Immediately we arrived at the head office, I was thrilled to see the gigantic building situated firmly before me. It was very large, and also good looking.
It was one of the best business building I had seen around the town, its windows were all glasses and so were its doors. And the number of floors in the building were approximately thirty-eight.
"It's amazing, right?" Frank pulled me out of my trance with his utterance.
"Of course it is!" I blurted, imagining the amount of money spent on the construction. Probably hundreds of millions, or something close to... half a billion? Well, until I figure the figures out from him first but that wouldn't be now.
"I knew you would like it, now let's go check the interior. Shall we?" he said gesturing for me to lead the way.
"No, after you please!" I insisted.
"Hmm, okay then" he said and gently began leading the way. "When my father first started this coming," he continued, "he had one thing in mind. To help increase electric distribution across the country. That time, hydroelectric power was more preferred by most of the electricity distribution companies. However, there were so many drawbacks. Hence, he decided to focus more on wind-turbine. And gradually, he obtained license to construction a nuclear power plant. That contributed a lot to our success" he explained.
"Wow, awesome but where is your power plant? Is it somewhere around here?" I curiously asked.
"No, we don't have nuclear power plant nearby. What we have here are wind turbines, the government has strict measures regarding nuclear power. There had been incidents in the past related to it, hence my dad decided to situate it in Lakewood" he explained. I didn't really understand exactly what he said but I believe his father had no choice but to erect the nuclear power plant in another state.
"Nice, that's nice" I uttered as we walked into the business building. It wasn't really crowded as I expected, everyone was just doing their jobs. And whenever we pass some, they would take their bow. Just like in the mansion, when the maids and other servants bowed for us.
We went to the elevator and took a lift to my floor, where I belonged to. I mean, accounting department. He said he was going to introduce me to the head of the department before anything else. Actually, I loved it when he show me around. Just like he did at their mansion.
The head office had many building any sane person would like to explore, and it would be better when you do that with him because he knew everything about the company and would definitely share some information with you.
Just as we arrived at the accounting department, we stepped out of the elevator and met a slightly overweighted guy waiting for us. He was wearing a smile on his face. "Welcome, Frank Walters Junior, I've been waiting for your arrival since" they shook hands with each other. "It's good to see you, sir" he added.
"You are welcome, Mike" Frank said and then turned to me, "Laura, step forward please" he gestured to me and I obeyed, thus he introduced me to the guy, "This is the girl, please I would like you to give her special care. Teach her how to run this department, let her be your assistant. If my dad asks about it, tell him I've got everything covered, okay?"
Assistant? Like seriously? I thought to myself. I didn't actually thought my position would be that higher in the department, that wasn't what we planned even though he promised to run the company with me some day. I didn't expect the whole thing to be this fast, I was thinking about starting from scratch so I could get to know more about the affairs of company first.
"Alright, sir but..." The man said and paused, suspending the smile on his face. He was obviously surprised too, he probably didn't expect such.
"But what? Do you have something to say? If you do, just say it. I don't have much time, I have some papers to sign on my desks" Frank said.
"Actually, it's about Stephanie. The current department coordinator, she's the assistant and had worked many years; effortlessly to achieve that. She also..." The man said as Frank cut in,
"She's now a regular staff, tell I said that" Frank boldly said.
"But sir, your dad assigned her himself. Don't you think you need to talk to him first about it? You know how strict Mr. Walters is about his business" The man said, trying to convince Frank to change his mind. However, Frank was adamant. He didn't want to change his mind nor was he scared of what would happen next.
"And he's my father, right? And this company, well, it's a family business. And Laura here is family," Frank said rendering me speechless, did he just said I was family? "at least not yet but soon," he continued, "she would be part of the Walters family. Do you have any problem with that?"
"No sir, I just hope that I don't end up getting fired too" The man somehow expressed his fear even though he didn't look like someone that was scared, "My family and I rely solely on this job, and that's why I am giving it my best. Doing all I could to see the company progressing and to please Mr Walters. I think I should start thinking about how to start working with the local bank" he sarcastically said.
"Come on, Mike" Frank choked, "Nobody's gonna fire you, you know how important you are to the Walters family. My dad keeps his trust in you, that's why you are still here. And he's not willing to let you go, you know that for sure. Just continue with the good job and please, take good care of Laura here"
"Aye, sir" The man said and then gestured to me, "Young lady, can we proceed?" he asked and I nodded positively, meaning YES. "Okay then" he said about leading the way when Framk halted him,
"Please don't let anybody know about the whole conversation, I don't want people gossiping around or saying things that might injure my feelings" Frank cautioned.
