"Welcome, President Michaelis. What can we do for you at the moment?"
Ciel had walked into the large corporate building, several men and women meeting him in the lobby. He could see thought their fake expressions quite easily, and the smell of perfume gave him a headache. "Thank you for the welcome. Has everyone shown up?" he asked.
"Just a few aren't here. But there are more than enough people to begin on the latest project--"
"You are dismissed. I will call you if I have need of you," Ciel replied, ignoring their shocked and indignant looks as he walked into the elevator with Laksa at his heels.
"You were made for this position," said Laksa as the doors closed and the elevator began to ascend. He was trying not to laugh at the blunt way his brother had shot those ass-kissers down.
"I'm not. I'm anxious as hell," Ciel replied, straightening his tie. He was in a dark blue suit, one of LEO's latest designs. He wasn't used to being in the light. He just obeyed Jaeyline's orders in the shadows.
The doors opened to the first floor, and Ciel and Laksa walked into the large room. The rectangular building was about the size of a football field, with over sixty floors.
As Ciel stepped out of the elevator, the hundred-some employees looked up from their school-like desks and looked at him. Ciel's eyebrows drew together as he saw the deplorable condition of their workplace. "Good morning," he said. "My name is Ciel Michaelis, and I am the new President of LEO Corp."
"We know," someone said.
"What can you give us to convince us you mean well?"
Ciel frowned deeper as he saw the girl, not even twenty, but looking like she was forty. "I can't believe Rosenblade treated their employees like this," he said, the words slipping from his lips. He'd meant to think them, but his surprise had caused his words to fall out.
"LEO treats them differently?" someone asked.
Ciel just smiled. "Everyone, please go home. Take one week off, payed leave, and when you come back, I'll show you exactly how LEO treats their employees. Take the time to rest and recover, and I will be sure to raise your pay. What are you getting payed?"
"Ten dollars an hour," the girl said.
"I'll triple that, as long as you show me results," Ciel replied. "In one week, your work space will be remodeled, and... well, I'll leave that for when you come back." Ciel smiled. "Is everyone happy with those changes?" he asked.
There was silence before whispered, before cheers. "THANK YOU, PRESIDENT MICHAELIS!"
Ciel smiled as the people headed downstairs, then sighed once everyone was gone. He had been tense as a spring the whole time. He looked at Laksa, eyes slightly pleading. "Did I do okay?"
Laksa had actually been shocked how well and smoothly Ciel had carried that out. Tripling their pay was just evening it out with the rest of LEO, and the place did need major modifications to be on par with the other LEO buildings. But the way Ciel had delivered it was as if they were going to return to paradise. Laksa just patted Ciel on the shoulder. "You did very well. Just another sixty-seven more floors."
Ciel groaned, but headed into the elevator again.
.
It took from seven in the morning until noon to get through all sixty-seven office floors, dismissing the employees and answering any questions, though there were few. Most were just happy they were going to get a raise.
Once everyone was out, Ciel contacted the same people who had built LEO's main building. The place didn't need to be torn down, but there would be, instead of the individual, small desks, a long table that spanned the whole length of the room. There would also be removable sections of the same wood that could act as thin walls if the employees wished to have privacy, and soft wheeling chairs. They would also receive the monthly flowers and have one room per floor designated specifically for the use of overnight employees. He would knock out most of the walls in the building, replacing it with glass walls a quarter of a foot thick, supplying natural light, with crisp white lights hanging over each long table.
Ciel walked walked to the last floor, the President's office. There were no walls in the large space, the glass walls rising ten feet before curling up into a pyramid-shaped dome, the glass getting darker until the very tip was nearly back. On the other side, there was a large desk in the shape of a U. The desk, if straight, would have been fifteen feet long, but it was curved, with a wheeling chair behind it, leaving plenty of space to lay out many documents and observe them side-by side without difficulty.
Ciel made a note to get one for Jaeyline as he looked around. He decided to change from all glass to ceiling-to-floor panes with steel beams separating them every five feet. He also decided to use an opaque glass to separate the room in half, giving Laksa the one closest to the elevator, with a pair of floor-to-ceiling doors with the same glass. He chose to install large steel bookshelves in both his office and what would be Laksa's.
"What are you thinking about?" Laksa asked.
"Just the new design plans."
"What will you do during the week they're remodeling?"
"Work as Assistant to the Chairwoman," replied Ciel.
"You really didn't want to leave, did you?" inquired Laksa.
"No," said Ciel. "I just wanted to stay as CEO. I never wanted to rise in power. I was happy where I was." He looked through the window. He hadn't wanted to accept the position. It put him in the spotlight, meaning people he would rather say hidden from would find him. He didn't want to give his mother any more power, any more leverage over him. "Let's go, Laksa," he said, turning from the window.
.
Jaeyline stared at the glass doors. She didn't do anything, pen hovering over a stack of papers, but her eyes focused on her glass doors.
"She's been like that for nearly ten minutes," whispered Orion from a chair in the corner. "It's getting a little strange."
"What could she be waiting for?" asked Ina.
"Miss, you really should be working..." the new assistant said.
Jaeyline shot a glare that could have killed at her new assistant, shutting him up quick. That just pissed her off even further, until she felt like she was about to snap the pen in half. "Get out!" she snapped. "Get out! I don't want to see your face again!" She watched the assistant scurry out of the room. Jaeyline put her face in her hands, sighing deeply.
"You're acting like you did when you took over," Morray said.
