Her Corporate Takedown: Entangled with a Billionaire

*CHAPTER 20: HIGHLY COMPATIBLE*

The words on the screen didn't register for a full minute. It said I was compatible with the Master code. That means I won't be forced to give up on a relationship with Andrei. I can't afford to let him see how happy I am right now, but I don't think I did a good job of hiding it.

The next thing I knew, Andrei had shot down any future attempts by Ari to meddle in his love affairs. But then she rejected his rejection before bitterly storming out of the room. I wondered why he didn't say anything in response. Was it okay to leave it at that?

This was the craziest week of my life. Everything has changed since I met Andrei on Friday night last week. It scared me to think that this was only the beginning, but if I hadn't met Andrei, I would probably have thought about Daniel and drowned in regret and sorrow about that old relationship. Since I left my old life behind, I have barely thought about Daniel at all.

The person who busted into my life and occupied my mind and heart ever since was the man sitting before me. But even still, I couldn't muster the courage to tell him how I felt. There was something clouding my decisiveness to enter a new relationship, but I felt that if I got my revenge, then this fog would disappear and I could move on.

Andrei sat down again and slumped back onto the sofa, relieved of all tension. Then, I saw a broad smile appear and he covered his face with his hand before leaning forward. He sat forward for a while with his hand on his forehead blocking the rest of his face. Before I could call out to him, he removed his hand and sat up to face me while still smiling.

'He's just been smiling this whole time. Could this be a delayed reaction to the test result?'

"I'm so glad," he said. "I was fretting the entire week about the test result."

'So, he was happy after all.' His smile was contagious and I couldn't help but smile as well.

"Shall we celebrate?" He reached inside the bag beside him, took out two plastic containers and gave one to me. I opened it to find sushi inside! When did he get this? And why sushi? Not that I mind, since I love sushi.

"Your last memory of eating sushi was in a state of depression. This memory will be one of celebration…with me," he said in reply.

"Celebration? Aren't you the only one celebrating here?" I asked while chowing down the delicious sushi rolls. "If I didn't have compatibility with the Master code, I would finally be free of you and your courtship attempts."

"So you're not happy with the results?" he asked.

"I don't feel any way in particular," I replied, hoping that my voice wasn't shaking.

'You can't even say that with a straight face,' he thought.

Andrei just laughed and continued chowing down on his delicious sushi rolls while ignoring her futile attempts to hide her real feelings.

"Did you receive your offer letter from Bolster?" he asked me.

"Yea, I got an email from them yesterday. I responded to let them know that I accepted their offer, so I will start on Monday."

"That's great. Now you don't have to worry about money."

"Didn't you say you were going to the meeting to decide the new employees? You were with me the entire week, so when did you go to the meeting?"

"Ari was the one who went to the meeting. There was no need for me to go."

"Oh."

"You're going to be busy from now on. You still need to finish this training course. There are ten modules and each module has at least five sections. We barely finished the first module this week and starting next week you will have a day job. So, your first set of objectives are to finish the training course by the end of the month and we should also come up with a plan for starting your new business."

"That sure is a lot. You're also going to help me build a new business?"

"Of course. Although I can't offer you my family's resources, it'll be faster than struggling by yourself."

"I prefer it that way. I want to create my own business from the ground up."

"I also figured you would say that."

"So, which Andrei is going to be helping me?"

"Let's just leave him as an unnamed helper for now. There might not be any need for me to be officially associated with your company."

"Alright. If anyone asks for a name, I'll tell them Randy," I said, laughing.

"Of all the names, you came up with Randy?"

"It's a great nickname derived from your real name."

I was still laughing while he looked at me unamused.

"Only if you really need to use that name," he said while stressing on the "really" for a while. "Couldn't you come up with a cooler name?" he continued.

"Will I be coming back here to finish the training?"

"Yes. Ideally, I would love it if you came every evening and on the weekends," he replied.

"Will I have that much time? I don't even know what time I get off work."

"I made sure your contract states that you only work three and half days per week. I think you will have plenty of time."

"You didn't sign my contract, did you?"

"Of course not."

"What is that tone? As if you're implying that you would never do such a thing."

"Even I wouldn't-. Well, I can't say never for sure."

"See what I mean. And as for how I will get here?"

"Do you want me to pick you up every day?"

"I couldn't possibly cause you such inconvenience."

"It wouldn't be an inconvenience at all."

He stood up and packed away everything on the table. He gave me a new set of contact lenses as well as a new jet-black phone.

"You will use this phone to contact me and Ari. The location of this house is saved in Maps so just follow it to get here. This phone is programmed to delete all information in the event it's lost or stolen, so don't save our numbers or any information about us in your regular phone. Let me show you where the other garage is."

'There's another garage?'

