Chapter 04

“Good morning, sir.”

Janet Phoebe, the well-known secretary of the CEO of Aurora Airlines, greeted her boss. She is a very attractive, 24-year-old woman who has been the secretary of Caden Wright for nearly five years.

“Good morning, Janet. What’s my schedule for the day?”

Caden asked as his hawk eyes scanned the whole area as soon as he entered the building and all the employees who expected that made sure they were in order.

“In another fifteen minutes, you have a meeting with the executive board, sir. It is to discuss the issue of shareholders that have complained about the negligence of the board. After that, there will be a meeting with Mrs. Caroline…”

Janet’s soft and professional voice read out the schedule that was on the tab as she hurried behind the CEO, who was heading to the office.

Ever since Caden took over the company from his uncle’s reins when he was just 18, the company underwent many changes. At 27, Caden wasn’t just a CEO, but the CEO of the country's most successful and leading Airline Company. And it is all because of the tactful and long-sighted changes he implemented.

Many secretaries have worked with Caden ever since he took his position but none survived. Caden was a strict and upright CEO who required neat and exemplary work from all his employees. He preferred everything in order and anyone who couldn’t stick to that would be subjected to probation or firing.

Despite all this, Janet, at a very young age, surprisingly got hold of the work around Caden quickly and soon became his ideal secretary. It’s no secret to the whole company that Janet is the only employee who has the capability to handle Caden, even at his worst temper.

Caden and Janet entered the office and Janet closed the door behind them.

“Good morning, Mr. Grumpy Wright.”

It was Andy, Caden’s childhood best friend, who is his business partner, as well as the assistant CEO and head of the Ground Department. Caden sighed, already feeling tired of the presence of his annoying friend and Andy frowned playfully.

“I expected a better reaction but I guess this one will have to do.”

He commented as he stood up from the sofa of the CEO's office and Caden deadpanned.

“What are you doing here?”

Andy looked at Janet and Janet immediately got the message that she turned to leave, while Caden sat in his chair.

“Janet, please postpone the meeting for one hour.”

Caden said, sensing that the conversation was going to be long and Janet nodded before walking out.

“Janet, bring us two coffees, please.”

Andy shouted at the woman’s back and Janet paused for a second as if she was about to say something, but decided against it while Andy chuckled. It was obvious Janet disliked Andy and his bubbly personality, while Andy knew too much that he loved teasing her.

“Stop getting on her nerves.”

Caden said with a little smile playing on his lips as he shook his head and Andy looked at him with dramatically wide eyes.

“Since when did you care about your employees so much?”

He gasped as he said and Caden glared at him before saying in a monotone voice.

“I’m just worried that she will quit because of you, as I won’t be able to find a good secretary like her ever again.”

“Or… is Mr. Caden feeling something for her?”

Caden didn’t reply but instead kept looking at Andy with a stunned face when Andy tapped his fingers on the table and sat on it with a smirk.

“Bro. If you are, I get it. Like, look at her, gorgeous, hot and sexy… I could go all day.”

“Then why don’t you get her?”

Andy choked on his saliva as he looked at Caden dumbfounded and now it was Caden’s turn to smirk.

“It’s obvious. You’ve liked her for years… when are you going to man up?”

“But she likes you!”

Andy threw his hands in the air as he got up from the table and went to sit on the sofa again and Caden once again reset to his default poker face.

“Does that matter? I don’t have any interest in her. Neither have I given her any lead to it. She will have to get over it and maybe you can be the reason for her to move on.”

“So, you already knew she liked you?”

“I had my suspicions but you confirmed it today.”

He said and Andy rolled his eyes.

“Suspicions. Damn suspicions. While you had suspicions here, the whole company is literally assuming that the next step between you two will be marriage.”

Caden sighed as silently pulled out a pile of documents that needed his signature. After calmly opening the first one and reading through it, he said without looking at Andy.

“How could they assume that? I got divorced just four months ago.”

He knew the chuckle that escaped Andy’s lips was sarcastic, which is exactly the reason he didn’t want to look at his best friend’s face. He wasn’t ready to deal with that sniggering face.

“But that was fake?”

Andy asked and Caden stated as a matter of fact.

“Only you know it.”