"I won't let anybody know we had this conversation, cross my heart" The man beamed at him.
"Good!" Frank beamed back. And before he left, he told me to take care of myself and that he would be seeing me soon.
"Okay" I returned the smile he gave me and then gently began trailing behind Mike.
When Mike and I arrived at the workstation of the hall, there were several staff there with each staff going through their computer system. They were so busy that they didn't even notice our presence, and those that did didn't even worry about taking their bow.
It was a different feeling, unlike when I was with Frank. People used to bow for us and would often try as much as the could to lower their gazes in respect. Well, the head of a department cannot be compared with the founders of the company.
Mike took me to his office and sat in his swivel chair. I actually thought he was going to take me to my own office, or did he has something to tell me? I didn't know. He just sat in there and rested his hands on the chair's armrests.
Hence, he stared at me for a moment. His face was bold, however it was somehow relaxed. I couldn't even read his emotion, as to whether he was upset or not. But I suspected he wasn't happy with what happened, he didn't want me to replace his current assistant.
"Are you really up for this?" he finally broke the silence that had crept upon us, "If you are not, you still have the chance to turn your back, you know? I can call frank and tell him you are not ready yet" he said, trying to blackmail me.
"I am ready" I said to his disappointment.
"Are sure? Are you really sure?" he said.
"Yes, I am sure!" I was still adamant because there was no way I was going to reject the job offered to me by Frank, he would be sad if I do that and it wasn't as if I was stupid enough to think about doing that.
"Fine, then" he said as he fowned his face further and reluctantly used the intercom on his desk to summon someone, "In my office, now please" he said and sluggishly released the talk button while glaring at me.
I didn't know the person he summoned but I was very sure it wasn't Frank. I mean, he used a command tone and I am very sure he wouldn't dare use such tone on Frank, except his subordinates. So, who could that be?
"Boss, is everything okay?" My thought was cut short as a tall, beautiful asian girl appeared. She didn't even acknowledge my presence in the office, she sat in one of the two visitors swivel chairs facing Mike, and then disdainfully glanced at me, "And who's this person here, a newbie?" she disrespectfully uttered.
"You won't understand, Stephanie" Mike said, prompting me to recall his conversation with Frank earlier. They had talked about the assistant head of the accounting department, and if I wasn't mistaken I heard Mike mentioned her name as Stephanie. Was she the one? I wondered.
"What, tell me" she giggled, "Or is it what I am thinking?"
"What are you thinking?" He asked, staring at her.
"That you got someone pregnant, her..." she gestured towards me. Like seriously? Was she sick or what? I didn't really expect such words from her even though she didn't look like someone sensible.
"Come on, Stephanie. I am not that stupid, of course I love my family. I wouldn't try that nonsense!" Mike bellowed.
"Oh, I see" she smirked at him, "That's why he kept rejecting my... invitation. I only asked for a night, that's all. I had no intention of ruining your marriage or union, whatsoever. I only want to have you deep inside me, and to feel every..."
"Stephanie, please just..." he cut in, trying to explain things to her, "I don't know how to explain this to you, but this girl here isn't just anyone. We just met today and Frank assigned me to replace her with you, she's now the new assistant head of this department" he finally apprised her.
"What!" she stood to her feet, obviously shocked. "What did you just said? That Frank assigned you to replace me with this girl here?" she glanced at me, and I could say she was sweating already. She didn't expect her mockery would turn into remorse.
Was that how they used to treat new staff? If that was how they used to treat new staff then I guess the department needs a broad restructuring, from the bottom to the top. If only that would be possible though, because I believed Mike wouldn't sign for it.
"Yes. But don't worry, you are not fired. You will return back to your normal desk. I will make arrangements for that and make sure..." he said halfway as she vehemently intruded,
"Fuck!" she squealed, "I can't believe this is happening, after all the hardworking? I don't really deserve this, Mike do something. If I am returning back to my normal desk, what do you think the workers there would say? They would definitely mock me!" she lamented.
"Probably, Stephanie, but do we have any choice? It's his father's company, and he's the one and only heir to the family, we can't challenge his authority if we want to continue working here. Hence, I advise you to please accept this as a test and return back to your old desk" he tried to convince her but she was stubborn, infact she nearly pushed me to the wall before leaving the office.
It was obvious she wasn't scared about having her pay reduced, she was only afraid of being mocked by her subordinates. It might be that she wasn't a good senior to them. She deserved the demotion!
