Chapter 2: The First Challenge
331 Words
Elena barely had time to process the whirlwind of her first meeting with Adrian Montgomery before Sara appeared beside her desk, tapping her clipboard.
"Hope you’re ready, newbie," Sara said with a smirk. "Your first challenge starts now."
Elena straightened. "What is it?"
Sara placed a thick folder in front of her. "Mr. Montgomery needs a detailed financial summary of these reports in thirty minutes. No mistakes, no delays. If you fail, consider this your last day."
Elena’s stomach clenched. She opened the folder, her eyes scanning the documents—financial statements, merger proposals, stock projections—each filled with complex data. Thirty minutes?
Sara chuckled. "Good luck."
Elena inhaled sharply. No time to panic. Focus.
She grabbed a pen, flipped open her notebook, and started skimming through the pages.
For the next twenty-eight minutes, she worked at lightning speed. Her fingers flew over the keyboard as she extracted the key details, condensed numbers, and cross-checked facts.
Her heart pounded as the clock ticked down.
9:29 AM. She stapled the last page together, took a deep breath, and rushed toward Adrian’s office.
She knocked once and stepped inside.
Adrian glanced up from his desk, his icy blue eyes landing on the documents in her hand. Without a word, she placed them before him.
The silence was suffocating as he picked up the first page and began reading.
Seconds stretched into minutes.
Then, he set the papers down and leaned back in his chair.
"Not bad," he finally said.
Elena exhaled, tension easing from her shoulders.
"You missed a minor calculation on page four," he added.
Her stomach dropped. "I—"
"Relax," he cut her off. "It's a small error. But don’t let it happen again."
She nodded. "It won’t."
Adrian studied her for a moment before speaking.
"You handled the pressure well. Most people c***k on their first day."
Elena met his gaze. "I’m not most people."
A hint of a smirk flickered across his lips. "We’ll see about that."
- Writer
