"Upside Down' is a fantasy love story. It's about love at first sight - when you just fall in love instantly and will battle any obstacle to be with that girl." -Jim Sturgess
CARINA'S P.O.V.
"Ask Mrs. Miller to assist you to your office then come to my office after you settle in" He said and then proceeded to his office. I went to the office of Mrs. Miller and I was surprised that she was already there, beginning her work.
"Good morning Mrs. Miller. Mr. Novell ask me to come here for my briefing." She raised her head from what she was doing and smiled at me.
"Ah yes. Good morning. Come with me." I followed her.
"This is your own office. As you can see, the things in here are already in place, but if you want to rearrange it, you can. Anyway, every morning, you must be here at the office before Mr. Novell arrives. You must prepare a coffee for him so that when he arrives, the coffee is ready. There is also an intercom on your table. Whenever Mr. Novell needs you to do something for him, he will call you on the intercom. There's also a telephone there so that you can use to call and receive calls for the CEO. Also, always check your desktop for notifications from him. Sometimes, he just sends you the files you need to do. Any question?"
"Hmm...What if I need to ask him something, am I allowed to go directly to his office?"
"No. Just contact him first on the intercom then if he says yes, you can enter to his office" What the heck is that?
"Okay. I get it. Thanks Mrs. Miller"
"You welcome dear. Good luck" She smiled at me one more time and then she went to her office. She is a friendly lady, I can say. I sat on the swivel chair and opened the computer. I was waiting for it to boot up when I suddenly heard a voice from the intercom. I got surprised and my heart jumped a little bit. What the....
"Yes sir?"
"So I assume that you have already settled in. Come in my office right now." His voice is so authoritative.
I quickly got up on my feet and went directly to his office. I knocked first and then I heard him said "come in".
"Yes sir. Do you need anything?" I asked him politely, a little awkward and nervous. Don't be like that Carina! This is only your first day, you can do this!
He lift his head and stared at me frowning. I was a bit surprised seeing him wearing eyeglasses. So, he wears glasses.
"Ofcourse Ms. Westbay. That's why I called you here. Anyway, sort out all these files alphabetically, then prepare my schedules for the next 3 months. You have the journal of my last EA, you can use it as a reference. Then, you call all the people who are on this list and verify the date and time of our meetings. Then these files here are about the company profile and stuff that you need to know. You need to read all of that so that you can have a deeper understanding about this company and to perform your duties effectively" My mouth dropped. I looked at all the files that I needed to do and I knew right there and then that it would probably take me the whole day to finish. I was about to pick up the files when he spoke.
"There is an office cart there, you can use it to load all that stuff." I took the cart and put all the things that I needed and was about to leave when he spoke again.
"Ms. Westbay, come here and get this list and read it carefully. If anyone on that list search for me, either by telephone or here in the office, tell them anything to shut them out. I don't want to hear anything about them. Understood?" He said sternly, looking directly into my eyes.
I gulped and replied.
"Yes sir." I went out of the office and began my work. Then I remembered the list that he handed me. Who are these people anyway?
I looked at the names, there were at least 15 names and I was a little bit curious why they're all girls.
I shook my head and continued my work. I didn't even notice the time. I was so engrossed to what I was doing that I didn't notice Mrs. Miller calling my name.
"Carina.......Carina! It's already lunch break. Come and I'll show you where the canteen is" I stood up and stretch my arms.
"Is that time already? I am not even hungry yet" I said and took my bag.
"Don't be so workaholic. It's just your first day. Let's go. I am starving already."
****
When we reached the canteen, I was a bit taken a back. The place was already so crowded. It seemed like all the employees has the same lunch break. We went to the long queue and waited patiently for our turn. After almost 10 minutes, it was finally our turn.
"Hey Carina, there is an available table there. Let's go before someone else occupy it."
We were in the middle of eating when the girls who were betting on me yesterday approached us, holding their tray of food.
