Slave to my Billionaire Boss

Chapter 1

Zenith did not know how she was supposed to keep her calm when she had been kept waiting for about an hour for the interview. She had known when she had heard rumours about the man who was going to take the interview that he was nothing but a stone cold bastard, ruthless in his decisions and had impeccable choices. Right now, it was becoming difficult for her to keep her temper in check.

“Ms. Zenith Smith?” someone asked her as she looked up to look at a smiling face of an older woman.

“Yes, that’ll be me,” she replied with a smile.

“Well fortunately Mr. Rothschild has been able to clear off about fifteen minutes from his busy schedule and would like to take the interview now. Please follow me,” said the woman as she started striding forward towards the elevator without once looking back. Zenith sighed in relief and followed the woman in equally steady steps. She was a tall woman, taller than usual which is the reason she could wear comfortable shoes with smaller heels. So walking fast did not bother her at all.

The two women entered the elevator and the older one pushed the button for the top floor. Zenith gulped once because she had a mild acrophobia but then it would be all enclosed and there was nothing to fear. And like her doctor had said, it was all in the mind. The ride upwards was smooth and soundless and they both came out together and Zenith followed this woman towards the most beautiful office she had seen in her entire life.

She had absolutely no idea that any office could ever look like this at all. Certainly, the one who was behind it had left no expenses to get it done like he had wanted it to be. Now all that was left was to meet the man who had claimed this space as his own. The moment Zenith stepped in the office, she felt an immense burst of energy being blasted off towards her. Like it was screaming at her from the walls and from every single direction. The man who resided in this pace was a man of great strength and boundless energy, that she could feel very strongly.

“Ms. Smith, please be seated. I think Mr. Rothschild will be here with you shortly,” said the older woman as she left the room smiling at her.

Zenith sighed. This waiting seemed to be endless but she always believed what her Mama had taught her. It is those who wait, are the ones who get the sweetest reward. She had been gaining experience since the last five years solely based on her merit and she had no bad experiences in her work life. There had been advances, yes but she had nipped them in the bud very strongly. She might be a Catholic girl but getting raised amongst three brothers and that too in Texas, meant that you needed to be tough too. It had taken a long time to sweep away that Southern drawl from her accent and also her Southern habits. But she did not understand why it mattered to every single company that they wanted someone who would forget their own identity and shape themselves and mould themselves in the way that their boss wanted. Zenith understood from the very beginning that if she wanted to break the glass ceiling and fulfill her dreams she had play by the rules of men. The cry of gender equality was nothing else but a hoax and she had realized that long back. She could hear some noise from the other side of the door which she could see.

Zenith took in a deep breath and steeled her nerves to meet the man who had kept her waiting so long for just an interview.

But the one who opened the door was not at all someone whom she was expecting. It was a woman wearing a gray pencil skirt and a white blouse and she was still buttoning up the buttons of her shirt. She had been wearing a soft matte pink colour on her lips earlier, that much was visible but nothing more. The woman looked up at Zenith and smiled as if she were nothing and had already won what she had wanted.

“I would not be waiting if I were you, you know!!” said the woman as she finished dressing up and took the bag which was kept on the couch.

“Thankfully, I am not you,” said Zenith with a tight-lipped smile. The woman glared at her and was about to retort but the door opened once again and a man came out fully dressed except the fact that his tie was a bit loosened, probably for comfort.

“So Veronica, it was great meeting you. I have a meeting now, as you can see, if you will excuse me,” said the man as he showed her the way out of his office. Veronica’s face immediately reddened up in anger but she did not say anything at all.

“It was lovely making your acquaintance Orlando, and that too in such a manner. I am going to cherish this forever probably,” said the woman named Veronica as she tried to kiss his lips but Orlando Rothschild turned away his face so her lips landed on his cheek which she was not expecting at all. Zenith could just hear their voices and not see their faces since she had long turned her eyes towards the skyline which could be seen from the glass enclosure beyond his office. It was a marvelous view, and she would say that despite her titillating fear.

Zenith could hear the clicking sound of the heels of the woman walking away and she stood up from her seat.

