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49 - Hospitality
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Sunday had been awful. Jisu and Jini had gone to spend the day with their classmates to work on some group project, and it was now half past eight at night. Mr. and Mrs. Lee handled their own Sunday overnights at their store, which was a relief, but on the other hand, that had given Jia plenty of time to pace up and down the apartment. Until the neighbor on the floor under them banged on their ceiling and told her to take her Xanax.
She had given in and texted Jisu, asking if they wanted anything for dinner. She had gotten a call back fifteen minutes later with a quick assurance that they were well taken care of at their friend's house, and that the project was taking a lot longer than they had thought it would....which meant that they would be staying over.
Jisu had told her not to worry, and then hung up.
Sick to her stomach with guilt, anxiety, and fatigue, she had promptly gone to bed and ignored the fifteen text messages from an international number on her
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It was sushi.It had been a long time since Jia had last enjoyed it - certainly well before her parents had passed. Salmon was just too pricey to afford, and even raw tuna wasn't cheap in the city. And gourmet sushi - my God, she thought as she admired the neat arrangement in the little box. This had to be ridiculously expensive -"I should have asked to make sure," said Daniel as he took the chair over on the opposite side of the glass coffee table. "But when you said you didn't mind anything...""This is wonderful," she assured him. "Thank you so much.""My pleasure. Please, enjoy."They talked a little about the work she had gotten done over the morning as well as the stack of papers she had brought back with her to Daniel's office. Surface conversation, low-risk. But Jia was all too aware of the impending topic that would no doubt surface soon. Daniel wouldn't have asked to speak with her earlier with such a serious expression if it weren
In the Shadow of the CEO 51 - Termination
"Lydia, wait, I can't understand you -"Jia had had to yank the earpiece out so that the woman's high-pitched shrills didn't outright shatter her eardrum. While the woman wasn't quite shouting anymore, it was clear that she was losing the ability to control her volume, and at times she would run out of breath and only squeak out certain words before taking another deep breath to continue babbling."Lydia!" she tried again, trying to cut in right as the woman paused to inhale. "Lydia, please. I didn't catch any of that. I need you to speak more slowly so that I can understand you."Jia's voice was calm and composed, each syllable enunciated with slow clarity. Not that she actually felt that way, though. Her heart was hammering away in her chest so hard that she thought she could hear its dull thumping all the way up to her ears. A disaster, a catastrophe - something was Jia's fault. She had done something wrong -"It's Ms. Munson," wheezed Lydia,
In the Shadow of the CEO 52 - Uninvited
"Mr. Burhock.""Please, just George. We've been through hell and high water together, that's enough to start going on a first name basis, I'd say."More camera flashes went off outside the car window, bathing the limousine's interior with rapid-fire illuminations like a chain of lightning strikes. The car began rolling again now that Mr. Burhock and Anthony had managed to squeeze through the paparazzi and get settled in, sitting opposite Atlas and Dolores. And then silence, finally.It lasted no longer than a minute."...Dolly, are you absolutely sure that you -""George, I swear to God." Dolores crossed one leg over the other and leaned against the window in a slouch. "Ask me that one more goddamn time..."Burhock gave her a wan smile. His normally ruddy face looked paler today, and more drawn. He was almost unrecognizable without his signature jolly smile, but then again, he didn't have much to be happy about right now. His company s
In the Shadow of the CEO 53 - Compounding
Was it too much to try calling a fifth time?Jia kneaded her hands in an anxious panic as the time drew closer and closer to 6PM. She was sitting on the edge of the worn sofa in her living room, rocking back and forth as she tried to puzzle out a way to get herself out of this situation. She had put it off again and again this week, and now the hour of destruction had come upon her: Sunday evening, minutes before Atlas came by to pick her up in front of her apartment.Except she hadn't figured out how to handle it. She had had almost an entire week to buck up and tell him that she had a prior commitment and therefore couldn't attend what was no doubt a personal firing tonight, and she had squandered all that time.In all fairness, it had been a grueling five straight days of answering countless phone calls from panicked investors, even yesterday: she had let herself into the office on Saturday morning while the kids went over to a friend's place, and then spent
