Victory gingerly paced her steps and walked towards the far end of the room, pausing in front of Arthur's large desk.
Her Jimmy Choo stilettos made soft click-clacking sounds on the office floor. Her straight brown hair swished softly as she swayed forward, closing the gap between herself and Arthur.
When she was standing about two feet from where Arthur was seated, she gave him a polite smile. Her green eyes were bright and her face was warm and friendly.
"Hi, Boss." Victory greeted casually, her voice sounding soft and breathless to her ears.
To be honest, Victory was very nervous. Her hands were clammy and her heart was thundering in her chest. She tried to hide it behind her wobbly smile.
She wasn't sure if she should treat him as she treats Aaron, but she also felt that it would not be suitable for a new assistant to be addressing the famously reclusive CEO too informally.
"Remember me from dinner last week?" she then asked in a teasing manner.
She tried to assess the person who was seated in front of her, studying his features carefully.
Arthur Knight, the CEO of A. K. Media, has a strong angular face and his dark hair was swept carelessly, parting at the sides. Long dark lashes hid pale blue eyes, the shape and colour were a familiar sight to her. The Knight siblings were all blessed with almond shaped and light blue eyes which were similar to Abigail's. He has strong broad shoulders, probably broader than Aaron's and if he worked out as hard as his womanising brother, a sculpted and lithe body should be hidden underneath that white and pristine Ralph Lauren shirt.
Victory continued her light banter, "I had accessorised with raw chicken eggs to complement my outfit. And if I remember correctly, according to your brother I also resemble your mom's roast turkey." She reminded him of their first meeting last week and trying to see if her joke would break the ice between them.
His blue eyes lit up with amusement at what she said, though his lips were still sealed, saying nothing.
Waiting for a couple of seconds and finding Arthur still staring expectantly at her, she bent her knees and leaned her body forward into the white Eames chair placed across Arthur's desk.
She then whispered conspiratorially to Arthur, "Is this where you start breathing fire? Because I promise you, I do have a fire extinguisher in my bag. I haven't tried it yet, so give me a smoke signal from your nose or something before fire comes spewing out of your mouth."
Despite her apprehension at meeting Arthur, Victory loves to tease and she couldn't resist taking a jab at Arthur.
A faint smile ghosted Arthur's lips, his eyes crinkling at the corners.
This girl definitely has some spunk, he thought to himself. She was wearing yellow, a colour that he wouldn't be caught dead in and five-inch stilettos adorned her feet.
By next week, her stilettos would be replaced by comfortable pumps or Mary Janes, similar to what all his assistants have done so in the past. The post as assistant to the CEO is not something to be taken lightly, the workload is tough as he expects them to be able to keep up with his pace. The job would also require her to move from one meeting to another, as well as meeting with clients at various locations and checking out venues for the events that they will be hosting.
Those stilettos that she's currently wearing would literally kill her feet.
Pressed for time, he quickly motioned his hands in front of her, signalling for her to sit on the Eames chair which she was leaning on.
So far, this man has not uttered a single word to me. I don't suppose he expects us to converse in sign language, she muses. That would be difficult and she might truly turn into a turkey if she needs to flap her hands to get her message across to him. She tries to think of her options if that were to happen.
She mentally face-palmed herself at her ridiculous thoughts.
"Have human resources briefed you of your duties?" Arthur asked calmly, unaware of the bizarre thoughts that were floating in Victory's mind.
The voice coming out of his mouth had a deep timber, sounding smooth and pleasant to her ears.
So the man can talk, she noted to herself smugly.
Long, agile fingers were absently holding a black fountain pen. The document he was reading seemed to be forgotten by him, at least for the moment, as it fell to the surface of the desk. His gaze towards her appeared to be alert and stern, but welcoming. His shoulders seemed to be relaxed and his dark thick hair was slightly tussled, as if having recently run through by his fingers.
Heaving a small sigh of relief to herself, she noted that there appears to be no fire spewing from his mouth, at least for now.
She nodded and then answered. "Yes. And I have also signed the six months employment contract and non-disclosure agreement, as well."
"Very well," he replied curtly. "Is there anything you need to ask me before you start?"
She looked at him, holding what she thinks as a firm gaze. With her heart thumping wildly under her chest and one hand secretly clutching the hidden small fire extinguisher in her bag, she bravely asked, "Can you let me know a little bit about your normal working day so that I am able to align my performance to your expectations?"
He was pleasantly surprised at the question. Despite her cheeky persona, she appears to have a good head over her shoulders.
Perhaps Aaron has not been that bad of an influence on her, he mused. There is hope for humanity after all, he chuckled silently to himself, echoing her words to him during the dinner.
"I check my emails between 5.30 am to 6 am in the morning. This means that you can email me anything the night before and I'll be sure to read it after I wake up in the morning." His voice was impassive as he recited his schedule to her.
Arthur continues. "I usually arrive at the office by 7.30 am and I expect a cup of hot coffee, black with one teaspoon of sugar at my desk within five minutes after I arrive. I also expect to be briefed on the day's meeting at 8 am and my meetings usually start from 9 am and finish by 4 pm. After 4 pm, I will usually catch up with whatever paperwork or get ready for the next day's meeting."
