Chapter 2

The architectural structure of EliteCorp was nothing short of divine. From the outside, it was shaped like a giant seashell standing with its butt in the air. Elena wondered what engineer was behind this queer design.

Inside, the walls were pure white and looked as if they were coated with bioluminescence paint because they reflected the white lights so brilliantly Elena hankered to touch them. But she must not. She must be on her best behavior and impress Mr. Liam. She must not 'mess' things up.

She made sure to greet the staff members who walked past her. They had a professional-looking frown etched permanently on their faces. She greeted them because Mr. Liam might have sent them to test just how polite and decorous she was. She was pleased with herself for passing this one test. The man leading him didn’t say a word to her as they got into an elevator. 

"Was he angry? Had she somehow failed his test?" She panicked.

The elevator stopped on the 25th floor, which was the second to the last. Immediately after they stepped out of the elevator, the man turned to her.

“Sorry to not have mentioned; my name is Clinton. I am the human resources manager, and you are?” He asked courteously as he extended his hand for a handshake.

“Elena. Elena Cooper,” she said, shaking Clinton's hand and praying her voice didn’t sound hoarse.

“Welcome to EliteCorp,” Clinton said as a thin smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

“Thank you, sir.”

“I am not the sir. He is.”

Elena wanted to ask a question when Clinton stood aside with a theatrical flourish to reveal a man standing by a door, hands in his pocket. 

Elena blinked rapidly. The man before her looked like an AI-generated image. His black hair shone like a slab of black jelly had been wasted on it. His jawline was finely cut, and he seemed to enjoy clamping his teeth together for no reason at all, making the sides of his jaws pulsate. His stubble was unshaven, which didn’t do anything to reduce his handsome features. Elena didn’t want to look at his eyes. She feared what she might find in there.

“Good morning, sir,” she said, focusing on one of the oval buttons of his blue suit.

“You are Elena Corper?” he asked. Jeez, this was the moment Elena thought that she'd drool. His baritone voice rang like soothing music in the ear

“Yes, sir. No, sir,” Elena stuttered as she jolted out of her reverie.

He raised one of his eyebrows, drawing Elena to his eyes. Shit. They were brown, almost golden. She looked away instantly.

“What is it?” he asked.

“It’s Cooper, not Corper. Elena Ku-pa.”

“Why did you say yes at first?”

“I didn’t hear you well.”

“You are not a disorganized one, are you?” he asked, tilting his head to the side and raising his eyebrows.

“No, sir. I assure you I am not in any way disorganized. I am very confident in my level of organization. It may not be perfect, but I don’t leave my tracks uncovered," Elena spluttered. 

Shit! That was a lot of words.

Those were her father’s lines. He gave them to her as they drove in the car. “Make yourself appear perfect while trying vehemently not to sound perfect,” he had told her.

“I like challenges,” Liam said. “And I am willing to go into one now. With you.”

“Sir?” Elena could feel her eyes bulge in surprise. She wasn't expecting a surprise test.

“I am going to give you a few tests and ask a few questions which are geared towards finding how organized you claim to be. I’m sure you know why you’re here. A secretarial job is one of the most delicate jobs in the world. So, if I sense any iota of disheveled disposition, you wouldn’t enjoy what would follow.”

He was smiling now. What the hell was funny about what he just said? Didn’t he notice that he was effortlessly making her dizzy with fear?

“I will give it my best try, sir.”

“I don’t believe in personal bests; I worship perfect production. Anything less than that goes down the devil’s trashcan. Come in, please.”

Elena’s emotional turmoil didn’t let her appreciate the beauty of the office. Her mind was occupied by Mr. Liam’s words. And as the seconds got older, she believed less and less of herself. A man who told her upfront that he worshiped perfection. How could she possibly please him?

He settled in across her in his chair and motioned for her to sit, too.

“How fast can you type?” was his first question.

“I have an average of 50 words per minute.”

She didn’t expect him to be impressed, but he raised his brow again. That smug face trick that he must think made him look like a demigod god. Was that an expression of surprise? 

“Here.” He said, pushing the laptop in front of him to her. “I want you to type as I dictate. I want to send a response to one of our clients who thinks he can treat us as his father treated his mother.”

Elena was stunned by this spontaneous interview. Was this even an interview at all? She turned the laptop towards her. It requested a password.

“Sir...” she called out, pointing at the screen of the laptop.

“All girls are bitches," Liam said casually as he crossed his legs.

“What?”

“That’s the password. No spaces.”

“Oh.” Just great. She felt his eyes on her as she typed in the weird password. He wanted to see her reaction but he had no idea how pretentiously expressionless Elena could be.

“Ready?” he said, sitting up.

“Yes, sir.” But she wasn’t. The damn MS Word had decided just then to take longer than usual to open.

“Dear Mr. Philips,” Liam started while Elena was still staring at the computer, fingers hanging, waiting for the software. Finally, it opened before Liam moved to the next sentence.

Elena started a furious punch at the keyboard. She was familiar with speed typing. Mr. Liam didn't know whom he was up against. As they progressed, she was always done a second or two after Liam finished a sentence. Once, she caught him beaming at her, as he asked in amazement, “Are you done with that sentence already?”

