HP Energy, landing me the lead for the project—much to the annoyance of some of the more senior employees.
I’ve been on Celine’s good side the last six months since then.
But being in Celine’s favor changes every day, and if my presentation bombs, I’ll be back on the bench until another opportunity comes up.
I’ve already spent the last two months working on the Kelton project, under our team lead, Jenna, and finishing out a couple of company brandings for various clients.
I am itching to work on something of my own again.
If I lose out on this client, I’ll be assigned to work under whoever brings in the next major one, and the only other person on the team with a project in the wings is Anne.
Anne, who hates me because I’d won the HP Energy contract from her. Anne, who tries to cut me down in front of Celine any chance she gets.
For a woman-founded, women-led company that prides itself on being made up of one hundred percent female and nonbinary employees and creating a family environment, there is a lot of cattiness behind the scenes.
I sigh, taking a large chug of my hazelnut coffee.
I will just have to hope for the best.
I spend the morning checking my emails and tweaking some files for an upcoming advertisement, all the while watching the clock tick away until our afternoon meeting.
I’m barely able to even break for lunch, my nerves getting the better of me as I hear the occasional barking shout come from Celine’s office.
She is totally in a mood. It’s all over some client, from the way she keeps cussing “him” out. Whoever he is, I am pissed at him as well. I didn’t need some asshole aggravating her.
By the time two o’clock comes around, I’ve started to get all in my head. I feel like I’m walking into this meeting with my hands tied behind my back.
I trek into the large meeting room, scoring a chair next to Sally, one of the other designers on my team. She’s a lot more soft-spoken, waiting in the wings as Anne and I compete for favor.
Imani sits opposite me with her team. Delute Designs is a small company, a little over fifty employees, and there are four main design teams, each with their own lead and specialties. I am part of Jenna’s team, which specializes in branding.
Celine founded Delute Designs while she was still in college and has quickly risen in the ranks over the last decade as one of the most sought-after graphic design companies in the city, even hitting the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. From custom brand marketing to full-scale advertising campaigns, she is a name that is known, a name everyone respects.
That’s why, even though the workplace could be a little toxic at times, pitting employees against one another for the next big break, I’ve stuck it out.
Working at Delute Designs makes me someone when, all my life, I’d been scraping the bottom of the barrel.
If I could attain even a fraction of the sparkle that makes Celine shine, it’d prove that I am worth something.
I have no desire to be Celine, though. She is cutthroat and has no issue stepping on people to rise to the top, and I have too much of a conscience for that.
The company’s reputation–her reputation–is all that ever matters, and she refuses to let any of her employees ruin that perfect image she’s crafted.
I’ve seen more people fired in three years than I’d thought humanly possible.
Celine is hard to please on a good day, and that is frustrating, but that doesn’t undermine her talent.
I respect the way she founded Delute so young, how she had this rock-hard ambition and didn’t let anyone walk all over her.
She has a backbone that never bends, and I admire that she stands her ground–even when it is questionable.
A hush falls over the room as Celine enters, her assistant trailing behind like a scared squirrel.
“How’s everyone doing today?”
It feels like a loaded question, but if no one answers, we’re screwed.
“Good,” Davina, our Senior Director of Marketing, takes one for the team.
“Glad to hear someone’s enjoying their week.”
Everyone’s eyes bounce around the table at the clear bitterness in her voice.
“I want a status update on the Kelton project.”
Davina clears her throat. “Everything’s in place. We should have all the items in hand by end of week for the event.”
“The event’s in two weeks.”
“Correct.”
“Receiving the items seven days prior to the event seems to be cutting it awfully close, Davina.”
“The step and repeats that arrived for the photo op area were off.”
Celine cocks her head. “Off?”
“The PMS color wasn’t correct.”
“And how did that happen?”
Davina’s eyes slip to Jenna, who looks a touch green. Celine doesn’t miss it.
“Jenna?”
“We accidentally submitted one of the earlier PSD files to the printer, and the CMYK values were off.” Her voice has a slightly higher pitch to it than normal.
Celine’s eyes narrow. “And I’m just now hearing of this?”
“We were able to contact the printer and get replacements within the timeframe. There won’t be any delays for the event, and everything will match the branding kit Mr. Kelton and you approved.
It will all be cohesive, I promise.” Jenna is trying to smooth everything over, but the vein popping in her neck is giving her away.
Jenna all but had a heart attack the other week when she opened the box.
It had taken an hour to get her to calm down.
I’d never seen her like that before. The PMS was barely different, more a cerulean than a cobalt, and not something we would’ve normally freaked out over.