We went downstairs to the first floor. He turned to walk into the wall under the stairs like a crazy person and I rushed to try to stop him. But to no one's surprise, the wall was another secret door that led downstairs. I don't know why I was astonished. We went downstairs to a fairly expansive basement floor. There was one main corridor and a few doors on either side. We walked to the very end of the corridor which was closed off by a large door.

This door led to another underground garage and my (rental) car was there. He told me to check the Maps and pull up the route that leads to my house. The phone was a normal smartphone but none of the apps were like Android's or Apple's. They were all original, let's call them Andrei apps. Even though we were underground, Andrei's black phone had cell service but my regular phone did not. I guess I really am going to live the life of an espionage now.

I said my goodbyes for today and followed the exit signs which looked like they were newly installed for my convenience. The phone and apps were also user-friendly and the Maps easily guided me out of the housing complex via a different path and a hidden gate.

Even as I made my way home, reality had not yet sunk in. I arrived home on Saturday evening and once again crashed on my bed for the rest of the weekend. Thankfully, he was reasonable in giving me a break from the training so that I could recover and get a fresh start at work. Monday, I was sure, would bring a lovely new set of troubles.

On Monday, I drove to Bolster for my new job. In the email I received on Friday, it mentioned that I would first meet the HR manager and sign my contract, then I would meet the manager of my department for a brief orientation. My department will decide how I proceed afterwards.

The HR department was on the second floor. In the waiting area, four other people were present. I assumed they were also new employees, since I saw one familiar face. Shortly after, someone came to greet us and showed us to a meeting room. While we waited, we all introduced ourselves to each other.

"Nice to meet everyone, I'm Roshni." We smiled at each other since we were paired up during the interviews.

"I'm Leiya." I kept the flow going so he wouldn't be left hanging.

"I'm Karren."

"I'm Stephen."

"And I'm Leon."

"We might all be in different departments, so why don't we exchange info now and keep in touch," Roshni suggested.

Everyone approved and we exchanged numbers and emails. That would be convenient in the event we needed help from another department.

The HR manager then came inside with a stack of contracts. She congratulated us on our new employment and gave the usual 'it's a great company to work for' speech. We each looked over our contracts. She told us to pay attention to our department assignment, the benefits we received and, of course, our salary.

I was assigned to the marketing and sales department. The benefits were crazy generous and the salary was…absolutely insane. As Andrei said, I would be working three and a half days per week from 9am to 4pm, Mondays to Wednesdays, and from 9am to 1pm on Thursdays. Bolster may be very profitable, but this kind of salary seemed outrageous for a new employee; then again, I could have been the only one to receive such generosity. I hoped asking about one's salary was a taboo subject here, so that no one ever asks me how much I get paid.

The HR manager asked us if we had any concerns about our contracts and to feel free to bring to attention anything we felt uncomfortable with.

"We promote openness here at our company, so don't feel shy to discuss anything. Even your starting salary is up for negotiation," she said.

Ah, of course, they jumped on the 'transparency at the workplace' trend.

No one raised any concerns and we all happily signed our contracts. We were then escorted by the HR manager to our departments while giving us a brief tour of the company along the way.

Roshni and Karren were taken to the IT department on the fifth floor. Stephen was taken to the research and development office (R&D) on the fourth floor, but their main facilities were in one of the other buildings. Lastly, Leon and I were dropped off at the Marketing and Sales department on the third floor.

Everyone stopped working and greeted us when we got off the elevator. Leon and I met the department chief, Mr. Clyde Hamilton. He showed us around and introduced us to all the managers and supervisors. Their heartfelt welcome was encouraging. Even better, they allowed us to take the rest of the day off, but we were emailed a manual to read before tomorrow.

All in all, today was a good day. I had been worried about my salary given the hours Andrei said I would work, but it turned out to be more than enough. As I walked happily to my car, I noticed another lady walking in front of me in the same direction. She stopped in front of a red car that was parked beside mine.

As I walked past her, she called out to me.

"Hi," she said. "Is this your first day too?"

"Hello," I replied. "Yes, this is my first day. Are you also new here?" Did she come late? She wasn't among the new employees I met earlier.

"Yep, I'm a new intern in the Operations department. Can we be friends?"

"I'm in the Marketing and Sales department. Sure, let's exchange numbers then."

"Great, I sent you my contact info."

She did? I looked at my phone, then I realized I didn't even know her name. This pattern feels remarkably similar to-

"No, I sent it to your other phone," she said with a bubbly smile.

"Wha- what other phone?"

"The phone Andrei gave you, of course."

"Andrei? I'm not sure I understand." I should have asked the Grammy award winning actors for acting lessons if I knew I had to deal with this so soon. It seemed as if she knew Andrei. But I couldn't risk exposing anything I knew. If I did anything to compromise Andrei's position, I would no doubt incur the wrath of the Klehr family.

"You're Leiya, right?"

"I am," I replied, while trying to think of a way to get out of this conversation.

"My public name is Talia. But my birth name is Shelli-ann Albertha. Nice to meet you."

'The heir of the Albertha family!'