New CEO, New Problems
1156 Words
On this sunny morning, Victoria walked from the parking lot to the distant office with a heavy head. Not just because her heels were half a size too big, contributing to her misery this morning, but because her head was still foggy from last night's events.
She had discovered that her boyfriend of eleven years had cheated on her. Then, there was an incident involving someone with an unexpected name.
Felix Nathaniel Brooks.
The Felix she had once rejected for the most ridiculous reason in her life. The Felix who was somehow involved in her darkest night. She spent her whole day thinking about this problem.
Victoria still didn't understand how this could have happened. One second later, she was sobbing in the corner of the club, explaining her plight to a strange man, and then suddenly...
Boom.
Hotel. Bedroom. Morning. Felix.
Victoria covered her face with both hands before the office door.
She was also thinking about how to act when he met Evan later since their meeting was inevitable since they worked for the same company.
"I'll just have to keep my emotions in check when dealing with him," she muttered softly as she took a deep breath.
Okay, relax. Take a breath. Today should be a typical work day. Nothing terrible is going to happen, Victoria thought.
Then she entered the office.
But as soon as she stepped into the office, she immediately got a bad feeling.
The atmosphere in the office was... strange. Usually, people would be absorbed in their own busy lives. But today, they were preoccupied with something else — and that was her. Victoria's entire walk to her room was filled with strange looks from the people around her.
When she arrived at the room and walked up to the desk, some staff chatting immediately fell silent, then pretended to be busy typing. Others whispered in the corner, glancing at her occasionally as they stifled laughter.
Victoria blinked suspiciously.
What's going on here? How strange, she thought.
As he sat down, Caroline — her teammate — approached with a curious face.
"Victoria, are you all right?" asked Caroline with sympathy and acute curiosity.
"Yes. Why?"
Caroline bit her lip. "You... haven't seen the office group chat, have you?"
"No, why?"
Instead of answering, Caroline handed over her phone. With a mixture of curiosity and fear, Victoria took it and looked at the contents of the office chat group.
There, in the office chat group, was a video.
She.
At the club.
Drunk and crying, her makeup smeared like a zombie unable to move.
And to make matters worse, she was saying nonsense that she was completely unaware of.
Victoria wanted to disappear. Not die, not run away. Just disappear for a moment from all the attention that was on her right now.
She stared at the screen in horror. The office chat group was filled with memes. She had become the joke of the office staff.
Bobby (Finance Team): Fix, this is more exciting than the morning meeting!
Rachel (HR): Ms. Victoria, please teach us how to retire a boyfriend.
Andy (IT): Evan is a trending topic. It's too bad I'm cursed to live like this, hahaha.
Victoria covered her mouth, her face bright red.
"WHO UPLOADED THIS?!"
Caroline swallowed. "One of our employees saw you at the club, then... yeah, the person filmed you and posted it in the group."
Victoria took a long breath. It was worse than a product presentation crashing in front of investors.
She buried her face in her desk. "I can't work here anymore. I have to quit. I'll change my name and move to a remote village in Borneo."
Before Caroline could answer, the HR manager's voice came over the office speakers.
"All employees, please gather in the main conference room to welcome our new CEO!"
Victoria sighed. Okay, maybe this could be a distraction. New CEO, new faces, new problems.
She dragged her feet and joined the others in the conference room.
The room was already full when she entered. Everyone was whispering, wondering who the new CEO would be to replace their old boss.
"They say he's cool."
"I hear he's young and handsome!"
Victoria didn't care. New CEO or not, she just wanted this meeting to end quickly so she could find out who was behind the viral video.
When the HR manager stepped to the front, everyone immediately fell silent.
"All right, let's welcome our new CEO, Felix Nathaniel Brooks!"
The room instantly fell silent.
Victoria felt all the blood leave her body.
Wait. What?
And then Felix casually walked into the room. He dressed in a perfect suit, with a confident expression, and...
A smile directed right at her.
Their eyes met.
Victoria almost got a nosebleed.
Felix looks too relaxed for a man who just became CEO or was involved in an accidental scandal with an employee last night. He stood confidently, sweeping his eyes around the room before finally speaking.
"Hello, everyone. I'm Felix Nathaniel Brooks. As you know, I'm the new CEO of this company. I hope to work well with you and take this company to the next level."
Felix continued to smile. But his eyes showed an amused glint as he glanced at Victoria, who sat frozen like an ice sculpture.
When the event was over, everyone scattered faces full of excitement. But Victoria remained glued to her chair.
Caroline patted her on the shoulder. "Are you all right? You look like you saw a ghost."
Victoria didn't answer.
Because the problem wasn't 'seeing a ghost'.
The problem was that the ghost was now her boss.
***
Returning to her desk, Victoria immediately opened her laptop and began typing.
SUBJECT: Resignation Letter
TO: Human Resources
Her fingers typed quickly. She could not survive in that office with Felix as CEO. Not after what had happened. Not after her drunken video had gone viral. Not after they spent the night together, but after she had just walked away.
Suddenly, a flood of memories from that night flooded her mind.
As she was carried to the hotel room in Felix's arms, Victoria noticed the face of the man carrying her.
"Felix? Wow... you're really cool now. If only I had accepted the sweaty, smelly you back then, I wouldn't be such a mess now," Victoria joked.
The memory frustrated her even more. How could she have talked to Felix in her drunken state?
"Victoria, you really are crazy. That's why God is punishing you now," she said to herself.
She ruffled her own hair and prepared to send her resignation email. But before she could hit send, an email notification came in.
FROM: Felix Nathaniel Brooks (CEO)
SUBJECT: We need to talk
Victoria swallowed.
No, no, no.
She quickly closed her laptop and stared blankly at the ceiling.
It was only the first day, and she had already wanted to jump out the window.
- Writer