“Good afternoon Mr. Rothschild,” Zenith said as she looked at the man properly for the first time. He had the kind of face which could stop you dead in his tracks, and a body as sinful as Lust itself. Probably he was used to the sudden pause in a person’s natural expression when they came to talk to him and then followed by overcompensating nonchalant gaze and a weak smile. When it came to women, of course the blush that followed the gaze was a dead-give away but none of that happened with Zenith. His face was perfectly symmetrical and his body was slim and muscular which was not at all covered by his clothes.

“Afternoon…take the seat..no need to stand,” said Orlando as he did not look at Zenith more than a glance. Zenith sat back on the chair as the man to the opposite of her sat down as well. There was a file kept on the table before which he picked up and started reading. Zenith could not understand what was happening, if he was deliberately ignoring her or he did not even know that he was supposed to take an interview. With men with sense of entitlement like this, anything at all was possible but Zenith kept her calm. She knew that she would not rise up to the bait so easily.

“So it seems that you have an extensive work experience Ms. Smith…Zenith Smith, is that correct?” asked the man as he looked at her with his hard cold piercing blue eyes. His gaze reminded Zenith of the cold Arctic winters which could freeze you in minutes from within.

“I would like to think so Sir,” said Zenith as she stopped herself hard from grinding her teeth in anger.

“You would like to think??? Ahh!! Why so?? Don’t you know that for sure? If you are experienced or not??” came the next question with a slight change in his gaze. It was hard to say if it was mirth or not.

“I know that I have experience working in three different companies Sir. As I have mentioned in my resume, but that does not mean that I have achievements like yours which I can boast about. I was taught that humility is one of the virtues which a person should practice no matter how much she rises in life,” said Zenith as she looked in his eyes, hard and unyielding. Orlando Rothschild did not say anything at all but gazed at her in a strange manner.

“Why did you decide to take such a course of job, as assistant or secretary rather than pursuing a serious career in any literary house? Your grades are perfectly good for any house to snatch you up. And moreover why pursue a career at all?” asked Orlando, with the expression of a slight sneer playing on his lips and Zenith had this strange feeling of getting up and slapping him senseless. But she had been too long in the game to destroy her reputation.

“Literature was what I loved, it was my passion and I pursued that. However I came to see from early on that there are very few writers who make it to the top of the grind and working as a secretary in a mill-house to the owner, as a summer intern was what paid the bills. And I found that I was pretty good at it. That is what made me change my career choice. And I never felt that keeping house for a man who was not up to my standards, bearing his children, and being forced to stay in something which I was not good at would never be my choice. Pursuing a career was important for me because the alternative to this, was not something I liked and the future prospects of the other route seemed pretty bleak,” said Zenith with a composed manner.

“Honesty…you speak as if you have seen pretty bad things while you were young which is the reason of your such thoughts on marriage. Is that so?” asked Orlando with his brow raised at her.

“I thought that I was here for the interview for the position of your assistant Mr. Rothschild. How does it matter what I have seen in my childhood which has made me bitter towards marriage or not? My personal life and my work life are absolutely separate and I keep them separate,” said Zenith without losing her nerve for a single moment.

“Still then, I am curious. Would you not entertain one such question of mine?” asked Orlando, the sneer back on his lips.

“Well, I am pretty certain Mr. Rothschild, you have been entertained more than enough for one afternoon by my predecessor who was pretty pleased to make your acquaintance. Therefore I don’t think that my lack of answering one of your questions, which is way out of the track from the interview and intrusive is going to hamper that,” said Zenith with a sugary sweet smile dripping from her lips. She could very well see Orlando’s eyes darkening at her reply. He slammed the file on the table and walked up towards her making her feel cornered.

He bent towards her and placed both his hands on the arm-rests of her chair and spoke in a low whisper,” What all do you know about entertainment and pleasure, Little Girl?”

There was a strange feeling which was pooling in the pit of her stomach. It was this weird sensation which she had not felt in a pretty long time but she knew that she could not back down now that he had cornered her in this manner.

“I know more than enough to understand that this is not something I have envisioned my life or career to be. A quickie at lunch, or being bent over the copier machine, the rumours floating behind your back that she is the office slut…that is something I have stayed away from and I shall keep it that way, even if it means that I have to say no to this job. And Mr. Rothschild, you are violating my personal space, so unless you have something more to know, I would like to take your leave,” said Zenith as her green eyes flashed back at him in icy disdain.