CHAPTER 10 - Meeting Mr. CEO

/THEO/

How I managed to drag myself to work on Friday morning was a miracle. My bed was in the perfect state to have that knockout sleep, it was cold alongside my pillows.

“Why do I have to work?” I groaned as I ate breakfast.

“Stop whining and eat your food,” Lorcan who just wanted a glass of water before leaving, shot a glare at me.

“Yes,” I grumbled, pouting my lips.

When I walked into the PixelPulse Studio office, I couldn't explain what was going on but something felt different today.

“Is it just me or is everyone unusually busy today?” I muttered to myself as I got into the elevator. It's not like we idled around at the office, I mean, there was a lot of work to do but still, something about today felt different.

Just as I got off the elevator, a worker bumped into me and we both ended up falling. Could my day possibly get any worse?

“Erm…are you—” she didn't even let me finish my question before she bounced back up and sprinted away, yelling an apology.

“Eh?” I tilted my head in confusion. What was I missing here?

I got to my feet and dusted myself, letting out a sigh. It couldn't be that bad, I said until I saw people running down the corridors with stacks of folders and everyone looked like they were about to burst into tears.

“Excuse me, but what's going on today?” I asked, dropping my backpack onto my desk.

Jace didn't even look up from his monitor. He was aggressively organizing loose papers into neat piles. "The corporate overlords are coming, Theo. Clean your desk and get to work, now.”

Maya walked past my cubicle, wiping down her perfectly clean divider with a wet wipe. "And it's not just any corporate visit, Theo. The Armoni Group executive team is doing an unannounced walkthrough of the subsidiary branches. And word on the tenth floor is that the CEO himself might be leading the inspection."

I blinked, grabbing a stray pen and putting it in my drawer. "Ah, now I understand why everyone is on alert but why is everyone acting like we're preparing for a war or something? He can't be that bad, can he?"

“Theo, my naive, little friend,” Jace placed a hand on my shoulder, shaking his head dramatically.

“You're not much older than me though,” I muttered. What was with him now?

“Theo, scary isn't even the word to use to describe that man,” Maya stopped scrubbing and looked at me like I had two heads. "Theo, the man is a ruthless dominant Alpha. I heard he once fired an entire marketing department in a different branch because their quarterly presentation had a typo in the font size. He doesn't do mistakes. If he looks at you wrong, your career is basically over."

"Sounds like a joy to be around," I laughed awkwardly. I was so cooked if that was true. “B-But, what if they are just rumors? You know, don't judge a book by its cover?” I scratched the back of my head awkwardly.

“Bro, you definitely have to judge this book by the cover,” Jace answered. “Besides, you've never seen him before?”

“Idiot. He only just got a job here recently,” Maya smacked him on the head.

“Ignoring that brute’s violence, you'll get to see him today if he's here,” Jace was still rubbing his head. “Just make sure to look composed and organized, so that you won't get on his wrong side.”

For the next two hours, the entire floor was practically holding its breath. I kept my head down, clearing out old emails and making sure all the administrative records were up to date. My eyes were still burning from the lack of sleep over the past week, and the tense atmosphere in the room wasn't helping.

Around eleven o'clock, Ms. Lesley hurried out of her private office, clapping her hands twice to get our attention. Her face was pale. "Attention, everyone. They've just cleared the ninth floor. They will be here in less than two minutes. Monitors on, shoulders back, and look productive."

I don't think she was supposed to put it that way, that would only make it look like we weren't productive in the first place. Either way, we all got to work.

Right at that moment, the main network printer next to my cubicle let out a loud, grinding screech and flashed a bright red error light on its tiny screen.

Paper Jam. Clear internal tray.

I froze. "No, no, no, not right now," I whispered, diving out of my chair.

"Theo, what are you doing?" Maya whispered frantically over the wall. "They're coming!"

"The printer jammed! If the CEO walks in and sees a flashing red light, Ms. Lesley will actually murder me," I whispered back, already dropping to my hands and knees on the carpet.

The power cables under the machine were a complete disaster. They were tangled into a massive, dusty knot that looked like a bird's nest. I crawled entirely under the edge of the desk, my hands frantically tracing the thick black cords to find the main plug while trying not to rip anything out of the wall.

"They're here," Jace hissed.

Through the narrow gap between the bottom of my desk and the floor, I saw the glass double doors of the floor slide open.

Even from my spot on the floor, I could feel the sudden pressure in the air.

The casual murmurs of the office died instantly, replaced by the terrifying sound of several pairs of shoes walking in perfect sync across the floor before hitting the carpeted section.

I stayed completely still under the desk, my cheek practically pressed against the carpet, holding a tangled power cable in my hand.

From my limited view, I could only see from the shins down. There were a few managers in standard business shoes, but right in the center of the group was a pair of immaculate, pitch-black leather Oxfords.

The shoes stopped right at the end of my cubicle row.

"The creative tech integration reports for this quarter are fully updated, sir," Ms. Lesley's voice sounded nervous, which was completely unlike her. "We've seen a twelve percent increase in efficiency since the software merger."

I listened in, wanting to at least hear his voice if I couldn't see his face but instead, the footsteps began to walk away as they talked about a bunch of stuffs. It looked like they were going to have this conversation elsewhere.

The only thing I was able to pick up that he said was, "Ensure the corrected reports are on my desk by five today.”

But he was too far away for me to make out his voice distinctively.

I waited another five seconds before slowly crawling out from under the desk, rubbing my sore neck. My face was flushed from being upside down.

"Holy crap," Jace breathed, slumping back into his chair and wiping sweat from his forehead. "That was intense. Did you see him?"

“Clearly he didn't see him, at least not while he decided to bury himself down there,” Maya sighed.

“I considered coming out but if I were to do that suddenly, wouldn't I just attract unnecessary attention?” I scratched the corner of my lips.

“You're not wrong,” she agreed with me hesitantly. “There's still a chance you might see him. I mean, he's in Ms. Lesley’s office so if you look closely you'll see him.”

I turned around to see him but his guards where blocking my view of even his side profile.

“Why won't they move a bit?” I cussed underneath my breath.

Just when I thought I might have the chance to see him, Ms. Lesley’s secretary ran over to me.

“Theo,” she was panting.

“Y-Yes?”

“Ms. Lesley has asked you to accompany me to get some documents from the storage,” she closed her eyes like she was pleading with me.

“What?! Why him though?” Jace frowned. “Don't tell me, is Ms. Lesley still picking on you?” He turned to me.

“No, that's not it,” I smiled awkwardly. I was curious as to why she'd asked for me specifically. “I'll follow you,” I gave her a warm smile as I got up to my feet.

And there goes my chance of seeing him. I honestly wish I could just rush in and—

“Pam,” I grabbed Pam by the wrist. “Let's go quickly,” I pulled her with me to the storage. If we hurried up, I'd be able to meet the CEO before he leaves.

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“Oh, you're back?” Maya said ten minutes later after I'd returned with Pam. “He left like two minutes ago.”

And that's how I missed my chance to see him.