"Can I get the Rochester file?" a chubby young lad requested from the door. His name was Ron and he was the personal assistant to the CEO.
It's been a week since Zoe started working at the technology firm. She'd met Ron first, he was cute and nice, dark in complexion, wore his hair short and was always well dressed to correspond with the luxury brands the CEO wore. Then there was Olga, an immigrant single mother and the resident office assistant. She was in her late thirties, dressed tacky and shared the same office with Zoe.
The last assistant was Katie, a pretty brunette who looked and dressed like a model, she always looked perfect standing next to the CEO and was probably the reason why she was his travel assistant. Katie was bold, confident and spoke to the CEO so casually as if they were friends from multiple previous lives up. Zoe sometimes wished she had a confidence like hers'
"Just a sec" Zoe said while rummaging through the file cabinet. She found and gave it to him.
"Thanks. You make my life so much easier" Ron winked before disappearing.
Zoe smiled at the compliment, knowing she was needed was good enough. She continued what she was doing which was arranging travel files for the CEO's visit to the production plant in China. The CEO would travel with his private jet and needed the files to be handy for revision on the flight. This was part of Katie's job which had been delegated to Zoe. When she saw Zoe for the first time, Katie had been overjoyed like a strong believer whose prayers had been answered. Normally she would be tied down with preparations and schedules for the CEO's trip while keeping up with the developments, results and achievements from his previous trips. Her job was hectic but now a savior was here and a good reason to slack off.
Katie had clocked in the morning but had ran off to do whatever leaving the task to Zoe. In the beginning she had made sure to come across as a sweet thing to the newbie assistant before revealing her true intentions. Zoe could not complain about Katie because she felt she had been hired for that main reason even though she was been taken advantage of. But Olga was nice and caring, she tried not to burden Zoe especially when she had a lot to do.
At noon, Zoe and Olga went for lunch. Zoe felt comfortable around Olga and saw her as a friend. They were returning from the cafeteria and going up to the top floor in the elevator when a call came in on Olga's phone, it was Ron and his voice sounded urgent. The CEO needed some files immediately and no one was available at the office. Ron wanted them to get back as soon as possible but Olga quickly opted out because she had to make an urgent stop at the toilet. Therefore, Zoe had to go up alone to hand the files to the CEO herself.
Olga hurried off the next second in the direction of the bathroom leaving her horrified. She hadn't met the CEO face to face after the incident that occurred on the day of her interview. Zoe had been consciously avoiding Victor Baelish like the plague, she knew when he was in and out of the office so it wasn't that hard. But now she had to deliberately walk into his office and hand him the files he needed. Zoe was the only one who could do it, Ron and Katie were out of the office.
She got to the office, assembled the files and headed for the CEO's office. At most, he would recognize and fire her. Zoe could bear it like a punishment and look for another corporate job that would pay the bills, if it came to that she was prepared.
She got to the door and was about to knock but hesitated. Her limbs were trembling for a very good reason, Zoe had met men before, all her previous bosses at the places she worked at college were men but none of them made her this nervous like Victor Baelish. It seemed as if her emotions were on hyper mode whenever he was near. It may have been because of the news articles she read about him online or the way he looks at everyone with a scrutinizing eye for perfection or maybe because he looked dangerously pants down handsome. Zoe wasn't sure about what unsettled her yet but she made up her mind to face the heat behind the door. She raised her hands to knock when the door opened from the inside.
A slim brunette Zoe hadn't seen once before came out. Her hair was trimmed short and she looked elegant in a short office gown and heels.
"Are you the assistant?" she asked.
"Yes-
Zoe had barely answered when the mysterious woman snatched the files out of her hands and shut the door in her face. Zoe was stunned and slightly offended. The mysterious lady looked like a top executive which gave her a right to be rude. Zoe frowned at the encounter before leaving. She should have felt relieved that she didn't have to see the CEO herself but she wasn't. There was an unsettling feeling in her mind when she sat down in the office and waited for Olga to return.
"Is the CEO mad?" Olga asked on arrival. She looked flushed and relieved about her accomplishment in the restroom.
"I don't know. Maybe" Zoe replied. The CEO may have not been angry but someone else was.
"Then why do you look pissed?"
"I'm not pissed"
"Did you see the CEO yourself?"
"No, there was this rude lady at the door, she grabbed the files out of my hand before I could do anything" Zoe lamented while internally reassuring and convincing herself that she wasn't disappointed in anyway. She hadn't wanted to meet the CEO so the mysterious lady had actually helped indirectly.
"That's Sarya Baelish, the CEO's cousin. She's occasionally rude but not all the time. The Baelish family is a little complicated"
"How so?" Zoe questioned, her eyes sparkled with genuine interest.
Olga turned around to make sure she didn't have over hearers before gossiping. The CEO was the only son of multi-billionaire and owner of Visions Technologies, Vincent Baelish who died along with his wife in a plane crash when his son was barely ten years old. The Baelish household was a powerful family with wealthy relations who were despicably greedy, after Vincent's death his brother, Ferdinand Baelish tried to steal the company and had almost succeeded. Victor had run away when his uncle had forcefully tried to adopt him and struggled all by himself through business school while learning stock trading. He started a small company to garner investors and fund his attempts to take back his father's company.
Fortunately for him his efforts weren't in vain, he succeeded in taking back half of Alpha Power Corporation naming it Vision Technologies. He still remained relentless making sure to take back everything his uncle stole. Sarya was Ferdinand's second child and only daughter but she had always been on Victor's side and that had earned his trust. According to Olga, Sarya's brother were a different case. Fjeer was the eldest and was very much a spitting image of his father‒ thoroughly devious and dangerous. He had taken over his father's original company, Jove Corp at the early age of eighteen, he was Victor's rival and archenemy. While Reus, Sarya's little brother was still in high school but was already making waves as the resident bad boy.
Zoe's eyes widened, finally realizing that the lady at the door must have been angered at how long it had taken to deliver the files. Olga explained that Sarya was in charge of the product design team for the company. She was with the CEO to finalize the designs for a new product. The meeting were Sarya was to reveal the finished prototype to the CEO and the board was slated for next week.
Zoe's mind relaxed a little, not that she was thinking anything was between Sarya and the CEO. She never knew the boss had such a tragic backstory, something the thousand online articles had forgot to mention. Victor Baelish wasn't just an entitled brat, he had worked to earn back his father's company from his scrupulous family members. Zoe's heart tinged with guilt for judging and condemning him unfairly. She was indeed remorseful and would never see the CEO the same way again. Or so she thought.