Chapter 2: Chapter 2
ALEX's POV
It was a nice morning. The world beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows in my room on the seventh floor of an apartment building in downtown New York, looks normal and fits the description of a Monday morning in New York. It was so noisy outside although it all looked good, it wasn't my normal scene.
I waked out of my room in a complete suit with my black work shoes. I made myself a cup of instant coffee to get myself ready for the job interview I was going for today. I heard that there was a free spot for personal assistant at Elite Advertising Company, a 30 minutes drive from my apartment. It was the perfect opportunity to start over without completely starting over. I dropped my old life back at LA but I still carry the memories, regrets and guilt of it. So even though I was physically moving on, I was still stagnant emotionally. I wouldn't change it for anything. The monotony in my emotions was welcome. After finishing my coffee, I headed out of the apartment to the subway to catch a train going uptown.
When I stepped off the train, I walked a little bit out into the busy road. It was hard to miss the five story all glass building with a big ELITE at the top. Workers were walking in and out of the company, all smiling and talking. To me, it looked like they weren't taking things as seriously as they should have but that only made it easier to get in and I had to get in or it wouldn't have been long before I expended all of my savings and became stranded.
I pushed through the front doors. The reception was so busy. People moved here and there carrying posters and placards, phones went off here and there and the voices were not quiet either. The only person that didn't seem in a rush to be anywhere else was the redhead sitting behind a glass desk on a slightly raised platform with a computer in front of her. I guessed she was the receptionist so I meandered my way to her. Her tag read Monica Verne but I didn't care to memorize it. I wouldn't be having much business with her if I got employed anyway. I wouldn't be having any business with anyone.
"Hello, good morning, welcome to Elite Advertising Company, how may I help you?" She said looking at me with that perfect and over bright smile receptionists usually wore.
"Hi, I am here for the job interview." I said., making sure not to betray any kind of emotion but that didn't even kill her smile one bit.
"Head up to the topmost floor, you will meet a receptionist there, tell her you are here for the job interview. She will direct you to where you are supposed to be."
"Okay, thanks." I said and headed to the elevator off to the left behind her desk. I waited for two female workers and a male worker to step out before entering and pressing the button for the fifth floor. The inside of the elevator had mirrors on every surface and I also spotted a camera at a corner. I didn't get why anyone would think anyone would want to see so much of themselves. When the elevators opened, I stepped out and right ahead was an identical desk to the one on the bottom floor and a blonde sitting behind it.
"Good morning, how may I help you?" The blonde said not even bothering to smile. Finally, someone that didn't act like evey waking moment of her life had been a blast.
"I am here for a job interview." I said back.
"Please hold on." She said, picked up a telephone and punched in a few numbers. "Ma'am, someone is here for the job interview."
"Alright ma'am, he is on his way." She turned to me and pointed to the double doors down the wide but short corridor.
I nodded at her and started moving down the corridor. I pushed open the door and it opened up to a large mahogany desk with another door off to the right. I guessed that was the PA's desk seeing as it was empty. I walked up to the door and knocked.
"Come in." The voice that answered sounded almost familiar or maybe it was just my ears. I hoped I was hearing things. I didn't want to see anyone whose voice sounded familiar. It never ended well.
I twisted the knob and I was shocked by the face of the woman sitting behind the desk. It was the woman I had a short encounter with at the club on Saturday night and now that I was seeing her clearly without the dim club lights, I wished I never tried to bite her head off because now I was fairly sure she had the power to ruin me.
"Good morning, are you the one here for the interview?" She asked without a hint of recognition on her face. That was good, really good. She didn't remember me.
"Yes, I am." I replied with minimum sentiment to sound professional. I needed the job.
"Great, take a seat." She eyed me as she cleared her table and brought out a notepad and pen. The way she moved, you could tell that she had been brought up in money. She moved so elegantly but smartly. Like she had all the time in the world yet not enough time to be lethargic.
I thanked her and sat down in a seat in front of her, a picture of cool, calm and nonchalant, the most professional face for an interview.
"So your name?" She asked raising a perfect eyebrow at me.
"Alexander Smith."
"Nice name." She didn't sound like she thought it meant anything pleasant. "So tell me a little bit about yourself."
"I live in New York." Even though I needed the job, I couldn't help but still be protective of who I was.
She raised one eyebrow at me and I realised she did that a lot, "Of course you live in New York. You can't work here if you don't. Anyway, any past experiences?"
"I have worked at Cityscape Advertising in LA." I said.
She scoffed, "Our rival. That's okay. I went through your resume and it's all good. Qualifications are satisfactory." Satisfactory? Oh please. Not to brag but I was perfect for the job. One thing I was so damn sure of and that I wasn't ashamed or doubtful about, was my credential.
"That will be all, I guess. I will call for you in about two hours." Well that was fast.
"Is that it?" I asked not quite believing that this was a job interview.
"Unless you have a special thing you will like to show me, which I doubt that you do, you can just hang around, do something until I send for you." She said going back to her work, making sure to make it clear that the interview was over.
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A guy, who introduced himself as Andre walked up to me two hours later and said, "Summer wants to see you, said you should come up." Good to know she kept to time. I took the stairs instead of the elevator partly because I needed the extra time before I had to hear what she had to say even though I knew it was in the bag.
When I walked into her office, she wasn't looking too happy as she talked to a guy standing in front of her.
"I told you like a week ago. Now you have allowed Cityscape to take that big contract from us all the way from LA. If I should fire you right now, won't I be reasonable?" She scolded the guy and he looked like he wanted to get sucked into the ground. I thought the guy was a real chicken if he was scared of the look on her face. Even furious, she didn't look the least bit scary.
"I am really sorry ma'am. I promise to do everything I can to get it back." The guy said and before she could say anything else, I interrupted, "You called for me."
"Get out of my office." She said to the guy, he rushed past me on his way out. Chicken.
"Are you going to just stand there or you want to take a sit?" She snapped, turning to me. I didn't know whether to scowl or smirk at her sudden attitude but I did neither. I decided impassive was the best option as I took a seat in front of her once again.
"Well I was impressed by your CV but your social skills are bullshit." She stated, "You will have to work hard on that. So, how about we discuss the pay?"
"What's the offer?" I asked going straight into calculation mode.
"As my PA, you'll get seven thousand dollars."
"That's alright, I guess." It was way better than what I got at Cityscape.
"Okay. Work starts tomorrow." She said going back to work once again. "Go meet Brie, she's going to tell you all you need to know about your job." Who's Brie? I would figure it out later. I felt like a question would give her the satisfaction of seeing me thrown off.
"Okay." I said and stood up as she dismissed me by turning to her laptop again. I couldn't help but think she was a little full of herself but who was I to judge someone?
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