"What did you just say?" the CEO asked with a freezing cold voice.
My mind went blank, when I realized he heard what I said.
"Are you deaf? I asked you a question," he glared at me.
My system began an emergency reboot. In the meantime, I gaped at him in absolute panic.
"Were you trying to use that cheap line… to seduce me?" he sneered, looking me up and down.
"No!" I shouted, "I mean… you are handsome and all… No! I mean… Mr. CEO is a handsome man, but I would never try… not like that… I mean, no! I mean, Mr. CEO is totally worth seducing! But… I'm not the kind of a person to do that…" I mumbled frantically, praying for someone to shoot me.
He gave me a pitying stare, the one you might give to a total idiot. My subconscious slapped its forehead… hard. As a scriptwriter, I desperately tried to find some reasonable excuse for my previous actions.
"This scene… I mean this office, and Mr. CEO reminded me of… of a script I write! And… and… the line, "I dreamt about you," could be something that the heroine would say!" I laughed nervously.
The CEO gazed at me more intensively. He was probably thinking about where my brain had gone. At the same time, my subconscious started hitting the desk with its head… repeatedly.
"In this script… there is an all-powerful CEO… and… and he is handsome… and the heroine is… an orphan…" I kept talking nonsense, praying that he would stop me.
He sighed in disbelieve. My subconscious opened the window, waved me goodbye, and jumped out of the building. I stopped talking and smiled in hysterical despair.
"Are you an idiot, Ms. Eder?" he asked, more rhetorically.
"I… I apologize… I got so nervous that I started to speak gibberish," I lowered my head, after partially regaining my composure.
"Does it happen… often?" He changed his tone to a more sarcastic one.
I gritted my teeth. I came to the meeting to politely reject the job offer, but now it became clear to me that working for him might be crucial to my survival. Unfortunately, now I had to do everything I can to prove my sanity so that he would keep this job offer for me…
"No, actually this has never occurred to me before," I stated firmly.
He smirked.
"Have a seat, Ms. Eder," he commended, pointing at a chair right opposite his desk.
I obeyed. As soon as I did, I was able to read his nameplate on the desk, saying "Samil Borda-Chief Executive Officer"… Even the name was exactly as it was in my dream. There was no denying it; he must have been the one I saved from drowning… Maybe I should use it to my advantage? But how would I ever explain the fact that I knew it was him…? I quickly guessed that it would only make me look more like a lunatic in his eyes.
"Ms. Eder, do you know why I offered you a job?" he inquired.
"No… Actually, I found it surprising…" I said, hesitantly.
"I chose you because you are honest. Furthermore, you have no authority here, and you have no power. That means, you stand no threat and it's highly unlikely for you to be hired by my half-brother, or my uncle," he explained nonchalantly.
"That… Forgive me, but I still see no reason for hiring a scriptwriter as an office worker…" I admitted, confused.
"You know how this TV station works with all the dirty mechanism within… I can use your knowledge. Treat it as a temporary job. After I achieve my goal here, I can even put you in charge of a creative department," he smirked.
"What if… I don't want to work as a secretary…?" I asked, cautiously.
"Of course, you have the right to refuse…" he replied, coldly, "But I don't like to change my plans. Be aware that you won't get a creative job elsewhere… Or, I should rather say… no one will hire you," he snickered.
I gulped, and stared at him silently. I became aware why even the general manager didn't want to get on his bad side…
"To make things clearer…" he continued, "I took precautions to make sure that working here would be the only offer you would receive in this country."
I thought that it didn't make any sense… Why did he bother so much just to make me work as his secretary?! Moreover, his cold and arrogant tone was already making me terrified and furious at the same time. He was nothing like the man I saw in my dream! The person in front of me resembled a true demon…
"Now… "I don't want to waste any more time," he said as he took out a contract and handed it to me, advising me to "read it and sign it."
I started abruptly going through the pages. There were about 20 of them. The first 3 pages were about the general statements and definitions, whereas my job description was closed with one simple paragraph stating, "Executing assignments given by the CEO"…
"About my job description… isn't that a little too undefined…?" I laughed anxiously.
"Don't worry, I won't force you to do anything illegal…" He smirked and added, "Hurry up and sign it."
His demanding tone was completely overpowering. I was more and more frightened about the idea of working for him. In the next couple of pages, there was a confidentiality clause describing what horrifying penalties would be applied to me if I were to betray the CEO's trust, or if I were to leak out any of the station's intel. The last part was about the salary and bonuses…
"Half a million dollars a year?!" I screamed and quickly covered my mouth, "Isn't… a little too much?!" I laughed hysterically.
"Take it as payment for your complete loyalty and discretion," he said casually, "and now, sign it! I don't have time to deal with that matter anymore," he ordered strongly.
I gulped and took my pen out from my purse. My hands were trembling. I wasn't certain how I managed to write my name on the document. When I finished, I was absolutely distressed. As soon as he saw me putting down my pen, he forcefully took the contract from my hands.
