Chapter 1: Miserable Life

Chapter 1: Miserable Life

Alena Fleur

My life was miserable. 

I thought my life would be perfect once I got promoted and got my dream job. But boy, was I wrong. Now I know why the previous COO left his job. The paycheck was nice, but not the CEO.

The entire floor had a waiting lounge, a reception where an assistant was present, and a familiar cabin of my boss, Elian Storm.

“Sir can meet you now, Ms. Fleur,” said Elian’s assistant, Rowan Dansen after I waited for ten minutes.

I gave him a curt nod and walked straight to Elian’s cabin, letting my stilettos stomp after me. The sensor glass door opened automatically.

Sucking in a deep breath to calm my temper, I went inside.

Elian was leaning back against his chair, while his eyes were glued to the screen of his laptop.

“Good morning, Mr. Storm,” I greeted in a professional tone. 

Elian instantly looked up at me. “Good morning, Ms. Fleur.” He got up from his chair to walk towards his coffee machine while I remained standing at one spot. “It’s been a week since you have been promoted. However, unfortunately, you have not yet managed to bag the deal with Drake Firearms."

I was offended by his words. I had been working in Storm Dynamics, one of the best armament companies in the country, for two years. But I had only been an unnoticeable employee who was climbing the ranks slowly until a week ago. 

“I hope you are not doubting my ability, Mr. Storm,” I said, remaining polite.

Elian shook his head. “No, I am doubting my choice, Ms. Fleur.”

“Well, then, let me clear your doubts,” I said confidently, looking straight into his green eyes.

“Trust me, nothing would make me happier.” 

I cleared my throat and presented, “Here’s the contract Mr. Drake sent me back this morning, Mr. Storm.” I handed him a gray-colored file and went back to standing four feet away from him. “You can see, he agreed to our conditions and is ready to do business with us for the next three years.”

He furrowed his brows in confusion. “How can this be possible? When we talked yesterday over the phone, he was still adamant on not agreeing to this deal—”

“But that was yesterday. It's a new day now, and Mr. Drake has agreed to the deal. You don't have to worry about how that came to be possible. You just sign the papers, and I will send it to our contract manager to finalize it.”

“If you had already bagged the deal, did you have to wait until late afternoon to let me know?”

"Because I wanted to let you know that I have prepared the first shipment they asked for and it will be delivered to them this evening."

He looked at me in surprise. "I thought that was impossible to arrange in such a short time."

"Yes, that's why I divided the order into two parts to make it possible."

"You had this plan in your head all this time and didn't tell me?" he asked.

"You never asked. Plus, I thought it would be a nice surprise for you."

A small smile took over his lips all of a sudden. “Of course, I should have known. You saved the best news for the last.”

I was confused by his words. Indeed, I always kept the best for the last. But that was something he shouldn't know. Or, maybe he assessed me too well during my promotion interview.

“Anyway, I hope you don’t regret your choice anymore, Mr. Storm.”

“Well, only time can say,” Elian said as he picked up the two mugs he filled with coffee. While walking towards me, he continued, “No one knows the future, right, Ms. Fleur?”

“Right, of course,” I agreed.

“Anyway, here’s your espresso. You will need it for the rest of the day,” he said, handing me one of the mugs in his hand. When I stared at the coffee, he elaborated, “I'm pretty sure you didn't catch a blink of sleep, considering you rushed to prepare the first shipment to Drake Firearms.”

I gave him a small smile and took the mug from his hand. “Thank you, Mr. Storm.”

“Have a seat,” he instructed, sitting down on one of the single couches in his cabin. 

I sat on the couch adjacent to him and took a sip of my drink. “Thank you so much for this. I can’t survive without an espresso even for a day. My morning starts with this, but this morning, I had to run to get the papers signed by Mr. Drake.”

“I know,” as soon as he murmured that, my head snapped in his direction. 

What did he mean by he knew?

As if he could hear my thoughts, he explained, “I mean, I know that most of my employees survive on caffeine, otherwise, they all would be dozing off on their desks and I would be punishing them all with overtime.”

Elian had strict rules to punish employees with overtime if they slept during work hours or couldn’t meet the deadlines. Though, they would get paid for the overtime as well. But I hated working overtime.

“Yes, employees sleeping in the office are one of your biggest pet peeves,” I muttered while sipping my coffee, only to realize a second later just what I had blurted out.

“Is that right, Ms. Fleur?” The way he glared at me sent shivers down my spine.

