Chapter 3 ~ Paris Martinez's POV

Monday always felt like a sad and boring day for me, it was my least favorite of the week; everyone was always busy, every workplace was also overcrowded, and the stern looks on each of their faces would make one wonder if they have been sad all their lives. Monday wasn't a week I looked forward to.

The D-day was finally here, my very first day of working with whoever my father had assigned to train me, technically I thought I would be trained under my father's company but it was wrong. Dad had told me I would be working at another company, he wouldn't stop rambling about how much of a genius and successful the CEO was. I could care less, this wasn't what I wanted for myself so whoever was going to be my boss should not find it surprising whenever I screwed up.

For my first day of training, I didn't want to wear something too office-ish; I had thrown on a wide-leg skater denim trouser, a white camisole top along with a beige-colored oversized blazer. I walked into the huge building, everything in here screamed luxury. Not in an extravagant way but a—billionaire luxury who loved subtle grey and white with a mix of dark brown—kind of luxury. The strong musk of a citrusy fragrance had jabbed my nose then I remembered it was from the fragrance I used this morning.

I walked towards who I guessed was the receptionist and smiled at him. “Good morning, I am Paris Martinez and I have been assigned to train under this company. Today appears to be my very first appointment.”

The young lady had her eyes roaming at me for a bit before she nodded and clicked her fingertips on the telecom. “Yes, good morning, Mr. Melendez, the new trainee is here.” My forehead scrunched up a bit at the name I heard, it better not be the famous eligible bachelor that everyone in the world knew of as the youngest billionaire on earth. For some reason, it felt surreal.

“Alright, Sir. I will send her in,” she nodded her head again and disconnected the call. “Madam, your destination will be on the twentieth floor, turn to your left once you are there. Do have a nice day.” She finally smiled.

“Thank you.” I thanked her and then left to where I was directed. After such a long journey inside that elevator, I finally got to my final destination. Everywhere seemed too neat, the color of the walls was either white or grey. I didn't see so many people here unlike at the reception. As directed, I was able to find the floor I was meant to walk into.

I passed through every door which had different names on them until I met with a familiar, it was Dante Melendez. The Melendez everyone knew. I felt uneasy, I was nervous as a cat in a dog pound. I knocked on the door gently and waited for a while until I heard a gruff voice permitting me to come in.

As I got nearer to him, he smelled of cologne and something I would define as masculinity. “Good morning, Mr. Melendez, pleasure to meet you.” I stretched forth my hand for a handshake which he took warmly.

“You must be Paris Martinez.” He stared at me, I couldn't help but look at his sunken eyes. I would say, this was my very first time noticing his features physically. He didn't look surprised or amused when he saw me, for some reason—I was grateful he wasn't because I knew he recognized me.

“Yes, Sir,” I responded politely, he offered for me to take a seat and sat quietly for a while.

“As you know, today will be the first day of your training, you have to realize what you are getting into—” He was about to explain when I interrupted.

“I was once a medical student, it was hard, I am confident that I can work under pressure as that is what I am used to.”

“I don't like when I am being interrupted, Martinez. If you can work under pressure then you should be aware of what you are going into.” The coldness in his voice made me gulp my saliva in nervousness.

“Yes, Sir.”

“Good! Monday morning, I like my coffee black with no sugar or tea. It should come to me at eight am sharp!” he announced firmly.“You will help organize files and put them in order, go with me on business trips, business meetings, present presentations to clients and other business boards, control stocks that we have in this company...” I cleared my throat loudly, hearing him list all that he had said. He stared daggers at me which made me give him a nervous smile. “Do I bore you, Martinez?”

“Not at all, Sir.”

I hated this job already. How the hell did he expect me to do all these things?

“Great, you should be able to handle what you meet at Lion's den.”

“But, Sir, who will be in charge of the supervision?”

“Did your father not prepare you for this?” He shot back.

“Yes, but—”

“I am sure there is a reason why he wanted you trained under me, so the supervisor will be me. Anything you don't understand in the English language?”

Jerk!

“I do understand, all understood.”

“I will ask questions aside from the fact that you are about to prepare yourself as the CEO of your father's company,” he uttered. “What are your weaknesses and strengths?”

“Well... I can be disorganized sometimes, lack skills in this business, less strategic thinking in this kind of business because I am new to everything. I am more customer-focused because I am more interested in interacting with people, I am flexible, I am open to innovativeness and I am quick to seize opportunities.” It was a miracle that I didn't stutter to the end.

He hummed and rest his fingers on his lips. “I need to know more about your weaknesses.”

I scoffed. “Why are you more focused on my weaknesses, if I may ask, Mr. Melendez.”

“This isn't a medical field, if you are in industrial business then you should know it's a battlefield. Everything must be sorted out fully.” He said with his gruff voice again. 

I just knew I was in deep shit once Dad decided to make life hard for me this way. There was no way I could survive being a trainee under him.