7 The Devil is Hard-working

The vice president of the department visibly paled then she recovered and put on an angry expression.

"That's a very serious accusation, Mister Edgewing. It's just your first day and you're telling me we've been breaking the law?" Erika scoffed.

"My first day has nothing to do with you breaking the law, Miss Bin. Would you have preferred me to wait for a week and let your employees suffer far longer?" Helliot raised an eyebrow.

Helliot motioned Sophie to go to her desk already secretly while he talked with Erika Bin. Sophie quietly crept behind Helliot and went to her desk. Sophie mouthed a 'thanks' to Helliot and Helliot nodded in a very subtle manner. Almost like a blink.

"Why are you saying it's my fault? I can't help it if the employees want to work during their lunch break," Erika said with a shrug.

"Oh my. Is that how workaholic the employees here are? I've never seen such hard-working employees before. Well then, I must inform the HR to remove everyone's lunch break as per your suggestion," Helliot said, pulling out a notepad from his coat pocket and began to scribble while he nodded his head.

The employees all looked at their vice president with a horrified expression.

"M-Mister Edgewing. Let's not take it that far. I was just merely saying that some of our workers here really just chose to continue their work instead of using their lunch break. It's nothing major at all," Erika said.

"Hmm... They might have decided to do that but there must be an underlying reason. Ah. Perfect! I've decided to do my audit review on your department first!" Helliot declared with a smile.

"A-audit review?!" Erika shakily repeated.

"Nothing major. I just need to look into the workload of each and every employee here in your department and check if everything is in order," Helliot said and cheerily made his way towards Jennie's desk.

Jennie saw Helliot coming towards her and began fixing her hair in a hurry.

"Even the workload? Mister Edgewing, I believe that you do not need to bother yourself with that. We're handling that just fine," Erika said.

"Well, that's wonderful! I would love to see how you're able to disseminate the work load perfectly. Your team would make a great example then for the board," Helliot said.

Sophie glanced at Helliot secretly and noticed that even though he was smiling widely, he was able to intimidate Vice President Erika Bin simply with his words. Sophie suppressed her grin.

I wonder if he's doing this because of me, Sophie wondered.

Then she shook her head.

No way. He's probably just really passionate at his job, Sophie thought.

"Hi!" Helliot greeted Jennie.

"Hello. Can I help you with anything? Coffee?" Jennie asked.

Erika observed them with a stern look.

"No. I just need to know your daily tasks," Helliot said with a smile.

Jennie's eyed widened.

"Oh! Well um, I . . . don't know where to start. Can we do it tomorrow instead? I promise I'll prepare," Jennie said pouting her glossy pink lips.

"No, you just need to continue whatever you were doing and I'll just watch you from behind," Helliot said.

"Um . . . Well, I check my emails," Jennie said slowly.

"What do you check for?" Helliot asked.

"Uhh emails for me," Jennie lied.

"I see that there are zero emails addressed to you. So? What's next?" Helliot asked.

"I uh . . ."

Jennie really didn't do anything so it wasn't much of a surprise to see her scrambling for something to say.

"How long have you been here in the company?" Helliot asked.

". . . months," Jennie said in a small voice.

"How long? Speak louder," Helliot said.

"T-ten months!" Jennie said.

"I see," Helliot said and scribbled on his pad again.

Jennie began biting on her lower lip nervously.

"M-Mister Edgewing, I'm really new here so I don't know my tasks really well yet," Jennie said.

"Really? This company must be so kind to let you become permanent despite not actually doing any kind of work. Your colleagues must be such kind people," Helliot remarked.

Jennie reddened and stayed quiet.

"I'll be back tomorrow, Miss Bin. I have a meeting with our CEO so I have to go now. See you tomorrow," Helliot said and exited the floor.

Sophie struggled not to laugh at the dumbfounded faces of Jennie and Erika.

*

*

*

Sophie stretched her arms and yawned. She had finished her work and it was way past her shift as usual. Some of the corridors were already dark and Sophie's heels loudly echoed on the floor as she walked.

She exited the building and closed her eyes to breathe in the evening air.

"Good work," a velvety voice said.

Sophie's eyes flew open.

"Helli!" Sophie said.

"Will you get tired of me too quickly if I ask you out for dinner tonight?" Helliot asked with a hopeful look.

Sophie laughed.

"No way. We have a lot to talk about. Sure! Let's have dinner!" Sophie said cheerfully.

Helliot grinned.

"Oh. Is it okay if we make a quick stop somewhere before dinner?" Helliot asked.

"Where?" Sophie asked as the two of them walked.

"To my client. I just remembered that tonight is the end of our deal so I should meet him tonight to get his payment," Helliot said.

Oh. Even though he's already the head of auditing, he still has clients for his credit card part-time job, Sophie thought.

"Okay, where shall I wait for you?" Sophie asked.

"You can come with me. Just stay behind me and you'll be just fine," Helliot assured.

"What do you me-"

Before Sophie could finish her question, black wisps of smoke enveloped the two of them like they were about to be devoured by the darkness. It happened so fast, before Sophie could even scream, the darkness had dissipated and there were no wisps of black smoke anywhere.

"Oops. Sorry. You must be dizzy. I forgot to ask you if you're used to teleportation," Helliot said, placing his hand on her back to support her.

Teleportarion?

"You're here," a gruffed voice said.

Even with the lights off and only the moon serving as the only source of light, Sophie could see that they were in a very luxurious room. In front of them was an old man wearing a tuxedo and several gold jewelries on his neck and all his fingers.

"Of course. I won't forget to pick up my client's soul. It's time to uphold our deal," Helliot said, his eyes shimmered in vivid red.