Beneath the Ice

Chapter 6: Disaster-proof? Not Quite

The day after the cat catastrophe, Lisa was back in Jennie’s office, bright and early. She had come in extra early this time—*an hour early*, to be precise. No way she was giving Jennie another reason to roast her about punctuality.

Lisa hovered outside Jennie’s door, gathering her thoughts. She was running on three cups of coffee, and after the debacle of yesterday’s conference, her determination to stay out of trouble was at an all-time high. She knocked lightly before entering.

Jennie was, unsurprisingly, already at her desk, engrossed in some important-looking documents. Her office was, as always, pristine—everything in its place, not a single paper out of line. Lisa sometimes wondered if Jennie even allowed things to move. Maybe she used invisible glue to keep everything perfectly positioned.

“Good morning, Ms. Kim!” Lisa chirped, trying to sound as upbeat as humanly possible.

Jennie didn’t look up from her work. “Morning.”

Lisa took that as her cue to stand there awkwardly, waiting for further instructions. After a few seconds of silence, she cleared her throat. “So, about yesterday... I just want to apologize again for the, uh, uninvited guest on the screen.”

Jennie’s eyes flicked up, cool and unwavering. “The cat?”

Lisa laughed nervously. “Yes. The cat. I swear, next time it’ll be flawless. No cats, no glitches. Just perfectly boring, professional presentations.”

Jennie raised an eyebrow, her expression still icy. “That would be ideal.”

Lisa nodded vigorously. “Right. No fun allowed.”

Jennie’s gaze lingered on her for a moment longer than usual before she returned to her work. “I need you to prepare for the board meeting this afternoon. You’ll be taking notes and organizing the follow-up reports.”

Lisa tried not to visibly panic. *A board meeting? With Jennie and all the top executives?* She was still recovering from the trauma of the conference. But she pasted on her best smile and gave a thumbs-up. “No problem! Notes, follow-up reports, maybe even a flawless AV setup if I’m feeling brave.”

Jennie didn’t react, which was typical Jennie. But Lisa swore she saw the tiniest twitch at the corner of Jennie’s lips. Not quite a smile—more like a restrained smirk. It was progress, right?

---

As the day went on, Lisa busied herself with preparing for the board meeting, doing her best to stay out of trouble. She had already double-checked the AV setup (*no cats this time*), triple-checked the documents, and mentally prepared herself for sitting in a room with some of the scariest people in the business world. She had even managed to grab Jennie’s herbal tea just the way she liked it.

By the time the meeting rolled around, Lisa felt... cautiously optimistic.

The boardroom was filled with the usual corporate heavyweights—men in expensive suits, women in perfectly tailored business wear, and, of course, Jennie Kim at the head of the table, looking every bit the unshakeable CEO. Lisa took her place near the back, notebook in hand, trying to look like she belonged there and wasn’t internally freaking out.

The meeting started smoothly enough. Jennie ran through the financial reports, the expansion plans for Singapore, and the next round of product launches. Lisa diligently took notes, nodding along as if she understood all the corporate jargon being thrown around.

But, of course, things never stayed smooth for long when Lisa was involved.

Just as the board members were discussing international logistics, Lisa felt a sudden buzzing in her pocket. Her phone. *Oh no.* She’d forgotten to put it on silent. Quickly, she fumbled to pull it out and silence it, but as she did, her hand slipped—and her phone went flying out of her grasp.