Devil's In The Details

3. Chapter Three

Allegra's POV

Today is the first day of me working with Aiden Anderson and I am already dreading it. I have heard about him being really rude and treating all his employees like s**t and all I could do as hope, that he wouldn't do that to me because, then I would definitely say something that will cost me my job and I am pretty sure, he wouldn't let any other firm hire me either because I am not that qualified and more because I defied him. 

"Don't be dramatic, Allegra. You can bear that man, if you want this job which you do, because, if it isn't for this one, we would be on the streets, right?", my inner self asks and I nod, taking deep breathes and smoothing my dress a bit. I am wearing a grey pencil skirt with a black blouse with first two buttons undone but they don't seem inappropriate because they don't show any cleavage. 

I tie my hair in a neat ponytail, with some baby hair, framing the side of my face. I applied very light make up which consists of some foundation, compact, eye liner and baby pink lipstick. I give myself a onceover and after being satisfied with my appearance, I take my purse, laptop bag and some files that I brought home to work on along with my cup of coffee. I lock the door behind me and get in my beautiful car, zooming out of the parking lot. 

"Good morning, Ms. Tyson", Lyon, the guard at the door greets me with a smile. 

"Lyon, its Allegra". 

"Sure thing, Ms. Allegra", he cheekily smiles and I shake my head before thanking him for opening the door. Lyon is in his forties and has two kids who are almost done with their education and a little girl who is just six. She is one of the most cutest girl out there. 

"How's Lara?", I ask about his wife who is a really great woman. She always sends homemade cookies for me since we got to meet each other. 

"She's great. She wanted to know, if you are free to have dinner tomorrow at ours?"

"I will let you know, Lyon. Thanks for the invite. I would love to come and meet the musketeers at home". 

"They miss you, a lot". 

"I miss them too. I will tell you later, yeah?"

"No problem". 

I enter the building and to my utter surprise, everyone seems on edge. They seem scared of something or more like someone and I have an idea who that person might be. 

"Taylor, is Mr. Anderson already here?", I cross my fingers, hoping its not the case. 

"No. You are not late but he will be here anytime now, so go upstairs. You don't want him to get pissed at you on the very first day", she whispers and I am not sure why but I let it go and just nod before quickly entering the elevator. I press the button for the 55th floor and rest my back against the wall, looking at my watch and checking my brain for anything important that I could have missed but I come up with nothing. Satisfied, I plaster a smile on my face and as the doors open, I walk out and towards my desk, placing my bags on the table before entering Mr. Anderson's office. 

"Come on, Allegra. We can work with him", I give myself yet another pep talk and start organizing his desk and place the meeting schedule on his desk that I printed out yesterday itself, wanting to be completely prepared. I keep the most important files on top and arrange them according to their importance. 

I order some fresh flowers for the vase on the table and after they get delivered, I fill water in the vase, before placing the flowers in them. Derek Anderson used to like having flowers in the room and I am used to doing that for him from the last eight years. Derek has always treated me like a family member since we got to know each other and even Annalisa, has never failed to make me feel at ease. She has a powerful aura surrounding her but surprisingly, I am really comfortable around her maybe because she allows it. I have heard they have a daughter too, who is studying to be a chef somewhere and has to come home in a few years but is set to come back soon. 

I place a steaming cup of coffee for him and knowing him, he probably likes black coffee but just for the sake of it, I place a small jar of cream and few packets of sugar beside it, not wanting him to be pissed out. 

After finishing my task and looking at everything once again, I leave the office and sit at my desk, starting the work. I answer to the mails that came in yesterday late at night and some this morning. I keep the files ready that he might ask for during the meeting that he is going to conduct with all the employees. The phone starts ringing, bringing my back to reality. I tend to get lost when I start working and that is probably because I love what I do. 

"Good morning, Anderson Industries. How may I help you?", I ask with a pleasant smile on my face. 

"Am I talking to Mr. Anderson's PA?", the other person asks. 

"Yes, you are. May I please know your name and your cause behind the call?"

"Of course. My name is Valentino de Angelo, a friend of Aiden and would like to have a meeting with him. Its a bit urgent". 

"Sorry sir but I would have to check with Mr. Anderson as it is his first day here today so hasn't given the list of the people I can give appointments directly to. I can understand that this is important to you, but I can't just do that. I will ask him the minute he gets here and get back to you, as soon as possible. Is that okay, sir?", the man sighs but agrees. After hanging up, I write down the name and number on the sticky note and stick it to my notepad so I don't forget to ask him. 

