" Thit..." Arthit's elder brother, Alpha Ayan Rojanapat entered the room with his mate Toota on his arm.
" How is it going ? " Toota chirped.
"Abysmal" Arthit scowled, Glaring pointedly at Toota " If I wouldn't be forced to waste my time over these so called secretarial applicants, I would have planned, revised and reviewed my schedule of six months and completed the presention too."
It wasn't even an exaggeration. This was tenth candidate he was interviewing in one day. And he didn't find even a single one suitable.
"I didn't force you." Toota batted his eyelashes in way which he knows irks Arthit " I just nicely asked and you agreed.."
Arthit's scowl darkened "You blackmailed"
Ayan raised a brow in surprise "There's any blackmail which works on my stone hearted brother? Oh please tell me those magic words, my love"
Toota smirked " Same as I told you. No playing with Kiya if you bring your workload home. I don't want to introduce my kid with stress harmone so soon."
"Oh" Ayan looked sympathetically at Arthit. He shared the pain of his workoholic brother.
"So? None impressed you?" Ayan asked.
"They did. Just not positively. "
" None. I mean not a single one?" Toota asked, looking at him pointedly. he knew taht look.
" Why? Were you betting on someone?" He wouldn't put it past the members of his family. Especially his elder brother and his mate.
" The fifth one, Metha." Toota replied.
" Although, He does not have previous experience, he has an impressive academic record." Ayan informed. " and he performed best on stress test too. Perfevt candidate if you ask me "
" Metha ?" Arthit asked " the omega with a business degree from European college ?"
"Yeah! He is fluent in chinese and japanese along with english. " Toota added. Looked like he was banking hard for this candidate.
" He did impress me..." Arthit sighed.
Toota smirked "I told you"
"As Business analyst. So I offered him a probational post"
"What? " Ayan raised a brow "But he came for secretarial post.."
"Because no company accepted his job application. Since the post is only meant for alpha douchebags"
" You are an alpha too, Arthit" Toota quipped.
Arthit shrugged "Minus the adjective"
"Some omegas would beg to differ.."Toota snickered.
" I would say..one needs to be a douchebag to recognise one"
Toota gasped dramatically " How can you say this? " seeing bored expression on Arthit's face, he giggled "And that is why my brother, you are still single."
" Right now, Only one I want in my life is a secretary" Arthit deadpanned.
"If you want, I can loan my secretary to you. He is best one among our secretarial staff since last two years. "
" Who is he ? "
Ayan was about to answer but Toota held him back. "Why don't you interview him yourself and see if he is what you need or not?"
Arthit narrowed his eyes at the omega " What are you scheming?"
" Scheming?" Toota asked innocently " Is it a sin to not support favouritism. This guy is an undersecretary. If you hire him on our recommendation. Isn't it nepotism?"
" As if you give two fucks about it," Arthit scowled
"You are talking to my mate, Language brother" Ayan warned.
Arthit stared at him incredulously " He is my friend much before he even knew you"
"Doesn't negate the fact you should respect your elder brother in law"
Yeah, fine. Dear elder brother in law, can you stop irritating me nad give me his name?"
"Only if you call me phi" Toota smirked .
" This is too much Ai Saat" Arthit threw a pen at Toota which Ayan caught much before it can even reach halfway near Toota.
"Arthit..."Ayan growled.." His alpha at surface.
"Alpha....I am fine, it was a joke" Toota rubbed Ayan's shoulder. " Arthit doesn't know. He wouldn't want to hurt his family Alpha" Toota soothed Ayan. With his mate's calming voice and soothing touch, the alpha calmed down.
" Don't repeat it again or I won't be as understanding" Ayan warned, his eyes still holding flecks of yellow. Arthit sat stunned , not knowing what did he do to ruffle fur of his ever calm and smiling brother.
"Don't mind him" toota smiled " He is just over protective of your niece"
Arthit's eyes widened " You are...."
Toota nodded.
"Really?" Arthit's eye moistened. Toota nodded again.
" Congartulations Brother " Arthit jumped on his feet and crossed the distance in three long strides and hugged his brother.
"Sorry" Ayan hugged back tightly " I know you didn't mean to harm. i just.... my instincts are on haywire these days"
"I understand brother" Arthit patted Ayan's back. But he did not. He did not understand this level of posesiveness or the instinct to protect and urge to grow a family. His Dragon did urge him to find them a mate I.t wanted a mate of his own. Which he can protect and Grow a brood with.
He did try dating. It always ended in disaster. The one his heart was stuck onto , he could never trust him not to break his heart and leave him to die. The one he could trust could never hold his heart. He was destined to live alone.
He was pulled out of his thoughts by his brother's question.
"When should I send him?" His brother asked.
"Any time is fine. I have cleared my Schedule today"
"At 3 then" His Bid him good bye and with his pregnant mate on his arms, Ayan walked out of his office."
..........................
2:55PM
Arthit picked up Toota's call "you should know one thing about your soon to be secreatry"
"As much as I know its secratary's job to know the person he works for" Arthit scoffed.
