The CEO's Heart

Chapter 4 - First Day

Joseph

We stood there in silence for a few moments, she, taking in the atmosphere of the party, while I pulled out my phone to check my emails. She was looking everywhere but me. She's obviously nervous.

Time to grill her again.

"So, tell me how you met Mr Woods." I told her.

She finally turned her gaze back to mine and replied.

"He just noticed my work some months ago and decided that I would be the one next in line for the job. Before that, I was just stuck slowly climbing the corporate ladder."

Yes, her file says that she hadn't had a promotion for a while despite her admittedly exemplary work. Seemed like someone didn't want her to advance for some reason.

"Hm."

"I promise sir, you won't regret hiring me for this role. I'll put in the work and never give you a reason to complain." She stated resolutely.

She seems eager to please me, so maybe I'll give her a fair chance at this.

"Okay then. Make sure you report to work early on Monday. We have a few things to go over, and I like my employees punctual, so don't be late. Ever."

"I will sir." She said, cowed by my unyielding reply.

"Good. See you on Monday."

I spun around and left her standing there.

I have some work to do, so I'm going to have to leave Gabe's party a little early. He of all people understands how busy running a multi-billion dollar company can be.

I hunted Gabe down and told him that I was leaving. He seemed a little put off by that, but he understood.

And so I left, the party still in full swing but my interests elsewhere.

This was a crucial time for the company as a whole and I couldn't afford to make any mistakes or leave any work unattended for long.

Let's hope the new secretary can handle the work coming for her.

Walking out the venue, I noticed the two men following me out as well.

They did a good job tonight. I barely registered their constant presence around me all night. They stayed close by but acted discreetly enough for nobody else to notice that they'd been hovering around me since I walked in. And I know that they would have been at my side in a flash if anything relatively threatening came near me.

They are good at what I pay them for. Best security money can buy.

Walking to my car and getting in, they did the same but in a less conspicuous vehicle and followed me all the way back to my home.

Getting back, I immediately went straight to my home office to make some important calls and finish up some work for the night.

My mother calls me and reminds me not to overwork myself, to make sure I rest, get enough sleep and call her more often as she usually does. She doesn't know that I'm going to be up till 2am working on my computer, making sure everything is running perfectly.

My weekend passes in a blur of work, sleep and exercise, and then it's Monday again.

Time to break in the new secretary.

I almost look forward to seeing her try hard for some inexplicable reason. Something about her just made me want to push her.

Driving the fairly short distance to the office, still getting tailed by security, I pulled into my specially reserved spot in the underground parking lot and strode towards the elevator, earlier than the rest of my employees as usual, when I got a phone call. One look at the caller ID instantly ruins my morning.

Samantha is calling me.

Ex-Wife No. 2.

I wonder what she could want.

Obviously, she wants what she always wants. What she wanted when she married me.

My Money.

I don't want to deal with this today.

But I have to.

I accept the call.

"Good morning Honey! How are you today?" Her sickeningly sweet voice blared at me over the phone.

I can't believe that I used to love the sound of this voice.

"What do you want Samantha?" I said, cutting straight to the point. I'm never in the mood for her pretensions.

"Can't I just check on you Honey? I just called to say hi." Her poisonous voice went on.

I'm sure she did.

"What do you want?" I repeated.

"I just called to say I miss you. So much. And that I love-"

"Drop the act already. We both know that's a lie." I cut her off. I'm losing my patience for this.

She loves my possessions. Not me.

"Also, if you just called to prattle on about how you miss me and then ask me for money, I will remind you again that you were fairly provided for in our divorce, and you are not entitled to anything else. My answer will never change, so you had better stop wasting my time and yours by calling me. " I said as calmly as I could. I won't let her get to me. Not anymore.

I immediately hung up after that. She's lucky I even bother to answer her calls. I have a good reason for doing so.

I enter the elevator and aggressively jab at the button for my floor.

Hearing her voice again. Hearing her pretend as if she didn't almost ruin me. As if she didn't hurt me. It just gets me so angry.

The elevator slows to a stop and I get off.

I walk past Gabe's old office, knock on the door and enter, missing his familiar presence.

He would always come to work earlier than I would.

I miss him already.

The new secretary isn't even here yet. Great.

I left the office and shut the door, heading to my own office to set up for the day.

*********************

Ten minutes later I hear a knock on my door.

"Enter."

I glanced up just as Ms. Marie walks in, holding a stack of files for me.

She suddenly takes a step back and manages to drop the documents she's holding on the ground.

It seems that her clumsiness is a normal thing.

Gabe, why didn't you just pick someone else to train for the job?

Someone that has proper coordination over their own limbs?

"You're late." I tell her as she scrambles to pick them up.

"Actually sir, I'm early like you asked." She muttered as she still stood in the doorway, seemingly reluctant to come over to my desk to give me the files she held.

"I expect you to come to work earlier than I am so that I won't have to wait for you to get organized and bring me my schedule for the day." I reprimanded her. Gabe was always here earlier.

"I understand sir." She stuttered, looking a little surprised.

She thinks that working for me would be easy? I pay her enough for her to have realized that by now.

"Are you going to stand there holding those or are you going to give them to me?"

"Oh, yes. Sorry." She hurriedly places the files on my desk and backs away from me.

Is she scared of me or just intimidated?

"Okay. You can go back to your office now. I'll let you know when I need anything." I dismissed her.

"Okay, sir"

She swiftly went back to her office after shutting the door behind her.

Is she always going to be this timid? I recall Gabe telling me that she could be fierce when challenged. I guess he was wrong.

Whatever. As long as she does her job alright, she can keep it.

I could already feel like today is going to be a very long day.