"Is that clear or is there anything else that you wanted to ask me, Victory?" He paused, waiting expectantly for her answer.
"What time do you leave work, Mr. Knight?" Victory quickly asked, her eyebrows scrunched in concentration as she tried take in the information given by Arthur.
"That depends on whether I have any media engagements or events at night. If I do, then I will leave before 5 pm." Arthur paused for a second before he continued.
"If I don't have any engagements, I usually leave by 7 pm. Oh another thing, sometimes you might have to accompany me to some of the media events at night or during the weekend. We are a media company after all, so it is expected for me to attend some of events which we host on our client's behalf. Besides, I need to make sure our events are up to par." He reminded her.
When Arthur first established A. K. Media, he capitalised on the success of the social media account which he created for an assignment in the university.
The account grew from covering only university events to tech events and product launches in Palo Alto, where Silicon Valley is located. As he shifted back to New York, he started covering events that were happening in the Big Apple.
Naturally his first paying client came in the form of Knight Enterprises and its related entities and businesses. Since then, A. K. Media have expanded its client base to include not only businesses and corporations, but also high profile individuals and celebrities who needed a professional to handle their various social media accounts and engagements.
Victory was nodding her head while furiously tapping notes on her tablet.
Once she was done, she then moved her gaze to look at the white, leather watch that rested on her right hand. Noting the time, she said, "Thank you, Mr. Knight. That is all the questions that I have for now."
Cautiously, Victory readied herself, preparing to leave the room.
Before she stood up, she inserted formality into her tone and announced coolly, knowing that her job at A. K. Media has already started.
"Mr. Knight, you have a meeting in half an hour in Meeting Room 2. I'll prepare the room and items that are needed for the meeting. I'll send you a reminder 5 minutes before the meeting is about to start."
She looked up at him expectantly, breathing out a small sigh of relief to herself, having done with the formalities of meeting her new boss at A. K. Media.
Arthur is definitely unlike Aaron, she realised.
The man's posture, although seemingly relaxed, had a serious vibe to it. He looked like he is ready for battle and he doesn't seem to appreciate a light banter, unlike what she and Aaron would do whenever they meet with each other.
With her right hand slowly unclasping from the fire extinguisher in her bag, Victory asked, "Would you like anything else from me, Mr. Knight?"
A small smile was already curling across her face, looking eager while waiting for Arthur to instruct her on any additional duties.
Arthur's lips curved upwards, almost resembling a smile. His blue eyes were glittering as they assessed her carefully.
He answered softly, "Though I have not breathed fire in front of you just yet, be rest assured, I will. Do not let go of that fire extinguisher yet, Victory."
His tone sounded like a warning to her ears.
Did he see my fire extinguisher? She wildly thought.
Or did he not believe that I have one?
She had half her mind to wave the palm-sized, cherry red fire extinguisher in front of his face. However, afraid that he might truly breathe fire, she decided against it.
She quickly left the CEO's office and rushed to her workstation, which was conveniently located outside his door.
If he is a dragon, she thought, then what does that make her?
Dragon guard?
Dragon assistant?
Oh well, since I look cute, might as well call myself the Dragon's cutie pie.
She inwardly cringed at her bad pun and shook her head to get rid of the outlandish thoughts swimming in her head and focused on her duties.
The day passed by quickly and sure enough, by the end of the day she had heard and witnessed a few occasions where Arthur spewed fire. Fortunately for her, the fire was not directed to her and it was not a pretty sight.
His anger was loud, unfiltered and came with an unpunishable gaze, which she swore that even the zit on her face would pop itself out of fear.
She shuddered at the very appalling thought.
Hi! What do you think of the development between Victory and Arthur’s relationship? I look forward to reading your comments. xx F.A.R. Ps: I’d be most thankful if you could give me a gem and share your review for the book. Thank you!
At 6 pm, Aaron strolled casually towards her workstation, whistling, looking like someone without a care in the world. He was wearing a brown jacket, light yellow shirt and white slacks. His dark thick hair was combed to the back, and unlike his brother's not a single hair was out of place. His face bore a smug expression, as if his father owned the place. Technically, it is true. His father or rather, the Knight family did own the building. Aaron's office is just a few floors above theirs, located on the eleventh floor of Knight Towers while Arthur's office is on the seventh floor. To encourage collaboration among the different businesses owned by the Knight family, twenty years ago Avery Knight decided to house all of the different Knight business entities in the same building. It was a genius move on his part because Knight Enterprises benefited greatly from the move as internal collaboration increased. Profits had risen substantial
Friday rolled in quickly and without her realising, Victory had completed almost a whole week at A. K. Media. She smiled in satisfaction at her abilities to handle Arthur's tough demands. Her main responsibilities as the CEO's assistant is to ensure that all of Arthur's affairs are in order - basically if he needs anything done, she would be the one to do the groundwork or at least get an update or status report from the different teams in A. K. Media. Arthur prefer lean organisations - thus there are no bureaucracy, everyone is divided into teams and they all report to Arthur. The nature of her work is varied, which means that she gets to do different things everyday. However, this also mean that sometimes she had to get her hands dirty - scouting out potential venues for clients, recommending potential talents who are suitable for A. K. Media's varied events and also keeping tabs on the current month's event schedule. As a media and advertising firm, A. K.
