Ran excitedly ran to the man who called out to her. She hadn't felt this welcomed in so long. Finally! Somebody who remembers her!
"What are you doing here Aiden? The last time I recall you were working in a different company," Ran asked as she gave Aiden a big hug.
Aiden returned Ran's hug and said, "Yeah, I'm currently working at UKL company. I came over today to sign a contract."
Ran let go of Aiden and gave him a confused look. UKL company? Ran recalled that he worked at a different company. Did he switch jobs?
"You! You should've told me you switched jobs!" she said playfully as she hit him lightly on the shoulder. Aiden protected his shoulder from another punch and pouted. "What do you mean switch jobs? I've been working at UKL ever since I graduated," he replied with a confused tone. Ran stopped herself from hitting him again.
*Again...? Something's not right again*
She stopped to stare at him. He looked the same as he did before... Same hairstyle, same face, same body... Was it only his job that had changed?
"Anyways, I gotta get back to my company! I have to go report to my boss that the contract was a success," Aiden broke Ran's train of thought as he patted her lightly on the shoulder, "You still have my number right? Contact me and let's get dinner sometime!" Then, he ran off like the wind. Ran stood there bewildered at the entire situation. He was definitely the same person she knew from before, but something seemed off.
She took out her phone and looked through her contacts. She searched for Aiden's name and find his number. Immediately, she left a message that read, 'Stupid! We haven't met in so long and you left so quickly... You have to buy me dinner later, okay?'
Feeling satisfied at her message, Ran shut off her phone and continued to explore ATE's building.
...
As Ran returned to her room, she was surprised at how far Ro's resting spot was from the company's building. It took her almost 10 minutes to walk to that location, only to be disappointed that Rowan wasn't there. Though, it did make sense as Ro's break time seemed to be during the evenings and not during lunchtime.
She plopped down on the couch that was placed in the middle of her room. It was extremely comfortable.
*Oh no... if I lie down long enough, I might fall asleep*
Ran thought to herself as her eyes started to close slowly. She jolted awake when she heard a knock on her door. "Come in!" Ran shouted as she rushed back to her desk. Gerard opened her door and came in once he received permission to. "Miss Ran," he said as he handed her more documents, "you need to schedule a meeting for tomorrow morning. The details are written in this paper." And he left as quickly as he came in.
Ran read through the document and was surprised at its attending members. Apparently, Aiden would be coming over tomorrow as well. She checked her phone to see if she received a reply. Unfortunately, there was none. She pushed her thoughts to the side as she continued her work.
After an hour of working, she heard another knock on her door. "Come in," she said, too occupied with her documents that she couldn't bother to see who came in. She continued typing on her computer without bothering to look up to see who it was.
"It's my first time being ignored like this," a deep unfamiliar voice frightened Ran as she immediately stopped what she was doing and looked up. She almost jumped out of her chair when she realized it was the CEO. "Sir!" Ran's voice was shaking, "I apologize, I didn't know it was you who came in..."
"You?" The CEO picked up the documents on Ran's desk and looked through them. His expression showed dissatisfaction. Perhaps at Ran's work.
"I mean... Sir..." Ran managed to squeak. The CEO nodded in satisfaction at her correction. "Good, I like that you're a quick learner," he said as he put down the documents, "but you're sense of aligning needs work. See these lines? They're not perfectly straight. Not to mention, your handwriting is uneven. Next time, use the computer to write down notes."
Ran stood there making a mental note of everything he was saying. He was her boss after all. If there was something he was dissatisfied with, she needed to fix it right away.
*How strict!* Ran thought to herself as the CEO's list continued on and on.
"Also, I cannot find my pen. Find it for me and leave it in my office once you find it," he gave her an 'assignment' to do as he left the room with no room for Ran to butt in. She was speechless at her boss.
"What pen...?" she scratched her head as another headache was coming. He didn't give any descriptions of the pen, so it was up to Ran to find it by herself. She sighed as she set aside the documents that need revising and stood up.
*Time to find myself a pen...*
...
It took Ran almost an hour to find the pen. She went around asking the security guards and even had to bother Gerard to obtain brief descriptions of the pen. It was thanks to Gerard's helpful description that she managed to find it.
*Just what kind of pen has a diamond on it...* She stared at how extravagant the pen was as she made her way back to the upper floors. She was in disbelief at how the CEO managed to lose just an expensive pen. Was he clumsy? Or did he just not care about his material belongings?
Either way, she found it before it was stolen.
*But I guess nobody would be brave enough to steal a pen that has a diamond on it... After all, it was screams out 'I'm the CEO's possession!'*
Ran made her way to the top floor and stopped outside of the CEO's office. She hesitated for a moment before knocking on the door. She recalled the security guard from earlier and remembered how careful he was. So, Ran decided to knock the exact same way he did.
Knock, Knock
Ran waited for a moment. There was no reply. Was the CEO out of the office? She opened the door quietly and slowly so that she wouldn't be caught sneaking into his office. There was nobody inside.
She walked towards his desk and left the pen on the corner of his table. She thought about leaving a note but remembered that he didn't like her uneven handwriting.
*Eh, he'll probably figure out that I was able to find it*
She hesitated for a moment before reading the documents on his desk. They were mostly contracts and requests for contracts. She whistled at the amount that he needed to look over. It was almost three times the amount that she had to read!
She took this time to look around his office. In one corner, there was a wall full of awards the company had received. She was impressed with out influential the company was. No wonder it was the top company!
Distracted, she looked at every single award and read their descriptions.
"Again. It's my first time seeing somebody brave enough to explore my office while I'm out," a familiar deep voice scared the living hell out of Ran. This time, she actually yelped as she looked backwards. But, she didn't have to look back to realize that it was her boss. She gulped as she stared at the CEO's face. He had a poker face.
*Damnit. So is he mad or is he not?* Ran cursed to herself as she held her breath. The CEO got closer towards her and scanned her from the top to the bottom.
"What is your name?" The CEO asked after minutes of silence. Ran swallowed as she meekly replied, "You may refer to me as 'Ran' Sir."
"Mmm" he replied with disinterest. He continued to scan her appearance.
Ran stood there while avoiding eye contact. She was scared that he was going to fire her of her first day. Her first day working here!
*Just how badly did I mess up...*
"Good," The CEO spoke out after more minutes of silence. The silence was killing Ran slowly. She almost sighed in relief when she heard the CEO talk.
"I want you to work directly under me."
"Huh...?"