Chapter 4: CEO Cornell
1285 Words
Her hands moved to flatten out the sides of her pencil skirt, before they reached for the top of her shirt in search of unfastened buttons.
Afterwards, her fingers caved into her palm to form a tight fist that gently knocked on the door which boldly read, “CEO Cornell”.
She would be seeing the boss for the first time and her knees were unknowingly shaking. Why was she afraid of a man she had never seen? Perhaps Leila and everyone else had been too hard on him simply because he upheld a perfectionist sort of work ethics? Maybe?
“Come in,” the hoarse voice from behind the door pierced her ears.
She opened the door and stepped into the room to see a young man seated on an executive chair behind the desk. He seemed quite young, far younger than she had expected him to be. Perhaps in his mid twenties or a little older. He was handsome too, with this sharp jawline that added a final touch to the beauty his features embodied and hair gelled backwards.
“Sir, I'm Ava Drew, your personal assistant…”
“It was you,” his voice came calmly this time, eyes staring hard at her as though to hypnotise her into confessing something or anything at all.
“M-me? Sir, have we met before?” Her eyes darted from side to side in confusion.
He ignored her question and stood up from his seat to walk up to her. Her gaze lingered everywhere else but him.
“This,” his voice was loud and clear once again.
And when he saw she didn't lift her head up, he gave an order.
“Look!”
She slowly lifted her eyes, fearing that he had already found a reason to fire her. Hadn't she ironed her skirt properly? Was there something with her outfit or was he just being a jerk everyone had claimed he was?
Her sight was then greeted with a brown blotch, one she was very familiar with.
Wait…was he the man on whom she had accidentally spilled coffee all over?
“Oh my goodness sir, I am highly sorry. I-I was in a rush to submit the paperwork…Please pardon me. What can I possibly do to help?”
“You can help by washing it,” The look on his face was dead serious and when he took off his jacket then began unfastening the buttons of his sleeved shirt, she knew immediately that he truly was as serious as he seemed.
Even though she had simply made the last statement as a way of showing remorse, she had not expected him to make her wash his shirt. Yes, she might have accidentally ruined it, but her job wasn't that of a laundry worker and so he could not demand such from her.
“Sir?” She tilted her head to the side, eyes almost bulging out of their sockets.
“I did not stutter. In Cornell Enterprises, we ensure every staff knows how to take up responsibilities and own up to their mistakes. As the personal assistant to the CEO, you own up to your every mistake and uphold your responsibilities in a way your job demands, or didn't Tessa list out things for you?”
His left eyebrow was already raised at her in questioning.
“She did, sir…but…”
The right words to use at this point had somehow eluded her, and all she could do at the end was nod and take the shirt from his hand while he was now bare chested, revealing his well-chiseled abs and defined muscles. Leila had been right - He was too scary for his looks.
“You may drop the files on my desk and leave. That's all I need for now. I will let you know when I need anything else through the intercom,” He said and returned to sit behind his desk.
He had not battered even an eyelid at her nor did he even glance in her direction anymore as soon as he was seated. His eyebrows creased and his fingers typed away at the laptop in front of him.
Slowly, she turned towards the door and made her way out. Dani had always warned her about letting herself down for people and she would always promise that she wouldn't, yet again had she let herself become a launderer for her so-called boss.
Day after day, she slowly began getting used to the strict, cold nature that Ethan Cornell exuded like no other - even Tessa wasn't as cold despite her hard-to-please nature, his nonchalant approaches, and his constant eyebrow lifts that questioned her when he demanded answers from her. Although he was very strict about work ethics, she was able to adjust to his way of understanding, the only way which was by being silent and only talking when he talked to her.
“How's it been at work, Ava. Don't lie to me about it,” Dani’s stern voice came through the voice as Ava stood at the bus stop holding an umbrella over her head, down which droplets of rain flowed before hitting the ground with sounds of “plop”.
“Work has been great. Nice people everywhere, especially Leila, she's been so helpful.”
“I thought you were over making friends at work. What happened?”
She could immediately sense a hint of mockery in her friend’s tone.
“I know,” Ava chuckled lightly. “Leila's been really good. I am even surprised that it's been six months since I started working here and we still talk.”
“And your boss? Is he like the rumours say he is?”
Ava hesitated.
“He’s handsome. There's nothing too much about him.”
Their call lasted for a while before Dani decided that it was time to go.
“What's going on today?” Ava turned her head from side to side, trying to see if she could even get a taxi, but there were no public vehicles in sight. The rain was pouring down heavily this time around and it dawned on her that she would be arriving home late.
Just then, a black car stopped in front of her. Instinctively, she took a step back and clutched her umbrella tightly. She could still remember a good number of taekwondo moves she had learnt back in college.
The back glass wound down and a familiar face leaned forward.
“Are you getting in or not?” Those lazy grey eyes of his ran through her face.
“S-sir?” She exclaimed.
“Are you getting in or not?” He stressed this time around.
She quickly nodded and ran to the other door to join him in the back seat.
“Thank you sir. Thank you sir,” She bowed her head repeatedly as soon as the driver placed the car back in motion.
“What a girl,” He thought to himself in amusement, so much that he didn't even realize when the corner of his lips curled up into a smile.
The car stopped at a cafe Ava didn't seem to know too well. Strangely, he invited her to join him for some coffee in the most patient manner she had never seen from him.
“Y-yes sir,” She agreed.
“I like coffee,” He began, much to her surprise. His eyes then turned to her. “I heard you liked it too.”
There was something about the way he had said, “I heard you liked it too” and something about his eyes that made her heart skip a beat.
- Writer
