"Hey, girl in the pink coat!", someone called me. Obviously, he did not know my name, I mean who would anyway. I turned to see who it was, I wondered if that guy at the vending machine caused this, such a petty person. A middle-aged man who had been running came to a halting stop in front of me, I was surprised so I immediately took a step back. "What do you want?" I asked, there was a little bit of common sense left in me which made me realise there was something off.
"Mr Collins is seeking you.", his dialogue earned a few gasps among the remaining candidates, which made me wonder what his identity was. "Sorry but who is Mr Collins?"
"The head of HR of course!" the middle-aged man replied. There was a hint of annoyance in his voice which was not easily detectable but not fully hidden either. Without further questions, I decided to trust the man and followed him to the office of Mr Collins. "Knock three times, wait for his voice before entering." The middle-aged man gave me very specific instructions. It seems Mr Collins was very meticulous. Heeding the man's instructions, I knocked three times before entering.
"Mr Collins......", I said awkwardly. Frankly, I had no idea why I was here.
"Please sit down." He gestured towards the seat across from him. I sat down stiffly and observed the surroundings, while Mr Collins kept typing something on the computer. His office was spick and span. There was a Chinese vase to the side with bamboo shoots, a small Budha statue on his desk. There was a cup of green tea which was half empty at one side. There was a small cat bobble-head where its right paw kept moving, Mr Collins had a slightly Asian eyes though he looked White, seeing the surrounding items I assumed one of his parents might be an Asian, more specifically Chinese, he wore a ring through a gold chain, it was a woman's ring too. "My apologies, there was an urgent matter to attend to."
His words pulled me back to the present, "Huh? Oh, no problem. I am confused as to why I'm here."
"That matter puzzles me too, I really do wonder." He said while he rubbed his chin as if he was deep in thought.
"Pardon?", his words left me in doubt, I really did wonder why I was here. Wait, am I in trouble? I do not think I troubled anyone here except that petty guy, with his attitude I doubt that anyone would trust him with a big position.
"You are hired as the secretary of the CEO, but I do wonder what he sees in you."
"Mr Collins, let me guess, you are half Chinese, your mother is Chinese right? Your parents were divorced, and you grew up with your mother, hence the Chinese culture and lastly, I'm sorry for your loss, I'm sure your wife is in a better place." It's not hard to deduce these things based on his surroundings. Many things were on my mind, like, who was the CEO? When did he see me? Regardless of which he gave me an opportunity and I should use it, I should show Mr Collins why I am chosen, this guy, he does not even know but he looks down on me, it's like I have a sign over my head saying 'underestimate me', I know I'm 22 but I'm much better than others who have 5 years experience since I have been growing amongst business deals since I was born. Mr Collins did not seem to like what I said. "So? Do you think this is enough? There are many hints around the room which indicate my past, it is not so special. Do you know how many candidates applied for the position?"
"Oh. Then how many candidates did what I could do?", I asked confidently. I was sure that this question would render him speechless, and it did. Till now, no one had ever given such an answer in his 10 years of experience. He did not say anything for a minute, then he smiled, "Indeed, no one has ever done something like this before, confidence is key. We'll see how long you'll last."
I did not wish to verbally fight anymore, I just simply flashed a confident smile while I stared at him. We had a brief staring contest. After a few moments he said, "Violet, bring the contract." It was meant for his assistant. I thought it would take some time, but she brought it over the moment he asked. She must have prepared beforehand. She entered without knocking and placed the file on his desk. She nodded to him before she left. It seems that they had a close relation maybe as a friend since it was obvious that Mr Collins was not over his wife's death. "Take your time, read it before you sign it."
I took the contract and scrutinised every detail; the term was for a two-years which was odd since every contract in Revolution would be for the term of five-years. Not that I'm complaining, anyway. At most I would work in this company for a maximum of 2 months before I quit, I was sure that I can afford the termination of the contract by that time since I could use my cards again. The rest of the document was reasonable enough. My pay was also high, ah the joy! The work of an assistant was simple, since the person I'm working under is someone in a high position his workload would be high as well, I would simply have to help in performing simple tasks like giving him coffee, planning his meetings, arrange meetings for him when asked and stuff like that. Violet gave me a brief about being a secretary before she handed me over to Lily who was the previous secretary, I did not know whom I was supposed to work under so I was burning inside due to curiosity. Lily told me about his likes and dislikes and other stuff, she told me who has direct access to his office and who is blacklisted. She guided me to the person whom I'm working under; I was very keen on making a good impression, so I tidied myself up on the way. We passed the offices of almost all of the head of the departments yet we did not stop.
"Lily, who am I working under?", I asked. Lily turned to look at me, except her eyes were filled with pity.
