Corrupted

Chapter 4

"One moment please," the woman wearing a red headscarf informs me. Her name tag reads Zaina.

I nod, smiling despite her gaze being entirely focused on her computer screen.

After a couple of seconds, she looks up from the screen. "Sorry, what did you say your second name was?"

"I didn't- it's Moon. Hannah Moon." Crap, I'm already crumbling when I've barely spoken. This extravagant place is throwing me off, planting the treacherous seed of rejection into my head.

"You have a beautiful second name," she tells me.

"Thank you."  For some reason, that small act of kindness lifts my mood. But then I realise I didn't say anything about her name. "And you too."

My smile falls off my face. She said second name not first. I cringe inwardly but she only responds with an appreciative smile.

At this point, I should just tattoo nervous as fuck on my forehead.

She suddenly pipes up. "Great, I found you. You are seeing Mrs Pelina in-room eight-seven- nine." She rounds the desk. "I'll show you the way."

We walk in the direction of the fairly small corridor to my right. Well, small in comparison to the vast one behind the marble desk.

Framed articles line the corridors. Articles of their success over the years. I swallow hard. My doubt growing with each article we pass.

"So how did you find us?"

It takes me a moment to realise she spoke. Even longer for her question to seep into my anxious brain. Do I tell her the gross truth? Or a lie?

Yeah definitely lie.

Seeing she's waiting for my response, I unintentionally sputter out the first thing that comes to mind. "I saw a poster in town."

She seems shocked by my response—  raises a curious brow. "Oh, I didn't know we hung out posters?" 

I cringe for the second time in under five minutes. I let out a sigh somewhere between a chuckle and a groan. "I lied. You don't. I found the business card on the ground."

She waves me off, laughing. "Oh, that's not bad."

"I have OCD..." I drawl.

She thinks it over for a second. "Still not bad, it kinda shows dedication."

Actually, she has a point. And I didn't realise how much I needed to hear that. I've been striving for this job because I need to pay off my debt, without realising how good it could be for me career-wise.

"We're here," she tells me stopping outside a black door. "This might sound cliche but just be yourself.  Mrs Pelina also interviewed me and she is super down to earth."

Zaina was right, Mrs pelina is super down to earth. I got the job. However, there was a somewhat tiny hesitance toward me still being in university but the job will only be a short term thing until they can find someone more permanent.

On the contrary, my CV was perfect for the job. Although I might need some training being a personal assistant so I'll be following around one of the assistants today. Today because she is highly experienced and her boss is flying out of the country tomorrow for two days and she's going with him.

But other than that the interview went smoothly.

I already talked to my university advisor and she said we could have some of my work sent to me through email if my job gets in the way.

And this company is invested in a variety of businesses; luckily for me, one of them is law. So if everything goes well here, I'll permanently work here after university.

When she told me the pay is three hundred pounds a week, I almost fell off my chair. That's one thousand two hundred a month. That's one Louboutin heel a month!

Not that I'd buy one every month. But still!

Also, I only have to be an assistant until they find a full time one. After that, they said I could explore the other options they have.

To say everything is going well so far would be an understatement.

Although, I haven't met the person whose assistant I'm going to be yet. All I know is he's the bosses son. Gosh no matter how many times I repeat that back to myself it still doesn't feel real. None of this does. It all feels like a big cosmic joke.

Fortunately and unfortunately, she told me at the end of the interview so all the relief I felt had been washed away by a new gust of nerves.

The bosses son. The founder of this enterprise. The person who built this place from the ground up. The person with all those front-page articles boasting about his success.

Fuckkkk.

"Hannah?" Someone questions from my right. I look up and am immediately struck by her beauty. She's wearing a black and white suit. Her skin tone is dark and red lipstick paints her full lips. She has the most perfect and well-behaved hair, tight curls that sit immaculately on her shoulder blades.

"Hannah?" She repeats when I don't respond.

Stop fucking gawking! I chastise myself with a shake of my head and stand up. "Yes. I am Hannah."

Her smile is kind as she holds out her hand for me to shake. "Hi, I'm Zuri. It's nice to meet you. I'll be training you today."

I force myself to compose myself and shake her hand. "I'm Hannah." I chuckle nervously. "But you already knew that."

Real smooth Hannah.

"You're nervous. It's normal." She places her other hand over our joined ones and my heart sinks a little at the sight of her wedding ring.

Well, there goes my hopes. I won't pursue anything but I'll be lying if I said I wasn't a little bummed. Whoever it is they are lucky as fuck.

I let out a breath meeting her eyes. "It's a big company."

"Which means you're amazing because we don't just accept anyone."

I didn't think of it like that. I mean I'm not being full of myself when I say I'm smart as fuck. It's the truth. I get the highest marks in my class. I always have my essays and assignments in on time. I'm punctual. As annoying as my OCD can be at times it has wildly contributed to my success so far.

I give her a grateful smile. "Thank you."

She pats my hand before dropping it. "Okay, let's do this."