C2 Chapter 2

"Transferring me? That's… I…" I was totally speechless.

"Now stand," he smiled.

In an instant, I rose to my feet, picked my bag from the floor. "You mean Hames Hendrix, CEO of 'HamIX International'?" My eyebrows furrowed unintentionally.

"Yes," he nodded, narrowed his eyes at me. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"Yes!" I didn't mean to snap at him but I did. "He's been here a couple of times and I swear he doesn't seem like a nice person at all. He's always so arrogant, rude and—" I was cut off.

"It's okay. You'll have to adapt to him." He shrugged, opened the drawer of his table and took out a brown envelope from it and a piece of paper. "Here," he held the paper to me.

I raised an eyebrow at him, expecting him to be more descriptive about this.

"It's your Transfer letter." He grinned once more.

Reluctantly, I took the paper from him, slowly reading its heading. "REQUEST FOR TRANSFER. Hi, I'd love to request for Imogen Mark to be transferred—" he interrupted me once again, by holding the paper.

"Oh, that's the wrong one." He gently pulled it out of my grip, rummaged his drawer again, took out a new form or whatever it was I guessed was the original transfer letter. "Here, have it."

I took it from him, glanced through the words printed on it. "... I hereby transfer Imogen Mark, my secretary, to work in 'HamIX International', as Hames Hendrix's Secretary…" reading his name sent a block of ice to freeze my brain, reminding me of the fact that I was literally being transferred to a devil-looking man!

"Kade, please don't transfer me to him. Please, anywhere but there." I pleaded, dropping the letter on his table.

His smile disappeared. "Imogen, it's either this or you're fired." He didn't yell but his tone possessed authority and every bit of seriousness which caused me to gulp in fear.

My brain jerked back to reality. Who the hell was I to argue over this? It wasn't like I was being demoted. Hames was a well-known Multi Millionaire so of course, I was going to learn new things.

"I'm sorry." I sheepishly apologized.

He slid the piece of paper into the envelope, pinned it with a stapler then raised it to me.

I accepted the envelope with a forced smile. "Thank you," was all I could think of saying.

"It's okay." His heavenly smile returned. "You should resume tomorrow. Hames is surely a busy man so he wouldn't accept a day or two break."

"Okay." I nodded. "Thank you so much for everything you've done, I'll forever be grateful for your kindness." I appreciated him genuinely. "You're the best boss one can ever have, thank you."

"Aw, no problem. You've been a really good secretary. Hames will surely love working with you as much as I did."

We stared at each other in silence for a while, not saying a word. It was pretty awkward but it seemed normal at the moment. I was starting to feel weird. I had worked with Kade for over 2 years now so it felt like a really big part of me was changing.

There was a loud knock on the door which caused both of us to flinch and turn our heads to the door.

"Uh… come in?" Kade permitted unsurely.

The door knob twisted and it was pushed inwards, revealing Jovi's figure. She fixed her gaze on me irritatedly before strolling in. "Kade, we need to talk." She stood in akimbo, casting a dangerous glare at me once more.

"Talk?" Kade drew his eyebrows in confusion.

"Yes," she tapped her foot against the floor.

"I guess I'll pack my things and leave now." I felt the need to get out of Jovi's presence. She seemed like she could murder me if I stayed any longer. What was her problem with me? Did I pose a threat to her?

"There's no need for that. I'll ask someone to send all your things to 'HamIX International'. You can leave now." He said in the sweetest tone I had ever heard. It made Jovi roll her eyes.

"Okay," I bowed politely, grasped my bag's handles tighter then took my leave.

Jeez! Was this really going to be the last time I'd be here as Kade's secretary? Man, I wondered what was the next phase.

***

"I'm going to see a friend, okay?" Nikita said, putting her car to a stop in front of 'HamIX International'.

"Okay, no problem." I chuckled, opened the car door and stepped out of it. "How do I look now?" I twirled for her.

She went poker-faced. "You look like you're heading to a club to make out with 60 men."

"Nikita!" I snapped, laughing. Though she sounded so serious, it was funny to me.

"What? I'm not kidding. You always want the world to know that you're blessed with such nice curves, by showing way too much off?" She rolled her eyes playfully.

"Whatever! Get outta here now." I wiggled my eyebrows at her, slammed the door really loud.

"Catch up with you later." She said and I waved my hand in response.

I watched as she swerved the car, zoomed out of sight.

With a smile still on my lips, I walked into the company. Jeez! This was fucking bigger than 'RICARDO International'! How the heck was I going to find my way in here? The buildings seemed like they were way above the sky.

I gulped, opened my handbag to search for the transfer letter Kade had given me yesterday. It had the direction to my new office printed on it.

I found the envelope, tore it open and began to read through its content. "There," I pointed my index finger on the tabulated direction. I zipped my bag close then hung its handle over my shoulder.

I strode past the concrete floor which had neat elephant grasses beside it and served as a path to one of the buildings in this goddamn planet of a compound.

