Chapter 4: In The Office

Back in her office, Alyssa straightened her wig and switched on the notebook in front of her. The Sunday was over and she had a good night’s rest. Now, it was time for her to return to action after recharging. 

She took her rimmed spectacles out of its case and placed them on her nose. 

There was a knock on the door.

“Come in,” she said in a confident voice. It turned out to be Joyce Dean, head of human resources. Joyce had recently taken on the position. Alyssa only dealt with head of departments, and rarely did regular employees have a chance to see her face to face.

“What’s up?” she looked domineeringly towards the woman. Joyce seemed like a frightened mouse seeing a cat. Apparently, she had this effect on Joyce and some of the younger department heads.

“Er… Mr Henderson is here for his first day on the job,” Joyce stammered.

After instructing the previous head of HR to retrench quite a number of younger, incapable sales staff, Alyssa had decided to hire a known talent to take over the sales department. Twenty-five-year-old Ricky Henderson had led many sales executives in the past, and secured many trading opportunities. Hence, she hired him to fill the gap. She had also had to let go of Joyce’s predecessor and only chose her after her cousin had recommended her.

Ricky, on the other hand, knew Alyssa since they were teenagers. They had been neighbours since she was adopted and moved to Neon City. He was merely doing her a favour by joining AD Systems as their sales head. She didn’t even call for an interview.

“I know. I’m heading over now.”

Joyce bowed and left the room. 

Alyssa put on her coat and headed towards the meeting room. Her heels clacked across the wooden floor, driving fear into those who she passed by. Everyone perceived her as that ‘career woman who didn’t need an assistant’ yet who knew her inside out? She didn’t need to be reminded of the loneliness that she went through during her teenage years. In everyone’s eyes, she was just that woman who never needed a partner. Yet, nobody understood her.

Deep down under those layers of skin and fur, was a woman. She continuously told herself, ‘You’re successful, Alyssa Dawson. That’s enough.’

But after spending the night with that gigolo for the first time and getting blackmailed by him, something inside her told her that it was different now.

Her wolf, Aria, had found something special in him, and she realised from the video that she had clawed him. Though she didn’t remember exactly every bit and piece of what she encountered that night, it had been a wild night. 

If money was all that he wanted, it was a small problem. But every problem warranted a solution.

She opened the door to the meeting room. Ricky was there waiting in a business suit with a wide grin across his face.

“Alyssa!”

She responded with a soft smile. “Glad you could make it, Mr Henderson.”

He seemed a little dismayed from her response. It didn’t take an idiot to know what was on his mind. Ricky, as talented as he was, was a playboy. He had plenty of women at his disposal, and Alyssa wasn’t going to be one of them. She had better act professionally with him.

“Alyssa…”

“Mr Henderson, AD is very lucky to have you as an addition to our organisation.”

She kept her words straightforward. Then she went on to elaborate what were his duties and their sales forecast for the year. AD mostly dealt with the installation and maintenance of security systems locally but this year, Alyssa wanted to dive into the international market. She also planned to diversify into other unrelated products.

Today, Ricky was probably looking forward to something else after the years they had lost contact, but unfortunately for him, he was going to be very disappointed.

When she was done with her speech, she got up from her seat and presented Ricky a firm handshake.

“It’s a great pleasure to be working with you, Mr Henderson.”

Ricky refused to let go of her hand.

“Alyssa, have you forgotten me?”

“Mr Ricky Henderson, of course not. But work comes first over everything.” She shook off his hand. “I hope, in the office, you’ll maintain a professional working attitude, and keep your personal affairs out of the office. And show results. This is all I ask for.”

He looked crestfallen as she turned in the opposite direction and walked off. Whatever it was that Ricky saw in her, Alyssa couldn’t be bothered about it. When two things just mattered in her mind: survival and revenge. To survive in a world like this, she needed money and power. The same went for avenging her pack.

Aria couldn’t be bothered about Ricky Henderson as well. Enough with the mate nonsense that she didn't believe in. Even if the Moon Goddess took pity on Alyssa and considered giving her a human mate, it was never going to be Ricky Henderson. Her wolf loathed him. To Aria, he was no more than a fool.

She got back to her office and closed the door behind her, before messaging Joyce to inform the others not to disrupt her as she needed an hour of peace. But as she was replying to Joyce, an incoming message distracted her.

[Sexy Nat At Your Service: So what do you think of my proposal? It’s the money or your reputation.]

Forgetting Joyce, she replied, [How can I be sure that you will delete the footage?]

Sexy Nat texted back: [We can discuss this further in private.]

She contemplated the issue carefully. If that gigolo that went by the name Nathaniel Wood dared to record a sex tape of them doing the deed and attempted to blackmail her, he probably had more tricks up his sleeve. So she wasn’t going to allow him to choose the venue, lest he planted even more hidden devices to serve his purpose. 

She picked out a venue, the Highland Hotel. She figured that since the place seemed further away from the city, and was located way downtown, it was arduous for him to call on his comrades to help him out. This way, nobody would disrupt their discussion or come to his aid.

She went ahead and set the venue. Immediately, Nat replied with his affirmative.

That was it? That despicable jerk actually agreed without demanding for anything else?

She had set the timing for eight o-clock. As usual, she would shed her office clothes and wear something in her taste. He didn’t know who she was in real life and he didn’t need to. Five hours to go. 

She hummed a tune to relax her spirits. The wolf in her just wanted to stretch herself and take a break. So she picked up her phone and called Joyce, with her intention for the girl to bring her a mug of coffee.

Alyssa found joy in the bitterest of dark roasts. She needed her coffee thick and robust. Joyce knew her preference.

But when the call connected, she heard a panicky tone. Joyce wasn’t thinking clearly; she was rushing.

Something obviously was wrong.

“One of the staff we retrenched a few months ago has led a strike against us.”

She didn’t lose her cool. “Call the police.”

“But-”

“Do as I say.”

The call was cut off. Alyssa pulled her hair out of her high bun and flipped it. In two hours, everyone would knock off from work and the entire building would be silent for her to work in peace. 

There was a commotion right downstairs, and from her sharp vision, she saw staff running around the place in a flurry. It was just a simple issue as calling the police, so why were they so anxious? She walked closer to the glass window to take a peek.

Alyssa’s eyes widened as she saw the person behind the strike. “It can’t be,” she murmured.