Chapter 197
Chapter 197
Mia finally walked into the building, her hands.
She could hear the faint hum of conversations from people walking in and out, and the clicking sound of high heels.
Clutching the small bag hanging from her shoulder, she went straight to the reception desk.
She could feel her pulse pounding against her ribs as she took out the ID she had been given yesterday. Her fingers fumbled a little with it before she placed it in front of the receptionist.
The receptionist glanced at the ID, then looked up at her with a polite, almost practiced smile. Without much expression, she picked up the phone and made a quick call.
“Yes, she’s here,” the receptionist said softly into the phone, her eyes flicking to Mia briefly before she nodded to whatever the person on the other end
said.
Hanging up, the receptionist gestured toward the elevators. “Go to the fifteenth floor. Someone there will assign you a desk.”
Mia nodded quickly. “Thank you.” Her voice sounded smaller than she wanted it to, but she was too nervous to care.
The elevator ride up to the fifteenth floor was quiet. She stared at the glowing numbers above the door, her stomach tightening with each passing floor. By the time the doors slid open, she had to take a deep breath before stepping out.
The fifteenth floor was bright, busy, and full of people working at sleek desks. She barely had time to take it all in before a tall man in a dark blue shirt and grey tie approached her.
It was Mr Felix….
“Hello Mr Felix ”
“Hello, good to see you. Come with me,” he said, turning toward the elevators again.
She blinked in confusion. “Oh… we’re not staying here?”
“No, Your actual department is upstairs,” he explained, leading the way.
Mia followed, trying to match his pace without looking too flustered. When they stepped into the elevator together, the air suddenly felt smaller, heavier.
The ride was awkward from the start.
She stood with her hands clasped in front of her, staring at the elevator buttons and watching the numbers light up slowly.
Mr. Felix stood beside her, tall and composed, and every now and then she could feel his eyes flick to her.
The thought that this man might be interested in her, it wasn’t a fact, just a suspicion..was making her heart beat faster for all the wrong reasons.
She didn’t know what to say. She didn’t want to say the wrong thing either. Her mind was already a mess of thoughts about her first day, the thought of
Alex, and now… this.
“Congratulations again,” Mr. Felix said suddenly, breaking the silence.
Mia nodded quickly. “Thank you,” she said softly, her eyes darting away almost instantly. She couldn’t bring herself to hold his gaze for too long.
“We are still yet to celebrate,” he added with a small smile. “Let’s have dinner tonight.”
Mia froze.
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Her brain didn’t catch up immediately. She blinked, as if she wasn’t sure she’d heard him correctly. Dinner? With him?
Her fingers tightened around the strap of her bag. A quiet panic began to creep through her chest.
She could already feel herself malfunctioning, trying to come up with excuses.
But every excuse she thought of sounded either too obvious or too rude. She didn’t want to offend him. After all, this man had been the one who got has an interview spot in the first place. Without him, she wouldn’t even be standing here right now.
The last thing she wanted was to start her first day by offending a senior staff member.
But she couldn’t just say yes either. She wasn’t interested in whatever this man might want in the future. She didn’t want to give him the wrong idea,
She swallowed hard, her throat dry, but before she could find her words, her silence seemed to speak for her.
Mr. Felix took her lack of response as an agreement. His smile widened, confident.
“I’ll pick you up by seven,” he said, his tone final, like there was no question about it anymore.
“What-“The word slipped out before she could stop herself. Her eyes widened slightly, but at that exact moment, the elevator gave a soft ding
The doors slid open, and she instantly clamped her mouth shut.
They showed her to her new desk.
Mia tried to focus on breathing normally, reminding herself why she had to come back here.
Mr. Cruz, the assistant director of the marketing department, walked beside her, his voice smooth but quick. “Miss Turner, this will be your desk,” he said, stopping at a small cubicle tucked between two taller ones. “You’ll find the essentials in the drawers.”
“Miss Rivers is fine sir” Mia corrects, she doesn’t want that name to spread around here, certainly not when she’s trying to stay low key here until she
leaves
She really should have gotten rid of that name.
