Alessia instinctively ducked when the man turned back, hissing at her own suspicious action.
"Do you know Mr. Kane?"
"Mr. Kane? No, he just gave me the goosebumps."
"Welcome to L'Arcobaleno dear," Mrs. Thompson said, patting her shoulders as they walked towards her new office.
The office was two-thirds the size of Marco's office, and its aesthetics were totally different from that of the company. The generous amount of natural light coming from the large window already made her feel alive. The windows had beautiful soft curtains in place of the usual window blinds. Dark curtains scared her but she found bright colored translucent curtains cute. She felt her heart flutter just imagining herself sipping coffee by the window.
At the far end of the room, in the middle, was a large Floyd desk made of natural wood and a large jute rug beneath it. The pink pastel and white-hued furnishings, the fluffy rug, the plush chair cushion, the cute pillows, and the tastefully curated plants all screamed perfection and wealth.
Since she was working as an executive assistant, a position the company never had, she had to do a lot of research by herself. Mr. Thompson was nice enough to outline her responsibilities, code of conduct, and the rules of making it out of the firm alive. She was made to sign an NDA. The consequences of revealing something as little as the brand of Mr. Kane's car were 100,000 euros.
"I have to tell you this because I think of you as my daughter. Alessia, this is a tough job. You will work overtime under extreme pressure, considering that you'll be working with Mr. Kane directly. You said goodbye to your mental health when you accepted this job. This isn't to scare you. If you do well, you'll be fine. Just try to blend into the background around him."
"Why is he so scary?"
"You'll find out soon enough." Mr. Thompson took out a card from his pocket. "Here, that's my therapist's contact. You'll need one soon. Don't worry, she's really good."
"Th-an-k you, sir," she stuttered, not knowing if she should be scared or appreciative.
"Mr. Rodrigo Thomas is the chief of staff, Mr. Kane's right-hand man. He'll take over from here while I support you behind the scenes. Good luck, Alessia."
"Thank you, Mr. Thompson."
As he left, she sat down at her desk feeling giddy, but it soon died down when she thought about the man in the lobby. She felt eerily assured that they were the same person despite the dark aura that her new boss had around him.
A knock echoed on the door, jolting her out of her reverie.
"Good morning, sir," she greeted the man in his late forties as she walked towards him. Despite his bigger-than-average build, his smile gave him off as an easygoing and friendly person. He had dark circles around his eyes, and his strides were weary.
"I'm Mr. Thomas. It's good to meet you," he said, offering her a handshake.
"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Thomas. I'm Alessia Angneli."
"I hope you like your new office."
"I'm glad," he said, his sleepy eyes twinkling at her compliment.
"Mr. Kane requires that his executive assistant lives close to the office, as you will be handling a bulk of operations. Therefore, you will have to relocate from your home at Vigevano."
Her eyes widened as she heard that. Even though they were going to move soon, their new house wasn't still as close to the office.
"No, no, no. You don't have to worry," he hurriedly said. Seeing Mr Kane's beloved assistant panic made him fear for his life. "You will get a small house here in Milan and a company car."
"Okay, sir. I really appreciate the company's kindness. I'll discuss it with the management because this wasn't part of the contract."
"The assets are not from the company. They're a gift from...me, and they're under your name."
Alessia's eyes narrowed as her shoulders rolled backwards.
"Why would you give a new employee a car and a house?" She already thought her employment was weird, and the last thing she wanted was to be entangled with a groomer.
Mr. Thomas cleared his throat. "I'm not a bad person, I just heard about your story and I was touched, I hope your twins find it comfy.... Well, I hope this office inspires your productivity. You'll need a lot of it."
"May I ask a question, sir? Why doesn't the company have an EA?"
"Mr. Kane never had to delegate executive tasks..." Because he never had to do executive tasks, he completed them in his mind.
Xavier couldn't oversee the tens of companies he owned, and in his main company, L'Arcobaleno, he didn't do much aside from signing documents.
After Mr. Thomas left, Alessia made a close inspection of the office. Her heart thumped as she checked each expensive furnishing and decor. They were just accurate to her taste, down to the curated plants and her preference for light soft curtains over blinds.
She looked around and stared at the camera in the office with a stern expression. She realized a big truth: she had a stalker, and he was lounging around this company.
It was her third day at work, but she hadn't been introduced to Xavier formally. She was glad that the week had ended, though the weekend was far from free. She had to pack over the weekend, and there was just as much office work to do. The twins were going to stay in their old house till the school year ended, while she visited every weekend. She had already put their new house on lease.
The weekend wasn't only busy for Alessia; Matteo was barely home. The competition was the biggest he'd ever embarked on, and his winning would be a big turning point in his life. Though Alessia's new job looked very promising, there was no harm in having a fallback plan.
He'd been trying to draw eccentric pieces, as the competition involved drawing unthinkable things with a one-word prompt in 3 hours. He couldn't concentrate because something was pestering his mind. He felt an intense urge to recreate the image of the foreign girl just so he could have a real piece of her, but her face was blurry in his memory. She didn't come on Tuesday like she promised, and it was Sunday already.