Now that I think of the wonderful times that I have lived before, it becomes very difficult for me to believe that all my dreams actually came true. As I remember the painting that I had seen in his room, I am reminded of the two days that I was dancing all around the house. Even with Charles not there at that time as he had gone for a business trip, I was happy till he came back.
After he came back home from that trip, things got a little uneasy because he started carrying his workload home. He was always working on the laptop or shouting at someone on the phone. Even if I saw him sitting all by himself, his brows would always remain furrowed, and it looked as if he had nearly forgotten to smile.
When he saw me at home before, he at least joked around a little or said something mean to me jokingly. But after that business trip of his, he became distant, and I didn’t like that at all. No matter how much I wanted to help him during those days, he walked away when I walked into any room that we would be sitting in.
Sometimes he continued to sit but with his eyes closed. The whole atmosphere of the house got very depressing. Most of the time I preferred to stay in my room only. Even when we would meet at the dining table, he stayed busy browsing on his phone after he smiled at me to acknowledge me in the room. Either he would be reading messages or seeing some document on it or even talking to someone at times.
It was acceptable to me to be getting almost no time and attention from him because he seemed busy with work always. But what was not acceptable to me was the fact that he had stopped being happy. He took a break from working out too. And as far as I have known him, working out for him was very important as it released happy hormones in his body.
As it took me a couple of days to understand how to talk to him about what was troubling him at work, I came up with a fantastic solution. Because my college vacation was on, I could help him at work. Despite the fact that I didn’t know anything about his business, I could at least sort and organize stuff for him because even his assistant, Edward, was kept busy with other things for him. I thought of putting forward this proposal.
One morning I dressed up in my formal attire and walked down to the dining table where Charles was eating breakfast. When I entered the dining hall, he didn’t look at me as he was talking to someone on the phone about getting the papers ready for some deal of his.
When I reached the place where he was seated, I placed my resume on the table right beside his plate. He looked at me and, coincidentally, the call that he was on also got over at that moment. As he looked at me and the resume back and forth, he asked, “What is this, Olivia?”
The way he addressed me with my actual name instead of calling me Olive, I sensed that he was still involved in that conversation which he was having on the phone. And because it didn’t seem that it went very well, I had to be very direct in mentioning to him the plan which I had in mind, and I had to be to the point so that he didn’t get more upset.
“This is my CV,” I answered and to explain to him why I was handing over my CV to him, I said, “I am unable to find a job for me. If you can hire me for any company of yours, I will be grateful to you.”
“But if you ask me, I will prefer working under you to help sort out important stuff for you, which will not only make your work easy but also not let you handle the things that can be taken care of by someone else,” I mentioned.
Charles looked a little surprised on hearing me tell him that. He was quiet, and then as he pushed my resume away, he uttered, “No need.”
“I want to work; it gets boring at home.” “Besides, college vacation is getting to me,” I stated and looked at Charles with hope radiating from my eyes as I awaited his reply.
"So, you want to work for me?” He asked, and my face must have started glowing, I am sure even today. His question made me very happy, and it also made me want to jump and answer it, but I stayed calm. With just a badly controlled smile, I replied, “I would love to work for you!”
“Alright then, eat your breakfast and we will head to the office,” he announced.
Extremely excited to accompany him to work, I couldn’t even eat breakfast properly. Getting into the car with him sent chills down my spine, and I was confused when he asked the driver to drive us to the biggest Gucci store in Beverly Place.
“Why to the Gucci store?” I asked.
“I haven’t mentioned it to you, so let me tell you,” he said which got me to listen to him with all my attention as he added, “You are going to be my secretary. You might want to look like that. We are going shopping, and from there we will directly go to work.”
Before I could digest what he told me, he also said something more to that.
“I do not like to be questioned, Ms. Pierce. I will appreciate professionalism at work.”