DAMON
The boss was really ugly. He had many bumps of pimples on his face that I just had to feel a shiver run down my spine.
Okay...
My stupid imagination was at work again. I wasn't even in the office yet. After about five elevator rides, we were yet to reach the boss's office.
Damn!
TIANOR is really huge. It's bigger than I thought it was and the environment was also amazing. Serene, colourful, and, beautiful... The company would be a good place to work.
The elevator soon stopped and it vomited the woman and me. When she faced me, a grin was planted on her lips and I gave her a hesitant smile in return. But then, she also wore a flirting look...
Oh, now I get it.
I am a twenty-five-year-old handsome dude, so women can't help but admire me.
While it is a good thing to be admired, the look in the woman's eyes was starting to make me feel extremely uncomfortable.
As my sight darted toward the space ahead, the woman stretched her long, slender hand, asking for a handshake.
"Hey, my name is Camilla."
I took her hand and was soon having fun squishing her soft hand.
"What is your..." I squeezed her hand again as she asked her question. "...name?"
After another squish, I finally released her hand.
"Damon," my firm voice responded.
"Well Damon, it is nice to meet you." I did not miss how her voice sounded more sultry.
I smiled at her as my eyes darted across the room. There were no doors in sight, just walls painted with a nice shade of blue.
As I gave the flirting and probably horny lady in front of me a narrowed look, I started to think she brought me there to seduce me into having a sexual intercourse kind of interview with her.
"I thought your boss wanted to see me," I queried her and she frowned like the word, 'boss', was bad news.
"I should get you to the office." She suddenly replaced her frown with a blank look. With her sudden seriousness maintained, her legs took a right turn toward the wall in that direction and I wondered what she was up to.
"Uh, Camilla, where are you going?"
"The boss's office." She didn't glance my way when she gave that curt reply.
But, when we reached the end of the room, she turned and faced me.
"I'll let the boss know you are here."
I was about to recommend Dr. Manor, my mother's therapist to her when I saw her slightly push the wall open.
Just like how the entrance to secret rooms in certain movies worked, the wall slid open and displayed a space wide enough for a person to pass through.
Camilla entered and left me to wonder why the CEO would want to hide his or her office from plain sight.
It was a good move though. The secret room had a good feel to it as well.
But it was still somewhat creepy.
Soon, Camilla walked out of the room. When she urged me to go in, I composed myself and dragged myself out of my many thoughts.
I walked past the door, the document file in my hands pressed against my lower abdomen, and I admonished myself to make great use of the golden opportunity I was about to have.
I cannot afford to mess up.
I finally went past the door which didn't have hinges or door marks on its other side. It was just a wall that could be flipped.
Soon, I looked ahead. The room my footsteps advanced into had a rich look to it. It was not the usual, simple kind of office. This one was highly furnished with expensive items. One odd thing I observed as I walked past three sets of couches arranged in an L-shape was the repetitive use of the colours; red, black, and white.
As my mind refused to be bothered by the decoration choice of another human, my eyes darted to the left and I saw the colossal television attached to the wall and I suddenly felt uneasy.
I don't know why, but I felt little as I walked further and further into the spacious room.
My slow paces soon led me into the second part of the large room which was separated from the first space by beaded curtains, and while my body shivered slightly in response to the intense cool air in the room, I noticed a figure standing beside a leather office chair which was undoubtedly expensive just like the entire room was.
This person had their hair up in a bun and I noted their height. Beside me, the individual's height would be dismissed. I would be taller.
But I was yet to decipher the gender of the individual because of the huge leather jacket resting on the person's shoulder.
"Hello. Good day," I finally greeted when my footsteps came to a halt.
"Sit." It was a feminine voice that replied to me.
I followed the instruction and sat on one of the chairs facing the bigger seat and waited patiently.
The jacket soon fell and revealed a feminine body dressed in a well-fitted, short red gown with padded shoulders. Once the woman in front of me turned, something about me changed.
My hands instantly felt heavy, the corner of my eyes twitched and I fell into some kind of trance. I could not, for the love of my life, take my eyes off her.