“Well, they were heartbroken when you married. The gossip even said that no woman other than sweet Janet is suitable for the cold CEO and refused to believe anyone’s beauty other than hers matched your handsome looks.”

He gagged at the word “handsome” and that made Caden smile again before he took his eyes off the documents and stated.

“What’s with the gagging? They were being honest.”

“My ass…”

He could hear Andy mutter and he laughed softly before going back to work again. There were about another forty-five minutes for the meeting so he might as well make it productive.

“But she was definitely way more beautiful than Janet…”

Caden muttered unintentionally, as the talk about his divorce resurfaced his memories about Avery and he was glad that Andy didn’t hear it. He didn’t want the man pestering him about it. He already made a fuss four months ago when he realized Caden had feelings for Avery when they divorced. It is for the better that Andy thinks he had moved on.

Minutes passed in silence while Caden signed the documents and Andy went through his tab, settling some messages from the Ground Department before Andy spoke again.

“Oh, I almost forgot why I got here.”

Caden raised his eyebrow, still not taking his eyes off from the document and just then Janet entered the office with the two coffees that Andy paused.

She placed the coffee on Caden’s table and informed him about it.

“Sir, just the way you want it. Black and no sugar.”

Caden didn’t bother to reply nor did Janet expect him to because the moment she kept the coffee on the table, she walked towards Andy.

“And for you…”

She smiled at him pettily and stared directly into his eyes, almost glaring at him before she placed his coffee on the coffee table in front of the sofa.

“… Plain regular coffee.”

She said as she turned away with a whip but before she could walk further, Andy held her by the hand and stopped her as he spoke flirtatiously.

“Aren’t you a little too worked up, sweetheart?”

“Andy…”

Caden’s warning tone cut through the air while Janet kept glaring at Andy and Andy immediately let go of her hand with a teasing laugh.

“Janet, wait outside the office. Next time, when Andy is present, you don’t need to be around.”

“But I can still ask her to bring us coffee, right?”

Andy asked with a glint of mischief in his eyes as soon as Caden finished and Janet huffed as she turned to Caden to thank him and then left out of the office fuming.

“You’re not even letting me flirt but you want me to get together with her. So confusing.”

Andy laughed as he turned back to his tab and Caden sighed as he kept the documents away, not being able to focus. Ever since he got reminded of Avery, he had been having a hard time focusing and with Andy with his antics, he found it even harder.

He just took the coffee to his hands and walked towards the sofa.

“You can do anything, I don’t care. But leave me and my office out of it.”

He simply said as he sat down on the opposite side of it from where Andy is and then playfully kicked his leg.

“What?”

Andy glared at him and Caden gestured to keep the tab away.

“Say what you are here to say and leave for god’s sake.”

“Oh, about that…”

Excitement could be seen in Andy’s eyes as he kept the tab away and turned to Caden.

“I have good news. This is still not completely through from the HR department, but I just wanted to let you know.”

Caden kept silent, letting Andy continue.

“You did say that you want to take a step to give opportunity to female pilots, right?”

Andy asked and Caden’s mind immediately ran to Avery. Ever since he met Avery, he had been intrigued by the fact of female pilots and he believed that with strong women like Avery, the company could be more empowered.

“Yes. It is something I would like to take a step on. Most airline companies ignore their strength but I think women can do just as good as men in this field of work.”

Andy nodded seriously as he understood Caden’s viewpoint and then said with a beam of a smile.

“Well. We got the perfect opportunity then. As I heard, the best female pilot in our country has applied to our company recently and our HR department has called her in.”

That piqued Caden's interest, making him lean forward and Andy smiled.

“What’s her name?”

Caden asked and Andy shrugged.

“Not sure yet. But that doesn’t matter. What matters is we’ve got the best inception!”

He said and resumed back to his work, showing no sign of leaving and Caden leaned back to the sofa once again, thoughtfully.

Female pilot? Could it be Avery? He shook his head. The chances were rare and he didn’t want to be too hopeful.

***

The phone of the head of the HR department rang. Mr. Nicholas, the head of the HR department of Aurora Airlines, answered it.

“Good morning, Mr. Nicholas. This is Leonardo speaking. The assistant CEO of Serene Airlines.”