THE SMITHS

Chapter Eight

The silence that fills every corner of the room alongside the strong woody scent of the boss' perfume was quickly becoming a very normal occurrence for Iris as she follows the careful movement of his pen on the documents with her eyes.

He just had to finish with signing so she could take the papers, and herself away from the suffocating air of the office, but then, he pauses, and was slowly letting the ballpoint pen drop on the paper, raising his head to look at her.

"Miss Iris" he starts and she almost jumps, quick with a response.

"Yes, Sir"

"I would like to believe you're aware how things are run here, despite having not been here for a long time. I run this establishment on very strict rules and anybody who has had the opportunity to work in any reputable firm, would know that tardiness is unacceptable. So, please, tell me, why you reported to work ten minutes late today." His tone was still eerily calm and that was probably the must chilling fact as Iris felt her throat dry up almost immediately.

"I- I'm very sorry about that, Sir" she apologizes, licking over her lips nervously before continuing, "It's just, the distance from the office to my home is a little far. And that isn't a problem, I promise, but, there was a bit of a traffic this morning and it threw my timing off a bit. I apologize for that" she finishes with a slight bow of her head because this time, she really was in the wrong but it didn't look like he was about to let it go even with an apology.

He takes a minute to carefully drop both his elbows on the large glass table before clasping his hands in front of himself, "Traffic?" He says ludicrously, "You believe traffic and distance are viable excuses to be late to work barely a month in?"

"I'm sorry?" She fights back the urge to scoff at his words and that only seemed to spur him on.

"You should be." He shoots back and her jaw actually drops at that, he continues before she's able to get a very disrespectful response out though, "If the distance was going to be a problem, that should've been considered before you took the job, I believe being at a reasonable distance from the office was one of the requirements for application. Or better still, wake up and begin to prepare for the office at a reasonable time"

She feels the rage begin to brew at the end of his words and takes a deep breath to try to reel it back in, "It isn't a problem without the traffic and I already get up at six o'clock for work. With all due respect, Sir, we don't all have the ability to clear a path for ourselves in the midst of a traffic jam with a wave of our hands" she takes a jab at one of his privileges and Cameron feels his eye twitch in annoyance.

"Then you should try four o'clock since six is obviously not working for you! If it doesn't occur to you that a competent secretary should be on seat before her boss arrives then were you really ever cut out for this job?" Unsure of what would be the best reply and with the fear of her words coming out broken because of the way her eyes grew blurry with water, Iris sucks in a breath, deciding silence would be a better option here.

"I'm finished" he says after what felt like years, but was really a minute, motioning at the binder that was now shut and picks up his phone, busying himself with it.

She nods, collecting the documents and swiftly walks out of the office without so much as a glance from Cameron who was too busy glaring at his dark screen.

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Midas walks out of his room for lunch in the dining room after Mrs Grace's agreement to join him. The table was set, and he silently waits for the older woman. She emerges from a room, walking stick in hand and he couldn't help a bright smile as she slowly makes her way to the seat in front of his.