I continue working on the emails and then go through the contract that was sent by the department of chemicals. They wanted a few new chemicals to make the new drugs that we were planning on launching, under the guidance of the doctors from one of the most renowned hospital that is under Anderson's as well. As I was circling the points that I thought could create problems, the elevator doors open and in comes the man of the hour, Aiden Anderson. He looks extremely handsome in the black suit he is wearing. The dark blue tie goes perfectly with the suit and his perfect messy hair complete the looks along with the Armani shoes. 

I stand up when he approaches me and he already looks angry. 

"Good morning, Mr. Anderson", I greet him and he continues staring at me. 

"Well, Ms. Tyson, I hope you can keep up with me. My schedule?"

"Its on your table, sir", he nods before going into his office. I sit back down and resume working and after a few minutes, my phone rings and its from the man sitting inside. 

"Sir?"

"Come inside, right now", he sounds more pissed than he was a few minutes ago and I wonder what I did wrong. I knock on his door and hear him say a faint, 'come in'. 

"Yes, sir?"

"Why is this room smelling so flowery?"

"The maid cleaned it just before you came in and I kept some fresh flowers on the table". 

"Remove them, this instant". 

"Okay, sir", I take the vase with me and was about to leave when he stops me yet again. 

"Any calls, Ms. Tyson?"

"Yes, sir. One of your friend as he said, Mr. Valentino de Angelo, called and asked for a meeting but I didn't have your guest list so I didn't give him an appointment as of yet". 

"Give him one right away. I am free around lunch, right? Tell him to come in at 2". 

"Yes, sir. Anything else?"

"I need another cup of coffee". 

"Its not good-", he cuts me off before I could complete the sentence. 

"Just do as I say, Ms. Tyson. Another cup of coffee right now, on my table before I go for the meeting". 

"Yes, sir", I say through gritted teeth and he smirks at me before resuming going through the folders that I kept there. 

I open the door and let myself out after waiting for a second more, thinking he would have the common courtesy of saying thank you, but no, who was I expecting from? An asshole who thinks way too highly of himself. 

I get him another cup of coffee and place it on his desk and he doesn't even spare me a glance. Continues looking through what looks like the contracts that I mailed him. 

"Sir, you have the meeting with all the employees in five minutes", I remind him and then his eyes meet mine. 

"Is everybody there already?"

"Yes, sir", I know this because I asked them to be there before time so as to not anger this man more. 

"Okay. Let's go then", he gets up from his chair and smoothens his blazer before buttoning the middle two buttons and raking a hand through his hair. 

"If you are done ogling me, Ms. Tyson, then let's go", he smirks and I have a hard time to keep my mouth in check. I don't want to say something I might, scratch that, I will regret later. I don't reply him, just follow behind him, with the notepad and the pen in my hand. 

He opens the door to the conference room and the chatter comes to a stop. There is pin-drop silence in the room as we both enter and all of them stand up as Aiden takes his seat at the head of the table and tells them all to sit down. I, too, sit down on his right and keep my notepad on the desk, ready to take notes. 

"Good morning, everybody. As of today, I am officially the CEO of this company and you will soon meet the COO, Xavier Marshal. He is currently away for some very important work", he starts and everyone listens to him intently. This man has a command in the way he speaks to others. 

"All I expect from all my employees is loyalty, dedication towards their work, honesty and respect. If you follow all of these things, you would be surely rewarded for your work. I would be keeping a very close eye on all the departments and if you have any problems, just contact my assistant, Ms. Tyson, and then we can sort it out through a meeting or you can just tell them to your supervisors and they will convey them to me", he continues while looking at everybody, his gaze never wavering even for a second. 

"And one more thing before we conclude the meeting, if you try to cross me or the company, I promise you, you will be fired without giving you time to even explain, understand?"

"Yes, sir", everybody answers and his eyes finally land on mine and he smirks a bit. 

"The new timings for every department will be given to their respective supervisors and Ms. Tyson, I will let you know yours after the meeting", he says with that signature smirk and I swear, I can tell I am in trouble. 

"Okay, sir", I whisper and he dismisses the meeting after telling them to get back to their work. 

"You come in at 9, right?"

"Yes, sir". 

"From tomorrow onwards, you would have to come in at 8. Is that okay with you, Ms. Tyson?", I grit my teeth before nodding my head, not wanting to fight on this and risk getting fired. I know I should speak up, but I can't. I have never complained when it came to work. 

"I need you to speak up, Ms. Tyson". 

"Yes, sir". 

"Good. Do I have any meetings now?"

"No, sir. Just the one with Mr. Valentino at 2. I will inform him right away about it". 

"Very well. I will be in my office and don't let anybody in before asking me, got it?"

"Yes, sir". 

"Good", with that he leaves the conference room. 

This is going to be along day is the only thought in mind before I, too, leave the conference room and go to my desk, resuming my work.