What Nobody Knew

Part 9

How is it possible that half of the office building was already here at 7 a.m.? Alright, that I could still believe, what I couldn't comprehend was why all of said employees decided to cram themselves in the same elevator with me. Isn't there some kind of unspoken rule about things like this? 

Like if you're going to be closer to a complete stranger than you feel comfortable being with an acquaintance, take the next one. Or the stairs, that's a perfectly suitable option. 

I wasn't a big fan of being shoulder-to-shoulder (and unfortunately front to back) in a teeny tiny box filled with people. At this point, I was just hoping and praying that the bald man in front of me wouldn't move and accidentally knock the coffee out of my hands. Or worse, cause me to spill the coffee over Mr Knight's mail. I doubt Mr Knight would be as forgiving as he had been yesterday when I took too long to bring his coffee.

As soon as the elevator doors opened and I saw a clear path out, I darted down the hallway towards Mr Knight's office as fast as my heels would allow me to. When I reached his office doors, they were oddly slightly ajar. I nudged it open all the way and my eyes landed on the reason for the half-open door. 

Miss Hathaway was in front of Mr Knight's desk and seemed to be finishing off a conversation with him.

"I will phone Mr Cunningham and make the arrangements." She said scribbling something on a notepad.

I was still standing, rather awkwardly might I add, a few feet inside the office waiting for them to finish. I hated feeling out of place like this.

After a few moments of silence, she continued.

"Well, I'll get right on that. I hope you have a wonderful day sir." She practically purred the last part.

It took an immense amount of self-control to not roll my eyes at her. She was so transparent and I was a tad surprised that Mr Knight didn't do anything to deter her flirtatious advances. I strained my neck to try and see past the receptionist and I was pleased to note that he was once again not even looking at her. His eyes were, as usual, transfixed on his desk. It was good to know that this form of lacked attention wasn't just reserved for me. 

A grunt came from Mr Knight's throat and as soon as the receptionist realized that this was the only sign of acknowledgement that she was to receive from him, turned on her heel and strutted out of his office. She did all this whilst completely ignoring me.

I walked over to Mr Knight and placed his cup of coffee along with his mail on his desk. As soon as I stepped back, he took the cup and moved it five centimetres to the right and straightened the mail before placing it in a metal mail holder. Each letter's corner is perfectly aligned with the rest.

"You're late." He announced. 

"I'm sorry?" I blinked back at him.

"You are to be here at seven in the morning. When the phone rings, you are to answer it. That is your job, no one else's." 

Oh...so that's what Miss Hathaway was doing in here. 

"I can see the excuse forming on your lips and I'm not interested. Go put down your stuff and come back to my desk with a pen and notepad. We have to go over the itinerary for the day."

My legs started moving and complying with his demands. I was half in shock from hearing him form multiple sentences back-to-back and the other half of me was unsure of how to react to the militaristic way in which he handed out orders. Was this normal for a CEO? 

I stood in front of his desk once more with pen and notepad in hand as requested. I swallowed hard to keep my reason for being late this morning inside. It was, however, a very good excuse though. It involved getting lost, the death of my phone's battery and an unfortunate situation involving a pigeon. But Mr Knight was not in the mood for my reasons this morning and I'd prefer to hold a job for longer than a day.

"You will finish those files today. Afterwards, someone from IT will come by to set up your computer and your company email. My email will be activated on your computer as well, which we will discuss later on. But the remainder of the day you will be sorting through emails." He pulled a folder out from his desk drawer. "But before we get to any of that." He placed the folder on the desk in front of me. 

I took the folder in my hands and skimmed through the documents inside. The one was a (quite thick might I add) employment contract and the other was what looked to be a confidentiality agreement. 

"Now, this is a serious matter, Miss Bennet." At that, my eyes met his, which were for once focused on my face and not on the work on his desk. "We will be working in very close quarters together, more so than with any of my other employees. You will be by my side every day, taking my calls, arranging my appointments and answering emails in my name."

He gave me a few minutes for his words to sink in before continuing. His close quarter's comment might have sounded slightly dirty had he not had a businesslike and unemotional demeanour throughout his speech. 

"The nature of my job leaves very little time for administrative tasks and that's why I hired you. But with this job comes responsibility and a certain level of secrecy. You can take your contract home and get it back to me by the end of the week. The confidentiality agreement, however, needs to be signed right away. I cannot assign any work to you without it."

I glanced down at the agreement again, skimming through it quickly before lowering the paper down to his desk and bending over to sign it. My pen was hovering over the dotted line. I paused, looking up at Mr Knight who was surprisingly still looking at me.

"Now I'm not agreeing to let you keep my firstborn child or something by signing here am I?" I deadpanned.

He raised one eyebrow unamused. I gave him a cheeky smile and signed on the dotted line.

I was just kidding around but... For some reason, I don't know why, it felt like I was signing over my free will to Mr Knight.