Smitten by the CEO

    BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

    Mina's alarm clock was going crazy while she was passed out. She was exhausted from her recent move to St. Louis and wasn't done unpacking yet. Today was the first day of her new job.

    "Aargh!" She yelled at the alarm clock and turned it off to go back to sleep again.

    Forty-five minutes later, she woke up in a panic and rushed out of her room as fast as she could.

    "Hey! Do you want some coffee?" Her new roommate Emily asked.

    "Maybe tomorrow. I am so late! Probably so dead too!" Mina fumbled for the house key in her handbag.

    "Don't worry about it, I will lock the door. Do you need a ride? I will be leaving in about 15–20 minutes."

    "Thank you for the offer. I have already called a cab. See you in the evening." There was no time today to figure out the metro system, as she had originally planned.

                                                            *****************************  

    If only this Lyft driver stopped talking, Mina frowned. 

    She was trying to focus on her schedule at work for the day. She has to complete a bunch of online training modules once IT resolves her account issues. She also has to meet her dreadful boss. Her last meeting did not go very well with him. 

    She visited St. Louis a couple of months back for the job interview when it was autumn and she fell in love with the city. Living in Florida, she had only experienced two seasons in her life; summer, and extreme summer, with occasional hurricanes. But it was winter in St. Louis now, and she wished to be back in the warm sunshine state to escape this gloominess.

    "So what brings you to the Lou?" The Lyft driver enquired.

    "A new job."

    "So that's where you are going to right now? In Downtown Clayton?"

    "Yes"

    "It's a popular business district with a lot of fancy restaurants and rich people."

    "I see. Are you from here?"

    "Yes, born and raised here," he said proudly, "Where are you from?" 

    "Cape Coral, Florida"

    "Flooridaa!"

    He had nothing more to add after that. Mina decided to put some light makeup on. She had amber-colored long wavy hair with sunkissed skin and honey brown eyes. She loved how her eyes always lit up with just a touch of mascara. 

    Her boss was not impressed by her looks or her resume when she met him during the interview a few months ago.

    "Okay, young lady! We hope to see you in December then." David Blaine, the CEO's uncle, smiled warmly and passed Mina's files back to her.

    "No way! Are you being serious right now?" Daniel argued, "She has zero experience for the job that she applied for. Almost everyone else's profile looks more suitable than hers! I am surprised that you even invited her for this interview."

    "I know she is new to this kind of job, but I believe that she can be trained."

    "And why would I want to do that? We only hire the best. Can we not waste any more time on this?"

    "She brings a fresh perspective to this position, Dan. You don't want to hire all type-A personalities with degrees from Ivy League." 

    "What perspective can a middle school teacher and a freelance science writer possibly bring to a multinational ammunition company?" Daniel gave Mina an exasperated look. He wanted her out of the conference room, but his uncle was being a pain. Mina wondered how long these men were going to argue while pretending that she didn't exist in the room.

    "Just give her a chance. She has a college degree, which is what you advertised education-wise. It's a one-year contract position anyway. Don't extend it if you don't like her work." David tried to reason with Daniel. 

    "I have a better idea. She will be under probation for the first six months after joining and will be gone if she fails the performance evaluation at the end of the period in May.

    David shrugged in defeat.

    "Does that sound good to you?" Daniel looked at Mina with a raised brow.

    Mina was in desperate need of money. She was willing to work ninety hours a week if she had to. This job came with a good paycheck and benefits. St. Louis was a mid-sized city and she could save up money quickly enough. She nodded in consent.

    "That's settled then." Daniel tapped his fingers impatiently on the desk, "Talk to Erika for your flight ticket reimbursement and relocation expenses. Paul will get in touch with you with all the HR formalities. Do not email me. Goodbye!"

    Mina was lost in her thoughts as the Lyft driver got lost on the Clayton streets.

    "Miss, are you sure this is the correct address? I think I missed it. Let me go back to the street again."