Except, Celine is putting a lot—and I mean a lot —of pressure on the Kelton contract.
We’ve never taken on a client like this before, one that goes beyond the scope of design and plays into event marketing.
Celine is looking to expand her repertoire and boost her reputation, and tapping into the event space seems to be where she is headed.
There will be a lot of eyes on the event, especially with the who’s who of Manhattan elite in attendance.
Celebrities, athletes, CEOs—honestly anyone of top status from around the world is flying in for it.
Celine refuses for even a hair to be out of place.
We have to be perfect. Delute has to be perfect.
Incorrect color swatches are not perfect.
“And how much did that cost?”
“Four thousand.”
Celine cuts back to Davina. “And you approved this?”
“We had money in the budget.”
“Mhm.” The judgement is clear in her tone. “I want all hands on the Kelton project until it’s over. No new projects.”
“But—” The word leaves my lips before I can stop myself.
Shit.
“But what, Verity?”
Celine’s scrutiny shifts to me, and I can see Anne smirking out of the corner of my eye.
“But I have a client proposal.”
“Your team has already been leading the Kelton project. I will not have any of you shifting that energy elsewhere. Your proposal can wait.”
It can’t. Not really. The client is looking for a company to help with their new product launch but needs initial concepts by the twentieth—which is in ten days. If we don’t take this on, someone else will, and I really freaking want this.
Celine seems to clock my lingering hesitance and she raises a thin brow.
“Is this client larger than Kelton Hotels, Ms. Moore?”
“They’re—”
“Yes or no.”
“Technically, no, but—”
“But nothing. The Kelton project is our most visible client right now. The crème de la crème will be attending the grand reveal for their special little honors club, a branding that we are responsible for. Nothing can go wrong, do you understand?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Then we are done here.” Celine shuts her laptop, and her assistant jumps up to collect the rest of her belongings before they file out of the meeting room.
The entire agenda for the meeting has been thrown out the window, but no one dares question it. If Celine is done, we all are.
The rest of my coworkers trickle out, but I remain rooted to my seat, staring at my screen and the presentation I’d put my whole heart into.
Dammit. I spent hours on this.
Hours that Celine would’ve preferred me quadruple-checking things for the Kelton project instead. I am really starting to hate the whole thing.
Our team went through countless revisions for the logo and brand kit of Kelton Hotels’ new North American flagship concept, the Kelton Honors Lounge, a luxurious member’s only lounge that will be integrated into their key hotels across the world.
It sounds more like a rich-boy club.
We ate, slept, and breathed concept upon concept until we found the perfect shade of gold and blue for a logo that Mr. Kelton kept pushing back the smallest revisions on.
I’d gone cross-eyed tweaking the L in the logo until it was the perfect swoop.
There was never a concept we sent where he didn’t have some sort of edit to make.
Granted, the final branding is stunning, but that doesn’t mean I like the guy.
I’ve yet to meet Mr. Kelton, but apparently, he is hot enough that every time Jenna had an appointment with him, she came back smiling, despite the miniscule adjustments he’d asked for to a design we’d already been twenty-three revisions deep on.
I love Jenna, but she isn’t the best team leader.
She’s been working at Delute for eight years, though, so the odds of me ever getting promoted into a higher position like hers are slim.
It is more likely that Mike would pop out of the ether and ask me on another date.
That is one of the issues of being such a small company; promotions are hard to come by.
I’ve made it to junior designer, but that doesn’t mean much here—half of us are at that level and stuck there for the foreseeable future.
I’d kill for a promotion. Not only would I finally be able to head my own projects, but the extra money would help out astronomically.
As it is, Hannah foots a majority of our rent.
She says it is fine because she has the larger bedroom and her job pays better, but it still makes me feel bad whenever we get the payment reminder in our rental portal.
I let out a groan and sink farther down in the chair, causing it to roll backward a couple of inches.
“Hey, it’s okay.” Imani squeezes my shoulder.
“Is it?”
“Yes. Your team will knock the Kelton project out of the park, and then Celine will let you guys do whatever you want. That contract is basically a golden ticket.”
“But the deal.” I flail a hand, gesturing at the presentation glaring on my laptop.
Imani shuts the lid and then grabs my hand, hauling me to my feet.
“Enough. You’re a boss bitch. Another contract will come along.”
Imani was in the same intern cohort as me, and we had soldiered our way through the last three years at Delute side by side. Every day I wish we were on the same team.
She loops her arm through mine and steers us back into the bullpen.
“Come on, let’s grind for another two hours, and then I’ll take us out for drinks.”