Secretarial Affairs

Chapter 1: Meeting Sapphire

Blaire's Point of View

I yawned for maybe the eighth time this morning as I stretched my body and shouted, "Next!" to whoever was still outside my office. My brother Jayson forced me to personally interview aspiring secretaries for me since I 'fire them too quickly anyways'.

"Seriously, Blaire. You're so good at your job, but you're not even taking it seriously." I remembered him telling me last night. He is indeed right, though. Many might consider me lucky for obtaining the title CEO despite being a woman and being just 26 years old. It sparked controversy since my Dad gave it to me so easily, and because the executives only see me as a young, incompetent girl. But my performance and capability of leading this prestigious company of Luxury Hotel and Resort chains all by myself made them shut up.

But that doesn't take away the fact that this position was just forced upon me since I'm the eldest child of the Rosendale household. Many people wanted this position, but Dad insisted that I take over the company and do all of the legwork. I'm pretty sure he just wanted to take a break from the company and not put effort in picking his successor by just leaving it to me, but I didn't say anything.

So what's making me, the lucky girl, slack off from the work hundreds of people would've wanted to take over? Well, I have no idea. Maybe because it's not really my passion? Or maybe I didn't want to succumb to stress at such an age? I'm not quite sure. I just work when I feel like it, analyzing suggestions and ideas and talking to the company's active shareholders about our strategies.

Most of the time, though, I just sneak out and look for someplace to relax. It doesn't have to be a real expensive or luxurious getaway, just someplace where I can sleep or read a book.

I know it's not a professional--- even rational thing for a person managing a million-dollar company to be so aloof and reckless. We could lose a lot of money if I mess up, and lots of people lose their source of income. Of course I know all of that. But you know how being forced to work and getting told what to do makes you less enthusiastic about what you're doing? It just feels so suffocating and restricting when I'm inside those office walls. And the thrill of leaving and the freedom I feel afterwards takes it all away.

I've hated their expectations ever since I was a kid, and now that I'm sitting in the CEO's chair, it just got more intense.

Because of the good genes I inherited from my mother, who was an actress back in her days, some say I look cute. I have blue eyes and blonde hair (partly why the higher-ups used to never take me seriously), the shape of my face also goes well with my other features. They even joked that if I left the company, I would always have a place in the modelling industry.

That's why I'm having trouble with secretaries, actually. The males would try to flirt with me and the females would get insecure and start backstabbing me when they get the chance. That's not always the case though, but some of them were just too incompetent and unruly that they got on my bad side a bit too often. They all had to leave and Jason would try to find another one who'd suit my tastes.

Back to the interview, I heard the doors slowly open up and a series of loud clanking from a pair of heels got closer to my direction. I didn't look up to meet her eyes yet, I skimmed through her information that were listed on her resume. Sapphire Morales, 24 years old. Her credentials were pretty impressive, and the previous companies she worked for left a good word for her, too.

But I've seen better. People with larger influences and better experience have applied for me before, but where do they end up? Out of my office. So in the end of the day, it all comes down to how capable she really is at following my orders, and how compatible she is with me so we can work efficiently.

I finally looked up to her, and I'd say she's got quite the pretty face. She had moss green eyes and raven black hair, a small beauty mark above her lips, and pale white skin. Her noticeably expressionless face says she means business, but usually you'd smile when you're in an interview, right? I kind of wanted to see that.

"So your name is Sapphire Morales?" I asked firsthand and she nodded. "Yes, ma'am." She said politely, but with confidence. I nodded and asked her the usual questions from the company. I asked her about her studies, her strengths, and weaknesses, why she left her company etc. Her answers were pretty standard, and she was completely unfazed by all the pressure I'm giving her, which is a good thing. But it has been almost 10 minutes, and I have to wrap up because I still have 4 more people to interview this morning.

"What do you fear the most about working on this company?' I asked as my final question and her forehead creased a bit. She'd probably say 'peer pressure' or 'having to work at such a pressure-filled environment', but I don't care anymore. I'll consider their answers after I analyze them, and I still have more to interview. After two seconds of thinking, she looked at me.

"An... earthquake?" My eyes widened at her answer. It took me a minute to process what I heard. I checked her face to see if she was joking, but she looked at me dead in the eye to say she was serious. And not being able to contain myself, I laughed.

I laughed so damn hard.

She looked shocked at the sight of me laughing. Next to the fact that I usually display a cold exterior in front of other people, it's not proper etiquette for an interviewer to laugh in the middle of an interview, no matter how ridiculous the answer is. But what she said was just... pfft...

"W-Why would you say that?" I barely managed to ask while containing my laughter. She looked at me with concern. She didn't look angry because I laughed at her, bur I think she's worried that I was possessed by some spirit.

"Well, this is a 20-story building, right? I'd be scared if there were earthquakes." She answered like it was an obvious thing. I laughed harder, but I didn't correct her anymore. But not only do earthquakes not happen much in this part of the world, that's also not gonna be a problem for our building. I chose not to say anything else.

After I managed to compose myself, I smiled at her. "That ends our interview, we'll call you in about 2 days for the results. It was nice meeting you." She stood up and, surprisingly, smiled back at me.

"Likewise, miss Rosendale."

I tried hard not to gape at her for too long. But that smile just now... that took me by surprise. She gracefully left the room, the sound of her heels became more distant, but she stayed in my mind for the rest of the day.

Sapphire Morales... what an interesting person.