Sebastian's office.
Taking a sip of his extra strong black coffee, Sebastian breathed a sigh of relief. The initial headache that he was having was now slowly dissipating. Apart from having everything in the right place and according to his schedule, Sebastian's morning coffee had to be perfect.
He was about to open his laptop when someone knocked at the door.
"Come in."
After taking a deep breath, Ellie patted her chest for a couple of times and entered the office.
"Good morning boss." After greeting him, Ellie carefully made her way towards the desk, making sure not to fall down and embarrass herself again.
Looking at the formally and neatly dressed Ellie, Sebastian couldn't help but stare at her for a couple of seconds. She looked so different from the last time he had seen her. From her neatly ironed clothes to her perfect posture, there was nothing clumsy and inappropriate about her which made Sebastian wonder if she was the same woman whom he had interviewed yesterday.
"I hope I am not late today." Ellie asked.
When Sebastian shook his head, Ellie breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh thank God, you know for a second I thought that I wouldn't be able to make it on time. I even forced the cab driver to break through a red signal and then...…"
As Ellie kept on blabbering, Sebastian scrunched his brows. Though she wasn't clumsy and unpunctual anymore, she still had a very big mouth.
"And then-"
Cutting her off, Sebastian added, "Alright Ms Miller, let's get back to business."
When Ellie straightened her back and slowly nodded her head, Sebastian added, "Since you have been appointed as my assistant, I would like to lay down some pointers and rules."
Taking out a paper from his briefcase, Sebastian continued, "This is my agenda for the whole week. I work on Saturday's too so even you are expected to show up. Don't worry, you will be paid extra for working on Saturday's along with me so the only official holiday that you will get is on Sundays. But sometimes, you will have to work on Sundays too."
Flipping through the papers, Ellie widened her eyes in shock. The whole week's agenda was so detailed and well formed which made Ellie wonder what she was hired for. Weren't assistants responsible for scheduling everything?
"Hmm, you already have everything perfectly planned so what do I have to do?"
Tapping his fingers on the desk, Sebastian added, "You will have to adjust the meetings and other official works in this schedule without disturbing or shifting the other existing things that are mentioned in the agenda. In order words, you have to create a new agenda using the already existing agenda."
When Ellie frowned, Sebastian asked, "What happened? Is there a problem?" When Ellie vigorously shook her head, he added, "Alright then, you can go down and complete the other procedures. Also do not forget to take the list of meetings that we have to attend today from Patricia and I expect to see my schedule early in the morning, as soon as I enter my office. Is that clear?"
"Yes boss."
...
Downstairs.
When Patricia saw Ellie frown while reading Sebastian's pre-existing schedule, she chuckled. "Well, you can memorise them as it never changes."
"But why? Why does he have everything planned?" Ellie asked. It was strange as well as weird and amusing. Ellie had always been free-spirited and someone who didn't care about things turning out to be perfect so it definitely irked her when she saw Sebastian's super tight so-called permanent schedule.
"Boss has always been like that but don't worry, you will also get used to just like everyone else." Fishing a brown envelope out of the drawer, Patricua took out a contract and said before passing it to Ellie, "This is the employment contract, you can sit here and go through it until someone from the HR team arrives. The terms are quite flexible but this has a few additional points and-"
"Wooooaaaahhhhhh this-"
"What is it?" Seeing Ellie's shocked expression, Patricia raised her eyebrows wondering what she had read.
Awkwardly clearing her throat, Ellie showed Patricia a point of the contract. "I think this extra zero is a mistake."
When Patricia chuckled, Ellie breathed a sigh of relief. "Ahh thank God, I was about to have a heart attack because this figure is almost five times of what Mel had told me my average salary would be."
Pushing the contract back, Patricia added, "No Ms Miller this isn't a mistake, the digit is cent percent correct. In fact, this digit actually doesn't include your monthly bonus and the extra shifts that you'll have to do."
When Ellie widened her eyes in shock and gasped, Patricia smiled and helplessly shook her head. "Well, I'll assume that you are very happy and we don't have to do any kind of negotiation."
"Negotiation? There is negotiation as well? You gotta be kidding me? People negotiate on this as well?" Ellie couldn't believe whether she should be happy or shocked. The numbers that Stewart Corporation was offering was almost fifteen times higher than what she was getting from the company she was working back in Seattle.
"They do Ms Miller." The amusement in Ellie's face was actually very amusing for Patricia. Out of all the assistance that Sebastian had hired and fired, Ellie was the only one who was okay and also shocked after seeing the numbers.
After taking a few deep breaths, Ellie sat down and started going through the contract.
"Hey Patricia, what is this three days leave about?"
"Well Ms Miller-"
Cutting her off, Ellie said, "Hmm, why don't you call me Ellie, Ms Miller sounds way too formal."
"Okay, Ellie that three days leave is exclusively for new employees especially for those who are from another city like you. You can take the leave anytime you want within the first three months from your joining date." Patricia explained.
….