" Shut up smartass" Toota chided. " It is his condition that the boss should maintain strict professional relationship. "
" What kind of stupid condition is this? What did his previous bosses do? Make him play dolls with them? Where did he even work before? "
" He has always been employee of AR groups"
"And Why does he think AR group will treat him any different than a regular employee?"
" You will see"
" Who is he ? "
"You will see" with this mysterious quip, Toota cut the call, leaving arthit to imagine most ridiculous reasons. "
At sharp three o'clock there was a sharp knock on the door.
"come in" Arthit replied. The interview Panel sat straight in rapt attention?"
In came a man dressed sharply- in white shirt and black pants and blazer.
"Good Afternoon, Sir"
"Afternoon Kongpob" One of the interview panel member replied. "Please have a seat"
Arthit Stared Dumb struck at the man sitting infront of him. "I think there is some mistake" Arthit stood up " Please excuse us" He signalled Kong to follow him out of the room. Which Kong did.
" how come you are here?" Arthit Asked.
"For the interview" Kong answered in clipped tone.
"I did have a position of negotiator open, Kongpob. But, HR has filled it just last week."
"Not for negotiator, I am here for interviewing for the post of secretary ."
"For secretary?" Arthit Fumed. " Who put you to this?"
"No one."
"Tell me honestly Kong, did my brother forced you to step down? Or your parents? They never wanted you to be a negotiator anyway"
"Its none of them. I resigned"
"Why?"
"Due to personal reasons."
"What Personal Reasons."
"There's a reason its called Personal,Khun" Kong replied. " That means I want to keep it to myself"
"Fine" Arthit toned down his voice to tender assuarance " You don't have to do this Kong. I can find you a spot in negotiation and strategic management, Kong. even in one of our foreign branches if you want to be away from pressure for a while."
"I do not want it Khun . Neither the foreign posting nor the negotitor position. I am happy in my job. I have come here as a personal favour to your Brother in Law. Now, can we please move forward to interview?"
" As you wish" fuming, Arthit strode back to his chair.
...............
As the interview began, tension hung in the air. Arthit couldn't shake off the confusion and concern about Kongpob's sudden career shift. As instructed, The selection panel wasn't giving Kong any le way.
The questions were fired with precision, and Kongpob answered each one confidently, showcasing his skills and suitability for the secretary position. Arthit, however, couldn't resist muling the reason over career shift. His interest piqued as one interviewer asked.
"Kongpob, you were an excellent negotiator, and your skills were invaluable to the company. Why the sudden change to become a secretary?"
Kongpob's expression remained composed, but a flicker of hesitation betrayed his true feelings. "It was a personal decision, Sir. I felt the need for a change in my career path."
Arthit leaned forward, his gaze piercing.
"But as evident from your resume and glowing remark by your company, negotiation was your passion. What made you give it up?"Kongpob hesitated for a moment before responding, "Sometimes, personal circumstances require us to reevaluate our priorities. I believe this change will bring a positive impact on both my professional and personal life."
Arthit continued the interview, but his mind was still grappling with the enigma that was Kongpob's sudden career shift.
The familiarity between them made the situation even more perplexing.After the interview concluded, Arthit sat back, contemplating the decision ahead.
Toota's mysterious warnings echoed in his mind, and he couldn't shake off the feeling that there was more to Kongpob's story than met the eye. Toota's words echoed, "You will see."
...........................
As soon as Kongpon left his office, Arthit called his brother.
"So, did the secreatry passed your scrutiny?" His brother asked.
Arthit's brow knitted in rage "Last I checked, he was our cyber negotiator. An excellent one. "
" That was two years ago,Thit."
" He had left negotiating two years ago? And no one found it important to tell me?"
" It wasn't my news to tell < Arthit" Ayan replied calmly" And if I remember correctly, you were avoiding him like plague at that time."
Arthit clenched his teeth, did Kongpob try to come to him for aid and advice and he wasn't available?"
"Who forced him in to this ? " Arthit fumed " His parents? Our parents? One of those stipid suitors his or our mom finds? Who was it?"
" No one. He came to me to ask if he could train for becoming a secretary, after Diwali, Two years ago."
" That's impossible. I had talked to him at that Diwali Party and he said, he was looking forward to new challenges. Kong had dreamed of becoming negotiator since he was ten. He can't leave it so easily."
" People Change Arthit. Two years is a long time."
" Did you even ask him why he had suddenly changed his decision? "
" I did. He said, he had lived his dream, now he wanted to live a normal life."
" Normal life. Kong? The boy who loved cliff jumping as hobby? And you believed it ? "
" No. I did not. I tried prying, but he was tight lipped. I am not you, Arthit. I dont have same effect on him that you do."
" I don't have an effect on him. I just don't coddle him like rest of our family. I tell him the bare truth and let him decide for himself. "
" When he came to me, he was shaken Arthit. Something clearly bothered him deeply enough to hate his own dream. At that time, I couldn't do anything more than provide him what he wished. He seemed more calm and relatively happier as an under-secretary than a negotiator, so I let him be."
" Why did you not tell me about all this ? "
" He specifically asked me not to. "
What are you hiding Kongpob Suthilck?
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