When the coronavirus hit the world in 2020, the beauty industry were among those who were badly hit by the pandemic. Numerous malls had to be temporarily closed asthe country declared a self-imposed quarantine to curb the spread of the virus. The beauty giant Sephora, are among those who were severely affected. Sales dipped drastically in the second quarter of 2020, causing the company to close a number of its stores throughout the country. Majority of their sales in 2020 were supported by their online digital store. Although the beauty giant has its own digital store, customers still prefer the offline shopping experience. The ability to wander into Sephora's brightly lit stores and trying out the beauty products which were displayed throughout the store are among what influenced customers to make their purchase decision. And now that the country is recovering from the after-effects of the pandemic, Sephora has decided to host a celebration, some
Arthur tilted his head towards Victory, his pale blue eyes blinking at her obscurely. He barely registered her dizzy state, realising belatedly that he wasn't feeling too good himself. Giving Victory a small nod, heguided her out of the ballroom. His head was buzzing, as if he had too much to drink and his cheeks felt warm. His eyes were glazed, his vision felt like he was seeing two images on top of each other. And when he moved forward, he also discovered his legs to be unsteady, wobbling like a penguin. Did I drink too much champagne? He pondered. Cautiously, he steered her towards the elevators, his left hand resting gently on her lower back. Arriving in front of the elevator, he pressed the buttons on the wall next to the elevator doors. In her befuddled state, Victory could barely hold herself steady. So she closed her eyes, shifted her weight and leaned into Arthur for support. Her head rested gingerly above his shoulder, brown ha
Arthur chuckled at her words. If anyone was ravished last night, it would have been her. She doesn't realise it just yet but there were scarlet kiss marks below her jaw, along her neck, trailing from her shoulder and downwards to where her chest is covered by the duvet. He is absolutely sure that if he were to take a peek, there would be more red marks on other intimate parts of her body. "Considering the state of familiarity that we are in now, why don't you just call me Arthur instead of Mr. Knight." He insisted with a ghost of a smile to her. His pale blue eyes were twinkling with amusement. "Why did you ask that, Victory?" Arthur asked, referring to her earlier question. Victory nibbled nervously on her bottom lip, contemplating what she was about to say. What shocked her is that it took her only a week before jumping into bed with Arthur. One. Bloody. Week. She's known Aaron for eight ye
To say that everything went smoothly after the unfortunate incident of cherry popping would be an understatement. Things went from unease to extremely awkward, as both Victory and Arthur never had a smooth relationship to begin with. Victory is proverbial little Miss Sunshine while Arthur is the fire-breathing Mr. Grouch. And now the world's weirdest pairing have a salacious little secret between them and it was causing a wide rift in their professional relationship. Still, both Victory and Arthur tried their very best to pretend as if nothing happened. They only discussed the event once, and that was when Arthur told her that he had seen the video footage from the hotel which confirmed that Kate was seen to have added something in the champagne and both of them appeared tipsy when they walked from the elevator to the Executive suite. He purposely omitted the fact they were making out like hormonal teenagers in the elevator. Both agreed that i
It was a bright Tuesday morning at A. K. Media and Victory was getting ready materials that were needed for the next meeting.She was currently standing in the middle of Meeting Room 2, located on the 7th floor of Knight Towers. A. K. Media has 5 meeting rooms in all, in various sizes to suit the different number of attendees that would be joining the meeting. The largest meeting room is Meeting Room 1, which would be able to accommodate about 40 attendees while the smallest meeting room is Meeting Room 5, which is basically a discussion room as it is only able to accommodate about four to five people at one time. Meeting Room 2 is the second largest meeting room and is able to accommodate about 30 attendees. A large oval table is positioned in the middle of the room while an overhead projector hung from the ceiling. A white screen is hidden in the recesses of the ceiling and can be rolled down conveniently with a remote whenever required. De
The meeting went smoothly, Arthur thought as a satisfied smile appeared faintly on his lips. Despite the fact that he had to endure Kate barging into the office every week, the advertisements that they have designed for Mortimer Ltd. turned out extremely well. Very soon shooting will commence for both print and tv ads and it would not be long before they wrap up this job for the client. A. K. Media's next engagement for Mortimer Ltd. will be for their annual dinner event in about four and a half months' time, which Arthur isn't too worried about. Annual dinners are very simple to organise, especially those hosted by large corporations. Corporate clients are usually concerned with the selection of the emcee, type of dishes that is to be served and the entertainment schedule for the dinner. While the rest of the details will be left to A. K. Media to organise and sort through. Arthur finally retreated to his office after the last client had left the mee