He opened his computer and turned on the surveillance which he didn't actually use unless once in a while.
_____
When Clara and the manager reached the CEO's office area, she sighed in relief, seeing that most of the secretaries had not arrived as she did not want to hear any of their malicious insults early in the morning.
" Clara, I hope nothing is going on between you and the CEO. . ., be very careful. . . I'm sure you've heard what happened to the other employees before. . . I don't want you to lose your job this time ". The man said with a sigh while striding ahead of her.
" Don't worry Mr. Long, nothing is going on between us. . . I don't really know the reason why he had asked you to summon me," she replied rapidly while trying to catch up with him.
" I hope so." The man said and they soon reached the door which automatically opened just like the last time they were there.
Her heart started thumping heavily as they entered the office. Many thoughts ran through her mind as the events that had happened here before had even turned into nightmares for her. Thankfully, those nightmares did not return after being discharged from the hospital.
She heaved a deep sigh and slowly looked up. There he was, sitting gracefully across the desk. His heavenly features which she had last seen in her nightmares was now in front of her and his expression was calm, unlike the last time.
She gawked at him for some seconds before looking away quickly. ' control yourself. . . don't peak at him or you'll give yourself away." she chided inside while looking down at her shoes with a thumping heart.
" Clara, greet the CEO, " the manager whispered and glanced at the girl who looked very afraid, if not, more than him.
Clara looked up and quickly uttered, " good morning sir." with a bow, then glanced away not daring to meet his eyes.
Carl's attention was on her from the moment they entered and he noticed the slight changes in her expression. He watched as the manager whispered to her then she uttered something barely audible then looked away again. He frowned and sighed inside. " Come closer, " he muttered coldly.
The manager gestured her and they both scrambled toward the desk, now facing him with their heads down.
" S..sir, you want to__" the manager looked up and stammered but was instantly cut off.
" Take." Carl handed him the papers and Clara peeked a glance at it, thinking what I could be and her heartbeat increased. ' am I going to get fired' her eyes widened and she tightly shut them
The manager took the papers with trembling hands and quickly surveyed them " What!" His eyes widened tremendously after some seconds, as he saw the contents. and he glanced sideways at Clara who had her eyes tightly shut. ' am I dreaming.' He thought in astonishment.
When Clara heard the man's exclamation, her heart sank and she slowly looked up. She was really going to get fired.
Carl glared at the manager and he quickly regained his stance. " Sir this is. . . " the man was speechless as he surveyed the papers again.
" Mm, make the necessary arrangements. She will start today." Carl's attention turned to the girl who was now staring at him with shock.
' start what,? Wasn't he about to fire me,? Is this some kind of joke.' she thought and wondered what was written on the papers then sneaked a peek at it.
" Here." The manager gave the papers to her eagerly. Still thinking he was hallucinating as what he saw on the papers was totally out of his expectations.
Clara quickly took the papers with trembling hands and carefully browsed through the contents then her pupils also dilated. ' what is this, has the shock impacted on my brain so much that I've started hallucinating? hehe, this is surely a joke.' she rubbed her eyes and read the words again which were boldly written as 'EMPLOYEE'S PROMOTION'.
Carl watched the exchange between the two expressionlessly and looked down at a document, a small smile appearing on his face. He had missed that expression on her face and he remembered the last time he saw it was at the amusement park.
The manager sighed inside finally coming to terms with what he had seen after seeing the same kind of expression he had on the girl's face. But the CEO's personal assistant? this is unbelievable. He looked at the CEO who he noticed was now focus on a document, and worriedly said, " S..sir She's an..new employee and is not quite familiar with t..the__"
" You may go." Carl cut him off and turned his gaze toward Clara.
Her attention was still on the papers and didn't hear when he told the manager to leave until she noticed that the spot beside her was empty. "Huh, ?" she glanced back and her eyes widened then quickly followed behind him.
" Wait." She was suddenly stopped by Carl. He frowned seeing how she was so scared of him. " you'll start now," he muttered then turned back to the documents.
Clara felt like having a nervous breakdown right there as she had never anticipated such a turn of events. ' is this fate playing a trick on me?'. She sighed inside. Why would he choose her to be his assistant out of all the employees in the company? and besides, she was not as experienced as them. Now she had to endure the hectic tasks of being an assistant and also hiding her feelings?.
Carl glanced up and noticed that she was still standing nervously. " Sit down, " he muttered and gestured to the chair in front of the desk.
She sat down quietly and gulped nervously. What was she supposed to do, what is an assistant job? ' Argh is he trying to punish me?'
Carl turned back to his documents while glancing at her now and then with a barely visible smile.
Clara did not dare to glance at him as she knew she can't control herself from gawking.' Argh, this is pure torture.' She sighed inside while pretending to read the paper which was still in her hands.
The awkward atmosphere inside the office intensified and after some minutes, Clara finally mustered up the courage and looked up.