365 Days with My Billionaire

CHAPYER 4

ONYX

The interviews dragged on slower than a tortoise and I was exhausted by the time the tenth person walked in. I still had twenty more to go and if I was going to make it through, a quick coffee run was a necessity. I interviewed some people who had potential. There was a man named Bryant Dealey who impressed me and another named Lea Howard who appeared to not be the type to flirt with me.

There were a couple of others that irked me though. One of them, Kerrin or Carmin, her name slipped my mind because I wrote her off, but she was the first one I interviewed. Her intentions were very clear the minute she stepped into my office. Her skirt was way too short to be considered appropriate for an interview and the first two buttons of her white shirt were left open, giving me a front-row view of her lacy black bra.

She thought I’d be turned on by the public display of her assets, but it was quite the opposite. I was repulsed and that was not a good thing. She reminded me of Kathy and that alone made my blood boil. Add in not taking my early morning dose of caffeine, along with a raging headache and you would have a clear picture of how I yelled at her and told her to leave, advising a visit to a proper clothing store the next time she had a job interview, preferably never in this company.

She may have cried, quite frankly, I didn’t care if she did. Women openly and unashamedly flirted with me from time to time. It came with the territory-wealth, power and good looks attracted them-but I’d be damned if I ever mixed business with pleasure.

Besides, the last thing I wanted was a Kathy two-point-oh.

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Once the clock hit one pm, I called Mrs Wilkinson and told her I needed a break. I had about two candidates left, so it was the perfect opportunity for me to get the coffee I had been craving since I walked into my office. Standing up and stretching my sore limbs, I walked into the adjoining bathroom, looked at myself in the mirror, and splashed a bit of water on my face. I then dried it with a nearby towel and headed toward the elevator.

Pressing the button to the ground floor, I typed away on my phone and replied to a few unanswered messages. I saw a message from my best friend, Bryson Knox, and playfully narrowed my eyes.

I wasn’t the only CEO of Onyx & Co. Bryson was one as well and he even had his own office which was directly opposite mine, but he was late...again. I guess I couldn't blame him. I was the workaholic and the face of the company. Bryson, for the most part, stayed away from the ‘company spotlight’, preferring to be the life of the party and f*****g anything with a v****a and a pulse. We were two very different individuals with striking personality contrasts, yet we just clicked. Our seventeen -year friendship was as solid as a rock. We always had each other’s backs and that was why Renegade was so successful.

Are you coming to the company asshole or you screwing your flavour of the day?

Bryson’s reply was almost immediate.

Don’t get your grandma panties in a twist. I’m downstairs.

I knew I was uptight. Bryson made sure he pointed that out to me at any given opportunity. I was also well aware of the names the employees called me behind my back.

Brute. Tyrant. Merciless. Cold. Ruthless

Instead of feeling offended, I basked in the knowledge of knowing the effect I had on them. My father once told me that if people feared you, it’d be difficult for them to s**t in your cereal. Being nice never got anyone anywhere, especially in the business world that was full of callous, crass, scheming and desperate individuals.

When the elevator dinged, I stepped out and took long, determined strides to the lobby. Some of the employees recognized me and darted their eyes away, others stopped their idle chatter and bowed their heads. I gave them a curt nod while scanning the area for Bryson who was nowhere to be found.

He said he was downstairs.

Not thinking too much of it, I headed towards the receptionist, Esther, who was talking to a woman. Esther was good at her job. That was why I kept her around. She was a fresh graduate out of university when she was hired four years ago and I was glad HR chose her because her professionalism was top-notch.

It also helped that she feared and respected me.

Her eyes widened in shock once she caught sight of me approaching her, but she quickly masked it with a plastered smile.

Was I that scary to my employees?

“Good day, sir. Do you need me to get anything for you?” Esther asked nervously. The woman she was conversing with noticed the shift in tone and looked at me curiously. I used that opportunity to take in her features: blonde hair that looked frazzled from excessive combing and wind, haunting hazel eyes, and full pink lips. She was pretty and her beauty was further enhanced by her simplicity. She opted for a no-makeup look and it was a refreshing sight to see because half the women I interviewed had layers of makeup caked on their faces.

I wondered if they could blink, especially, Kerrin or whatever her name was because her face looked stiff.

I also took in her outfit: dark suit and pants combo paired with a crinkled white shirt. She looked lost like a baby lamb, and her curious and unwavering gaze earned her a side smirk. She looked new and smelled new too. Call it a CEO’s intuition, but I perceived her to be one half of the duo I was going to be interviewing later.

Her eyes finally wavered away from me, a hint of a blush gracing her cheeks. She probably realized she was staring longer than what was considered appropriate. This time, a full-blown smile graced my cheeks, which surprised the two women.

Hell, it even surprised me. I rarely smiled at work.

Turning my attention back to Esther, I said. ‘’If Bryson comes in, tell him to wait for me in my office. I’m going for a quick coffee run,’’

‘’Yes, sir,’’ she answered curtly. The woman still had curiosity dancing in her eyes. She probably had no idea that I co-owned the f*****g building. If she did, her expression would have matched Esther’s.

I turned my back to leave but stopped to give the women a few parting words.

It would be out of character if I didn’t.

“Also, I don’t pay you to have idle chit-chat. Get back to work, Esther.”