Beneath the Ice

Chapter 7

Lisa arrived at the office the next morning feeling unusually confident. After surviving a giant-cat disaster, a mortifying text message in front of the board, and numerous chilly glares from Jennie, she figured nothing could phase her anymore. Jennie hadn’t fired her yet, and that alone felt like a small victory.

That sense of invincibility, however, lasted all of five minutes.

She had just settled at her desk, sipping her coffee, when Jennie’s assistant from the PR department, Chaeyoung, came rushing over, her face pale with panic.

"Lisa, we’ve got a situation!" Chaeyoung whispered, her eyes darting toward Jennie’s office as if she were afraid Jennie would suddenly materialize in the hallway.

Lisa sat up straighter. "A situation? Like, a regular situation or a ‘we’re-all-doomed’ situation?"

Chaeyoung looked ready to cry. "There’s a problem with the press release Jennie approved last night. It’s trending... for all the wrong reasons."

Lisa’s stomach dropped. "Oh no. What happened?"

Chaeyoung pulled out her phone and showed Lisa the news article. In big, bold letters, it read: *“Kim Industries CEO Slams Local Competitors as ‘Inefficient and Obsolete’.”*

Lisa blinked. "Uh, I’m guessing that’s not the angle we were going for?"

Chaeyoung shook her head furiously. "No! Those were internal comments that somehow got included in the press release. It’s blowing up on social media. The local firms are furious, and Jennie... well..." She gestured toward the office door. "She doesn’t know yet."

Lisa stared at the headline, her mind racing. Jennie’s sharp words in the wrong hands could be lethal, and she knew Jennie was *not* going to be happy about this. In fact, this was exactly the kind of disaster that would send Jennie into full-on *ice queen* mode.

"Okay, okay, no need to panic," Lisa said, more to herself than to Chaeyoung. "We can fix this. Jennie doesn't need to know *immediately*, right? I mean, how bad is it, really?"

Chaeyoung scrolled down, showing Lisa the social media comments.

- *"Jennie Kim strikes again! She thinks she’s better than everyone else."*
- *"Kim Industries clearly doesn’t care about local businesses. Time to boycott."*
- *"Does Jennie Kim even live on the same planet as the rest of us?"*

Lisa let out a low groan. "Okay, maybe this is bad."

Before she could think of a plan, Jennie’s door swung open, and the CEO herself appeared, glancing at her watch. "Ms. Manoban, I need you in my office. Now."

Lisa gulped and shot Chaeyoung a desperate look. "Well, it was nice knowing you."

---

Inside Jennie’s office, Lisa tried to remain calm as she sat across from Jennie, who was already buried in her usual mountain of paperwork. The silence stretched for a few minutes, and just as Lisa was beginning to relax, Jennie’s phone buzzed on her desk.

Jennie glanced at it, then frowned. Without a word, she picked up the phone and began scrolling, her eyes narrowing the further she went. Lisa’s palms began to sweat.

“Ms. Manoban,” Jennie said slowly, her voice dangerously calm. “Can you explain why Kim Industries is suddenly the subject of a public relations disaster?”

Lisa’s heart skipped several beats. “Uh, about that...” she began, trying to keep her voice light. “There was... a minor mix-up with the press release. But nothing to worry about! We’re already working on damage control, and—”