Ran walked back to her motel while carrying her heavy bags full of clothes. Once she got inside, she got a phone call from the real estate.
"The house?" she asked very excitedly, "Yes if the contract is all signed, I would like to begin construction immediately. Yes, yes. I'll contact the company as soon as possible. Thank you very much."
Excited, Ran jumped up and down on her motel bed. It took quite some time, but she finally received the credentials to sign the contract for the land that used to be her home. She didn't know if it was a sick joke from somebody, but if she had to rebuild her old house, she would gladly do so.
"Which company should I leave my house to?" Ran took out her phone and started to scroll through the search results. After a moment of thinking, she decided it would be best to ask the company that built her home the first time. But no matter how much searching she did, the company's name would not appear.
"Strange... the company shouldn't have gone bankrupt yet... The business was booming after all," Ran frowned as she once again felt something disappear from the life she knew before.
"Maybe I could ask Rowan when I see him again," she recalled that he was working for the largest company in the city. Perhaps he has access to the information that she doesn't.
"Tomorrow... maybe I could see Rowan when I start my job," Ran fiddled with her phone as her heart began to beat faster at the thought of starting a new job. She's worked so many years at Owner's shop that she forgot what it was like to work for a large company.
"Tomorrow."
She kept whispering to herself as she drifted off into sleep.
...
"Hello, today is my first day working here. You can refer to me as Ran. Nice to meet you," Ran whispered this statement to herself like a spell as she walked to the ATE building.
"Woah... what a large building," Ran gasped out as she gazed upon her new workplace. The building consisted of at least 28 floors (at least to her knowledge). She wondered which floor she was going to work at.
Ran walked to the receptionist's desk and started to speak, "hello, my name is-"
"Ah, yes the newcomer. You may head up to the 28th floor," The receptionist didn't look up from her computer as she handed Ran a card key, "this is the key needed to get in and out. Don't lose it."
"Ah... yes. Thank you..." Ran was taken aback. Was this the scale of a large company? It was on a completely different level! She took the card key from the receptionist who didn't look up the entire time and thanked her quietly. She scanned the key to the machine and waited for the elevator.
"Ah, those who are going to the top floor should only ride this elevator," the security guard seemed to recognize Ran as well as he directed her to the furthermost elevator. She awkwardly nodded at him and made her way to the elevator.
*Wait... the top floor? Am I going to be working on the same floor as the CEO??*
Ran started to panic. Why was she being sent to the top floor? Will she have to meet the CEO?
Ding!
Before she could collect her thoughts, the elevator arrived on the first floor. She took a deep breath and entered the elevator.
Ding!
After waiting for what seemed like a minute, Ran seemed to arrive at the very top floor. She took another deep breath as she exited the elevator.
*As expected of the top floor, even the air up here feels different*
"Miss... Ran?" another security guard approached her. "Uh... yes you can refer to me as Ran, thank you," Ran replied awkwardly. "Follow me please," the security guard led the way. Ran trailed behind him, trying to walk as professionally as possible.
The security guard stopped in front of a large door and stopped. He paused and then knocked on the door.
Knock, knock.
Precisely two times with perfectly timed intervals. Ran raised her eyebrow as she saw the security guard stiff up.
"Come in," a deep, loud voice bellowed from the other side.
The security guard let out a small sigh of relief and opened the door. "You may enter," he said as he nodded goodbye to her. Without a word, Ran walked through the doors and entered the room.
"So, my new secretary, there is a lot for you to do today. First, clear up my afternoon for me as I must spend time with my father. Second, schedule a meeting with 000 company-"
"Excuse me," Ran squeaked out quietly.
The man stopped speaking and lifted his hand to his mouth.
"Third, do not ever interrupt me. Fourth, schedule another meeting with 000 company and fifth, your office is the first room down to the right of the hallway. You may leave," the man finished talking as he went back to reading documents. He gestured at her to leave lazily.
*H-how rude!*
Ran thought to herself as she was hesitant on speaking out again. After some thinking, she decided it was best not to get fired on her first day. She bowed and left the room as quickly as she came in.
"Let's see... the first room down to the right of the hallway..." she mumbled to herself as she walked down the very long hallway. "I'm assuming it's this?" she stopped in front of a door and gazed upon her new workplace. She closed her eyes briefly before opening the door.
"This is..."
A large room had a desk right in the center of it with two monitors and an expensive keyboard. The windows behind the desk were almost as large as the entire wall.
"Super exquisite..." Ran breathed out in disbelief. After working at Owner's small shop for so many years, she was used to cramming in items the best she could. But now? She had an entire room for herself. She entered the room and plopped down on her chair. Even the chair seemed to be of high quality. She turned on the monitors and started to set up her work desk until she heard a knock on her door.
"Come in," she yelled out, distracted by her work.
A man walked into a room; he looked rather old. "Hello, my name is Gerard. I work directly under the CEO, and I came to give you more instructions," he said professionally as he walked into the room with an upright posture.
Gerard entered her room and handed her a mountain of documents. "These all need to be checked by this afternoon," he said as he turned to leave. "Wait!" Ran called out to him. Embarrassed by her rude manners, she quickly changed her tone, "I mean... excuse me sir, but could you please explain to me what exactly I am to do here?"
Gerard stopped walking and without turning around, he said, "I already gave you precise instructions Miss Ran. Unfortunately, I am unable to provide you with more." And he left the room, leaving Ran speechless.
"Wha-" Ran's mouth remained open as she stared at the mountain of documents that were placed on her desk. Did she even have the authority to look through these documents? That was what she originally thought. However, after reading through a handful of the documents, Ran realized that most of the documents were very insignificant.
"So... my job is basically to sort through what's trash and what's not?" Ran finally understood the basics behind her job and started to work diligently. Before she knew it, time flew and it was already lunchtime. Luckily for her, she managed to look through all of the documents and had time for a short break. She went down to the first floor and started to look around the building. There was a convenience store and restaurants on the basement floors and even a small mart on the second basement floor. She whistled at the convenience of the building.
"Ran?" a voice called out to her while she was looking around. She turned around to see who it was.
"Aiden?" she gasped out.