The Butler

10

Chapter 10

I took a glance at Richard's office which is located in front of my desk. Not a word was spoken between us from the moment we got out of the car and until now. It's a good thing his line never rang so I never have to answer any calls that I have to forward to him.

"Everything alright with you two?" Janet asked in between my glances. She was also an executive assistant whose workstation is adjacent mine.

"Huh?" I involuntary muttered. My mind was already preoccupied with things that didn't matter.

"I sense some tension. Did something happen between the two of you?" she probed.

Actually a lot has happened since this morning. The thing is, I doubt anybody in this office knows I'm working as a full time butler for the Preston family.

"What? No. Nothing happened." I tried denying her suspicions but her eyes tells me she's not buying any of it.

"Then explain to me why you're boss is fiercely glaring at us." 

I turned around and true enough, Richard was staring at us for I don't know how long. He must have been waiting for us to notice him because when our eyes met, he immediately closed his office blinds like a lunatic.

"Okay. That was weird." she said. 

"Yes. Very weird." I agreed. If he's worried about me sharing what happened this morning, he shouldn't be since I would rather keep that story to the grave. 

She slumped down on my desk, resting her chin on her arms as she observed me. "So you're the new guy's assistant. Is this your first job?" she inquired.

I thought about it for a minute. Does being a butler count as an official occupation? 

"I think so?" I replied.

 "You think so?" she repeated. 

"I mean, I wasn't really sure if I can treat what I did as an experience. This is not my first time working but I think it's a more relevant experience to my degree."

"Yeah I got you. I started out as an unpaid intern in another company before being stuck in a dead end job with no possibility of being promoted."

"And why do say that?"

"I mean look at it, your new boss was promoted to a  VP even without years of experience. In the new corporate world, hardwork and contribution is no longer a factor for a career advancement but rather your social class and heritage will be the deciding factor. The rich is getting richer while the poor remains poor so I say, eat the rich!" her voice got a little bit loud during the end because a handful of people emerged from their cubicle to glance at us.

I sank into my chair, painfully aware that we had disturbed the silent atmosphere of the whole floor but my companion seems unfazed about her sudden outburst. Good thing her telephone rang and she was compelled to answer it.

I went back to personalizing my executive calendar which I took over from the previous EA. Once done, I began sorting my generic email after reading all their contents. Most of it was corporate wide memos including the appointment of Richard as the new VP for Sales. 

Speaking of my boss, they will be having their closed door meeting in a while and I am obligated to remind him of his schedules or else I'll take the blame if ever he misses it. However, his door remains closed and I'm not sure if he's open to someone entering his office so I just called him.

"Yes, Carl?" he answered the second I dialed his number.

"This is just to remind you of your scheduled meeting with the board of directors later at 10 a.m. Please don't be late. You need to make a good impression."