Personal Assistant (MXM - EDITING )

Chapter 4: You invited who?

Time flew by for the two workers. It was silent, with no conversations in the past few hours. With Serene's excitement for his new job, goosebumps crawled on his skin as he felt continuous eye contact from across the room. Nicolas was, of course, worried about assigning an important task to his newest co-worker. It made him paranoid, wanting to get up from his seat and grab the phone away from Serene to see what he was doing.

"How's it going, Mr. Ochoa?" Nicolas asked, flipping through some files on his desk. Nicolas knew how to hide his concern and tension well. His father was to thank for that. During his younger years, his father constantly yelled at him, which taught Nicolas not to show any sign of tension and respond professionally.

"It's going well, Sir," Serene responded. "Half of the organizations have agreed to donate a good amount of money to the company." He took a deep breath, not wanting to reveal any anxiety in his expression. A sharp stare struck him, forcing him to glance up and make eye contact with his superior. Serene's eyes widened, his shoulders tightening as Nicolas squinted at his new co-worker.

"You seem confident in this position, Mr. Ochoa. Not many men get the enthusiasm to work for another man."

There it was again—the comment. Moving to Batesburg, Serene didn't imagine the social norms to be so iffy. At first, it was odd, and Serene thought it was just a personality thing, but hearing it from his boss sent a wave of disappointment to his head. The assistant sighed as he looked back down at his phone.

Nicolas raised an eyebrow. "Did that comment bother you?"

Serene swallowed. "No, Sir. It's just I didn't expect anyone to follow the hierarchy of gender roles still."

Nicolas scoffed, his head tilting slightly to the side, showing interest in the conversation. "Well, you have a feminine name." The corner of his lips curved upward. "Serene."

Serene cleared his throat, looking up at Nicolas with wide eyes. He didn't like how his name flowed out of the CEO's mouth. "Mr. Anderson, I'm sorry for this question, but I wasn't raised here, but is the entire city this strict on gender roles?"

Nicolas hummed. "Hm. I wouldn't say so. It's more of a career thing."

"Career?"

"Yeah, like women being nurses or flight attendants. Men would go more for engineering or—"

"CEOs?" Serene interrupted, frowning.

The two shared eye contact in silence. Nicolas could feel the disappointment in his assistant's voice. He never thought of the situation to be a bad thing, but ever since he became CEO, he's only ever had women apply to be assistants.

The silence in the room felt heavy for both of them, but thankfully, the assistant spoke again. "Doesn't that seem sexist? Categorizing what men and women could and should do."

Nicolas's smile disappeared upon hearing the comment. "It's not like it's something set in the constitution. Women can take on the same jobs men have. No one's complaining."

"And yet," Serene muttered, "people still questioned why I was at the interview yesterday."

Nicolas crossed his arms as he watched Serene fidgeting with the phone. "Don't be so gloomy about it. It's a progressive thing, don't you think?"

Serene didn't respond. He knew about the slow progression society was taking when it came to gender norms. Even in his home state, he was often mistaken for a girl because of his name. Though, now, he felt the need to fight through the label of working for a man. It was an extra weight on his shoulders.

"Serene..." Nicolas trailed off.

"Sir, I will appreciate it if you no longer call me by my first name. It brings up the notion that we are friends, and I don't think that'd be professional."