Death Do Us Part

Taking the Wheel (Aron’s P.O.V.)

The woman was standing right before me, her hands extended towards me for a handshake. I wasn’t that surprised by her intrusiveness. Quite contrarily, I expected her to go into a fit of rage a few hours ago, given her past record with all those news corporations. Daniq Murad tried to conceal the record of all her tantrums and misdemeanours in The Dialectics. He was so forthcoming with his protections on her that it gave off almost the impression of a “deeper” relation between the two, but she had pissed off way too many people to stay clear of their implications. She was uncle Rory’s selection so I could not dismiss her without a reason but I had to do a background check on her to see what she could possibly have done to have the entire news industry at cross with her.

My initial instinct was that she must have had some underhanded deals gone wrong situation that earned her the bad name. Instead, it turned out that her unwillingness to compromise brought her the exclusion. In any case, I guessed she would be a nuisance for a couple of weeks like many of the other PAs so I decided to quicken the process. I expected her to leave after the second hour, never to return. Instead, even before the end of the first hour, I started to get notifications of entries to my corporate calendar concerning my appointments being rescheduled, notifications of the records of my earlier meetings and appointments being accessed. Then I received notification of an entry to the private server of my office that holds all the documents and information that only I have access to.

Andrea and my PAs were supposed to have only partial access; however, this woman was reviewing my contracts, going through documents of all the projects that I was handling, the proposals I was considering, and was leaving notes on them.

Initially, I considered the possibility of her trying to steal the secret documents of the company and thought of letting her indulge herself for a while, but then I saw her leave notes for the IT department on the firewall loopholes of my private server. I could not help but laugh looking at my screen that was flashing every other minute with some updates of her “assistance,” when Serena walked out of my private lounge and caught me sniggering at my computer screen.

***  

I was dazed by the memory of it when I noticed the confusion in Rhea Ray’s eyes. A smile must have escaped me while I was recollecting the events of the last few hours because I sensed her considering taking back her hand. Before, she could reach a conclusion I took her hand in mine and shook it formally. Her handshake was firm and measured almost as if trying to take attention away from her delicate and slender hand that felt like silk against mine.

Andrea, who was observing all this from the door, was about to say that she had tried to stop her, which I knew that she must have done, given how obedient and considerate she is but in this instance I was happy that she did not succeed in doing so. Because, as compliant and efficient as Andrea is she lacks imagination. This little incident gave me the idea of how creative this new assistant of mine can get when she needs to. I had heard all about her knowledge, her skills, her uncompromising nature and her fits of rage but no one had mentioned anything about her being persuasive and crafty. So I gestured Andrea to not worry about it. She quickly nodded and returned to her desk.

After everyone left and I was done escorting my female companions to the elevator, on my way back to my office I asked Miss Ray to follow me into the office, which she did immediately. Once we were back at the lounge and I sat down to eat, I asked her to prepare for the first meeting after lunch. Then after a pause, I urged her to take a seat and extended her a plate. Before she could refuse, I transferred some of the dumplings on her plate and asked her to tell me about the notes that she had left on today’s appointments. She obliged immediately.

The concerns that she had raised, I already had them investigated, but somehow, still enjoyed discussing them with her. I could see why Daniq Murad was so hell-bent on protecting her. It’s been less than half a day since she had joined Korlin Group and she had gone through the documents required for these appointments, studied them well enough to make prudent suggestions and was confident enough to put her doubts forwards without second-guessing herself. She works so passionately and the way she tries to cover all the ends it makes you want to train her, help her be better and protect her so all she has to worry about is the work. With proper guidance, she could become a valuable asset for the company. In anyways, I have a hinge that I’d like her bossing me around now and then. She’s again looking at me suspiciously! Did she hear my thoughts just now?