Thest to arrive was Ma-she was a full hourte.


    "Sorry, everyone. Got held up with an old client. My boss on that project is a nightmare to deal with. This is the earliest I could make it," she said, breezing in.


    "No worries. Meeting''s over," Effie replied, standing up.


    The others exchanged bewildered looks, confusion written all over their faces.


    The meeting hadn''t even started-what was she talking about, calling it off now? It feltpletely absurd.


    Shirley was just as puzzled, but she''d learned to follow Effie''s lead. As soon as Effie left, Shirley quietly slipped out too.


    "What''s her problem? Calls us in here, says nothing, and now just sends us away? Who does she think we are?" someone grumbled.


    "Wait, seriously? She didn''t say a word? But you''ve all been in here ages!" Ma asked, genuinely curious.


    She''d seen Effie head in earlier; she''d deliberately dragged her feet beforeing in herself.


    Someone suddenly remembered, "Actually, Effie did say something earlier. She said we''re a team, and we don''t start meetings unless everyone''s here. She doesn''t want to repeat herself over and over. She also said that next time, we need to all be on time-she won''t give us more than three chances."


    Ma just scoffed, brushing off Effie''s words. "Please. Shends one deal and suddenly thinks she''s top dog? She''s got no idea who''s really running this show. Let''s see how far she gets without us. I''d like to see her try."


    "You didn''t see the way she just stared at us in the meeting room. Didn''t say a thing, just eyed us like she owned the ce. It was kind of eerie, honestly," another added.


    Ma rolled her eyes, thinking everyone was being overly dramatic.


    Afterwards, she went straight to Nelly and ryed everything that had happened. Nelly justughed. "Effie really doesn''t know her ce, does she? She seriously thinks one win means she''ll keep winning? That''s hrious."


    Ma, eager to please, chimed in, "Exactly! She doesn''t even realize where she stands. Sure, she seduced Mr. Hoffman tond the deal, but her skills are a joke. When the designse up short, she''ll have no choice but toe crawling back to you."


    Nelly smirked, clearly pleased by the thought. "I''ll make sure she does just that. She''ll be begging me for help."


    "Couldn''t agree more!"


    Shirley, on her way to grab some water from the break room, overheard their conversation.


    She froze in the doorway, then quickly retreated and hurried back to her desk. "Effie, we''ve got a problem," she whispered urgently.


    Effie calmly put down her stylus. "What''s going on?"


    Shirley ryed everything she''d just heard by the break room.


    "Effie, what do we do? If they gang up on you and refuse to work on the designs, this project is huge. If you''re left to do it all by yourself, there''s no way you''ll finish before the deadline. That could tank the whole deal-"


    Effie''s expression didn''t change. She looked serene, unbothered, as she reassured Shirley, "Don''t worry. This project will go smoothly. But first, I need to weed out a few bad apples."


    Shirley knew exactly who Effie meant.


    Even so, while Effie seemed confident, Shirley couldn''t help but worry.


    The next day, Effie once again called a meeting in advance, repeating the same rule: no meeting until everyone''s present.