If she were the very Medusa, God knows I would have turned into stone.
She was so pretty. And this was not a make-up-induced prettiness.
No, it was not make-up.
Her face was definitely bare yet it radiated strongly. Her eyes suggested tenderness, her honey-like eyes gave her an unrivaled, special beauty.
Her lips drew a smile and that made me realize how young she looked.
"Damon," she called my name softly. It was rolled out carefully and sort of seductively. It almost sounded like a whisper... A sweet whisper that pulled me out of the unexpected trance I was in.
I soon cleared my throat when I recalled why I was there. After adjusting my position and as I urged myself to avoid staring at her too much, I said, "Miss, I am here to meet the CEO."
One of her full brows was raised and a smirk played on her lips which were fuller on the lower part. When she graciously had her seat, the fingers on her right hand began up-down movements, as if they were creating a melody on an invisible musical instrument.
"Miss..." I called again.
"My name is Selena." Her voice was as soft as the look on her face.
"Miss Selena. Can I please meet the CEO now?" I pleaded as though it would get hard for me to leave the office as time increased. It actually felt like something like that would happen.
The more seconds passed, the more I felt pulled by her presence.
And because it is the first time such would happen to me, I consider it a huge deal and a warning.
So yes, I needed to run out of that place as soon as possible. Well, that is after I get what I want.
"Since you asked, I'll go straight to the point. I am the CEO you seek."
My jaw almost fell as my forehead jerked with slight surprise. The sight of my perplexity must have pleased her as another smile covered her face.
DAMON "B-but... You look so young," I uttered when I found my voice. A burst of short laughter escaped her. "I am going to excuse your narrow-minded view. Darling," her smile was wide, "I am just twenty-seven and I won't be getting old anytime soon." Her voice carried certain confidence that I could never attempt to rival. While I was jealous of her admirable high self-esteem, I gave her a look of doubt which she responded to with a quick nod of her head. I still had a little look of doubt on my face when she said, "Let's not waste time on age-telling, Damon. I have a proposition for you." The wrinkle on my forehead deepened. "How do you know my name?" I instantly realized she had said my name earlier. Tilting her head to the right, her bun fell into a ponytail. That simple move gave her face a slightly different feature. "I know a lot of things about you, Damon Jones. You live in Alaban, don't you?" "Stalker alert?" I found myself asking without putting much thought into my
DAMON 'Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?' The television yelled. "Spongebob SquarePants!" My seven-year-old niece squealed in response. From where I was, I watched her move her upper body energetically to the rest of the theme song and when the end came, I took over. "Spongebob SquareBecca!" With a wide smile on my face, I reached for her hair and ruffled it. Surprisingly she didn't yell like she usually did. Instead, she faced me and gave me an innocent-looking smile which strangely reminded me of the crazy encounter I had the previous day. "Why are you smiling?" I asked her when her smile turned into a toothy grin. "'Cause you're not mad at me anymore," she replied with that cute voice of hers. "I was and can never be mad at you, Becca." 'I don't know about your teenage days though,' I quickly thought. I was well aware of the fact that the teenage years can be a little... I don't know the word to use. "But, I kept my file of drawings on your table where your file was an
DAMON With a bitter smile on my lips, I decided it would be better to park my car in the open parking lot. Parking in the basement car park would call undue attention to me and the employees I see every day would have more reason to taunt me as they have been doing for whatever reason known to them. Once the parking was taken care of, I got out of the car and mentally prepared myself for the long day ahead. I entered the administration building whose outside walls were painted pink and white and headed straight for Linda's office to get my costume and trays of sweets. Yes, that torturous activity is not over. As I ignored the snickering and intentional backbiting that trailed me as I walked, I wondered if my bear-dancing situation would come to an end soon. Mr. Hands did not indicate how long I would do the embarrassing activity for. At that point, I didn't mind the desk job which I always dreaded because of the people I worked with. Soon, my mind still raided with thoughts, I