     Mina looked at her watch. Her meeting with the CEO was in five minutes.

    "My GPS says we are two minutes away. There should be a huge glass building with the name Ammo Dynamics written in the front." Mina was hysteric but the driver took his sweet time.

    "There!" Mina jumped as soon as she saw the building, "Thank you, have a good day. Bye!"

    She rushed towards the elevator and almost tripped when she quickly spun around looking for the right elevator. 

    Damn! Half a dozen elevators and none of them go to the same place. She sighed in frustration. When she found the right elevator, she quickly dashed in. A man was stepping into the elevator right before her, and she pushed him forward by accident because she ran so fast and could not stop when she wanted to.

    "I-I am so s-sorry," she apologized with a shaky breath.

    An attractive man in his late twenties turned to look at her. He smiled slightly before asking, "What floor?"

    "Seventh, please. Thank you." She tried to smile but her mouth was very dry and her lips failed to move.

    She ran towards the CEO's office; she was already late by seven minutes. They met in the conference room on a different floor during the interview. She was clueless as to where his office was. She stopped a woman who stepped out of the restroom.

    "Excuse me, where is the CEO's office?"

    "Down the hallway, to your right. Are you Mina?" 

    "Yes."

    "Good to see you finally. I am Erika, his PA. Nice hair, by the way, gorgeous long waves, I love it." Erika smiled and left.

    Mina knocked on the door gently and stepped in when she heard a pissed off voice. Daniel's office was spacious and tastefully decorated, with extra room on the left for a couch, and a projector setting. He was wearing a plain weave charcoal color dress shirt that made his eyes look darker. He looked at Mina with a stern gaze.   

    "Wow! Are you coming straight from a 5K run or something?"

    "I am sorry, the Lyft driver..." Mina tried to explain.

    "I don't care. This is your strike one. Two more strikes and you are out of here. Got it?"

    "Y-yes, sir."

    "I assume that you did not get a chance to meet anyone yet?"

    "No" She forgot that she ran into Erika.

    "Did you finish all the online training modules?"

    Mina gulped in trepidation. Was I supposed to finish before the start date? She wondered. 

    "I was waiting to meet with IT. I have trouble logging into the training website."

    Daniel got up from his chair and casually walked towards Mina. He bent down to place his hands on her chair's armrests and look into her eyes.

    "Are you telling me that you are going to waste this whole week doing training instead of working?" He had a piercing gaze and an imposing presence. 

    Mina stuttered but nothing meaningful came out of her mouth.

    He continued to stare down at her. 

    "I wish my uncle was here to see this. Give you a chance, my ass."

    Mina tried to take a deep breath to prevent her tears from spilling out. Daniel touched one of her teardrops and rubbed it between his fingers.

    "Tough luck! These can't move me." He sniggered at her. 

    Mina slightly raised from her chair to run away from his office so that she didn't embarrass herself anymore. 

    "Sit down," Daniel pushed her down to her seat with a hand on her shoulder. 

    "Let me go, please." Mina's voice cracked.

    "You are not a kid to run away from problems. I didn't even get started with you and you are already shedding so many tears. This is only the beginning." As he removed his hand from her shoulder, his wristwatch pulled on her hair and she let out a soft feeble cry.

    He moved closer to her face as he tried to release his watch from her hair. His lightly bearded jaw rubbed against her cheek, making her gasp for air. A delicate musky fragrance filled her nostrils at the same time. Blood rushed to her face and her pulse quickened. It had been three months that she was this close to a man.

    "What is this? Hagrid hairstyle?" He frowned, struggling to free his watch.

    "..." Mina was dumbstruck and stared at him with wide eyes.

    "I am sorry, didn't mean to hurt you." He stood up and apologized after he was done untangling.

    "..."

    "You may go now. Finish all those modules today, don't ask me how."

    "Okay." She sighed and turned to leave.

    He settled down in front of his computer that had three monitors.

    "Mina!"

    She turned back.

    "Tie that hair."