THE CEO’ S SECRETARY

Chapter one: The Interview

CHAPTER ONE: THE INTERVIEW

The air in the Gotop Education hall smelled like red ink and broken dreams.

Rebecca smoothed her blazer for the tenth time. Second to be called.

Intern Instructor audition. Her dream job.

"Next up is intern instructor Rebecca."

Her heels clicked too loud on the floor.

She bowed. "Hello. My name is Rebecca."

The board was too big. The room was too quiet. Five senior instructors stared. And in the middle of them...

The CEO.

He didn't look up from her file. Just picked up a red pen.

"Today's lesson will be on nasalization," Rebecca said, her voice shaking. She pointed at the board. "It's... it's important to understand the concept. To utilize it in practice."

The red pen moved. Stroke.

Her throat went dry. "So, when two consonants collide... ah... let's focus on the word 'nasalization'..."

Another stroke.

The 10 minutes felt like 10 years.

When she finished, the CEO closed her file. Didn't say a word.

Interview over.

---

Rebecca sat outside on the bench, head in her hands. She'd failed.

Footsteps stopped in front of her.

"Rebecca?"

She looked up. A senior HR woman with a cold smile.

"Gotop policy," the woman said. "After two years as an intern, you do a teaching demo. You fail, you have two choices."

Rebecca swallowed. "Resign?"

"Or," the woman cut in, "transfer to the CEO's Secretary Office."

Rebecca blinked. "Pardon?"

"It's to raise competitive instructors," the woman said, like she didn't believe it either. Then she leaned in and whispered, "Either way, they want you out of the classroom."

She turned and left.

Rebecca sat there, the words echoing.

CEO's Secretary.

The man with the red pen.

She stood up slowly.

Her teaching dream was dead.

But something else was about to begin.