Kate
If anything happens in my life, the first person who will know it is Kathy. I know I tell stories about her a lot, but it's just that I miss her so much that I can't wait for her to get back here in London. Even though giving her an email instead of a text is somewhat new to her, or rather, to me, I don't usually email her. She knows how much I would love to talk to her over the phone or text her directly because it is more convenient.
I couldn't properly sleep last night because of what happened yesterday; there was so much going on for me. Being a secretary to Mr. Caddel kind of reminds me of whatever TV dramas I watched on TV. But here I am now, fixing my things in my bag and grabbing whatever necessary things I should bring. It's 5 a.m. in the morning, and I'm ready to catch a bus.
Glancing at my watch, it's already 5:20 a.m. Time sure does fly by so fast. I don't know what happened to my phase, but it's gotten a bit faster than earlier. It must be adrenaline to get here before Mr. Caddel arrives at the office. I want to surprise him for some reason; maybe just because he wants me to be his personal secretary due to my poise and background, I'm going to prove to him that I'm capable of more.
I opened the door to his office and was ready to clean whatever needed cleaning. I was the one who was supposed to surprise him, but I was the one who got surprised. Mr. Caddel was already at his table with papers scattered all over it, like something bad had just happened.
"S-sir?" I stuttered, "Am I late?" I questioned, "I'm sorry if I came here so long, I thought that..." My words were then cut short when his pen clicked.
"You are not late." Judging from his voice, he doesn't seem to be in a good mood. "You are way too early; I told you to come here by 6; it is 5:35 am, Ms. Temples."
He's not in a good mood at all. "I'm sorry, I just figured to come here early. Did you get enough sleep, or did you even sleep at all?" I asked, but his eyes shot straight in front of me, making me step back a little.
"Don't open the door until it's 6 a.m. Good morning." He waved me off with his hands and dramatically turned his office chair toward the enormous window behind him.
Confused. I took a step back and went slowly outside the office. I stared at his huge door for a minute or two, trying to understandwhat hadt just happened inside. It seems like he hasn't slept since last night.
"Ms. Temples, is that you?" A voice behind me said something, making me jump in surprise. "Woah. I'm sorry, Ms. Temples, I didn't mean to scare you."
I held my chest while looking at the man behind me. It was Mr. Caddel's other man, driver, assistant, or I don't know what role he plays in Mr. Caddel's life. "Its you. I'm so sorry, I thought it was just me." I said, "I'm sorry, but I didn't catch your name."
"It's Damon; I'm sorry if I didn't introduce myself sooner." He said, "I'm Mr. Caddel's other man. I just took him to other places and listened to his commands and requests. More like an assistant, I guess."
"More than a driver, huh?" I chuckled, and he nodded shyly; he seems to be a bit younger than me. "Can I ask? How old are you?"
"I'm 23, and you?"
"I'm 26." I simply said so as well.
"I thought you and Mr. Caddel had the same age; he's 28."
"Quite understandable; he's very grumpy today." I said and crossed my arms, "I just went inside and he's so... I don't know, he's like on his period or something."
"Don't worry, he's always like that in the mornings, but when it hits the afternoon, he's back to his usual self." Damon said, "Why don't we sit over there until 6 a.m.?" I'm sure he wants you to get back in there by 6."
Damon pointed at the small tables and chairs near the smoking area. There were no people around, so I just followed him then. "How did you know that?"
"Well, he doesn't want people to go inside his office before 6." He opened a seat for me and said, "And when you see his table full of papers and stuff, you don't want to touch them. He has these weird patterns when he does that. I'm sorry if he was so rude to you when you entered his office."
"It's okay; it's not like it's your fault anyway." I said while looking outside, "Why are you saying sorry anyway, and why are you telling me this?"
"Because he is my uncle." He scratched his neck awkwardly while looking at my surprised face. "I know, you'll say, why am I his personal assistant or something if he could have given me more than just this?"
"Well, I did not think much of you being his assistant, but I was surprised that he's your uncle." I said, "Are you like the son of his brother or sister or something? I thought he was an only child."
"Well, no, but it's a long, boring story anyway." He said it without any hesitation and looked away from me. Maybe that's a signal that I should not ask about their family background anymore.
"Since he is your uncle, Is there something that I should know about him? Like what he likes and dislikes, I want to know a few things. I don't want to get fired instantly after accepting his offer." I laughed awkwardly while biting the inside of my cheeks. "I just can't really shut my mouth sometimes, and the reason why I got hired as his personal secretary was because of this stupid mouth of mine."
"Really? No wonder." Damon's eyebrows furrowed as he looked at me. "You are indeed a bit strict; from head to toe, it feels like you can kill off someone with that stare." He said.
"I get that a lot." I said and rolled my eyes, "Well, not a lot, but I heard a few things about that."
"Well, I just wish you good luck, Ms. Temples. You are the 55th person to be his personal secretary." He said while smirking, "I hope you can handle his fast, steady, composed, silent footsteps and phase. I really admire him so much."
Judging from the way Damon talks about Mr. Caddel, it seems like they have a special bond that both of them only knew. Since they're family, we always have that special bond, right? Like me and Kathy, for example.
I really don't know why I'm thinking of Kathy lately. I'm kind of worried.
But 55th?
"Wait… 55th? You have got to be kidding me right now." I said this while slamming my tote bag on the table between us. "Are you telling me he is brutal like that? Did he not give any chance to his secretaries?"
"Well, they just seem too slow for him, I guess... After a month, he would fire them, or maybe in two weeks if they don't keep up with him, he would fire them, but, you know, with compensation, of course. He would give them higher salaries than most of the employees here at Des Company."
"Even just working with him for a month?"
Damon nodded. "Yeah, he knows it's hard to keep up with his phase, and it's completely understandable that they want to quit as his personal secretary; not everyone is capable of adjusting that fast, and not everyone is as smart as him." He said, "I hope you'll survive, though; I love talking with you."
"Pfft!" I slapped his arms playfully and said, "I'm sure you had conversations like this with his other secretaries." Damon's face turn into a frowned and starting to look away from me to the office door of Mr. Caddel.
"Well, actually no. They don't really talk to me. Even if I offered them to come sit with me here, they would just say that they would not disappoint Uncle and just stand there at the door waiting for the clock to strike 6. Some people love to leave a good impression on someone; they want to get impressed." He said this while looking at the office door of Mr. Caddel, like someone was standing there waiting for him to come out. "But here you are with me, not wasting such energy on standing there but here to wait for him, and I kind of like that."
"Do you think so?" I asked while looking at his office door as well.
"Yeah, I kind of think so myself." Damon said. "And I think you're going to do a great job as his secretary."