CHAPTER 4

Maya's POV:

“You!!!” Mr. Grey Eyes yelled suddenly as his full pink lips curled into a dangerous sneer.

Oh shit! You've got to be kidding me!

Out of everybody in this whole wide world, this rude man is my boss?!

“Hi”, I squeaked with an awkward wave as I didn't know how to react in this unfortunate situation.

“I'm so sorry about earlier sir! I didn't mean to say that out loud”. I spluttered in an attempt to save my job.

I just got this job! I couldn't lose it so soon because of my bad mouth!

Mr. Grey Eyes, who I now identified as Dante Armando (judging by the golden nameplate on his desk), walked up to me and stood right in front of my 5’5 frame with his big muscular arms crossed.

Dante was a tall intimidating man that didn’t need to do much to instil fear in others.

I felt intimidated but I definitely wasn’t going to show him that.

He had dark brown hair that looked like chocolate strands up close, piercing grey eyes that seemed to stare straight into my soul, and trimmed facial hair accentuating his high cheekbones and sharp jawline.

I must admit, my boss is a very attractive man.

Besides, why is my heart beating so fast?!

Dante’s deep husky voice brought me out of my reverie,

“Are you even listening to me muñeca?” 

Is that Spanish? Could this man get even sexier?!

I looked sheepishly into cold narrowed eyes, 

“Sorry sir, what did you say?”

“No puedo lidiar con esto”

Dante huffed in irritation and walked back to his desk to take a seat on his mesh black office chair. 

The office was elegant and luxurious - with a crystal chandelier in the middle of the room, gold linings along the black and white walls, and a floor-to-ceiling window with a beautiful view of New York. 

I looked at my boss, patiently waiting for him to repeat himself as I had been ogling him shamelessly before.

“Who hired you?”, he asked with a straight emotionless face. His voice contained so much authority that sent shivers down my spine.

“Mrs Hendriks sir” I answered quickly, not wanting to annoy the male even further.

Dante picked up his sleek cell phone, dialed a number, and put it to his ear - while looking me dead in the eyes.

“Mrs. Hendriks, there's a young lady here who says you employed her”

I couldn't hear the receiving end but I could tell it was a tense call that didn't leave Mr. Dante happy or with any choice.

The call ended and my boss kept staring at me, I was starting to feel self-conscious. Did I have something on my face?

Dante lightly smirked when he noticed my squirmish state. 

“I apparently don't have a choice in this matter since I urgently need a personal assistant, what’s your name muñeca?”

Why does he keep calling me that?!

“Maya Jensen, nice to meet you sir”  I walked up to him with my hand stretched for a handshake.

Unsurprisingly, Dante stared at my hand like it was a disease being offered to him.

He cocked an eyebrow at me and pulled out heavy looking files from the bottom drawer of his shiny black desk.

“Get to work immediately, I want these edited and all the important information sent to my email. Print the agreement file in multiple copies, then schedule a meeting with The Romero company. Read through the details of the contract and you'll understand what needs editing”.

First day of work and I have so much to do already? 

I groaned internally looking at the heavy white files I was to work on.

“You need to be smart and active if you plan to work for me. I do not tolerate tardiness, laziness or fuck ups”.

“Your office is on the other side of that door -”, He pointed to a door I hadn't seen before, “- if I need you, I'll contact you through the intercom. Do not make me call twice”. 

“Get me a black coffee with two sugars. The convenience room is the only other room on this floor”.

What crawled up this man’s butt and gruesomely died?

“Anything else Your Highness?”, I smiled sarcastically, showing my pearly whites.

Dante remained emotionless with irritation seeping through his grey irises, “You may leave”.

I nodded and turned to leave when I heard the man speak yet again,

“One more thing Miss Jensen, let what happened earlier never repeat itself again. I won't be so kind next time”.

Why is this man so cold and angry all the time?

Such a waste of beautiful features if you ask me.

I mumbled an okay and made my way out of the office to the convenience room, it was starting to feel suffocating in there.

The convenience room was a cute little room with plush sofas and a coffee table in the center, a small kitchen space with minimal appliances, a vending machine, an average-sized tv and two bathrooms.

I already like this room a lot.

I quickly made the coffee as Mr. Armamdo had requested and sauntered back to his (or our) office.

The man of the hour didn't look up from the typing he was doing on his MacBook as I walked in to place his coffee on his desk.

No “thank you”? Ugh, this man infuriates me!

I picked up the heavy files and went to check out my office by the right.

My glossed lips spread into a smile as I walked into my new space.

It was small, about the same size as the convenience room, with black walls and burgundy curtains blocking my view of the city lights.

A deep burgundy desk chair sat behind a black desk. A laptop, telephone and some office stationeries were placed on top of my new desk. 

I love it!

It was a cute little room with little to no decorations and I just knew I would have so much fun decorating it as I liked.

Time to get to work then..

The time on the small wall clock read, 6:55pm,

I was almost done for the day as my job ended by 7pm.

I had gone through the files, sent important emails, answered phone calls and arranged for guest travel arrangements. 

I could get used to this, it wasn’t so bad. I smiled as I packed up my things.

Mr Armando had already left as his desk chair was empty when I walked out of his office by exactly 7pm.

I took the elevator to the ground floor and met Nina packing her belongings and looking ready to leave.

“Hi Nina, are you leaving now?”, I smiled sweetly at the receptionist.

“Maya boo, yeah I’m heading home now” Nina grinned cheekily as she exited the cubicle to come stand next to me.

We fell into a comfortable stride as we exited the company building, walking to the nearest bus stop which was about 10 minutes away.

“Firstly, you’ll need to write your name and sign in the attendance book from Monday. All employees have to do so when they resume work and when they leave. And secondly, how was your first day of work?”. 

“Alright Nina, thank you for informing me”- I smiled gratefully - “Apart from my encounter with my cold boss, it was better than I expected. I'm so grateful I got this job and I'll do my best to keep it”.

Nina smiled pitifully at the mention of my boss and patted me on my arm, “Mr. Armando can be a lot to handle but I promise it'll get better, he's not as bad as he portrays himself to be”

I snorted in belief but chose not to say anything as we got to the bus stop.

Nina mentioned she lived close to the bus stop so she went on her way.

I waited for a minute or two before the bus arrived, there were a few other people waiting for it as well.

I hopped on the red bus, paid, and took a seat.

15 minutes later, I was walking down the street to my apartment. Shady-looking people were on the sides of the road so I held my bag tight and walked faster.

I breathed a sigh of relief as I locked my front door with the key and numerous locks.

That reminds me! I have a free apartment courtesy of Armando Corporations. I can't believe I almost forgot about that!

I rummaged through my work bag for the key Mrs. Hendriks gave to me, gently setting aside the company laptop and the files I brought home to work on.

My lips spread into a grin as I held the key with the yellow card that had writings on it.

House 15, 13th Street Madison Ave.

I'll need to check out my new place tomorrow, I can't wait! 

I stripped out of my work clothes and went to take a shower.

After I felt fresh and clean, I wore a silk bonnet and slipped into shorts and a big tee. 

Thinking about my first day of work, I munched on the rest of last night’s pizza.

I can't wait to see Vi tomorrow and fill her in on everything. Maybe she'll accompany me to check out my new apartment.

I brushed my teeth and dozed off with the thoughts of my new apartment and new life.

I hope it's nicer than Mrs. Bell's apartment, I can't move from one shit hole to another..

muñeca - doll.

No puedo lidiar con esto - I can't deal with this.