The automatic doors opened for me to walk in, showcasing the beautiful white-themed interior designs. "Wow!" I muttered. The tiles were so shiny, I could even see my reflection in them. The hall was damn quiet with only a few people walking around silently, unlike Kade's company where billions of people were always walking around like vagabonds.

"How may I help you?" I flinched as the sound of a deep feminine voice welcomed me.

I only noticed the presence of the petite brunette with beautiful hazel eyes behind the counter. She was obviously the receptionist.

"I'm Imogen Mark, the new secretary to Hames Hendrix." I introduced myself with a formal smile.

"Oh," she muttered, scanning me from head to toe. "You're the one? And you're just arriving?" She chuckled mockingly.

"Yes?" I frowned, slightly offended by her mocking comment though I didn't understand what she meant.

"Hang on." She arched her back to search for something behind the counter. She stood straight again then stretched her hand which now had an orange-colored card in it. "I'm Sarah Louis, the receptionist, patently. This is a direction card, you can use the first elevator by your right hand side."

"Thank you." I took the card from her and began to walk away whilst staring at it. "68th floor, got it. Door 68#f." I read it out. As directed by Sarah, I used the elevator by my right hand side, hit the 68th floor button.

It took a while before the elevator made a ding sound and the doors reopened. I walked out of it, stood straight then resumed walking in a sensible way. I found the door with label '68#f'. New office, here I come.

I gave a slight knock on the door, waited for a few seconds but there was no response. I went for another louder knock. Still, no response.

"Is no one in? Well… if that's so…" I twisted the door knob and pushed the door open, surprised that it wasn't locked.

"I didn't ask you to come in." I screamed in shock as Hames' thick voice barked at my entrance.

"Jesus!" I held my chest as it rose and fell rapidly. I felt my heart fall to my feet as an effect of his latration. I tried to walk further but lost my balance and almost fell. I was quick enough to grip onto a random stand to support myself from falling.

After panting for a while to catch my breath, with a frown on, I raised my head to stare at the Demon. He was seated on his mahogany table. His arms with strong biceps that hugged his white shirt firmly were folded across his chest and his legs were crossed in front of him. His black hair was neatly brushed to one side, his trimmed jawline was clenched really bad, his full lips were squeezed to emphasize his furious look, as well as the deep anger his dark brown eyes possessed.

I had to admit within myself that his look intimidated me like hell. He seemed like he was ready to pounce on me and suck my blood dry. Wait, he couldn't do that, he wasn't a vampire.

"I— I'm very sure I knocked on the door." I responded to his bark. He was inside the whole time but didn't respond to my knocking?

"So? Did I ask you to come in?" He didn't yell this time but the vibrating his husky voice possessed sent a snake of fear to flow through my spine.

"No, you didn't." I had fully regained myself and was able to advance towards him. I walked past the 5 black heavy sofas that formed a U-shape with a rectangular center table between them, in front of his office table and chair, and to him.

"I didn't, yet you walked in?" He said through gritted teeth.

"Well… yes. I knocked, there was no response so I opened the door because I thought you weren't in." I frowned harder, wondering what the hell his problem was.

"Don't ever walk into my— our office without me telling you to do so, okay?" His authoritative tone was starting to piss me off.

"But—"

He cut me off by slamming his hand on the table, causing me to flinch. "No 'buts'. Why are you late on your first day?" He questioned.

Oops, I was going to go with my escape from this question like I always did. "I'm sorry."

"You're sorry?!" He yelled again. "You're not in your right senses. How the hell are you late on your first day at work?!"

I widened my eyes. Whoa, this man wasn't going with the usual 'I'm sorry'?

He peered into my eyes and I immediately lowered my head. It felt like the right thing to do at the moment.

"What the heck are you wearing?" He said through gritted teeth.

I furrowed my eyebrows, stared down at my dress and returned my eyes to his. "A dress." I replied, making it seem like he had just asked the most stupid question ever.

"This is not what you wear to an office." He shoved his hands into his front pocket, standing up straight. Jeez… he was way taller than I had ever noticed.

"I wear clothes like these everyday and come at times like this to the office." I stated clearly.

He stared at me in astonishment. He definitely didn't expect me to reply. Why wouldn't I?

"I'll call someone who will teach you some manners and also teach you how to dress to an office." He clicked his tongue.

"Okay," I tried my best to sound polite but to no avail.

"Your first impression shows how silly and dumb you are." He hissed.

"Hames!" I snapped at him. "Why do you have a problem with me?"

"H–Hames?" He stared in wonder. "You're very dumb and rude." He pointed his index finger at me. "Call me formally. Is that how you refer to your boss?! It's rude." He snapped his fingers at me.

"Yes. Kade doesn't have a problem with it when I call him by his name." My frown intensified.

"I'm not Kade and I don't permit nonsense. I am your boss and you have to follow my rules, get it?" He barked at me. His eyes mirrored every form of venom, aggravation, and fire which was endlessly being fueled! Damn, was this the demon I was going to work for now?