Jaeyline just shook her head. He was right, because when she'd first been the President, and Ciel was new, he'd tried to put her back on track. When she shot him a glare, he just stared right back. And when she'd snapped at him, he just refused politely, showing her how to do the work. "I don't want a new assistant. I want Ciel," she said, throwing the pen down on the papers. "This assistant is cowardly, not daring to contradict. Ciel never cared one bit about status. He only wanted the work done on time and well. He even brought back a stack of documents because they weren't done well enough. I threw the stapler at him, but he still helped me through them."
Orion smiled wryly. "Not everyone can match up with your supernatural assistant."
Jaeyline sighed. "I know, but not even the coffee was right, though I left detailed instructions on how to make it. The handle wasn't parallel to the desk, and it was too sweet."
Ina looked surprised. "Really?"
"Try it," Jaeyline said, pointing at the mug on the desk. She watched her sister pick up the cup and take a sip. Jaeyline nearly laughed as Ina tried not to spit it out. "I know I have a major sweet tooth, but that's a bit overkill, right?" she asked.
Ina just nodded, grimacing as she swallowed.
"Even Ciel's first attempt was better than this," said Jaeyline, shaking her head. She looked up as a knock sounded from the door. "Come in," she said, agitated. If it was that blubbering assistant again...!
"Am I interrupting something?" a smooth, refined voice called. Ciel walked into the office, smiling slightly. "Good afternoon, Chairwoman Cordelia."
Jaeyline just stared at him a second before shooting to her feet. One of her heels was caught in the chair, though, and she tripped, sending the papers on her desk flying.
Before she could fall over the desk, a pair of slender, but strong arms supported her.
"Are you okay, Jaeyline?" he asked.
Jaeyline's face turned red. How embarrassing. "Fine," she said. She was set back on her feet. "Thank you, Ciel. How do you like your new position?"
Ciel grimaced artfully. "The conditions were horrid. I sent everyone on a week of leave, just so the building can be remolded into a proper office, instead of looking like some child workhouse. I'm fairly sure it's illegal for such deplorable conditions to even be used."
"That bad?" asked Orion.
"Yes. I have the construction company dealing with it this week. Everything will be up and running by next week. I will take care of all the work in the meantime. Those employees looked like slaves."
Jaeyline frowned. "You don't have to do that. We can take care of it for you."
Ciel just smiled. "You know my way, Miss Jaeyline. I don't like to push my work on others just because I can. It will keep me busy this week, anyway. Laksa and I have nothing to do in the meantime."
"C-Chairwoman Cordelia, your meeting is in five minutes on the twenty-third floor!"
Ciel looked behind him, the corner of his lips pulling up in a disapproving sneer. "Excuse me, but why are you telling her so late?" he asked.
"W-well the elevator--"
"The chances of you being alone in the elevator, and no additional stops taken, are very slim. Have you read the notebooks I left for you?"
"W-well I skimmed through--"
"A good employee doesn't just 'skim though'. They do what is required and even steps above that. As the Chairwoman's assistant, you have to be prepared for anything and everything."
The assistant got mad then. "Who do you think you are to talk this way to me, the Chairwoman's assistant. You're just some person who got kicked out of the job, and I took your place."
"How dare you--," began Jaeyline, but Ciel just raised a hand.
Ciel sketched a bow. "Pleasure. I am Ciel Michaelis, President of the Rose Branch, also CEO of this building. I'm sorry. I didn't quite hear you before. Would you like to say it again?" he asked, eyes narrowed dangerously. He watched the assistant start to shake before turning around, waving his hand in disgust. "Get out of my sight. You're fired."
"You don't have the right--"
"GET OUT!" Jaeyline and Ciel shouted together.
"This is the first time, but I see you have quite the temper, Mr. Michaelis," coughed Orion.
Ciel just smiled slightly. "I normally have more of a guard up to filter my emotions. But for some reason, it seems a bit thin today."
The Cordelia family standing to the side stiffened slightly.
Ciel bowed. "I just wanted to deliver my report. Have a good day, Chairwoman Cordelia." He walked out of the room, his ankle-length hair swishing around his ankles.
Jaeyline sighed, leafing through the papers on her desk. She noticed one on blue-grey paper, pulling it from the stack. There was a list of names, along with their contact information and special skills. She sighed. It was a list of possible assistants to take his place.
He's always been too thorough.
.
"Enda, you need to start watching your back," said Jerry.
Enda frowned, pausing. The three were in the middle of suiting up for a team mission. "Why is that?" he asked.
"Because you're close with Ciel. It's starting to get close to that time, after all," agreed Denis.
"Why just me?"
"Well, it's not just you. It's everyone, but since you look and dress like a girl, that puts you first on the target list, along with Jaeyline Cordelia. I heard that woman once killed his girlfriend, so I wouldn't put it past her to kill you," said Jerry.
Enda just nodded. "I knew the risks when I agreed to help him. I'll be careful. Anyone who wants to harm Ciel will have to step over my dead body."
Jerry was grave as he said, "That may just happen."
.
Acacia whistled a merry tune as she strolled through the empty corridors. She didn't even glance over her shoulder as dozens of guards rushed from behind her. She just lifted a grenade up to her mouth, pulling the pin and dropping it behind her. "Have fun, boys," she said, smiling as she started running. She threw a punch once she came to the end of the hall, breaking the wall with an earsplitting BOOM! She jumped out, seemingly vanishing.
Acacia laughed as the ones who followed her flew from the opening, falling ten floors to their deaths. She was crouched in the tree, giggling. Five seconds later, she jumped out, softening her landing by rolling, before flipping to her feet again. "Nice try, boys," she said as she strolled away leisurely. The building behind her exploded into flames. A fierce grin appeared on her face. "But you're a hundred years too early to think you can take me down."
Acacia looked in the direction of the towering corporate buildings. "It's almost time, Ciel."