“Um, I meant to say that it's very admirable of you to let us have two coffee makers on every floor. We employees are so thankful,” I hurriedly corrected.

Elian rolled his eyes and continued to enjoy his espresso.

We stayed silent after that, and I liked the quietness between us. It was the first time I was in his cabin as a COO. When I was a normal employee, I only came to his cabin to deliver files and used to leave without any extra words. He used to never look at me back then.

“By the way, Mr. Storm,” I started speaking, “You haven't signed the contract yet.” I glanced at the file that he had set aside. 

“Well, you convinced Mr. Drake, bagged the deal, and readied the first shipment—your job is done. Whenever I sign the contract, it's none of your business,” he stated.

“But don't I deserve to see you sign it when I worked so hard to get this deal? What’s the point of me pulling all-nighters for this?” I couldn’t help but question him. I wouldn't have normally lost my temper, but after losing so much of my sleep, I just couldn't take it. I thought I would see the end of my first project myself as the COO.

“Like I said, Ms. Fleur, it's none of your business. It was your job to get this done, and you only accomplished that. It's not like you're doing me any favors. You’re getting paid for it,” he said sharply.

I gritted my teeth at his behavior. How would I survive by working with this jerk? He was so… annoying! Why couldn't he just sign it in front of me and be done with it?

I took a sharp breath and said with a tight-lipped smile, "You're right, Mr. Storm. Anyway, I should get going now. Thank you for the coffee." With that, I got up from the couch and walked out of his cabin, pushing a few strands of my ginger hair behind my ear.

My bun was really messy today because I barely got any time to get ready. I stayed up all night to make sure the first shipment was ready, otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to convince Mr. Drake, and if I couldn't convince him, Elian would have gotten the chance to make me work overtime and I hated midnight work. Getting the shipment ready before the contract signing was a big gamble, but phew, it was working at least.

When I was near my cabin on the floor below Elian's, I found my assistant, Anya Aled, to be a crying mess. She was sitting in front of my cabin door with her chair—she would do that every time she was having a bad day. Her desk was near my cabin, so she would just pull the chair and sit in front of the door until I asked her what had happened.

"Anya," I called out to her, and she looked up at me with her teary light brown eyes. "What happened, Anya?" She was the only person in the office whom I called by the first name. After all, everyone called their assistants by first names.

“I need a leave for the day, Ms. Fleur, but no one wants to be my replacement,” Anya mumbled sadly. Her face was pale and her eyes seemed like she couldn't focus; she really seemed sick.

“You don’t need to give me a replacement for the rest of the day. I will manage,” I told her. “Go home.”

"Really?" Her eyes lightened up in excitement.

“Yes.”

“You are the best boss, Ms. Fleur.” Anya gave me a small hug and started packing her belongings from her desk. 

I entered my cabin and heaved a sigh of relief when I saw that I still had two hours before my meeting. Mr. Drake was going to come and we would talk over a few things.

I could easily take an hour's nap before the meeting. Drinking espresso didn't help since my eyelids were literally drooping heavily. What if Elian caught me napping? He would kill me. 

I sat on my chair straight and started to compile the weekly financial report I had to submit to Elian tomorrow. I tried my heart and soul to keep my eyes open, but in the end, I gave up.

###

I jolted up when a glass of water landed on my face. 

I realized with horror that I was sleeping with my head on my desk. 

“Ms. Fleur.” My heart leaped out of my chest as soon as I heard that familiar cold voice. My worst fear came true.

I stood up in reflex and looked at the person standing near my desk. His hands were in the pocket of his dark green suit, and he looked like my impending doom. "Elian," I let out, gulping in fear. 

Elian’s eyes, which usually held no emotions at all, glinted a little. Why was he looking at me like that?

Oh, shit. I called him by his first name. But why did I feel it wasn’t the first time I was calling him by his first name? It oddly felt nice to say it out loud. Fuck, that's not what I should be thinking right now.

“I mean, Mr. Storm…” I corrected myself.

I was afraid my white shirt would turn red because I would be bleeding to death now. The scary glare Elian was giving me; I bet he was already stabbing me in his mind. 

“I am sorry, I fell asleep, and I—”

"Ms. Fleur, I shall drop you home after you work overtime tonight," he simply declared, pure calmness lingering in his tone as if he just offered me candies on Halloween. “It’s time for the meeting now. Come.”

I mentally groaned. 

I really had a miserable life.