CHAPTER TWO
{Sophie's pov}
Getting internet to work as a secretary for someone you don't know is probably the worst kind of job experience. I was at MARTINS EMPIRE six months ago to take up the vacant position of a secretary. We had been interviewed online, and I was among the first three chosen for the one on one confrontation. I was excited to be the secretary to the heir of the MARTINS EMPIRE, I was positive I would get the job, and after several questions and personality check, I was chosen.
The secretary in charge of the interview was Mr Austin's secretary, she was going to retire from the die hard to get position. Her giving up the position just for marriage had me dumbfounded. I was eager to meet the popular Mr Austin, who appeared in several global business news, local business news, and even on every magazine that talked about business. He was a classic business man and a global investor. Anyone planning to go into the business world would love to have him as their role model. I was going to be this man's secretary, but I haven't gotten a chance to introduce myself to him during my six months training.
The handing over ceremony, where I got to see him in reality, not on the News or magazine made me realize why he was called a "MAFIA." He sat alone in a VIP spot, Emma was going to introduce me to him, but he busied himself with Mr Hill. I had picked out a straight white gown which was long, and a pair of red heels to showcase my professionalism, but the sophisticated man had a weary look on his face. He gave a small speech and left the venue without looking back.
The employees except me were glad to be without their CEO, everyone was cold when Mr Austin was there, and everyone seemed suffocated by his presence. As soon as he left, the ceremony was lively and everyone had their fair share of non-alcoholic wine. The next day would be business as usual, and no one dared to take alcohol especially when we were resuming back tomorrow.
The handing over party seemed like it was designed for me and Mr Austin. Emma gave her speech of her handing over to me. I was glad to be honored and greeted by all. It was a fair ceremony that lasted until 10pm. Everyone headed for home, I in particular rounded up the day's activity and slept at 10:30pm.
******************************************
{Sophie's POV}
There was fear and thunderous heartbeats in the conference hall. Mr Carson, the team leader of project assessment, forgot his presentation file at home. He was in a hurry to get to work early enough for his presentation, but he forgot the major thing he would be using for the presentation. He was shivering and sweating as he was informed that Mr Austin was going to be in the conference room in the next five minutes. I had arrived earlier at Emma's order to get everything set.
The air suddenly became hot, there was murmuring in the hall, Mr Carson in particular was nervous, he took in deep breaths and waited for his master, he was ready to receive his judgment.
"Your strategy of reducing cost just to ensure more sales would be dismissed." The baritone voice echoed in the room, without a greeting, as Austin made his way to his chair, with Emma at his right hand side.
"Once the cost is reduced, sir I can assure you of more sales which would earn you more profits." Mr Carson defended his strategy. "Sir, I can assure you that more people would be willing to purchase the furniture, and our sales would be ranked as the highest in the business News, as we would beat the 21% sales record." Everyone nodded in agreement with Mr Carson, I must say he is a brave man, and watching him defend his point made me agree with him.
"I see you all think in the same direction as him, and all I am thinking of is firing all of you for your inactiveness in business. You all claimed to have worked for MARTINS EMPIRE, and the profit has never risen by 15%. Don't you all see that it's the lack of thinking that caused all this. We are not here to set new records, nor are we here to break records by a sense of reduction in price. Don't you feel a reduction in price of goods leads to a reduction in its quality. We are here to make profit and not provide satisfaction to consumers. All I see in your strategy is to satisfy everyone's need, hence if we cut down the price, we would need to cut down our quality, this in turn would lead to a low rank in high quality. We might break the sales record, but we also lost our trust in terms of providing great quality products." Mr Austin proved his point with anger filled with a burning sensation of disappointment. His eyebrows were narrowed as he saw everyone washed their faces in embarrassment.
"Any other suggestions?" He managed to question everyone in the hall with a cold voice, and everyone had their hands down. No one was willing to face the same embarrassment. This only got Mr Austin angrier, and he stood with disdain.
"What about cutting the expenses of the company by 25%? I mean since everyone here is corporate, but without brains, how about we layoff some employees and get Austin doing all the thinking. Doesn't it sound like a great idea to you all? At least the company gets to save the laid off workers salary, and our profit would improve if I reinvest them." He was sounding so threatening, and the employees feared that their source of livelihood would be taken away.
