Damaged

Chapter Two

Arianna Miccio

I got into the Uber Emma had called for me. My week has been on a downward spiral since Sunday. On Monday I had placed the order for a replacement phone in the same size and limited edition color only to have a notification saying it's out of stock and shipping later next week. I traded in my old phone for the new one and currently had a really old blackberry as my temporary phone. On Tuesday at my hair appointment the stylist had cut my hair too short for my liking and my nails had been buffed too aggressively. Today was my first day at MDK Group and my car's battery was dead because Emma didn't close her side of the door properly the night before. At this rate, tomorrow I'll break my laptop, the following day my leg and come full circle on Saturday by being mugged.

On a positive note, traffic was light, my Uber guy was entertaining, and I made it to work a good forty minutes before my start time with the HR personnel. I didn't call Mr. Kazee for my replacement phone as it turns out he would be my new boss's boss's boss. Emma had encouraged the call of course saying it's the best thing that could have happened to me. It would start me on a more personal note with a high position person at work. I pointed out it would be better for the CEO to forget he saw me in a skimpy dress at the club period.

I was greeted by a very sweet older lady called Regina Walters at sharp 9 o'clock. She led the two other new hires and me into the presentation room. I met Danny Valdez who was going to be my coworker in marketing and Opal Jung who would be a part of the talent acquisition team. Once the presentation came to an end, our badges were ready and we started the tour of the office. The place was huge, the marketing team alone took up two floors of the skyscraping building. The entire office was minimalistic black and white with wood and metallic accents and the occasional splash of gray. As expected the windows were huge overlooking the city floor at the ant sized pedestrians and cars.

Our last stops included a brief introduction from a few top level executives and then we would be shown to our respective desks and offices. We were ushered into the conference room on the top floor and introduced to three key people that helped move the organization to the new century: Mrs. Sophia K. Mortis CFO, Mr. Jackson Hendricks CMO, and Mr. Logan Kazee CEO. I froze up as I saw Mr. Kazee wished with every bone in my body that he would not recognize me. I shook hands last with him and his eyes narrowed a bit when he saw me.

He then turned back to the HR personnel, "Mrs. Walter, I need you to talk to Miss Dean about tier three rules as soon as you can. Me and the others will take the new employees to their respective desks. The files please?" He held his hands out taking the packets from Mrs. Walter. She didn't seem fazed by this but the other two executives looked a little outraged.

The executives took the files and talked to the new hire in front of them before hurrying out of the office. All except him, who remained fixed in his spot looking through my file. We started walking soon after everyone lef the room. He paused midway to the elevators scanning the packets in his hand, "Grade 6, interesting. You are pretty young to be in this position, how did you achieve this?" He pointed to where it printed my title and salary grade.

"My first job was at Da..." before I could finish Mrs. Mortis called out to us holding the elevator door open.

"Go ahead, we'll be down on the next one." He said nonchalantly while still examining the files. Smart man, cutting me off from the group. Probably wants to fire me or demote me even before I begin my work. And they never saw her again is what Opal and Danny would be thinking. "Miss Miccio, have you got a new phone yet? Your hair seems shorter."

"I..umm, it's ordered and on its way." I consciously touched my hair, a little insecure that he remembered.

"Good. I expect the receipt on my desk. I'm curious though... why did you not call me?" he scratched his stubble tucking the folders to his side. I studied his face briefly, taking note of the strong jawline, defined nose, tanned skin, and mesmerizing eyes that made me forget what he had asked.

"It was an accident. No need to pay for it Mr.Kazee." He had an interesting last name. I needed to go do research about him. I knew enough about the company but not much about the people that ran it from their mighty high positions.

"It's an accident that I caused Miss Miccio. I want to pay for it." With that we silently traveled in the elevator, I occasionally looked at him, studying him for hints on who he was. He didn't even look my way and was preoccupied with his phone. We stopped on the 65th floor and he walked me to my office. I was caught off-guard by the room in front of me. I had just expected a minimal desk and chair placed towards the middle of the floor, away from windows.

"Wow, this is amazing." I thanked the company for the space they had provided. The room was filled with glass tables and side tables and dark chocolate furniture. It had a grandiose view of New York, even though the view was nothing compared to the one I saw on the 104th floor.

"We kept the furnishing minimal for employee personalization. You will find the shared documents on your laptop on what all can be done," he simply stated. I turned around to thank him one last time before I could truly play around with everything in the room. That's when I realized how close he was standing, I didn't know when he had reduced the space between us. I felt stuffy and hot and all the air in the room disappeared. I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. My mouth felt dry and the involuntarily gulp I took of my nervousness was amplified with the silence in the room.

"Pleasure having you onboard with us." He broke the silence, I could see a twinkle in his eye as he spoke. He took a step back allowing me to relax. A sense of relief washed through me as I watched him walk out. Gosh, my stomach felt so knotted and flushed. His deep voice cut my thoughts yet again as he stuck his head back in," Hope your knee heals fast and you might want to close the window." I waited this time to make sure he was gone and closed the glass door to the room watching him nod to a few people on his way to the elevators. I hadn't realized the windows were open and how did he know about my knees. I looked down at my dress that came past my knee to cover up the bandage. I felt a cold breeze sneak into the room and I realized that my dress flew up every time the draft came in. I made a mental note to myself not to wear dresses or rather keep the windows closed.