Mr Cruz nods, acknowledging her name correction
And… here’s your team. He turned, gesturing toward a group of people sitting close by. They all looked up for a moment–some with polite smiles, others with eyes that barely registered her existence.
“This is Mia, our new staff member,” Mr. Cruz introduced.
Mia bowed politely, her hands gripping each other to stop them from trembling. “Nice to meet you. I’m Mia,” she said softly, her voice barely above the sound of the clicking keyboards.
A couple of them nodded in acknowledgment. One gave her a faint smile before turning back to their screen. That was it. No warm welcomes, no small
talk.
Mr. Cruz gave her a short nod and moved on to whatever awaited him next. Mia was left standing there for a second, feeling like a piece of misplaced
furniture.
One of the women nearest to her tilted her head toward the desk. “That’s yours. You’ll figure things out as you go.”
Mia forced a smile and sat down. She adjusted her chair, put her bag on the floor, and ran her hand across the desk as if making sure it was real. Her heart was still beating too fast. She begged her nerves to calm down, telling herself she was going to be fine.
Before she could even settle in properly, a loud thud made her flinch. A thick stack of files landed on her desk, nearly sliding to the floor. She blinked at
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them, confused.
“Sort these out,” a man from the next cubicle said without looking at her, his fone more like a command than a request.
Then another file landed on top of that stack. And then another. Soon, it was like her desk was turning into a storage shelf.
Mia stared at the growing pile. These weren’t hers. She could tell by the labels–they were part of ongoing projects she had never seen before.
Her chest tightened, but she forced a small smile. Maybe this is just how they welcome new people, she thought. You know… test you. See if you can handle pressure.
So she didn’t complain. She rolled up her sleeves and started working on them. Her fingers moved quickly, flipping through papers, scanning, sorting and making neat stacks.
It wasn’t easy, especially since she had to figure out where everything went without asking too many questions. She didn’t want to seem incapable on her first day.
By the time she’d gotten halfway through the pile, her back was starting to ache from sitting stiffly, but she kept going. She decided that from tomorrow, she was only going to focus on her actual tasks. She couldn’t start her career doing everyone else’s work–it wasn’t fair.
She checked the time on her phone and frowned. It was later than she thought, and she wouldn’t make it in time to pick up Aiden from school. Her chest tightened again, this time with guilt. She had promised him she would pick him up.
Biting her lip, she pulled out her phone and called her brother. The line connected after two rings.
“Hey, can you pick up Aiden for me?”
“Sure”
“Thank you ”
Before the question could start pouring in from his brother, she drops the call.
Mia let out a breath of relief and guilt mixed together. She hated having to rely on him so much, but she didn’t have a choice right now.
She set her phone down and dove back into the files, determined to at least finish the pile before going home. She told herself that if she could just get through this first day, tomorrow would be easier.
The office had started to quiet down now. People were packing their bags, shutting off their computers, and saying quick goodbyes to each other.
Chairs rolled back, footsteps echoed, and the sound of laughter drifted from the hallway.
Mia stayed buried in her work, pretending not to notice everyone leaving.
She checked the time again and sighed heavily. Just a few more files left. If only time would slow down for her. But instead, it seems the minutes were slipping away too quickly.
Her eyes burned from staring at documents for too long. She rubbed them with the heel of her palm, telling herself not to think about how tired she already was.
She was so lost in what she was doing..that she didn’t hear the approaching footsteps.
It wasn’t until a voice broke the silence that she froze.
“What are you doing?”
Startled, Mia’s heart jumped. She turned sharply in her seat, her eyes wide. In her panic, she pushed her chair back too fast, almost hitting the desk
behind her.
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She stood up immediately, her hands instinctively smoothing her skirt. Then she bowed. “Good evening, ma’am..
Her voice came out too soft, almost shaky.
It was the same woman who had conducted her final interview. The woman who gave her this job
Mrs. Lowell? Felix had said earlier
Wait….
Lowell?
Alexander Lowell..
No…
Oh god!