In the Shadow of the CEO 54 - Buyout
"...Hi, Mr. Lee." Jia glanced around the store before looking back at the old, wizened man with a nervous smile. "Um...did you get my messages by any chance?"He was looking from her to Atlas and then back at her again, bushy white eyebrows furrowed in suspicious confusion. His English wasn't terribly strong so he was the type to listen carefully first before speaking, but Jia had the feeling that nothing she said would put him at ease. She was here two hours early with a strange man trailing behind her, after all -"Who?" he asked. He jerked his chin in Atlas's direction, watching the man's progress through the store as he examined the walls along the outer aisles. As an elderly man with limited access to media of any form, it was unsurprising that he failed to recognize the CEO."Just my boss. He's, um...we'll be leaving soon." Or so Jia hoped, at least. She didn't know why Atlas was doing this, or what he was looking for as he explored the perimeter of
In the Shadow of the CEO 55 - Impulse
"Boyfriend?""No!" Jia exclaimed. "No, no. My boss."Mr. Lee frowned. "Marry?"She had to count to five to stop from burying her face in her hands. This conversation was going nowhere, and she didn't have much time. She had tried three times now to convince him to show her exactly how much Atlas had offered for the business, but not only was he adamant in his refusal to do so, he had also adopted a too-keen interest in her relationship with the CEO."My boss," she repeated, making sure to stress the word with even more force this time. "I work for him.""Doctor?""No, a, uh...He's a business owner. A big business owner."He nodded, but there was a slight disgruntled tinge to his weathered face now. "Doctor is better."Jia didn't bother trying to argue the point. It wasn't relevant, anyway. "Mr. Lee, I just want to make sure everything is okay, that's all. You don't have to tell me how much he offered, but at leas
In the Shadow of the CEO 56 - Price
Jia was angry. She had come dressed in something formal but also something that she could wear to work, because she hadn't known what would happen between the time she left for Atlas's penthouse and when her shift (should have) started at eight. Dark slacks and a white button down blouse, she had come dressed to get fired.Instead, she was sitting on one of Atlas's sofas, smelling an aroma wafting from the kitchen so good that her mouth had turned down into a furious frown. Her fists were clenched in her lap, too, as she waited for the man to get off his phone in the hallway. His low voice was echoing amid the acoustics of the corridor with a pleasant, smooth ring, she noticed....and the conversation was taking too long.Oh, she knew she should have eaten before she left the apartment, but she hadn't had an appetite all day. Not until now.The worst part of it was that if she was being reprimanded in any way (it didn't seem like she was g
In the Shadow of the CEO 57 - Breathless
Her time? What was that supposed to mean?Except Jia already had a good idea of that already even if she didn't want to admit it, because the truth was that she had no idea how to deal with Atlas when he was treating her with anything other than frigid disdain or cool regard. Every time he had deviated from either of those, it had blindsided her and sent her reeling.She could complain, still. She could point out that her time wasn't for sale either, especially when she didn't have much of a choice in the matter. Sure, it hadn't been a physical coercion, but he shouldn't have put her in this position in the first place if he really did mean well.Jia listened to the low drone of Atlas's voice outside the kitchen. She wished he'd stayed close so that she could eavesdrop, but it was likely that he had left the kitchen specifically to prevent that, not just out of polite courtesy. It made her blood boil. She'd known the Lees for years - years! - and he had th
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In the Shadow of the CEO Author's Note
The ending has been modified due to feedback from several readers that were unsatisfied with the ending. While I can't really say I'm proud of the cut version because it doesn't properly envison what I had in mind for the story's conclusion, I'm happy to let readers leave off the story on a thoroughly final note.As a result, I have withdrawn plans to write a sequel and will leave the story as is. But thank you all anyway for coming with me on this journey! :DFind me on facebook @ManaSolStories so that you can keep up with my other stories here on GoodNovel instead.
