The CEO (Regus Patoff story) (Book 2)

part 1

My first day at Compware. Wohoo. I should be happy, right? Except I wasn't. I was nervous, an anticipation ran through me.

See, it was my first job in a few months. I had been searching hard for jobs all over. But all of them came back with 'We are moving forward with other applicants...' blah, blah, blah. I had a good resume, and excellent qualifications.

I came across Compware's job listing for a creative liaison. I had never heard the job title before, but given my  digital art education background, it seemed to be a fit—the job listing stated "The liaison at Compware, a video game company will strive to keep all projects in check, will be the final point of approval for all video game content, and pitches." Since I was a senior graphics designer at my previous role, I was used to being the first point of contact for projects. This job was perfect. When I did the interview, it was with the CEO, named Sang.

With nervous excitement, I dressed in business casual, a white shirt, and a black dress. I dabbed some lipstick, and I strained my hair.

And then I went into the office.

The office was this huge glass building with two stories. Everyone was working on the bottom floor while the executives were on the top—according to the online map on Compware's website. I looked around. I saw a woman walk up to me. She had curly brown hair, and was a bit taller than me.

"Hi, are you Jessica?" she asked. "I'm Elaine."

"Yes. I'm Jessica. The new creative liaison."

"I'm also a creative liaison. Guess they needed two."

"Where is my work space? "I asked.

"Follow me." She led me to the left corner of the first floor. There were a few people sitting, playing video games, and doing animation work on their computers.

"Guys, this is Jessica, our new liaison."

Everyone nodded. "I'm Craig," said one of them.

"Ian," said another, with glasses.

"Nice to meet you," I said smiling.

Eliane pointed to an empty space. "This is your desk."

"Cool!" I looked over the space. It had a computer, a pencil holder, and a plant. I looked at the computer that was next to my space. "And this is your desk, right?"

Elaine shook her head. "Nope. Mine is upstairs."

"She has her own office," Criag chimed.

I did a double take. "Really? But you're a liaison."

"Regus Patoff had an open space, and she decided to take it, since Ian didn't want it."

Ian looked down, shaking. Why was he so nervous, like a fragile butterfly?

"Who is Regus Patoff?" I then asked.

Everyone looked at each other.

"I am the consultant," a voice said behind me.

Elaine and I turned.

A man with grey white hair, a suit, and slightly taller than me with piercing eyes looked at me.

Elaine immediately backed away.

"You must be the new liaison, right?" he asked, looking at me with intensity.

"Yes. I am. I'm Jessica. You're Regus Patoff?"

He nodded. "Sang must have hired you, right? You must be good, for him to hire you. He knows what he's doing." He laughed.

"Is Sang here today? I would like to meet him."

"Unfortunately you can't. But why don't you come up to my office and we can talk."

I looked at Elaine, Craig and Ian. They all gave me blank stares.

"This way," Patoff said.

I followed him to the stairs. He had removed his shoes, leaving it at the bottom. Barefoot, he traveled up the stairs. Or tried to. But he was struggling to go up each stair. What was wrong? I wondered.

"There's the service elevator," Craig called out. I turned, and saw Craig right behind us.

Patoff turned to Craig. "Thank you but I got it."

Craig glared at him, and walked away. I found this reaction very strange. Why did Craig not offer to help?

"Do you need help? There's the service elevator." I asked.

"If you could help me walk up, I should be fine," he said. I helped him up the sitars by holding on to his arms. When he got to the top, he smiled. "Thank you. Jessica, was it?"

I nodded.

We went into his office. I closed the door behind me.

I looked down at his legs. Had he broken his leg or did he have a prostatic leg? I wondered why he didn't choose to take the elevator and instead the stairs if he was struggling to walk up. I sat across from him.

"So, Jessica," Patoff started after he sat down. "My name is Regus Patoff. I am the consultant. Unfortunately, Mr. Sang will not be in the office, or at all forever. There had been an accident."

"Accident?"

"Someone shot him. He died. It could have been a self-inflicted wound, or an intruder."

"Oh my god," I said. I felt sick, a funny feeling entered my stomach. I had just spoken to him a month ago. He was very kind, he was also in his twenties like me, which made being interviewed by a CEO not as intimidating.

Patoff shifted in his chair. "So I am taking over for the time being. As the consultant, I will make decisions for the company that will benefit it. Sang hired you, and for good reason. Make him proud and don't be a disappointment."

I nodded.

He then smiled. I didn't realize he looked handsome when he smiled, but he did. He had a charm to him I couldn't explain. "So, tell me about yourself. What do you like to do for fun?"

I laughed. "For fun? I like to go hiking."

Patoff stared at me. "That's it?"

"Well, singing, dancing, going to baseball games. What about you?"

"Why do all those things interest you?" He didn't answer my question.

"B-because I just like them."

"Okay. And do you like it here so far? At Compware?"

"This is my first day. I don't know yet."

Patoff stood up. He stood close to where I was seated. Looking down on me, he said, "When I ask if you like working here, the answer should always be, 'I like working here.' Understood?"

"Yes, captain!" I mock saluted.

Patoff remained standing there.

"I should go now," I said. "Start working. I don't want to be a disappointment, do I?"

Patoff held his stoic gaze. Then as if a switch turned on, his mouth went into a smile. "Of course, Stacey."

"Jessica. My name's Jessica." I stood up.

"Yes, of course."

I smiled and walked out of his office. I dropped my smile, and sighed. This was going to be a long day.