Kate
It was a fun hour waiting for the clock to strike 6 a.m. so I could finally go to Mr. Caddel's office and tell him that I accepted his offer of being his personal secretary. Damon and I talk a few things here and there, but nothing that can dig up something from my past, nor can he. We just talked about random things like color, paint, books, places, and countries—just anything our minds could pin on. I also talked to him about Kathy being my only cousin, but that was it, and he also told me that the only person he trusts is his uncle, Mr. Caddel himself.
They must have a deep history together like me and Kathy; both of us didn't dig deep, and that was okay. It was the first time for me to socialize with someone wholeheartedly. I wasn't afraid or stammering a lot because I wasn't comfortable with the person in front of me; I was simply at ease with Damon, and it kind of makes me think that maybe having him around while working with Mr. Caddel won't be so bad after all.
When it was 6:05, Damon told me that I should get inside first and he would come after. Our little conversation broke, and I proceeded to go to Mr. Caddel's office.
I opened the door and was already expecting a very moody Mr. Caddel, but to my surprise, he was sitting peacefully in his enormous chair while looking outside with a coffee in his hand. His table was all cleaned as well.
"Good morning, Mr. Caddel." I said this while my hands were positioned at my stomach, and I did a little bow to him. Gosh. It's like praising a god.
"Good morning, Ms. Temples." He smiled, but I could still see that he was not in the mood. Maybe Mr. Caddel is not a morning person at all. "I'm glad to see you here so early in the morning. Did you even have breakfast?"
"Oh, I'll eat my breakfast when I get a break. I don't usually eat breakfast." I said honestly and awkwardly, "Do I need to take breakfast before I come here or..."
Mr. Caddel now turned his head and looked at me. He put down his coffee on his table and clasped his hands together, saying, "Yes, I need you to take a breakfast before you come here. I don't want a secretary fainting on me while doing her work so early."
I didn't say a word; I just nodded in agreement with him, and actually, I have nothing else to say because I'm just patiently waiting for him to tell me what to do.
"You can take your seat here, Ms.Temples," he said while pointing at the vacant chair in front of him, and I followed what he ordered me to do, and damn, it feels like I just got called by the principal like when I was in high school. "Before going through the day, I just want to ask you, Ms. Temples, that if you can't handle being my secretary throughout this day, then that's okay. I'm not forcing you to stay here and be my secretary; you can go back to being Mr. Richard's secretary if you like."
"But we have not started our day yet; isn't it a bit early to assume that I'll quit being your secretary today?" I asked
Mr. Caddel then smirked a little at my remark and nodded, "I guess you are right." He said, "So before we start, I'm going to let you know a few things. Today, I shall not hear a word from you while I'm in a meeting or talking to someone, either a client or just an acquaintance. You have to take down notes, minutes, and schedules for every meeting we attend today. Your listening and writing skills are much needed when the clock strikes 6 a.m.; no phones, no calls, and certainly no breaks, not unless I told you to, or when we go to lunch, dinner, or even breakfast when we are on a client or a meeting."
He was speaking so fast that my listening skills just vanished right here and there.
"Wait what?" I blur out.
Mr. Caddel blinked his eyes and shifted from his seat, making me shift myself from my seat as well. "Ms. Temples, the day just started. I hope you won't be saying that when I told you random schedules of different companies and mixed them up, I trust you today, and if you can handle everything today, then I'm going to trust you every day."
I can feel my heart pumping in my throat. I was that nervous, and the feeling of wanting to puke and shit at the same time because of the nervousness I felt made me feel like it was really coming.
"Okay. I'll try my best for today." I said.
Mr. Caddel just gave me a blank stare and gave me a black binder and a pen. It was heavy, but it was not that heavy for me to carry. I opened it, and it was full of notes and formatted notes for me to follow. "And I want you to carry this." He gave me a small, black, rectangular shape.
"What's this?" I asked while looking at it.
"It's a recorder." He said, "It's already turned on, and it will vibrate when it needs to be charged, and if it doesn't get charged within 5 seconds, it will turn off, but don't worry, it's full battery, and it will last for two days. I'm not saying that I don't trust you, but in case you miss some instructions, we have a backup."
"You are just literally saying that you don't trust me just by giving me this recorder."
Then Mr. Caddel chuckled, "I know."
~
Damon, who seemed like a different person when he was at work, We left at Des Company, and god knows where we are. The car ride was quiet, and Damon was looking straight at the road. Mr. Caddel was tapping on his phone with a paper in his other hand.
While here I am, looking outside of the window like I was in a music video, holding my binder, pen, and recorder, I hate riding in a car without music on, and this car ride is stinging my ears. There's no music; it's very quiet, and the only thing I can hear once in a while is the paper flipping on Mr. Caddel's hands.
"Page 106, paper." Mr. Caddel said it surprisingly, and I fetched the paper out of my binder. And as expected, he didn't say thank you.
"A little thank you would be nice." I said it calmly.
Mr. Caddel looked at me through the mirror on the sun visor, and I looked away immediately.
Maybe I should keep quiet, huh?
"Thank you." He said that, but he was not looking at me.
That thank-you was not genuine at all.
My behavior of asking thank-yous from people was also because of Kathy. Even though Kathy's the kind of girl who always says, "It's fine; it doesn't matter anyway," She always says that "thank you is telling people that manners and respect are earned no matter what, where, or when. When I asked somebody for something, saying "thank you was the least I could do for them.
Even though Mr. Caddel's thank you was not genuine, it's something that he can practice every day if he wants more people to like him or just something that can reflect on other people that such small words can have this effect on people.
"Page 107, paper." He handed me the other paper, and I gave him what he asked: "Thank you."
"See? It's not that hard to say thank you." I smiled at him, but Mr. Caddel didn't look at me, so I assume that he heard it.
Speaking of Kathy, I've been thinking of her since yesterday, and it kind of worries me. I should really talk to her later after work, no matter what.
The car then finally came to a stop, and we arrived at our destination, another building for me to explore with my eyes. "I'm ready, Mr. Caddel." I said, and he just simply gave me a nod.
We went inside the building, and we were already greeted by a bunch of people, not even saying hello to me. I saw each man with a tux with a tail on each side, either a woman or a man; all of them are my age, and I guess they're secretaries as well. They don't even bother looking at me or at Mr. Caddel; they were scribbling on their notes and binders, one of which certainly looks like mine.
"Sir, the stocks have been..."
"The foreign investors were having a problem."
"Floor 109, please."
"At around 9 a.m."
"A private jet will be here in no time."
"Exactly, Mr. Caddel, actually..."
"Good…"
"Yes and no..."
Oh, fuck. I should be scribbling right now.