The interview was abruptly interrupted when a message dropped on his phone. He quickly stood up from his seat and walked to where Elena sat, his eyes scanning the screen of the laptop for any errors. Elena could feel Liam's warm breath against her face as his cologne assaulted her nostrils. Her heart raced wildly as she held her breath and waited for Liam's judgment.

After what felt like an eternity, Liam spoke again, his words were void of any form of emotions. “This is good. You know what?”

“Sir?” Elena said, blinking erratically.

“Report back to Mr. Clinton. He'll give you a rundown of the prerequisites. Resume work tomorrow morning.” He stood and pushed his chair back. “You are hired.”

Without sparing Elena another glance, he walked out of the office. Elena heaved a sigh of relief as a mixture of panic and joy coursed through her body.

Almost immediately, Mr. Clinton walked into the office, his face beaming with a smile.

"Congratulations, Miss Cooper," he told her. "Only one out of hundreds pass Mr. Liam's interviews. He has left behind a battalion of broken interviewees."

She smiled nervously and followed him to his office. There, he gave her a booklet containing 'rules which must be kept'. It was prepared by Liam.

“I must warn you, my dear,” Mr. Clinton said, his eyes earnest and caring. “You must do everything in your power to maintain this position. I think I like you already. You must not answer harshly when he shouts at you. Don't even think about it. Liam has a lot of connections with law firms in America, and he loves suing anyone who gets on his bad books. I'm sorry it's coming out this way, but you have to be prepared. You must be ready at all times to answer his call. It could be anytime. 24/7.”

Then he smiled. “But he is very generous. I look forward to working with you.”

“Thank you very much, sir,” Elena said as she flashed Clinton a half-hearted smile.

*******

It's been a month since Elena began working as Liam's secretary in EliteCorp and every day she's spent in her workplace has been a definition of hell. Elena found herself caught in a relentless cycle of demeaning tasks at the hands of her boss, Liam Hemsworth. 

Each day, she would arrive at EliteCorp only to be greeted by his harsh treatment. Liam took delight in exploiting his position of power, subjecting Elena to menial duties that far exceeded her role as a secretary.

He would dismissively send her on coffee runs, insisting on the exact specifications of his preferred blend, as if her time and skills were useless. To Elena's dismay, Liam even crossed personal boundaries, involving her in his romantic escapades. 

He would casually ask Elena to go shopping for his numerous girlfriends, sending her on errands to find the perfect gifts or arrange surprise outings. She became a pawn in his games of romance, tasked with selecting flowers and making reservations for intimate dinners.

On a particular day, Liam called her into 

his office and gave her a ribboned gift and an address written on a card.

“Send this to this address and tell her I love her so much,” he said, unsmiling.

Elena didn't see that coming. She turned and was about to leave when Liam shouted, “Have I told you to go yet?”

“No, sir. I'm very sorry,” Elena apologized, bowing slightly.

“You must be out of your mind,” Liam cursed under his breath. He drew out a heavy pink envelope from his drawer. It contained wads of cash. A lot of it.

“There's an address on the cover. Send it to her and tell her she's the only one I think of. Then ask if she'd be free tonight,” He added.

Elena could barely stand. She stood there until he gave her two more gifts for different girls, with different messages. She feared she might mix it up.

After hours of these torturous deliveries, Elena could barely stand. She headed home, as the scenes of the girls replayed in her head. Her Boss' girlfriends all had one thing in common– pretty as hell with flawless porcelain skin and they all asked similar questions when they received the delivery 

“Are you the new work chick with some stupid hopes?” They would ask as they sized Elena up. Elena would simply nod and hand over the gifts. Now she understands why Liam's former secretary went AWOL.

After the exhausting day, Elena crashed into bed without taking off her clothes. Her heavy, tired eyes closed immediately.

But her moment of peace was briefly interrupted when her phone rang loudly, jolting her out of her reverie. She stretched her hand to the nightstand and took her phone. The caller ID showed it was Liam calling.

Why on earth was he calling her?

“Sir?” she said as she picked up the call and placed the phone on her left ear.

“Elena, check your email. I sent you an address. Meet me there in fifteen.”

Without another word, he hung up.

Was it morning already? She checked her phone. The time was 11:57 p.m. 

"Was this some kind of joke? Maybe he made a mistake" She thought to herself as she dialed Liam's number. On the third ring, he picked up.

His voice was brash on the phone. “Hello, are you there? Did you come in a cab? Give me a sec, I'm coming out.”

Elena lost all her courage to question the strange summon. She slowly put down the phone, shuffled to the door, and sneaked out of the house. 

The night cold whipped hard against her skin as hugged herself in a bid to get warm while her eyes darted left and right in hopes of finding a taxi by that time of the night.

Luckily, she found a cab and gave the driver the address. Elena heaved a sigh of relief as she settled into the backseat of the cab, the warm interior and the faint scent of worn-out leather brought a brief relief to her senses.

“You going to have some heavy fun tonight?” the driver laughed as he studied Elena's face through the rear mirror.

Elena wasn't interested in having small talk with a stranger so she ignored him. 

She didn't realize the reason behind the driver's statement until he stopped in front of a clubhouse. Loud music reverberated out of the club. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and leaned forward.

“Why are we stopping here?” she asked the driver, her voice hoarse.

“Hell, what's that game for?” the driver spat out angrily. “Get the hell out of my car. There's your address, you cheeky stripper.”