In the Shadow of the CEO Epilogue
Jia pushed Atlas away from herself with a furtive look around the dim rear hallway they found themselves in. "Stop that! Someone will see."But he didn't listen. With a low, rumbling chuckle in his chest, he pressed her up against the wall and nuzzled her neck, breathing her in as if he couldn't get enough of her scent. She did her best to keep from melting in his arms as they snaked around her, one around her waist and the other coming up to cup the back of her neck, but a small gasp left her lips when she felt him grind his hips against hers."The things you do to me," he whispered in her ear, and she had to bite down hard on her tongue so that she didn't let out a breathy moan and tremble against him.No, they were absolutely not doing this. They were in a restaurant. In public! At a party! The last time they had done this, they had almost gotten caught by a waiter and only barely managed to hide themselves in a tangled mess in the utility closet."Atlas -""Fine, fine," he said, an
In the Shadow of the CEO 95 - Offerings
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In the Shadow of the CEO 94 - Choices
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In the Shadow of the CEO 93 - Adjustments
"How is our new schedule working for you?"Jia pressed her knees together and looped her hands around them as she thought about how to answer. She liked this place more than she had thought she would the first time she came, and the second. It was strange how liberating it felt to be in the one place she felt the most vulnerable."I think it's good," she said. "I didn't think I'd want to be here more than I had to, but you were right. I felt a lot better this week. And I think I was more stable. Well, stronger, I guess.""That's good," Dr. Brody - or Lisa, she preferred - remarked. She smiled at Jia and settled back in her armchair. "Do you want to tell me about it?"She made herself more comfortable on the sofa as well. Their very first meeting a month and a half ago, Lisa had told her that she was free to lie down if she preferred, that the kind of therapy she conducted encouraged her to be as comfortable as she could be physically so that she could be
In the Shadow of the CEO 92 - Games
"Mr. Burhock!""Jia, so good to see you again. How are you! You look ten times more lovely than before, how is that possible? Maybe if I spin around once, it'll happen again."Mr. Burhock was his sweet, jovial self as usual as he pulled her into a hug and pounded her back a little too hard with his plump fist. He babbled on about his new grandchild and about the rigors of childproofing his house now that there would be yet another small baby running about wild. No, he wasn't his usual jovial self - he was exceedingly so, more than normal.They were meeting in the hotel lobby of the Ritz-Carlton hotel. Ava would be here in a second as well once she adjusted her makeup in the bathroom. And then they would be off to a eat a celebratory dinner, a reservation at Burhock's favorite Greek restaurant. Jia was looking forward to it for more than one reason. For one, it was the one time Atlas would be eating with them instead of working himself to death in his offic
In the Shadow of the CEO 91 - Trees and Forests
"You should come help me."Jia had allowed Ava into the outer office when the woman came knocking, not bothering to ask how she had managed to come exactly at a time when Atlas and Lydia were in one of the conference rooms on the lower floor for a meeting. Then again, those two were getting busier and busier, and nearly a third of their day was simply attending video conferences; perhaps it was a coincidence after all.She had to stop suspecting Ava just because she was jealous. And she knew that was the reason, too. She had promised herself a week ago after the conversation in Atlas's car that she would remain self-aware, that she would handle herself with integrity when it came to the other woman. This was business. This was professional....It was still hard."What can I help you with?"Her response was the right one. She knew it already, but there was a pleased glint in Ava's eye as if she were impressed that Jia hadn't come running up with her
In the Shadow of the CEO 90 - Idyllic
Itwas nearly ten. Jia had begun to wonder if perhaps he would show up at all an hour ago, a stray thought that she could feel ballooning into another episode now that she knew what to look for. Knowing the enemy made it easier to fight, so she had spent a little time reorganizing the kitchen to take her mind off of Atlas and Ava and whatever they were talking about for the past five hours.When he did show up, she didn't even answer his call. She simply toed on her sneakers and shuffled out in a hurry with the shoes only half on her feet.He was standing outside his car and leaning against the passenger door. When he saw her appear, a faint smile turned up the corners of his mouth, and he opened it so that it could slide upward to let her in. She was already in a long, worn out white T-shirt and a pair of loose training pants, both of which had seen better days and absolutely did not suit the glamor of the car or the man who owned it -Stop, she told herse
In the Shadow of the CEO 89 - Concealed
Jia blinked and stared, not entirely certain that she had heard Atlas correctly. She couldn't have. It was only because she had been thinking hard about how to approach the topic of Ava tonight that she thought she'd just heard him say the name, that was all. She tried to step around Atlas and move closer to Erica to give her a proper greet since they hadn't seen each other since this morning for a cup of coffee (and water), but when she peeked around his shoulder, she found the woman staring straight at Atlas's face instead.It hadn't occurred to her how tall Erica was until now, as she watched them square off in an apparent staring contest. Or was it because she was standing up straight and squaring her shoulders, revealing her true height instead of carrying a moderate slouch when last they had met?In fact, everything about Erica was different now. Her appearance was the same, but her eyes were sharper and colder, and the way she tilted her head slightly at A
