3

I was in the cafeteria on the ground floor next to the reception, accompanied by my great friend, Madeleine.

She was a thirty-five-year-old woman, beautiful, with a good figure and a tan complexion. Her eyes were an unusual black color, but they shone brightly.

Maddie was the secretary of the Director of Human Resources and also the girlfriend of the General Manager of this company.

On the other hand, I was the secretary to the CEO of the company, one who was arriving today.

As far as we knew, the company they worked for had more branches in other places, including Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Boston, and Detroit. Several branches were also spread across England and Europe.

The central headquarters of the company was located in Munich, Germany.

"Are you feeling better now? Joshua told me you got stuck in the elevator," Madeleine commented as she added sugar to her coffee.

"Yes, I'm better now. Thanks to the man I got stuck with, it wasn't so bad," I replied with a smile. "I thought I was going to be stuck there forever."

"Don't say that! They would have eventually rescued you. Imagine if the same thing happened to you as five years ago when you started working," Madeleine said.

"What happened five years ago?" a voice asked from behind us.

Turning around, we saw the Manager with the blond man who had helped me in the elevator.

I looked at my friend not knowing what to say. I didn't want to remember it and even less did I want anyone in the company to know what happened to me and why I was afraid of being stuck in an elevator with a man.

I turned back, ignoring one of those men's questions. I began to spread butter on my toast.

Joshua approached us, followed by the other man, and they sat down next to us. The brunette next to his girlfriend and the blond man next to me, but before sitting down, he asked.

"Can I sit or will you yell at me?"

"Do whatever you want," I said disdainfully with my eyes closed.

"Girls, I'd like you to meet Stefan Schmidt. The CEO of Verlag... and the son of Mr. Niklaus Schmidt, the owner of all the companies around the world," he introduced.

I dropped my toast onto the plate upon learning that he was my new boss.

"So, what they said was true..." Madeleine commented, "that the company president is handsome and young," she said, noticing how the blond man was looking at her.

"Oh... so you're already talking about me," Stefan said with a mischievous smile.

"Yes, and be careful that no she-wolf tries to 'hunt' you. There are many of those around here," the tan woman spoke. Her boyfriend nudged her gently. "You know it's true, Joshua," she said reluctantly.

"I know, but be more cautious with your words," the Manager advised her.

"And what brings you here?" I asked, reverting to my former self.

"I'm overseeing some branches I have abroad. I started with the one in Detroit, and now it's Seattle's turn," he replied. "Do you happen to know of any available secretaries for me while I'm here?"

"Well, no," I said calmly, picking up the toast and spreading butter on it.

"I think you will be. You'll be his new secretary, Katia," Joshua informed me.

"You promised me that..." I began to say to my friend's boyfriend.

"I know, but he's the one who requested it, so I can't refuse. I've already warned him not to try anything with you... because then I won't hesitate to risk my job to protect you. Besides, I promised Oscar before he left."

"Why would I want anything with an employee?" the German man asked, puzzled.

"Oh, for nothing," I quickly interjected before my friends said something. "Still, I can't..."

"If what you're afraid of is that I'll be one of those bosses who harass their secretaries, don't worry. I won't cross the red line that separates professional from personal territory," Stefan told me seriously, but he didn't stop showing that smile that conveyed his self-assuredness.

I closed my eyes and took a bite of the toast, revealing perfectly white teeth.

We continued conversing until we finished breakfast. I couldn't help but reply to Stefan with a brusque attitude every time he spoke to me.

When we were done, we returned to our workstations.

Throughout the day, I had to come to terms with the fact that I had to change my job. I wasn't thrilled about it, as I thought this man was just an arrogant fool, especially when I saw him leaving his office and interacting with more than half of the women in the company.

He would flash a charming smile at all of them, and that kind of behavior annoyed me. I always tried not to look when his office door opened, but I couldn't help glancing over after a second.

I really didn't like this man at all.

Around four in the afternoon, while I was in the filing room, the glass door on the right side leading to the CEO of Verlag's office opened.

I turned my head toward him but quickly averted my gaze and shook my head. I wasn't in the mood to see him. Clearly, this wasn't my day.

I sighed.

I continued searching for the file I had come for. At this moment, I wished I could go home soon to be with my little one.

"Why is it that you have a sour expression every time you see me?" Stefan asked from the doorway. "I thought after helping you in the elevator, you'd be friendlier with me."

"It's not that I'm unfriendly towards you on purpose, but I won't be friendly just because you're my boss. It's my nature and I'm not fond of men who think they can have any woman they want," I looked at him from the corner of my eye, grabbing the file I was looking for.

I exited the filing room, inspecting the contents of the folder in my hands. I sat down at my desk, placing the file on the table, and started looking through each page.

I had to insert a sheet in its corresponding place. Those sheets were organized by departure dates.

I liked what I did, and thanks to that job, I had met a lot of people, and now, without even realizing it could happen, I had more friends... and Adri, my son.

Despite what happened to me when I was twenty-two, I had always been certain that I would have him, even if I had to raise him alone.

That made me think of Oscar, my last partner.

I clenched my right hand while breathing slowly, trying not to cry. I couldn't deny that I missed him, but if I told Madeleine or Joshua, I knew they would tell me to forget about Oscar.

I snapped back to reality when I heard the door to the General Manager's office open. Joshua walked out with a smile, and when he saw me looking at him curiously, he approached the table, crouched down, and placed his hands on the table as he said to me:

"I have something to tell you."

"What is it?" I said without much excitement.

"Madeleine is picking up the kids, and we're all going to have dinner at the ShangHai Chinese Restaurant."

"To the ShangHai Restaurant?" I repeated, puzzled. "Why?"

"Madeleine said we should go, you know how she is," he grinned mischievously. "She says she's noticed you've been a bit down..."

"I'm not down. It's just that..."

"When you got stuck, you remembered what that bastard did to you, didn't you?" I had no choice but to nod. "It's true. Since then, you haven't been stuck with a man again."

"Believe me, I'm happy with Adri, and if it weren't for that, I wouldn't have him by my side now, and... well, Oscar's departure would have been tougher."

"We know that very well, but since you're not with him, it's our duty to take care of you and your son. Plus, Adri is good friends with Madeleine," he said with a smile.

"They're together all day!" We both laughed.

"Finish up with that and go home to change. We have a long night ahead with those two troublemakers," he commented playfully.

"That's what I'll do," I smiled.

"That's the spirit. We'll pick you up at eight."

"Oh, I forgot to mention that Adri won't be home. I'll pick him up at five," I told him.

"Alright. We'll swing by at eight for you guys," Joshua informed me.

I nodded as I smiled. Joshua got up, also smiling, and left. I continued with what I was doing until my boss's brief visit.

***

O/N:

Unbeknownst to either of them, Stefan had overheard everything from the door of the filing room.

He had cracked the door open to continue watching the young woman sitting at the table in front of the General Manager's office. Now, he was even more curious to know what had happened.

He opened the door a little wider and gazed at her intently. Something inside him told him that this girl wasn't like all the others he had encountered.

He decided to return to his office and leave her be. Even though he was going to try to capture her attention, he felt a need to protect her.

It was the first time he had ever felt something like that.

He smiled half-heartedly, taking a seat in his black leather chair and started searching for something on the internet. He didn't know why he couldn't stop thinking about her, especially the face he had seen that morning.

That face had become imprinted in his mind.

He rested his arm on the table and propped his chin on his hand, not taking his eyes off the screen.