"The devil, oh little innocent lamb, you are going to work under the devil." She replied while patting my head. Her words aroused a feeling of discomfort in me. I guess you could say the pay was high since the guy was seriously bad.
"Lily, if he is such a bad person why don't you report him to the HR?", I thought my question was valid but when I got to know about a few things I seriously wanted to laugh at my question. Reporting him to the HR? Oh please, he can't even get fired.
Lily laughed at me, I, on the other hand, felt annoyed by her laugh. "So, you're the next heir to the position, I will impart all my knowledge and wish you success little one." She said right before we stopped. She was talking as if she was giving me the throne or something. "I'm not little, I'm a grown woman, so please do not treat me like a child." I said.
"Sorry, but seeing your naïve face makes me feel pity for you."
"It can't be that bad though, no matter how bad the person's temper is, I'm sure I can manage."
"I still remember when I was like you, thinking I can survive." Okay, now I got annoyed by her words. When I saw the office I was astonished, it was the office of the CEO, I did not expect that I would be working under the CEO, I thought I would work under a department head or something. "The CEO?" I asked, obviously shocked.
"Yep, get ready to work like a cow." She said while she opened the door to reveal the inside of the office. His office was extremely spacious. There were many indoor plants near the beautiful and large windows which revealed the view of the city. There was a sofa to the side and a table with a vase filled with orchids. He was sitting on the chair in front of the desk while he faced the windows, as if he was enjoying the view or thinking about something deeply. The room smelled faintly of coffee. It seems he drank coffee a lot, which made me assume that he works late at night very often. I wondered if I had to stay awake with him, I did not want to sacrifice my sleep though. These thoughts made me frown a little. After Lily walked in with me she quickly left while closing the door, I wondered how fast did she move to reach the door within a few seconds, one thing is for sure, she locked me in.
"So you're my new secretary.......What's your name?" he asked in a very deep voice which was kind of familiar. I thought he had already seen my resume, apparently not.
"My name is Luna, Luna Brown. I promise to work hard and fulfil my duties diligently." First impression always matters, this is what my mother says to me if the first impression was good then further on a good relationship can be built. He slowly turned to face me. I was anticipating this moment for a long time, regardless of what job I do I will not do it half-heartedly, I worked when I was young, for gaining experience on how to deal with various types of consumers. Finally, I could enter the corporate world, though not as an important person, but still, I can make a difference.
"I did go to my mother, she said you needed to be taught a lesson, I was the bigger man in our fight since I gave you this job, am I grateful enough?" He asked me. I was rooted to the ground. I stared at him for a minute, not being able to comprehend the situation; he was the guy I met earlier! That rude, ungrateful guy was the CEO? Has the company gone down so much to hire and promote a guy like him?
"I do not need your gratitude, keep it with you, I'm quitting." I will not work under this guy, I would rather go home. No, on second thought, going home was not an option.
"Oh? The pay the termination fee since you breached the contract. Don't worry, it's not much, just a million, I'm sure you can afford it." He gave a very wicked smile, which made me wish I could punch him. A million is not much? What the hell! I'm pretty much sure he does not earn that much in a month. If I could use my card, I would have already paid him, but I can't. My hard-earned deposits will go down at this rate. "Since you can't quit, I suggest pulling yourself together and work properly, don't worry, I'm not as petty as to hold grudges."
I wondered if he could read my mind since I was cursing him for being petty at that moment. I balled my fists in frustration, cursing my luck and Prunella since I had to work for him now. "I'm sorry about earlier." Putting my ego aside I blurted out of desperation since I had to work with him I had to make things good between us, apologising was a good way to start.
"I already said I'm not petty." He said in a stern voice, though I'm not completely sure if he had forgiven me completely for insulting him. "You did, but I need to apologise regardless of whether you hold grudges or not."
"Well, you do have common sense." He said as if he was amused. Though I did not like his words, I did not say anything.
"You can leave for now since you're starting from tomorrow. I expect you learned everything from Lily by now because I do not employ slackers. Show your presence tomorrow by 7 in the morning."
"Sure." I said to all his instructions, agreeing to all of them. So what? I have to wake up at 6 from now on, it's alright. Sure, I'll keep telling myself that.
"It's, yes sir or yes Mr Wilson not 'sure' Ms Brown." He corrected me, of course. Why did I think he'd go easy on me? This marks the day when my life becomes hopeless and hard as I start to work like a slave and a punching bag to the guy whose name I did not know till now.
I headed out of the office with a slight hint of frustration; I did not expect that the events would turn out like this; I ran away to escape an arranged marriage, made an enemy out of the CEO of Revolution, and then I ended up working for him. In this moment I forgot one key information, he said Mr Wilson, as in the family I was meant to marry into, I had completely overlooked this matter and I would repent it tomorrow.