Chapter 44 Chapter 44- Diplomacy on Its Last Breath( Lotus ) ( Joy)
When the presentation wrapped, the room erupted into corporate mingling.
Executives clustered in circles, networking like it was oxygen.
Managers bragged about KPIs they didn’t produce.
Departments posed for aesthetic photos to upload with #TeamSynergy.
But one area of the room stayed quiet:
The third-floor table.
People walked around it like it was contagious.
Some even pretended to check their phone to avoid eye contact.
Joy sighed. “Wow. We’re the haunted furniture of this lobby.”
Lotus cracked her neck. “Well… if the mountain won’t come to us—”
“We crash the mountain?” Joy grinned.
“Oh absolutely.”
They straightened their clothes and marched toward the cluster of managers.
There, in the center of an elite little circle, stood Cynthia arms crossed, chin raised and Bernard, wearing arrogance like it was part of the dress code.
Lotus cleared her throat politely. “Excuse us. We wanted to ask about the emails we sent. The third floor has some urgent—”
Cynthia didn’t even turn. “Now’s not a good time.”
Bernard added, “Yes, ladies, this is a leadership discussion.”
Joy blinked. “Yes, that why we are coming to you as managers on behalf of our department”
Bernard smiled the way people do when they’re about to insult you professionally.
“Title-wise? Sure. Functionally? Mmm… debatable.”
Joy clasped her hands politely.
“Debatable? Interesting assessment,” she said pleasantly.
“Especially since Mr. Wu made my role explicit—to support directors who are… overwhelmed.”
She gestured lightly to their panicked cluster.
Lotus chimed in, “That’s why he created my position.”
Joy offered a sweet, professional smile.
“So if you’re debating our function, I’d love to loop him into the discussion. He’s usually very clear.”
Bernard blinked like she’d slapped him with a by laws binder.
Cynthia gave a dismissive wave. “If there’s a tech issue, forward it. If there’s a workplace concern, submit a ticket. We’ll get to it.”
“Like you got to the last eighteen?” Joy asked.
Bernard chuckled. “Persistence is admirable… in moderation.”
Cynthia nodded. “Don’t worry. We’ll take it from here.”
Dismissed.
Ignored.
Waved off like flies.
Lotus’s temper simmered. Joy’s fingers twitched.
But together, they did the one thing that scared upper management the most:
They smiled.
A slow, knowing, dangerous smile.
And they walked away, weighing one simple question: give management one last chance at diplomacy…
or become the storm they truly were.
They left the conference hall slow on purpose.
Not dragging their feet just finally breathing after a day that felt like a full-contact sport played in heels.
Joy stretched her arms over her head. “Lotus… be honest with me for real. Did we make the right choice taking this job? ’Cause right now, I’m convinced we voluntarily joined a cult with no snacks.”
Lotus glanced at the polished executives still networking behind them. Perfect hair. Perfect smiles. Perfect delusions.
Then she exhaled.
“We made the right choice. We came here to fix what’s broken. But…” she nudged Joy with her elbow, “…we gotta strategize. For real. You might have to go old-school and rewrite the whole administrative system from scratch.”
Joy scoffed but smirked. “Girl, you want me to redo programming from 2010? That’s prehistoric coding. I might find dinosaur bones in that database.”
“You can do it,” Lotus said. “Remember who we trained under.”
Joy blinked, then groaned. “Oh Lord… Rune.”
Lotus burst out laughing. “Yes, girl, Rune Calder the Mad Genius Menace himself.”
Lotus cackled. “Man, I feel bad how you and Rune used poor Eric. Crazy! Y’all had that man sweating like he was defusing a bomb.”
Joy eyes widened. “Wait — we used him?
Lotus still cackling YOU nearly broke him! You remember creating that fake duplicate program on his computer? The one that dissolved his desktop, wiped everything, then rebooted itself by typing the word ‘fart’?”
Joy folded over laughing. “That wasn’t supposed to go that far! It was just a stress test!”
“Stress test?” Lotus gasped. “Sis, he panicked so hard he deleted work Rune had him doing for a month!”
“Okay but that part not funny,” Joy wheezed between laughs. “Because it took me two days to calm him down. I even had to take him for ice cream.”
Lotus blinked. “You… took him for ice cream?”
Joy shrugged. “He had a crush on you. Ice cream was the emotional support bridge.”
Lotus’s jaw dropped. “Crush? On who?”
“You,” Joy said, pointing directly at her.
“Stop lying.”
“I’m serious! Matter fact…” Joy tilted her head, thoughtful now. “I betted Rune $50 that Eric was gonna ask you out.”
Lotus groaned. “Rune bet on everything.”
“And you know him,” Joy said. “Rune definitely the type to show up randomly just so he can tell me I lost the bet.”
They both laughed that tired, delirious, “we really been through war” type laugh and finally stepped into the elevator.