It was a Monday morning, Kathy woke up to the disturbing sound of her alarm, she had a job now and as much as she wanted to sleep she had no choice but to drag her lazy ass off the bed.
She headed for the bathroom and in a few minutes she was out. Just when she had finished dressing for work and was about to step out, her phone beeped.
She took it out of her purse only to see that it was a message from Aiden.
"I have a task for you now. Be here in the next 15 minutes."
That was the content of the message. How was she going to balance this now? Kathy wondered.
She always knew that somehow her work with the guys would get in the way of her very own assignment.
She needed this job with Miquel to succeed in her plans but she needed the guys as well.
After much thought she decided to give Aiden a call. She was going to give him an excuse, she couldn't risk absence in her work place on the very first day after employment.
The phone rang continuously but no answer came through, so Kathy decided to send a voice mail.
"Hello Aiden. I just received your message.My allergies are horrible today because of the change in weather. I can't get my symptoms under control, so I need to take a sick leave today. I'll report back to work as soon as I can".
That was excuse enough. She was running late for work as it was almost 8am.
Kathy got to work at exactly 8:05am and she was welcomed in the most horrible way.
Miquel had just arrived a few minutes earlier only to see that his newly employed P.A wasn't in the office just about yet. He was one guy who detested and couldn't tolerate any firm of lateness so he was set to punish her for such a careless act on her first day at work.
She was immediately invited to his office as soon as she stepped into the building. She put on her brightest smile as she headed upstairs hoping that she was summoned because she had an early task.
Miquel was seated gracefully, turning his back towards the door so he didn't know when she stepped in.
"Good morning Sir, I was told you wanted me in your office as soon as I came in. How can I help?" Kathy said still having the broad smile on.
Just then on hearing her voice, Miquel turned swiftly and threw what appeared to be a file containing sheets of paper in it on the table.
"You are 6 minutes late on your first day to work and that's not very promising. For this single act you will have to take all the records of transactions throughout the day, and make sure to note everything going in and out."
"Sir , are you asking me to take on the job of secretary?" Kathy couldn't help but ask as she was dumbfounded by what he just said to her.
"Yes miss Doss and you'd be doing that for the rest of the week. Next time this repeats itself the punishment will be doubled."
"And yes you will be staying in my office while you do all of it so I can keep tabs on you. I'll have someone assist you from the floors below this one." Miquel said with an expressionless face.
What ? This wasn't what I signed up for. I need to be close to you to actually do what I need to do. But the closeness I need isn't that of a secretary but a personal assistant.
Kathy said in her head as she was on the verge of screaming. What boss punishes an employee on the first day of work for being 5 minutes late?
After what seemed like a minute, Kathy looked up and saw he had been staring at her all the while she was undergoing her thinking process.
His gaze was piercing and it was getting really uncomfortable. He kept looking at her saying nothing as though he wanted to hear her speak.
"Alright Sir, I'll do that". That was all she could think to say at the moment. She would do exactly what he had asked her to, besides it was just for a week.
The work of the secretary was way more stressful than Kathy had imagined. She had just taken records for like 3 hours and she was as tired as one could ever be and it wasn't even helping matters the fact that She had to do all of it in his office.
She didn't have the liberty to even express her fatigue so she worked tirelessly nonstop. At some point she just couldn't help but murmur endlessly which caught miquels attention.
Miquel looked up from his computer screen and saw the poor girl who had been taking records for the last few hours struggling with some fatigue.
It was probably way too much for her first day, but he was adamant to teach her a lesson, so he chose to ignore her tired appearance.
"Is everything okay?" He asked, not meaning it one bit. "Yes sir, everything is fine". Kathy said while forcing a smile.
Miquel noticed her discomfort and decided to take her out to lunch. Maybe he'd been too hard on her, maybe he should cut her some slack as he wouldn't want to chase her away himself. She was his very solution.
"Hey, I'm taking you out to lunch." Miquel said. "What? Lunch?" Kathy exclaimed with surprise, unable to mask her surprise.
"Where are we going? I mean, it's not really necessary Sir, I'd rather just continue to do my work." Kathy replied.
"Well, it's not really up for debate, I think you need a break, and maybe we could talk about why you're late." Miquel replied sternly.
"Alright then, I'll be ready in a few minutes" she said as she couldn't hide the small smile that was beginning to form on her lips.
As they walked out of the building, Kathy thought to herself how she had never felt this nervous around anyone before. She didn't want to mess up and ruin things so she was determined to be on her best behaviour.
As they walked along the streets, she noticed Miquel looking at her curiously. "You've been quiet for a while, everything okay?" He asked.
She looked up at him and tried to keep a straight face as she responded, "Yes Sir, everything is fine, I'm just enjoying the atmosphere."
"The atmosphere? Really?
Miquel laughed heartily at this, and this caused Kathy to relax a little. It was good to see him laughing, maybe he wasn't as cold as she thought he was.
"You're a funny lady you know that?" He said, still chuckling. "Thank you." She said shyly.
They walked in silence for a while and the more they walked, the more comfortable Kathy began to feel.
They finally stopped at a small cafe and Miquel held the door open for her as they walked in. As they took a seat at a table, he handed her a menu and she began to look through it.
Kathy's eyes scanned the menu, taking in the various options. "Everything looks so good," she said, feeling a bit overwhelmed by the choices.
"Do you have any recommendations…. Sir?" she asked Miquel. He thought for a moment, then said, "I think the chicken piccata is a good option. It's a classic dish that is both light and flavorful."
She looked at the description of the dish and it sounded delicious. "I'll have that, please," she said, handing the menu back to the waiter.