Chapter 6

O.S. Publishing Headquarters, The President's Office.

~~~~

The top floor of O.S. Publishing headquarters was quiet in a way that felt almost unnatural. Glass, steel, and clean white lighting filled the space, giving it a cold, controlled feel. Large windows stretched across the walls, showing the entire city below. From this height, New York looked smaller… distant.

Noah Creed’s office sat at the center of it all.

Nothing in the room was flashy. Everything was placed with purpose. A long dark desk faced the windows, shelves lined one side of the wall, and a seating area sat neatly arranged for meetings rather than comfort.

Noah stood near the window for a moment, loosening his tie slightly.

Still in his black tuxedo from earlier, sleeves rolled up just a bit, he carried a calm posture that didn’t match the tension in his face. There was always something tight in his expression, like his thoughts never really stayed quiet.

After a while, he turned away from the view.

He picked up his cold black coffee and took a slow sip, as if daring anyone to interrupt him. No one did.

But the calm didn’t last in his mind.

He felt disturbed after what had just happened. He always felt like shit whenever he met his mother…

“That vicious, hungry money serpent.”

Noah exhaled through his nose, tightening his grip on the cup for a second before forcing himself to relax again.

Like forcing him to get married and produce offspring was not enough, now he was being forced to marry into the Keyes family of models. Their last child, Jesse Keyes, who, by the way, was not even up to twenty. Given the circumstance, she would be old enough to be his daughter.

He already had a lot on his plate to deal with. Being transferred there without his consent was already a big problem for him. He did not want any more stress, but his mother would not let him be. Engaging the young model was the only thing he could do to keep her at bay… for now.

“Oh, damn… my head hurts again.”

Since Noah was a kid, he had these terrible headaches, like someone banging a metal rod on his head. It hurt so much that he often ended up with insomnia and then in the hospital. He had been taking meds for years, and because of that damn woman, he forgot to take them this time.

Scanning the room, Noah noticed his secretary was nowhere to be found.

“He always acts on his own… that jerk. Just because we grew up together.”

Grabbing his phone, he dialed the office number. It rang.

The voice on the other end answered, “Hello, you are speaking to the—”

“Shut the fuck up and get me Secretary James, now.”

There were a gasp and a brief pause on the other end.

“Oh… yes, sir. Just a second.”

After what felt like an eternity, the voice returned. “He is on his way, sir.”

Noah hung up.

A few seconds later, James walked in… no, more like strolled in.

“Sir, you sent for me?”

“Yes, James. Seriously, do I have to call you every time before you do your job? Would it kill you to have some sense of responsibility?”

“Huh…” James stammered, confused. “My apologies, sir. If you could tell me where I went wrong, I would appreciate it.” He looked genuinely puzzled.

Noah exhaled sharply.

“You were supposed to follow me into the office,” he said, keeping his tone controlled. “But for some reason, you chose to ignore me. May I remind you, James, your office is next to mine, not the receptionist.”

“Of course, sir,” James replied, then added, “But you told me to help with the new recruits. I was just following your orders, sir.”

Noah looked at him for a moment, then sighed.

“Oh…” he said, lowering his head slightly. “I did say that, didn’t I?”

“Yes, you did, sir. And here are the names.” James handed over a sheet of paper.

Noah took it and began scanning through the names. As he read, something clicked in his head, he paused.

“That ogling lady, remove her name from the list. There is a lot on my mind right now, and I cannot be worrying about some perverted staff.”

James blinked slightly. “Oh, there was someone like that? I did not notice.”

Noah looked up at him immediately.

“What? You were right beside me, James. How could you not notice her? Anyway, find out who she is and take her name off.”

His eyes stayed on James, warning him not to argue.

“Sure,” James replied.

He did not even bother continuing the conversation. He simply turned and walked out.

Outside the office, James paused for a moment, watching the staff moving back and forth in the busy floor below.

Noah Creed… a man who despises flirtatious women, especially when they work for him.

This would be the twenty-fourth female staff he had dismissed since he transferred here.

“If you do not like being ogled at, how about burning your face… handsome bastard,” James cursed silently.

He was blessed with such handsomeness yet hated being stared at. While others like them were dying for that kind of attention, God could be cruel at times.

A slow, devilish smile formed on his face.

“Hm… I think I am going to turn a blind eye to this one. Who knows, this might just be the break I need.”

He proceeded with the names exactly as they were.

***

Grace felt uncomfortable as she sat in one place. She stood up and began pacing slowly, moving from one spot to another, deep in thought.

A man wearing a black and white suit stepped forward and addressed the recruits.

“Listen up. We have concluded that only twenty recruits will be fully retained, so when you hear your name, stay back.”

The air immediately changed. Tension settled over the room. He began calling out names. Grace held her breath, waiting.

And when it finally came… she was already lost in thought.

“Grace Bush?” No response.

James turned slightly, calling again, louder this time.

“Grace Bush?” Still nothing.

He frowned. “Is there no one with that name?”

“Hey! Isn’t that your name?” Susan said, standing up from her seat and walking over to Grace, who still had her head lowered, lost in thought.