"Perfect," he declared, "As your first assignment… Give those documents to the secretaries sitting outside of my office," he snickered.
"W-what is it?" I took the papers with trembling hands.
"Termination of employment," he stated.
"What?! You tell me to fire them?!" I called out, stunned.
"Technically, I'm the one who is firing them. You only have to be my messenger. If you have a problem with that, I suggest you read your job description once more," he declared harshly.
Judging by the tone of his voice, it was wiser not to argue with him anymore and just take the documents, hoping that no one would try to kill the messenger…
When I was walking out of his office, my knees were weak and my whole body was shaking. I had never been in a more uncomfortable situation. If I had more time, I could write a scene where the unwavering female lead delivered the notice to the soon-to-be-former secretaries in the most professional matter possible… Unfortunately, with my current state of mind, I was barely ready to play the role of a dumb heroine. I opened the door and met the gaze of both of the secretaries.
"Um… Hahaha…" I laughed hysterically, having absolutely no idea how to play it out.
I stood between their desks, took one document prepared for them in each hand, then swiftly put both notices on the first and the second desk.
"T-t-these are… f-for you… from t-the boss," I stuttered nervously.
Both of them grabbed the papers, glaring at me viciously. I seriously dreamt of becoming invisible.
"This is ridiculous!" one of them yelled, and stood up from her desk. "How could a dull wench like you seduce that arrogant guy in 15 minutes?!"
I gulped, and stepped back towards the CEO's office, instinctively trying to find a place to hide.
The second one is called while walking closer to me, "Yeah! Tell us what the hell did you do?!"
"Hey! I didn't do anything!" I protested hoping that they would become reasonable, "I'm only passing Mr. Borda's decision!"
Both of them moved closer to me with a murderous intent in their eyes. I flinched and stepped back again. Suddenly, one of them swung to slap me. I moved my hand to block it and shut my eyes, but strangely I didn't feel the hit…
When I opened my eyes, I saw the CEO holding that woman's arm forcefully. He must have come behind me to protect me from her. I gasped. My heart started to beat fast and feverish.
"Clean up your desks and get out now. I suggest you do it fast before I make up my mind and I will change the termination of your contracts to a disciplinary dismissal," he hissed, squeezing the words out through his clenched teeth.
He released the grip on that woman's hand, and she hurriedly stepped away from him. Both secretaries became terrified by the tone of his voice and his icy-cold expression. They didn't say a word, only ran to their desks and began franticly gathering their things, dropping most of them in fear. I turned around towards my new boss.
"T…thank you… for helping me…" I mumbled, bowing my head.
"Don't mention it," he stated indifferently and kept observing how his, as for now, previous workers were leaving the office in a panic.
They closed the door behind them without saying a word. I figured there must have been something much more behind their frightened behavior. As soon as they both saw the CEO who walked out of the office, they backed away, as if they were terrified of losing their lives along with their jobs.
"Good work on completing your first assignment, Ms. Eder," he smirked wickedly, while casually leaning against the door with his arms folded.
"Thank you... I guess," I murmured.
All of the sudden, I saw the glowing mark on the palm of his hand, just as I saw it on the day he came to the station for the first time. It was circular, it resembled a seal, and it had words written in some unfamiliar language. They were spinning in a spiral, making the mark hard to take your eyes off.
"What are you looking at?" he asked, glaring at me.
"Nothing!" I flinched and immediately started looking straight into his eyes.
"That's all I wanted from you today. See you tomorrow at eight sharp," he stated coldly, walking back to his office, and then he shut the door.
I began breathing deeply, like my body wanted to make up for the situation that almost made me suffocate. That was how I survived my first day at my new job…
I was standing in a beautiful, spacious kitchen, full of light. The sunrays were gently filling the room, showering it all in a warm glow. It looked like a scene from a movie, or some blissful commercial. I was preparing breakfast with a smile on my face. I felt happy. I took out two plates from the cupboard and served a carefully made omelet with vegetables and toasts. I acted like a happy housewife… a role which I would never have imagined myself in, but in that moment, I was actually enjoying it! I took out two cups and poured coffee into them. "It smells delicious…" I heard a seductive whisper. A man's arms embraced me from behind. It was a familiar feeling. Then he grabbed one of the cups I just poured and took a sip. "I love the coffee you make," he muttered softly. I turned around and saw Samil's face wearing a sweet grin. I pecked his lips. "You should eat while the breakfast is hot," I said with a warm smile. "Yes, Ma'am," he
I had been sitting in the CEO's office for over eleven hours. I didn't dare ask if I could go home at a normal work time. Furthermore, I only left the CEO's office twice. The first time was to get a coffee from the coffee machine in the hall, since he didn't allow me to use his, and the second time was because I had to pee… I was too intimidated by his presence to think about eating, which was a good thing. I couldn't even imagine asking him if I could grab some lunch in the meantime. On the other hand, he kept working nonstop without taking a minor break from the moment I entered his office. He was incredibly diligent about going through tons of documents, making notes, writing emails, and making calls. I started to wonder if he was even human… He never asked me for assistance even once… Maybe he figured out that I wouldn't be of use anyway. It was almost eight o'clock and I had over five boxes of contracts left to go through. Of course, sitting right by my extremel
The merciless alarm clock destroyed my sleep exactly at 6:30 AM. My muscles declared a strike and it took me about 20 minutes to convince them to move. The negotiations were hard. I went downstairs feeling like I had previously been run over by a truck… or a few of them. My Grandma snickered, seeing how pathetic I looked. "I thought that you would be exhausted from working overtime, but you actually look hilarious," she giggled. "Ha, ha, ha… very funny," I gave her a gloomy stare. "Oh, come on! It is funny!" She kept laughing, "You are a witch! You should be able to put magic even in the water that you drink! It's easy. Here… do it with that tea," she handed me a cup. I took it from her, confused. My mind was still asleep. "Think of it as a recovery potion, and drink it. The stronger your intention will be, the more magic you will give yourself," she chuckled. "How can it be that easy?" I asked, being quite doubtful. "It isn't.
