❛𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐓𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒... ❜ | 𝟏𝟖+

𝒸𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉ℯ𝓇 𝒻ℴ𝓊𝓇 | ℯ𝒶𝓈𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒾𝓃

Anna's POV:
I arrive at Dalton Enterprises, feeling a surge of pride as i flash my employee badge, and head straight for the lab.

One of the chemists, Evan, greets me as i slip on my lab coat in my private office. "Welcome, Ms Schuyler. You seem very professional for your first day." i smile gratefully, "Thanks." "How are you liking your office?" "Nicely enough, thank you." "Good, good... it used to be mine." i lift my eyebrow as i load up my computer. "So you're the boss everyone is saying has no backbone." Evan's jaw tightens, and i swear hear his teeth scrape against the surfaces of one another. "It's no wonder Sa- ahem, Ms Dalton called in a woman to do the job." "I did the job fine, Ms Dalton is the one with a stick up her backside." i'm surprised to see someone with no spine speaking so pertinently about the company's CEO, but i reply nonetheless. "I'll have you know that our company's CEO might've been in my life for a short amount of time, but i'm sure she wouldn't demote someone unless it deemed necessary. I'd hate to have to tell Ms Dalton about your views on her that you seemingly put before your curriculum and the good of the company." he seems gobsmacked by my outspokenness. Good. I'm a woman who likes to leave a mark. "What's wrong, Evan? Didn't think a woman had a tongue? Leave my office." "A-and about telling Ms Dalton?" i grin, enjoying the power i have gained over him. "We'll see." i gesture with my hand for him to evacuate, which he does, leaving another chemist to enter. "Good morning, Ms Schuyler. I'm Aditya Bharat, one of your chemists." "Nice to meet you. You're the one who's going to introduce me to the rest of the crew, i take it?" "Yes, i am." before i can reply, i get a mysterious knock at my office door. I move to answer it, and there's a bouquet of daisies, along with a delivery man. "Delivery for Ms Anna M. Schuyler?" i've always hated my middle name. "That's me." i sign for it, and place the bouquet on my desk. "Daisies? Pretty..." i notice a card along with it which i clasp in my fingers and read in my head.

'Good luck on your first day. I know you'll blow them all away.
- Sam.'

It's from Sam? That's adorable... "I never got flowers when i was Head..." i hear Evan say through the open office door. I glance around the lab from the inside, which is mostly filled with men. The lack of bouquet deliveries doesn't surprise me much. "I guess i'm just special like that." "Don't worry, Evan's always been jealous of people who find their corner of light in the world. Follow me, we'll get the day started." after i make a mental note to thank Sam for the flowers, i walk closely behind Aditya to the rest of the environmental team. "We usually work in groups of four to six, depending on the project. Charles and Kai will be your best resources as they've worked here the longest." i turn to two men, both straight faced and serious-looking. "Where are you coming from? Pharmaceuticals? Agriculture?" Charles asks, Kai jumping in straight after before i can respond, "You're not from the energy sector, are you?" "Actually, i'm new to the company. I graduated from the University of Harvard with three masters degrees." they both raise their brows, looking impressed. "Harvard? The competition is tough there." "Yes, it is. Got in on my first try." i turn to my right to see an array of blood samples and stacks of paperwork. "What are you currently working on?" "Right now, we're working on pollution remediation in farmlands with heavy pesticide use. The blood samples are from animals in the area. We're trying to catalog all of them. Like so." Aditya picks up a tube and holds the barcode up to a scanner. Then, he shows me the different storage refrigerators for logged and unlogged samples. After, he leads me over to a machine i recognize as a blood chemistry analyzer. We had a few in Harvard that i worked on. "I'm impressed. Looks like the capability to help the planet sky rockets when you have tech like Dalton does." "Ms Dalton might scare everyone into oblivion, but she gets things done." Charles states, reading over his paperwork. "I hope you all will get the same perception of me in a few weeks time. And don't worry, i'm here to stay. I've heard many stories from people saying Evan quit when things got tough." "It's hardly surprising Dalton got a woman to do the job. Some of the best scientists at this company are women." "I'm glad gender diversity is such a big thing now in science. It's 2023, some people need to stop underestimating what women can do in a conference room. I'm pleased i wasn't put with a group of chauvinistic egotistical mansplainers." "Well said. You and Dalton seem to be buddy buddy already." i snap my head up at Aditya's comment. There's no possible way he could have literally seen me eating out of the palm of Sam's hand yesterday at lunch... is there? "What uh, what do you mean?" "The pin on your lab coat? It normally takes Head of Divisions weeks to earn one of them. It signals that you're a HR Coordinator. You're one of the big bosses and you haven't even been here a week. Impressive." i check the outside flap of my coat, a golden pin spelling out the letter 'D', which i assume is for 'Dalton'. "I didn't even notice it. I feel as if i'm branded in some sort of way." i like the feeling of Sam's imprint on my body, as if she's marking me as hers. It makes me feel... safe. Something tells me i'm going to love working at Dalton Enterprises.