If You Love Me

Chapter 2

A/N: The image above does not belong to me. It belongs to the person who uploaded it on the internet.

Mean's POV

"Come in." I called out when I heard the soft knock on my office door.

I had been busy on my office lap top looking into the company's hiring rate for a field reporter. I looked up from my lap top to see who had just walked in.

Was this the newly hired field reporter to whom I was to give the highest starting rate for a field reporter?

What the hell was Chao thinking. This boy ... okay, this young man ... he looks so inexperienced, so naive ... so gullible ... unless his looks are deceiving ...

"Please sit down," I said, indicating the chair from across my office desk.

He did not take the chair right away. He stood in front of me with his hand extended to me for a handshake.

I accepted his hand and he shook mine firmly while saying, "I am Plan. I just came from Mr. Chittanant's office. He told me to proceed to your office so that you could process and finalize my employment as this company's field reporter."

I wanted to say, 'how on earth did you manage to convince Chao that you could do the job of field reporting efficiently, to the point of getting hired with the highest possible starting salary for a field reporter', but instead I said to him, "Please sit down, Plan."

He ended the handshake and took the seat that I offered him.

I went through a copy of his bio data and noted that this would be his very first job. How in bloody hell did Chao expect this kid to get the job done without messing up or getting trampled upon by the other veteran field reporters out there. The world of field reporting was a dog eat dog kind.

"So ... I gather that you have been interviewed by Mr. Chittanant," I started the conversation.

"Yes, sir," he replied with a big smile.

"In that case, I won't be doing any secondary interviews," I said. "I trust in Mr. Chittanant's choices."

Which was the truth, I usually did trust in Chao's decisions, but this one ... this time, I totally questioned Chao's judgment. But Chao was the owner of this company. Who was I to question his choices, his decisions.

"So ... you will be getting a starting hourly rate of ..." I named a figure.

He looked stunned at first but quickly recovered his composure.

"I will do my best to be worthy of Mr. Chittanant's expectations," he assured me.

"You'd better," I said. "Mr. Chittanant can be a ruthless employer. He will drop you from the payroll the moment he thinks that you do not fit the company's requirements anymore."

I admired the kid's self confidence. My warning did not seem to faze him at all.

He continued to smile, saying, "I will make sure of it."

I handed him a thin sheaf of papers.

"Please read each page carefully before signing at the bottom of each page," I instructed him.

"Yes, sir," he said, accepting the papers that I handed him.

He set them down on my desk and started reading, his head bowed so that he could not see that I was observing him carefully.

The more I studied his face the more I found it attractive.

I liked the shape of his face, his eyebrows, his long and thick eyelashes, his lips, the way they curved and moved as they concentrated on what he was reading. I liked the way his hair shaped his face. I must admit I liked his eyes as well. And also his cute nose.

"Sir."

"Huh?" Shit did I just space out in front of this kid.

He was handing me back the sheaf of papers that I had given him to sign.

"Oh... yes... thank you... Plan... of course," I said, quickly taking back the papers.

I went through each page to make sure that he had signed every single one before setting it aside and then looked straight into his eyes ... those mesmerizing eyes ...

"Please come back tomorrow morning at eight for your orientation," I instructed him. "After clocking in, you should proceed to the desk of Mr. Tawan Vihokratana. He will conduct the orientation and he will let you know before the end of the day which expected events he wants you to cover the following day."

"On what floor is Mr. Vihokratana's desk located?" he asked.

"Second floor," I replied. "You can ask the receptionist at the lobby to escort you to his desk."

"Very well, sir," he said.

"Be here on the dot," I warned him. "Tay doesn't suffer tardiness gladly."

"Who is Tay?" he asked wide eyed.

Oh his eyes ... his eyes ... such cute innocent eyes ...

"Um... " shit I was spacing out again.

"Tay is how we call Mr. Vihokratana," I explained quickly. "But I would advise you not to call him that."

"Of course not," he agreed.

"May I go now, sir?" he asked, scooting to the edge of his seat.

I did not want him to go yet. But I had no more reason to keep him in my office.

"Oh, wait!" I suddenly remembered. "You have to go to the open area just outside my office. There are several cubicles there. The first cubicle belongs to Marc. Tell him I sent you to take your company photo and make your official company identification badge. That badge is what you will be using to swipe into the time in machine beside the receptionist's desk at the lobby."

I got anxious at the thought of Plan meeting Marc. Marc Pahun Jiyacharoen was the company lothario. He flirted with all the company employees and they all flirted back at him. No one was immune to Marc's charm. He better not mess with Plan. I saw Plan first.