Second day of work

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 extremely handsome boss didn't help much with my focusing on work. Each time I raised my head, I unknowingly started looking at the serious and professional expression on his face, at his captivating blue eyes, at his commanding posture… It made all the work I was doing twice as hard!

"Concentrate! Concentrate! I need to concentrate!" I kept repeating it inside my head.

I read the same sentence for the fifth time. My brain clearly lost the ability of comprehending anything. I glimpsed at Samil…

"Con… cen… … … God!" Looking at him didn't help at all. "Why does he have to look so good?! Why does this jacket compliment his muscled chest so much…? Why am I drooling just looking at him?!"

Our eyes met, I flinched, and instantly lowered my head. Thankfully, he chose to ignore me. I took a deep breath and made another attempt to read the complicated paragraph in the contract.

Although I was doing my best, I was doing this kind of thing for the first time. Furthermore, I was pointing out the fragments of the contracts basing on my opinion only. I truly hoped that I was doing it right… I wouldn't like to go through all of it again.

I had to admit, some of the things and sums I saw made the blood in my veins boil. If the new CEO was about to make some changes based on what I noticed, then a huge storm was about to approach the TVM station…

It was almost midnight when I finally finished my assignment. My boss was still writing something on his computer. I couldn't even notice any signs of fatigue on his face, while I could barely remember my own name… I bet we were the only two people left at work. I only hoped this wasn't what all of my days here would look like. Otherwise, I would die sooner than I would receive my first payment! I stood up, walked to his desk on wobbling legs.

"I… finished going through… the contracts," I informed him, barely hiding the level of my exhaustion.

He looked at the piles of contracts on the table and sofa and… smiled. He actually smiled! And… I had no idea if it was a good thing, or a bad thing… Then he gazed at me and stayed silent for a few seconds.

"Good work. Tomorrow you will have your computer and a desk, and you will write down notes from the paragraphs you marked, with your own suggestions on whether the contract should be changed… or terminated," he smirked.

I gulped. There were nearly a hundred contracts with ridiculous demands. I knew that they could have been a huge burden on the station's budget, yet how could I casually decide whether someone should lose his job or not?! This responsibility was a bit extreme…

"It's… It's not that I don't want to do my job properly… but… is it really ok?" I laughed nervously, "How can I decide whether someone loses his job or not?"

"Easy," he stated indifferently, "Stop thinking about the people. Think about what is on the paper. I trust you will do the job well… Now, you can go home. Tomorrow you can come at 9 AM."

"O-ok… Thank you…" I muttered, still uncertain about my next day's task.

I was about to turn around and get out of there, but I got terribly dizzy. I tripped on my own feet and lost my balance. He looked at me and got up on his chair…

"Oh, God! Is he going to catch me like in some romantic scene…? And then our faces will get close…"

Half a second later, my butt and thigh hit the floor hard. My boss didn't try to rescue me from the fall… he was simply stretching up a bit. I got up completely flustered and embarrassed. Of course, I started by crawling on all four, and my movements were as awkward and inelegant as possible.

"G-good night… Sir" I mumbled without looking into his eyes and rushed out of his office.

"Wait!" he called.

I stopped right by the door, and turned around with the most foolish smile.

"Are you going to drive the car in that state of yours?" he asked, surprisingly concerned. "If you do, you will certainly cause an accident…"

"I don't have a car," I explained, "I usually take the bus to get here."

"There are no buses at this hour."

"Then, I can call myself a cab," I bowed my head and reached for the door handle.

"No need. My driver will take you home," he stated.

I wanted to say that I could take care of myself, but he was already making a call.

"Jacob, you will drive Ms. Eder home. She's coming down right now," he commandeered over the phone.

I figured I was in no position to object to his proposal…

"T-thank you…" I smiled awkwardly again.

"Just get home safe."

For the first time, his words almost sounded… kind.

"And you… Sir?" I asked, wondering how long he was going to stay in the office.

"I still have things to do," he smirked.

"Please… don't overwork yourself," I said that without thinking and flinched, not knowing how he would respond to my honest concern.

He stared at me kind of stunned. I started to wonder if I didn't get ahead of myself too much. My heart began to pound nervously.

"Ms. Eder…" he looked me in the eyes and faintly smiled, "I will keep that in mind."

I sighed in relief, and somehow felt happy.

"Good night, Sir…" I grinned, opened the door, and finally left.

When I walked out of the building, I saw a kind-of-limousine, black car, and a driver wearing a neat suit-slash-uniform standing by it. When I walked closer, he opened the door for me and invited me inside with a gesture. It felt strange. I looked around, but there was nobody except for me and the driver, I smiled nervously. He stood still, bowing and pointing at the backseat of the car with his hand until I got inside. Then he shut the door and got back into the driver’s seat.

"Where are we going, Ms. Eder?" he asked, glimpsing in the front mirror.

"Liberty Park, Jane Street, please…" I replied, hesitantly.

"Acknowledged. Fasten your seatbelt, please, Ms. Eder," he said in a polite manner.

I did what he said and looked around. The car interior was extremely luxurious. There was leather upholstery, carefully made details, doorhandles, tinted windows, and there was also something that looked like a small bar. I had never been inside such a car before. I felt quite uncomfortable driving in it, out of place, but I was grateful that I didn't have to take a cab.

When we came to the right place, he got out first and quickly opened the door for me.

"T-thank you…" I smiled nervously.

"My pleasure, Ms. Eder," he responded, bowed, and began walking back to his seat.

Suddenly, I saw something familiar on his uniform, something I had already seen before. It was a small pin in his jacket lapel. There was a star inside a circle on it. He drove away and I kept thinking where I had seen that pin before. It kept bothering me.

I got inside my Grandma's house, swaying on my feet from exhaustion. Grandma was already asleep. I could hear her sleeping soundly in her bedroom downstairs. I climbed upstairs to my bedroom and kept thinking about that pin. First, I started to wonder if any of the workers at TVM station had something like that, but no… that wasn't it.

I washed my teeth and face, and was ready to go to sleep. I lied on a bed, closed my eyes, and suddenly I remembered! The guy who bought my kind-of-magical painkilling herbs had a pin like that… Could it be that he worked for Mr. Borda, and the herbs were actually for… him?!