I had to admit that working at my own desk, outside of my boss's office, finally allowed me to actually focus on work and remove the image of Samil's naked chest from my mind… partially. My heartbeat returned to normal, I was able to breathe and the best thing of all, I could drink coffee and go to pee without asking for his consent. Apart from my given assignment, I was now acting like a "real" secretary, answering the phone and transferring calls to the CEO's office. For the first time, I found the fact that I had been writing a script for an office romance useful, since I already a basic formulas to answer the call memorized in my head. I just had to remember to say my name instead of the name of the female character that was a secretary in the drama. Some part of me even enjoyed this type of act… I could at least pretend that I knew what I was doing. Writing my suggestions for the contracts was much harder than that. After some thought, I decided to stay true to
“Kass…” I heard Elijah's voice, “Kass!” he repeated louder, “Kaaass!”“Y-yes!” I responded startled.“Did the news, that your boss has a fiancé bothered you that much?” he chuckled.“No…” I laughed nervously.“Liar,” he giggled, “It's written all over your face… You like Samil.”“I don't! I don't even know him well…” I kept laughing awkwardly, taking a step back towards the door.He walked closer to me, smirking. I took another step back, he kept walking forward.“I don't know what it is about you… but you intrigue me,” he gazed at me intensively.I took another step back and reached the door. He got closer and looked me up and down. I stretched my hand back hoping to grab the doorhandle. He noticed how I was trying to escape and sighed.“You are absolutel
“Hello! I heard from Grandma, I'm glad the herb potion worked… but I didn't expect that you will really insist on paying such a huge sum of money for it…” I laughed nervously.The man smiled and walked closer to the counter.“I've been serving my boss… my Master, for many years. He suffers from a very specific hereditary disease. Young bodies are able to suppress it, but is he is getting older, his power weakens and he suffers more… No drug, no medicine could stop his pain, but your herbs remarkably did it!” he stated with excitement.From his words I could easily tell that he was deeply devoted to this “Master”. The disease he described sounded quite mysterious, but I was glad that I could do something ease this person's pain. I wished those herbs with magic could cure him, but, basing on what Grandma said before, complicated illness would be impossible to heal with this kind of magic…
I got back to my desk and a huge pile of documents I still needed to check and divide. Again, the only reason why I knew what I was doing was because I wrote a scene like that in the drama. Of course, the heroine, which struggled with the same kind of task had help… I didn't.“I am an intelligent woman. Those documents cannot beat me. I will prove that I can deal with whatever that sadistic boss would throw at me!” I motivated myself.It was fortunate that I once had an out of my job description assignment to gather the data from all kinds of tv shows and put it in statistics. That was the only reason I knew how to use a spreadsheet, and I knew it well. Although, I never was a mathematical genius, I came up with a formula that made my work a lot faster. Perhaps, someone could do it quicker and more accurate, but I was quite proud of myself. Moreover, I had finished all my work before two hours past…Of course, before I placed all the da
Sitting on the same sofa with my boss felt terribly uncomfortable. My perfect plan to put a spell on him failed miserably. I guessed it was time to realize the facts, he didn't feel attracted to me in the slightest. Somehow, my heart started to ache each time I thought about it…He got up from the sofa as soon as he finished drinking. I was finally able to take a deep breath after he walked away. It seemed that, unlike me, he found my flusteredness greatly satisfying. Perhaps, he started treating me like a mascot, kind of idiotic but entertaining.He came back holding the proposals I had previously brought. I thought he would pass them back to me and announce his decision, but he sat on the sofa next to me again instead.“Did you read those ideas for the show?” he asked casually.“Yes, but briefly…” I replied.“What would you chose?” he smirked.“Sir… you would really want to kno