"I plead with you sir, can you give us till the end of this week, we would provide a better solution to the problem, and we would send in the proposal." Mr Carson managed to defend his team. Being the team leader, he had a lot of responsibility on his shoulder, and one of it was defending his team, even if it was coming from a threatening boss.
"Wow, so says the incapable man that forgot the file for his presentation, Emma, doesn't he sound so convincing, I was almost believing him. That's one strike for committing an unforgivable offense." I was now beside Emma, as I watched her tagging a strike sign on Mr Carson's name, it would be inputted in his employment record.
Emma then walked elegantly to the front of the hall, she declared a vote, everyone voted for the team to be given till the end of the week, and the penalty for not coming up with a better solution was cutting their salary by 15%. Austin seemed satisfied, he had his gray eyes darkened, and once the voting was over, he headed for his office.
******************************************
Emma had a cup of black ivory coffee prepared for Mr Austin, and I was more than afraid to be introduced to him, especially not after my encounter with him at the conference hall. I had my white shirt worn properly and my black trouser complemented the black heels I wore. My hair was tied in a low bun, and I had my badge placed neatly on my shirt. It was going to look like going for another round of interviews.
Emma opened the door of the office, she was amused to see Austin standing with his right hand fixed into his pocket, looking at the tinted glass at the left side of his office. It was the only place which showcased nature in his office. The young man turned around, now he was looking like the way magazines portrays him, he was smoking hot, he had his white shirt on, it was tailored perfectly for his size and also well ironed. The black suit trousers fitted him so well, and his black shoes were sparkling black, he had his suit jacket hung on his chair. He walked towards us, Emma handed over the coffee to him, he took a deep breath, sipped the coffee, and gave Emma a pleasing smirk.
Just as I felt I was not noticed, he raised his brows, and his gray orbs sank deep into my brown orbs. He gave me a disappointing look, then he turned back to Emma who was smiling at her boss.
Mr Austin then moved closer, and we were at feet length from each other. His cologne was now tinting my nose the more, and just then, he sighed.
"The dress code of the company states that every employee should have their badge placed neatly on the left hand side of their shirt, how could you be this careless with your badge placement miss Sophie?" The silent but intimidating mafia said all of those words in a single breath, and just then I was caught off guard, I tried to look decent on this day, I had everything perfectly worn, and the compliment I got was improper badge placement, that was strange.
"It wouldn't repeat itself again, I was in a haste, I learnt everything about the company in six months, I learnt every of your activities and studied your journals in six months, I learnt French and Spanish in six months and…." I was cut short by a confused Austin, he was having an I don't care attitude and I was sure he was not interested in what I was about to say.
"I sent for you to meet with you, your achievements are none of my business. Get everything from Emma, she would be leaving in two weeks, you must not receive two queries from me and most importantly, my white board must be cleaned every closing hours," he said as he pointed to the big white board with a ladder, it was as tall as the room and his books were neatly arranged beside it. He was so rude on his first day, and I wondered why it was so important to have his board cleaned.
"No problem sir, everything is under my control." I was glad to ease the pressure with that word. It was great to tell him that I was capable of handling things, even those he never expected.
Just then, I was interrupted as he scoffed, he had an irritating look on his face, he was disgusted, I wondered if I said anything wrong, he was obviously annoyed by my statement, but what have I done wrong?
"Miss Sophie, I own this company and everything in it, including my employees. You are mine, I own you too, and everything cannot be in slave control, the master has control over his slaves. Are you really educated?" It was rather a sarcastic question, I was totally pissed off, how dare he call me a slave, fine I needed the job, but I wasn't going to put off with his behaviors.
"Austin, I get that you inherited this company, but I am certainly not going to slave away my life to you. To hell with you and to hell with your company, I quit as of today." I ended the conversation, I was happy and I had my back turned in a bid to leave, as I reached for the door knob, I heard his baritone voice.
"You are quite brave for a secretary, don't expect yourself to be employed by any other firms, I would gladly accept you back, I would tame you, and you would do my biddings. Your post is still open, and your leaving would be considered as your break, there can't be two captains in a boat." His grin grew deeper and he seemed evil. He was looking with all seriousness, like he meant all he said, but I wasn't interested.
"You can tame your other employees like domestic animals, but a wild animal like you should be thrown into the forest. There is no need to tame a nuisance to society." I smiled at his reaction of anger, slammed his office door, and walked out in happiness.