Don't Lie (To Me)

Chapter 2

8:30am. He was so late. Shit. He rushed inside the building, stopping in his tracks as he spotted people. He walked over to the front desk. That place was so cool! He pulled out his ID. "Hello," he said to the guy there.

"Hello! What can I do for you?" The guy smiled, taking his ID. "Are you here for a meeting?" he asked, tilting his head a bit to the side. He wore a light blue shirt and a beige cardigan on top. He had blond curls and some scattered freckles on his face along with blue eyes.

"Um... yeah. I suppose. I'm Remy Starlight. I'm here for the secretary spot." He smiled, almost anxiously. What if he got the wrong date or time? What if they didn't let him in because he was late?

The boy typed something on his desktop at a fast speed. "Oh. Yeah, here you are. Logan will take you to meet Mr. Sanders." He smiled, gesturing to a guy walking over to them. He was dressed much more professionally than the guy at the desk. And he looked much more serious, too. It was almost scary. "Logan, this is Remy Starlight, the applicant. He had an interview with Damien scheduled fifteen minutes ago. Can you take him there?" he asked.

Logan looked at Remy, almost judging him. "Yes. Follow me," he said. His voice was colder than the other guy's, more calculated. "Thank you, Patton." He turned to Remy and gave him a small nod before walking to the elevator.

Remy followed him nervously, suddenly self-conscious about everything. He wasn't dressed up for it. He wasn't even wearing a button-up! He just wore a white T-shirt, black jeans and a black leather jacket. He felt like he had already blown the opportunity off.

After a few seconds of excruciating silence, Logan spoke. "Do not worry. Mr. Sanders is not as bad as you think... but be careful. He is in a particularly bad mood today," he said. Remy looked at him and nodded.

"Will do... May I ask why?" he asked as the elevator doors opened and they got inside. "Did something happen or is it because it's the first day back to routine?" he said with a small chuckle, trying to break the ice.

Surprisingly, a small, almost imperceptible chuckle escaped Logan's lips. "No. He fired his previous secretary on the last day before the holidays, and he... is in a stressful situation. He will tell you if you get the job."

Remy nodded. He was curious as to what the stressful situation was. But he had to get the job to know.

They reached the top floor and the door opened. Logan walked out and Remy followed him close behind. It was very spacious, and there wasn't much. They walked to a door that led to an office.

Remy fiddled with the hem of his shirt as his anxiety grew. He had to make a good impression. But how did one make a good impression on one of the most powerful people in the state?! What did he have to do? What did he have to say? Should he have prepared something beforehand?

Logan knocked on the door and cracked it open to get Damien's attention. Remy noticed that he did seem stressed, but other than that, he was stunning.

Damien was looking through some papers and crossing out a lot of stuff. He looked worried.

"Mr. Sanders?" Logan spoke, making Damien's eyes tear from the papers. "The applicant is here," he said, moving a bit to the side so Remy was seen. "Are you busy? I can do the interview if you are," he offered.

Damien put the pen down and shook his head. "I'm sure I can make some time for him," he said with a small smile. "Come in." Remy hesitantly did as told and walked in. Damien got up and shook his hand. He looked at Logan. "You can go." He smiled. Logan nodded and closed the door before leaving.

Damien looked at the applicant for a second. He had chocolate brown hair, about the length as Damien's, but straight. His eyes were an almost grey color and he had a freckle by his right eye.

"So, Mr... Starlight. Correct?" he asked, to which Remy could only nod. "I am only going to ask you one question, and if you respond correctly, the job is yours," he said. Remy frowned lightly, a bit confused by that statement. He took one of the papers on the desk, one of the ones which he still hadn't corrected, and handed it to him. "Can you fix this and twenty more in two days?" he asked. Remy scoffed lightly, thinking it was some sort of joke, until he looked up from the paper and noticed he was dead serious.

"Yes. Fixing one of these may take me an hour, maybe two depending on the level of fu- messed up the numbers are. So yes. I can have them all in two days, maybe tomorrow, even," he said, sounding confident. "Are these part of the interview or are they a real thing?" he asked, genuinely confused as he looked over it again.

Damien sighed. "They are a real thing, Mr. Starlight. I wish I could tell you they aren't," he said. "So, you can fix it?"

Remy looked at him dead in the eye. "I can," he answered.

Damien smiled. "Welcome to the team." He stood up and grabbed some more papers. "I'll show you your office." He took the rest of the messed up papers and walked to the door. Remy stood up as well and followed him as he left the office. "This is the only floor you need to be in. Exclusive to me, and my secretary. Only Logan is allowed to come up here when there are meetings just to lead them here," he explained. Remy listened quietly and nodded. "This is the waiting area. You can also come here when you're extremely stressed out, which I hope never happens, and it's where people wait for the meetings. You will be the one to meet them at the elevator and take them here. Never to my office unless I tell you otherwise." He turned to Remy, who nodded obediently. "Okay. Next, there are the restrooms. Nothing special about them. No rules... just the usual, don't leave it a mess." He turned, walking to a door near his own office. "And this... is your office," he said, opening the door. The office was almost like Damien's. Remy felt powerful the second they stepped inside. "Remember, you are above everyone but me in here. If you give them an order, they'll most likely follow it unless it's utterly stupid and destined to burn this business to ashes."

"I can assure you that won't happen, sir," Remy said with a nervous chuckle. "Now... I don't want to seem rude or anything... but what's the working schedule and how much will I make?" he asked, mostly out of curiosity. He'd imagined that working for none other than Damien Sanders, he would make quite a bit.

Damien chuckled at that. "Not at all. It's only natural you want to know those things. You will check-in from Monday to Friday at 8 in the morning sharp. And you get out at 4," he said. "You will have a thirty-minute break to go get food in the cafeteria on the third floor at... 2:30. That way it won't be too crowded and you will have enough time to get the food and come back." Remy nodded, not daring to interrupt him. "As for money, you'll make $50 per hour every day. That makes a total of $400 a day, 2000 a week, etcetera." He tilted his head, seeing Remy get pale. "Are you alright?" he asked, slightly concerned.

Remy nodded. "Huh? Uh... y- yeah, I just need to sit." Damien chuckled. He wasn't really surprised. Remy wasn't the first one to have that reaction. "Go on, please," he said as he walked over to his chair and looked up at him.

"The meals in the cafeteria will be free and you will learn that I am a workaholic, so I will most likely stay here all night. Don't scream if you find me here working when you arrive one day." Remy nodded, going mute again. "Any other questions?"

"Um... contract wise...? How long am I staying here?" he asked. "Because you haven't shown me a contract, and, no offense, but getting $400 a day sounds a bit fishy." He raised an eyebrow. "Am I like... an illegal employee or something?"

Damien chuckled. "You got me there," he said. "No, the contract is getting printed, I'll bring it to you once it's done. And you're getting paid that much because I think my employees deserve the best conditions. I don't want to be like most businessmen, who pay misery salaries to their employees because they are the important ones. I am aware that without anyone here, I wouldn't be where I am today."

Remy smiled lightly at that. "Alright, then I'm ready to start," he said. Damien handed him the rest of the papers and walked out, turning to look at him for a moment.

"Welcome on board, Mr. Starlight." He smiled, closing the door and walking back to his office.