Chapter 2: Workforce

"Good morning! My name is Claire Evans, I'm here for the internship." Claire lowered her window as she greeted the guard.

The guard pulled out his 2-way radio from his belt and she could hear him verifying her name to someone on the other line.

"Yes, let her in." The guy from the other line said. 

Before they opened the parking barrier for her, they handed her a visiting card. 

"You can use this to enter and exit the parking at the basement." He instructed her.

"Thank you, Sir."

He nodded at her and gestured her to go. 

There was a parking number written on the visitor card and she followed it. She parked and went ahead to the ground floor where the lobby and the main reception was.

"Hello, Good morning! My name is Claire Evans and I'm here for the internship job." She greeted one of the receptionist.

"Yes, Ms. Evans. Please have a seat. Mr. Edward will be with you in a minute." She gestured to where the couches were.

"Thank you."

Claire proceeded to one of the single sofa sets and sat. Just the ground floor alone was very huge. There were four receptionists behind the huge reception table, all of them were very pretty and they looked very professional. Their hair was tied neatly and their blazers matched in color. 

There were four security guards by the main door who wore black suits with an ear piece attached to their ears. It was ten minutes before eight in the morning and a lot of employees were coming in, as they tapped their IDs in the biometrics. 

Claire still couldn't believe she was accepted at that company.

"Ms. Evans?" A tall, handsome man was extending his arm to Claire.

Claire stood up and accepted it.

"Good morning, Sir." She greeted him with a warm smile.

"Oh please, call me Tony. I am from the HR department." They shook hands.

"Then, please, call me Claire."

The building was 10 floors and they went to the 1st floor where the HR and the Admin department were. The HR Manager had Claire sign a bunch of documents including the 6 months internship contract. He handed her the employee handbook where the company rules were written and she was asked to read and review them.

At first, they let her stay in one small meeting room where she carried all the documents that they had given to her and Claire felt like it was a lot.

Afterwards, the HR. Manager who recruited her, Mrs. Grayson joined her in the meeting room and explained to her what would be her job for the rest of the 6 months she was going to work there.

Claire was going to be one of the interns in the business development department which was in the 9th floor. They were actually 3 interns and she was the last one who got in.

Claire was going to be assisting in drafting sales, agreements and proposals, etc. She would be asked to join meetings to take minutes as well, and attend whatever needs the department requires, even copying or scanning documents.

Lastly, Mrs. Grayson gave her the NDA document, since she would be working directly with the department, she would be able to see and hear numbers that the sales department would be bringing, so the NDA document was necessary incase of any issues the company would sue her if she ever leaked the information to anybody or worse to a competitor. 

Claire already researched about the company before she took the interview but still, when Mrs. Grayson was explaining to her how large Miller and Miles Corporation was, she was lost.

There were large industries where the company was involved in, Aerospace, Automotive, Chemical, Commercial Buildings, Data Centers, Healthcare, Machinery, Transportation & Logistics, F&B and many more.

Mrs. Grayson opened her laptop and showed Claire the website of the company where the Management's profiles were one by one. She asked Claire to remember the faces of the bosses in case she ran in on them or hitched a ride with them in the elevator so that she would know. 

Mr. Grey Miller, the Founder and Global CEO of the company, was not always there but her daughter Jamie Miller was always there.

Claire already saw her picture from the website when she researched the company, she also watched her interviews when she was young, gorgeous like very, very beautiful, she didn't smile though, she always kept a straight face.

When Claire googled her, she was always with different male models or male celebrities which she was guessing they were her boyfriends.

Claire thought that with her face and wealth, she could get any man she'd want.

Claire didn't know why she was looking at her face, even in the pictures and interviews, there seemed to be something in her eyes that she could not put a finger on and it got Claire interested in her. 

Mrs. Grayson went on and on for the rest of the management team. The time went by and it was already 11 in the morning. 

They finally went to the 9th floor where she would be stationed at. 

In the elevator, Mrs. Grayson briefed Claire about all departments and their floor and to her surprise, Jamie Miler would be at the same floor where she would be working.

She was the Global VP and Business Development Director of the company and she may work with her. 

Thinking about that, made her heart beat faster, was that excitement? Nervousness? Yes but she was more excited to be precise. 

Mrs. Grayson introduced the team to her and the interns and she guided her to her desk. It was in the right corner before the office of Ms. Miller. 

The interns were scattered in the room as they were tasked to different jobs. 

As soon as Claire sat at her table, Mrs. Grayson left and endorsed her to Mr. Lopez, he was one of the managers in the team. 

"We don't do Mr. and Mrs. here, Claire. So please call me David." He introduced himself. 

Claire knew from his smile that she got his interest.

She was a pretty girl, that's what people said. Her friends, relatives, and her schoolmates. 

It must have been the blonde hair, her proportionate nose with the rest of her facial features. She had green eyes, full and sumptuous lips and a body that she really took care of with eating healthy and plenty of exercise. 

So it was new for her to get attention of the male gender which was also the reason most girls in her school hated her, from high school to college, even though she never tolerated it. Boys were the last thing in her mind, she had never had a boyfriend and she has never been kissed. 

Some of her friends called her a prude and they even said that she was wasting that God had given her and that she should use her appearance for opportunities. But Claire wasn't raised like that. 

David oriented Claire of her job, since it was her first day, they gave her a light work. Documents that needed scanning and filing them accordingly.

It was not long when it was time for lunch.

The 10th floor was where the recreational room was, there were table games, football, tennis and the cafeteria was also there where you could buy lunch, there were even carts for snacks which included good coffee and tea.

Half of the floor was an open area where you could have a fresh air. There were tables and chairs arranged for people to use. David said, whenever there was a birthday, that was where they would celebrate it. It was a huge space, really. You could blow off steam and stress and even smoke if you were a smoker.

There was also a room where you could nap located at a corner where there were 6 bunkbeds. Jamie occasionally let them take a nap, they could sleep the whole day for all she cared, as long as everyone did their job and when she asked you about anything you'd have to answer for it. She wasn't very strict because she wanted her people to treat the office as their second home.

Claire bought a sandwich and juice from the cafeteria and she found a place to sit as she watched the people when they played, ate and chitchatted with each other.

"Hi Claire, can we sit here?" The other 2 interns approached her.

?Yeah, yeah, please have a seat." 

"This is Greg and my name is Jane." Jane introduced themselves while they occupied the seat beside me.

"Oh yeah, I know. I wanted to come over to your desk earlier but David gave work to start with."

"That's ok. It was actually pretty busy this morning. Greg and I were here for almost a wee now, right Greg?" Jane nudged her elbow to his.

"O-Oh, yes, yes." Greg seemed to have just woken up. 

"Please forgive him, he's having a little crush on you." Jane teased him.

Greg's face became red and that made Jane laugh. Claire wasn't sure how to react as she knew he was shy, it showed on his face.

They finished their lunch while chatting. Greg invited both of them to play football before they went down. 

They both obliged and had a little fun.

Claire was familiar with the game and she beat the two.