Bitter & Sweet

2. Meeting the Boss

Continued from last chapter

Still Wayo's POV

I hummed to myself while I waited, wondering exactly how long was reasonable to wait before looking for help. Luckily, I didn't have to wonder for long, when someone came up to join me.

"Hi, are you Wayo?" It was a man about my height with black hair and dark brown eyes. There was a twinkle in his eye that said he liked a good practical joke. "I'm Beam. Don't worry about the titles. Just think of me as an older brother and call me by my name. I'll be your supervisor."

"Yes, I'm Wayo, but everyone just calls me Yo," I said, standing and smiling at him. "It's nice to meet you."

"He was right, you are beautiful," Beam said, giving me a long look. I tried not to blush, but it seemed to be my automatic response.

"W-who was r-right?"

"Oh, you know, just office gossip," he flashed me a devilish smile. Speaking of beautiful, Beam was gorgeous himself. It made me a little self-conscious, having a man who looked like that calling me beautiful.

"Wow, what they say about office gossip must be true. I've only been here for ten minutes," I said, wide eyed. "I'll have to be careful not to do anything stupid or it will be all over the office in minutes."

Beam laughed as he indicated that I should follow him, "I'll show you to your office, explain what you're expected to do, later I'll introduce you to the other part time assistant."

"Ada, the receptionist, mentioned that I was a special circumstance?" I hinted aloud, hoping he would explain. I specifically asked my dad not to help me get a job, so I really didn't want to hear that he'd gone behind my back.

"Well, we've never hired part time employees in this division before," Beam said. "At least not for a position with this much responsibility. But I have every confidence that you and your coworker will be able to fulfill all the responsibilities."

"May I ask why you decided to hire part time employees this time?"

"That was up to our CEO. I didn't know about it until he told me," Beam replied, showing me inside a room. "This will be your office. You'll share this office with Ming Daichapanya. He'll be here on the days that you're in classes. You'll have to work out any sick days or additional time off between you. As long as the work is done, there won't be too much oversight."

"Thank you for trusting me, I'll do my best," I said, feeling slightly uneasy but determined. His answer made it obvious to me that dad had actually pulled strings with the CEO to get me this job. Why else would they make an exception like hiring two part time employees to do the work that one person normally did in a full time position? I felt bad for the full time employee that might have been hired, but a little relieved to know that my dad's interfering had at least helped another person who could only work part time to find a decent job in a well established company.

Beam spent nearly 20 minutes explaining what my duties would be and giving me a run down of office policies when he got a call, "Hang on, Yo, I've got to take this call. Hey, boss, what can I do for you?"

He listened to the person on the phone, while I tried to keep myself occupied. I didn't want to seem like I was eavesdropping, but there wasn't really much else I could do, "Sure, I'll have it brought to you right away. ... Don't worry so much ... of course ... ."

"Well, it looks like you have a job to take care of right away," Beam said as soon as he hung up the phone. "I need you to run these documents to the CEO. We'll continue our orientation when you get back."

"The C-CEO?" I gulped a little nervously. Depending on my dad's relationship with him in getting me this job, the CEO was either going to treat me like his beloved nephew or a poor relation that was foisted on him. I've been through this before. Beam directed me to the double doors at the end of the hall, just passed the break room from my own office. I took the folder full of papers, squared my shoulders, and knocked briefly before walking inside confidently. "Excuse me, sir. These are the documents you requested."