BILLIONAIRE CEO: BENEATH THE ARROGANCE

Chapter 2: Jasmine’s Stand

It was a shock, in a desperate attempt to cover her embarrassment, she clenched her jaw and approached his desk, his gaze felt piercing through his dark shades. She wasn't going to give up on this opportunity just because she didn't like the person she wanted to work for.

"Good day sir," She said, her voice was lined with an undertone of annoyance, one Kieran didn't fail to notice. "I'm here for the post of secretary to the…" Her smile was professional, and she refused to make eye contact with him.

"I know why you are here" Kieran interrupted, his eyes following her every move, he didn't know how to process the emotions he was feeling, this was the last thing he needed. He was sure he would just hire whoever walked through the door… This was a complication he didn't foresee, the last thing he needed was a busybody as a secretary. "Have a seat" He sighed.

"Thank you, Sir," She said, before sitting in the mahogany chair opposite him, he was brooding and she felt like her worst fears had come to life, but even at that, there was something she had… composure.

"I know the HR department has already accessed you and that you have gone through a series of tests and all I need to do is to approve you as my secretary" Kieran stated as he skimmed through her file that Josephine, head of the HR department had submitted a night before; Jasmine had a masters in architecture, finished top of her class at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, she also had certificates from other courses in both Real Estate and building design, Business psychology, and sales marketing, certificates gotten from online colleges.

"I understand, sir" It irked him, the little pause before she would say 'sir', it was obvious she was doing it intentionally, trying to annoy him. "I believe I'm up to the task and I have the qualific…"

"You're hired" He struggled to force those words out, his face was contorted, and his jaw was set. "But I would expect great things, from you most especially your dedication to your business and matters that concern you" It was an underlying insult, one Jasmine immediately picked up on.

"You don't have to worry about that, as I will only relate to matters that I deem fit to be bothered about" One word, 'Ballsy', this was the kind of person he enjoyed breaking. This time she stared at him, past the dark shades to his eyes, he could tell she was challenging him.

"I'm guessing you have no problem finding the HR department, your work materials are with the Head of that department" Kieran's voice was filled with spite and disgust, Jasmine wasn't used to those emotions, but she despised them

"Of course, I will" She smiled, a tight-lipped smile, as she excused herself and walked out of the office, she already hated her new job, but then again, it wouldn't matter much as she believed she could handle herself. She spent over 10 minutes asking around for the HR department, and when she finally got there, she spent another minute looking for the head of the department.

Josephine Carver had small eyes and a small build, she looked very petite, and her voice was thin and shrill. She smiled the minute she saw Jasmine, to her, a new face asking for her directly would mean, the CEO had found and hired a new secretary.

"Good Morning, Madam" Jasmine was pleased to see her, she had finally found the Head of the HR department.

"Jasmine Sullivan, I presume??" Josephine was smiling again; she knew it was the new secretary, and by the looks of it, she looked exactly like she thought would. "Please have your seat, Ma'am"

"Thank you" Jasmine beamed at least not all the workers here were assholes like their boss "I won't take much of your time, I'm here to collect my work materials" Jasmine smiled, she liked Josephine already.

"Ohhh, I already sent them to Mr. Reynolds along with your files" Josephine was confused, did Mr. Reynolds forget about the documents, or was this intentional? "I think there has been a mistake, I'll check the records briefly to know if I truly sent them to his office, give me a second" She stated as she began furiously typing on her keyboard.

"Okay, I'll be patient" It was a very obvious lie that Josephine failed to notice, Jasmine already made up her mind that Kieran had intentionally done that to piss her off… It worked. The room became quiet and only the sounds of the keys clacking on the keyboards filled the room. Jasmine got impatient at this, she already knew what was wrong and it was purely intentional on Kieran's part.

"I'm sorry for taking your time" She stated then paused, "I just checked the records again and there was no error on my part" She took another pause and then turned her system to show Jasmine the records "I indeed sent the documents to his office as you can see in the records, here timed 1700 hours." Josephine was truly confused. "I think I'll speak to Mr. Reynolds concerning this, give me a second"

"That won't be necessary Josephine, can I call you Josephine??" Jasmine already knew it was intentional and it was Kieran's fault.

"Yes of course, Ma'am," Josephine said, Jasmine was feeling a bit embarrassed, knowing quite well, that Josephine in front of her was already approaching her fifties and Jasmine was just entering her late twenties, it didn't feel right. "This company needs you here, Ma'am"

"Jasmine is fine, Josephine" Jasmine gave her another smile and then walked out of the HR office and headed straight for the CEO's office, she was enraged. After about 5 minutes, she was back at the door, the door to the CEO's office, her new workspace starting that day.

Kieran was drinking another cup of coffee, his fourth that day, today had to be one of the most stressful days this month and it was the 5th of May, the month hadn't fully begun. He was standing in his hostel looking through the window, admiring the city below. The second he heard the impatient knock on his door, he knew she was here, here to annoy him and make him pay for his actions as regards the work materials.

"I'm currently busy, come back later," He said, he wasn't ready to deal with this right now, he wasn't ready to deal with her.

"Oh! Sorry, I had already entered" She didn't even try to hide her smirk.

"Well, I am currently busy so if you would ju-" He still didn't turn to face her.

"I caught a glimpse of your schedule today, you're free till 2 pm," Jasmine said as she moved closer to his desk, adjacent to the desk was a door that read;

'The CEO's Secretary'

It was obvious that was her new office, staring at the door gave her a mix of emotions; fear, rage, annoyance, peace, relief and so many more emotions mingling together. With a sigh, she peeled her eyes off the door and focused on the man in front of her with his back turned to her.

"I never said you could enter, or did I??" Kieran turned this time, he was without his shades and she immediately got lost in the gaze, clear aquamarine eyes that looked like crystals, his look was more piercing without the shades, but it was undoubtedly attractive.

"I came regarding the work materials you spoke about" After a brief pause, Jasmine spoke, it wasn't like her to get so lost looking at someone, let alone someone with a terrible personality.

"You didn't answer the question" He demanded

"I went to Josephine's office at the HR department" Jasmine c****d her head to the side, still ignoring his questions "She said she had already sent them to you" She wasted almost if not more than 30 minutes of her life aimlessly looking for work materials she didn't have to bother about.

"You still didn't answer my question" She was crossing boundaries she shouldn't cross, some of his extended family members didn't dare speak to him this way, and he was running out of patience.

"It wouldn't be a bad thing if you weren't so egotistical, Mr. Reynolds" Jasmine had her teeth set on edge, her legs were already hurting from all the walking she did, a normal human being would have just apologized and they would have both moved, but Kieran wasn't a normal person.

"If you lack respect at least try to cover up your attitude towards me, don't think you'll stay long here if you keep pissing me off like this" He was enraged, I mean… The effrontery and audacity this woman possessed were worth documenting.

"Coming from you makes it sound like a self-examination" She sneered, he made her walk all around the building asking random people the location of the HR department, she felt both embarrassment and annoyance when she did this.

They traded words filled with mutual spite and disgust, they had very clashing personalities and neither of them was ready to concede, they would have kept on arguing with each other, save for the knock on the door… It was Josephine.

"Sorry to bother you, sir, It's Josephine from HR, I'm here concerning the case of the new secretary's work materials" Her voice was unmistakable, tiny but not annoyingly tiny.

"It's taken care of that, Josephine, you may go," Kieran said then sighed before turning to Jasmine, his new secretary, a rather unfortunate realization. "Your work materials are on your desk"

"Pardon??" Jasmine asked as she tried to make sure she had heard that correctly,

"You heard me… Get to work"