“What?” Grace snapped her head up. “Oh! Yes, yes, sir, that’s me,” she said as she looked at him, while murmuring to herself, “I’ve never been so nervous in my life.”

James took a long look at her, examining her. “The daydreaming girl… hmm, not bad looking,” he muttered, smiling. Then he added, “That’s all. The rest of you can be on your way. Thank you for your time.”

Just like that, she was accepted into the O.S. firm.

“Yes!” Grace shrieked in happiness.

While the recruits who were not taken left, they were assigned to various departments. For some reason, Grace remained in that particular one, and mentors were assigned to them.

She sat on a wooden chair close to the photocopier. “This is unbelievable. I can’t wait to inform Mr. Berk and Mrs. Hail of the good news,” she said.

A voice called out from behind her, one she didn’t need a soothsayer to know whose it was.

Susan.

The “frog-breast woman.” What does she want? Way to spoil the mood.

She forced a smile. “Oh! Hi.”

Susan laughed, probably noticing her struggle to stay composed. “Congratulations.”

“…Oh, thank you.”

“You are most welcome. Now follow me,” Susan said, then turned and walked away.

“Okay,” Grace answered, trying not to sound annoyed, and followed behind her.

Susan stopped in front of a cabinet with a big wooden desk. Everything on it seemed new.

She turned to Grace again. “This,” she said, pointing at the desk, “from now on, will be your working desk. Mine is over there,” she added, pointing at a more polished and presentable desk. “You’ll sign in at the front desk as early as 7:30 a.m., but office activities resume by 8:00 a.m. sharp and…”

Grace stared at the desk, unfocused. While Susan continued speaking, her voice started to fade… a lot of questions popping into her head. Like why was Susan the one directing her?

By the time Grace came back to herself, Susan had stopped talking and was now glaring at her.

“What?”

“Back from the land of dreams?” Susan asked dryly. “Do you do that often?”

“What?” Grace asked, pretending innocence.

“That annoying thing you do when others are talking to you—your mind suddenly just travels. Seriously, since you keep visiting that dreamland of yours even when you are working, it must be interesting.”

Susan folded her hands across her frog chest and stared hard at Grace.

Why don’t you try it? Grace almost blurted out, but she swallowed it.

She couldn’t let them know about that other side of her. At least not yet.

Susan might have thought Grace was the kind of girl who was easily intimidated, but that was far from the truth. She had seen and been through enough to be scared of nothing here.

After a while, Susan sighed in frustration.

“Look, Grace, whether you listen to me or not is up to you. Even though we’re retaining you now, you can still get kicked out later if you mess up. So I suggest you get your head back in reality before you piss off someone higher in power than me with your constant daydreaming. Even if I am your mentor, when that happens, I can’t help you. So you need—”

“Wait,” Grace suddenly cut her off “You are my mentor?”

“Yes, I am. Wasn’t that obvious? Anyway, that’s enough lecture for one day. Here, take this.” Susan handed her an envelope.

Seriously, why would they choose Susan to be her mentor? They don’t even agree… no, not they—she doesn’t agree with her.

She opened the envelope. Inside was money and a key.

Grace frowned. “What is this?”

“Your down payment. One of the rules of the establishment is that every new staff member gets a down payment as soon as they are employed. So even if you are from one of our branches, you are still new here. Tomorrow, you will have to fill some forms with your bank details and all so the company can pay your salary through the bank. As for the key, it’s for your new apartment. Every staff is entitled to an apartment as well, and depending on how well you perform, you might even get a car.”

Oh! Mr. Berk did mention something like that. But she wasn’t expecting it.

“Thank you,” she said.

“Don’t thank me. Thank the company. Come, let’s go; I will drop you off at your new place. Oh, and don’t worry about your things from the hotel; it’s being taken care of.”

“Well, hurry for me.” This time, she grinned widely and followed Susan out.

They arrived at an old four-story building. Just by looking at it, one could tell it had history, and Grace’s apartment was on the last floor if you counted from the bottom.

Ah, there was her arch-enemy... stairs.

There were a lot of stairs. Why couldn’t she just get a normal building? Was that too much to ask?

Susan smiled at her. “Go on, and please remember, be there as early as 7:00 a.m. I hate people who don’t keep to time,” she added, then drove off.

Grace stood there for a while watching her leave. Then she mimicked her.

“I hate people who don’t keep to time.”

She scoffed. “Well, I hate you too, bitch,” she muttered and went upstairs to check out her new apartment.

Her room was number 245. Ironically, it was a four-story building.

It was big, with a wide glass window through which she could see the amazing night view. New York sure looked beautiful at night, and thank God for the balcony.

“I’m glad I didn’t ask for a change,” she murmured.

The sitting room was spacious too. The kitchen already had a refrigerator stocked with food. It felt like a one-room apartment, but with three-room space.

The bedroom was huge and had the closet... a sleek one painted in silver and black... and her clothes were already there. Good, because she was too exhausted to lift a finger.

Without wasting time, she took her bath, didn’t bother eating, set the alarm, and jumped onto the spacious, inviting bed.

“Tomorrow is going to be a busy day,” she muttered to herself as she closed her eyes and fell asleep.