CHAPTER 15

She truly was heading to the 90th floor. This made Ralph shift uncomfortably on the spot. Who was she? He thought. He saw as she looked at herself in her reflection. She looked like a 5 ft 9 inches lady, or was it because of her low heels? So, he mindfully questioned.

"Did I do too much?" Ralph's attention was naturally drawn to her. He believed she was asking him. But seeing that she was still focused on her reflection, he stayed speechless.

"Is my perfume too much?" She asked again. This time, she brought her wrist to her nose, taking a sniff. "It smells okay," she said. Ralph stood lifeless, not making a sound. He saw as she continued to size up herself. From her backview, Ralph thought that she didn't look bad. She was wearing a sky-blue shirt with a fitted knee-length black skirt, on her feet, she wore black short heels, and a sling bag across her chest.

He continued to watch her. Her absentmindedness was bewildering; could she not sense that there was another with her? "Or is my skirt too short?" He heard her say again, her voice disrupting his thoughts. Did she not know that he was there? Ralph's heart was in both disbelief and mirth seeing her turn from side to side, as she questioned her look in the reflection.

He found her cute.

"Would the CEO accept me?" Ralph was struck. The CEO? Did she mean him? What did he have to do with her? At this point, it was as if Ralph's head was knocked into remembrance. An assistant secretary was supposed to resume today! Realising this, he looked at her intently, this time, deliberately observing her from the lens of the boss. Was she really the one?

Ralph looked to the top of the elevator; his hands clenched. Was she the one that Malthus picked? Ralph looked at her, sizing her up, in total displeasure. Did Malthus pick an amateur for him? Why did he choose such an absentminded woman?

Didn't he say she was best suited for him? How come she was so unobservant? How can a person be so unobservant? Ralph was in total distaste of who he saw. Women are all like this! They think less, and they have a low sense of reasoning. They are not meant to be in environments like this…environments close to men! They're only good for the bed and left alone! Ralph internally raged.

At this juncture, the elevator chimed. It had already reached the 90th floor.

****

The elevator doors opened to a strangely adorned floor. Stepping out of the elevator, Laura's heart began to beat even faster. She was excited and anxious all at once.

"Assistant secretary?" A baritone voice coming from behind her asked.

Shocked, Laura immediately turned to the source of the voice. Before her, stood a tall attractive man, one whose beauty wasn't common, yet familiar. She was puzzled. Was this man always here with her? In the elevator? While she was loudly checking herself out? With this, she bowed her head in embarrassment. "Yes…yes, I am. Today is my first day."

Since Laura was little, she always showed impeccable brilliance and focus, but it happened to be that this was her greatest undoing. She was so focused that she completely ignored everything else. Although this made her flourish in her academics, it nonetheless made her appear very ignorant, unobservant and antisocial. This was no news to Laura, as she often suffered the consequences of her rigid nature.

Ralph eyed condescendingly as he watched her from inside the elevator. The elevator doors began to close, but before they could, he walked out of the elevator. "Follow me."

Laura was stupefied. She wondered who this man was, but she followed still. She saw the man elegantly walk in the hallway without saying a word, taking his time as he took each step. As he walked, his shoes clanked on the hard tiles, resounding echoes about the whole floor.

Hearing this, Laura was convinced that there was no one on the floor other than them. Following behind, she noticed the beige-painted high walls which were adorned with various canvases of wonderfully painted art, and portraits of two persons.

Looking closely, Laura quickly identified the pictures hung on the wall; she naturally studied a lot about the company since she applied for the job role. She recognized the first as the late founder of Landers Tech, and the second was his son who is now the CEO of the company.

Looking even closer, she began to see familiarities between the man she saw in the picture and the one who now walked in front of her. Like a lightning bolt, it struck her immediately that the man in front of her was the CEO; Ralph Landers. Laura was in utter shock and disbelief that she halted in her tracks.

"Are you coming or not?" Laura's eyes darted to the man in front of her. He had already walked a significant distance and was now standing in front of a large door leading to an apartment-like space. It seemed like they had reached his office, Laura thought.

Comporting herself, she immediately replied, "Coming please!" Walking with an increased speed, she reached the door which was held open for her by the CEO. "Thank you, sir." She said as she walked past Ralph and entered through the held-open door. Taking a couple of steps, she stopped and turned to face Ralph.

"Sir, I deeply apologise for not recognizing you earlier." Laura blurted out with her head facing downwards, completely avoiding Ralph's eyes.

Seeing her in this manner, Ralph was filled with contempt; he only walked further, closer to her. Just as he was about to speak, there was a knock at the door which grabbed both of their attention, afterwards, it opened; it was Malthus.

"You're here, Malthus," Ralph said casually, placing his hands in his pocket as he walked further into the room.

"Yes, I am, sir. All's been taken care of." He replied. In confusion, his eyes narrowed to the woman standing in front of him. Consecutively, hearing a familiar name, Laura looked up and caught Malthus' eyes which immediately brought relief to her.

"Malthus…" Ralph began, grabbing Malthus' attention as he sat on his work chair, just in front of his desk. "You told me you picked the best one suited for me, didn't you?"

"Er—" Malthus looked at Laura. "Yes, sir, I did," Malthus replied with a heart full of bewilderment.

"So, what exactly is that?"