First Day

"Have you enrolled Jonathan in his school? Is it far from your apartment? Are the teachers friendly? Are there lots of play equipment there?"

Noreen chuckled at her mother's machine-gun-like questions, firing non-stop.

"There's still two months until the new school year starts, but I've enrolled him early, just in case I miss the registration period," Noreen replied.

"What about the daycare? Is the atmosphere good? Does Jonathan like it?" Maria asked again.

"It's all set, Mom," Noreen said calmly. "The unit we live in is on the eight floor, and the school and daycare are on the first floor. This is the most complete apartment complex I've ever known. They have all the best amenities here. Just enter the elevator and press the number one button."

"Oh, that's great," Maria said with relief. "Whoever built that apartment complex must have been thoughtful and thorough. They paid attention to every detail to make life easier for everyone who lives there."

"Or maybe he's a skilled businessman who uses end-to-end business principles, and that's the person who's going to be my boss, Mom," Noreen said. "I'm even more curious about him now."

"Do your best, honey. People like that are usually perfectionists," Maria said.

The doorbell rang.

"Mom, I have to go. I ordered a pizza for Jonathan. He'll be up any minute. Say hi to Daddy for me."

Noreen opened the door, took the pizza, and gave the delivery man a tip. She prepared the pizza to share with Jonathan after he woke up from his nap.

It had been quite a tiring day for Jonathan. The two of them had surveyed the apartment complex and registered for kindergarten and daycare.

Noreen would start work in four days, and she needed to make sure everything would be safe for Jonathan while she was away.

She was grateful that Jonathan wasn't a fussy child and that he adjusted easily to his new surroundings, so it wasn't difficult for Noreen to prepare everything.

"You have a handsome and wonderful son, Ms. Winchester," said the daycare director, Mrs. Leily Archy. She was a soft-spoken middle-aged woman with a sweet smile. "Don't worry, he'll be safe and comfortable here."

Just by listening to Mrs. Leily Archy speak, Noreen felt confident that Jonathan would be fine at the daycare.

Not to mention the fact that Mrs. Leily Archy was also a resident of apartment two and was willing to provide personal assistance to Noreen if needed to care for Jonathan outside of the daycare's operating hours.

"Mommy," Jonathan called, coming out of the room, rubbing his eyes. "I had a strange dream."

Noreen put down the juicer she was holding, which contained orange juice she was about to pour into a glass, and quickly approached Jonathan.

She crouched down in front of her son and rubbed his back. "Was it a nightmare?"

"No," Jonathan shook his head. "Not bad. Just weird."

"Want to tell Mommy about it while we eat pizza?" Noreen asked, standing up and scooping Jonathan into her arms. "Oh? You've gained weight in the past few days, haven't you?"

Jonathan laughed and pointed to the dining table. "Pizza. Two."

"Anything you want, prince," Noreen said, setting Jonathan down on a chair. "Should we buy a high chair for you?"

Jonathan shook his head. "I'll just sit here."

"Ah, okay, big guy," Wilona said, kissing the top of Jonathan's head. "Besides, you seem to be growing faster lately."

"In my dream, I was sleeping and there were several big dogs guarding me in a circle," Jonathan said, munching on some pizza.  "A big, beautiful dog."

"Like Barley and Geren?" Noreen asked, naming her father's two Siberian Huskies.

"Yeah. Bigger. More fur," Jonathan agreed. "Silver and gold eyes. Very nice."

"It's like the painting of a wolf in your room," Noreen said. "Maybe it's not a dog, but a wolf."

Jonathan nodded. "Yes. A wolf. Like Geren."

"Should we take that painting away?" Noreen murmured. "You had that dream because you like to stare at it before bed?"

"No, Mommy, I'm fine. It was a good dream. The wolves protected me from the wind when I slept," Jonathan said seriously.

"Okay," Noreen said. "We'll see. If you keep having those dreams, I'll take the painting away."

Jonathan nodded and reached for a second slice of pizza. Noreen studied her son and noticed that he seemed to have grown taller in recent days.

On Noreen's first day at work, she kissed Jonathan on both cheeks. "You'll be fine with your new friends and the teachers here. Mrs. Archy will call me if anything happens."

"Yes, Mommy," Jonathan said. "Have a good day and I hope you have a good time."

Noreen felt optimistic. She had been briefed on the job description and was eager to get started.

A woman in a casual suit and her hair in a messy bun greeted Noreen as she arrived.

The receptionist on the ground floor escorted Noreen to the third floor, to the office of the general manager of human resources, Mrs. Maya McDafoe. It seemed she had been waiting for her.

"Ms. Noreen Ellise Winchester, you will be on the team directly reporting to Mr. Thiery Bradley," Maya said, looking over Noreen's resume. "Mr. Thiery liked your work when my team and I presented the portfolios. It was a blind selection, so the results were objective."

"I hope my future work won't disappoint Mr. Bradley," Noreen said.

"Don't worry, as long as you can consistently meet deadlines and be available at any time, you're safe," Maya said. "Mr. Thiery has been working on a lot of projects lately, so he's been a little grumpy."

As she spoke, there was a knock on Maya's office door, and a man stuck his head through the crack.

"Ma'am, could you go to Mr. Peter's office for a moment? He has something to ask you," the man said.

Maya clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Why doesn't he just come here?"

"He's on a video call with the Melbourne branch," the man replied. "Mr. Harwind is there."

Maya stood up. "Okay. I'll be there in a minute."

The young man left, and Maya looked at Noreen apologetically. "I'll just be gone for a moment. You stay here until I get back, then I'll show you to your room."

Before Noreen could answer, Maya was gone, and the door closed.

Noreen felt awkward in someone else's room, so she sat quietly, observing the room until she heard the phone ring.

Noreen looked around for the ringing phone and saw it on the sofa. She reached over and picked it up, seeing the name on the screen: Mr. Boss.

Noreen didn't answer the call, and a moment later the phone stopped ringing.

Just as Noreen was about to put the phone back in its cradle, it rang again.

This time Noreen decided to take the call. Mr. Boss, that probably meant Mr. Thiery or his father, Mr. Trevor.

"Hello, sir—"

"What's taking you so long, Maya?" a man on the other line snapped. "I need last month's updated company data. Send two copies here immediately."

"S-sorry, sir," Noreen said nervously. "This isn't Mrs. Maya. She's out for a moment and doesn't have her phone with her."

There was a moment of silence.

Then, the man on the other line's voice turned icy as he spoke again.

"Who are you?"

"M-my name is Noreen, sir. I just got—"

"QUICKLY FIND MAYA AND HAVE HER PREPARE WHAT I SAID EARLIER!"

Click.

The connection went dead.

Noreen stared at the black phone screen, trembling. Shocked, not afraid.

That grumpy guy, he wasn't going to be her boss, was he?