DAMON My eyes blinked furiously and with difficulty, I adjusted my sight to accommodate the unusual brightness in the room. I managed to take a quick look around the huge, space that would be empty if I wasn't there, and I noticed a huge gap in the ceiling which gave sunlight a point of entry. That was where the light was from. The heavens must enjoy teasing me. Other than the light that was focused on me, the remnant of the room was dark. I could barely see what lurked in the far corners but I felt a lot of negative energy which came with the musky smell that I was certain I wouldn't be forgetting soon. Soon, I attempted to move my feet so that I could at least scurry for my freedom. Hitting the rusty iron door which was right in front of me didn't sound like a terrible idea. Or I could dump that crazy idea and save myself from getting into trouble by checking out the strange environment through the small bars the huge door had. But, my feet wouldn't budge. As the chair made
DAMON "You have never heard of us?" The middle of his forehead quickly wore a frown before he sharply pulled his hands off the chair and stood upright. My nose scrunched in reaction to his disturbing perfume. After making a clicking noise with his mouth, he folded his arms, gazed right into my eyes, and asked, "How could you have never heard of The Pretties? We made quite an entry this year." "What do you guys do? Put on dresses and try out new lipsticks? Are you a fashion company of some sort?" My voice was so calm and I became worried for myself. Excusing the flamboyant appearance of the man in front of me, it was clear that they were one of the gangs that bothered the streets of the country. But, no, I have never heard about them. The name 'The Pretties' didn't sound familiar. But then, I don't exactly pay much attention to the affairs of the nation. I have enough problems to deal with. My ears caught the stifled chuckles from one of the men at the entrance. Mr. Pretty was
DAMON Miss Selena made clicking noises with her mouth as she tapped the wooden arm of the couch she was seated on. I narrowed my eyes as her response rang in my head a hundred times over. There was something about the word, 'father', that almost made me believe her but, I could not afford to fall into any trap. Especially if that trap is laced with lies. I won't let anyone use my late brother as a means to get me to do something terrible. "What do you mean by my brother was killed because of my father? How do expect me to believe anything you are saying? What?" My frown deepened. "My brother was killed? Please... it was clearly an accident." "The Pretties masterminded his accident. They made sure it was impactful enough to kill him. So yes, they killed him." Selena exhaled hard as I glared at her. As she scrunched her lips while her mind seemed to calculate things, I went to take a seat opposite her. "Prove it. I won't believe you until you do so," I dared her. "Gladly." Her li
DAMON "If you work for me. I will ensure The Pretties doesn't touch your family, otherwise, terrible things will start to happen,” Selena said. "Is this fun for you? Do you think I am a charity case? What do you hope to get from me in return for this protection?" I asked after her words sank in. Honestly, a part of me was already considering her deal. I don't take my family's safety lightly. They are all I have. So, if I have to dine with the devil to have them protected, I will do so. But... I still had so many questions. Selena nodded as my eyes questioned her further. "As you know I have been watching you. What you don't know is that I have been watching you ever since your brother died. I have watched you suffer at that vain job of yours. I have seen how you love your family. I know you are good at what you do. So, I want you to consider my proposition as a simple deal. Take my words as the truth that they are. If I say I will protect you, I will do so. Work for me while us
DAMON I watched as Miss Selena's lips grew into a smile. My response seemed to delight her greatly. "This is awesome," she said excitedly. "We should celebrate." "What's there to celebrate?" I grumbled from where I was. "I am not doing this because I find your offer interesting. No, working with a gang leader has never been my plan. I am doing this to protect my family." "You might as well think that you are doing it for the money," Selena spoke. "You don't have to be so hard on yourself especially now that you have two good-paying jobs." "Isn't my life so great?" I asked, a sarcastic tone in my voice. "Damon Jones," the thickness of her voice snapped me out of my complaining state. "I gave you a choice, so stop making it seem like I forced you to do this. You can decide to change your decision now before we sign a contract." "There's a contract?" My brows lifted accordingly as my nagging side disappeared instantly. "Why?" She crossed her arms. "Did you think you would work for