"Can we join the two of you?" The taller girl said and smiled at me. I smiled back and nodded my head.
"I am Francine and this is my friend, Pauline. What's your name?" The taller girl said again while staring at me. She seems like the type of a girl who is friendly to anyone.
"I am Carina. I am the new EA." I replied simply and continue eating my lunch.
"So, how's your first day so far?" The other girl asked a.k.a. Pauline. She had that playful smile on her lips, like she was expecting to hear something funny from me. My awkward self began to surface again. I am not that used to talking to people like this. But I promised myself that I would do my best to change, to break free from this kind of personality.
"So far, I am liking it. I think I like the job." I said casually. Then I caught them stared at each other with a meaningful look on their faces.
"You know what, it's not like I'm discouraging you or anything but you know, there was never been an EA who lasted for 3 months" Francine said matter-of-factly.
"Yes. I heard that Mr. N. has an attitude problem. I never even saw him here in the employees' cafeteria either" Pauline added
"You know what Carina, don't listen to these two. They're just scaring you because you're new here". Mrs. Miller interrupted, giving the two a look.
"Don't be ridiculous Mrs. Miller. Everybody knows that he is the problem. All his previous EA's were saying that he is a demon pretending to be a person." Francine insisted again, and Pauline nodded in agreement.
There was a part of me who was a little bit hurt of what I just heard; and that surprised me. I remembered the time when he saved me and I saw that he was not a bad person. If not, he wouldn't waste his time saving me.
"Maybe he was just being misjudged by people" I said, defending him. The two laughed again and shrugged their shoulders.
"Let's wait for the next few days if you can still say that" I heard Pauline said but I just ignored it and finished my meal. I was a little bit intrigued of what they have told me and I prayed that they were wrong about him, if not, it will be end of me.
****
After our lunch break, we went to our respected departments. I on the other hand, continued my work. I was busy doing my work when I heard the intercom.
"Ms. Westbay, I expect that you already finished the work that I gave you this morning"
"Not yet sir. I am still doing it" what the heck. Did he expect me to finish all these? These'll requires the whole day for me to finish.
"What have you been doing? You can read the company profile at your house. Do the other tasks I gave you and I want it done before you go home". His voice was so demanding that I felt a little bit agitated and at the same time irritated.
"Yes sir" I simply said and proceeded with my work. I just finished calling all the names that he told me to call. Then at 10 minutes before five, I finished all the files that needed to be sorted. There was a lot of documents in folders, envelopes and binders. I stretched up and gathered all my things and then went out but then I remembered, I didn't say goodbye to him. I went back to my office and pressed the intercom.
"Yes? What do you want?" his voice was a little bit irritated.
"N-Nothing sir, I just want to inform you that it's time for me to go home" I got pissed off of myself because, again, I stuttered.
"You don't need to inform me of such things. If it's already time for you to go home, just go and don't disturb me."
"Noted sir" Whatever.
I went out of the office again and peeped at the office of Mrs. Miller. She was arranging her things on her table. I said goodbye to her and went out.
*****
I was about to walk to the bus stop when I heard someone calling me. I looked at the other side of the road and I saw Christine, waving her hand. I went to the pedestrian lane to cross to the other side.
"I was about to call you when I saw you. Let's go home together" She said, looking so tired.
"I thought you'll be finished at 6?" I questioned while we're walking towards the parking lot.
"Yes but I finished my work early. Anyway, how's your first day?" She pressed the unlocked button on the key of the car and we entered inside.
"Not that bad. Mr. Novell gave me a mountain of paper works but I managed to finish it before 5. What about you? I think you're enjoying your job, I guess" I diverted the topic about her because honestly I didn't have anything to say.
"Yes, so far I am. I thought before that working like this would be too boring for me but I guess I was wrong. It's just that I didn't expect it to be this stressful and tiring" She heaved a sigh and started to maneuver the car out of the parking lot.
****I was tired because of my work so this update is a little bit short****
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