"Wait… what are you doing?" Patrick said as he chased after Arial.
"You don't understand," Arial said, stopping for a moment in the corridor. She was breathing heavily, her shirt almost soaked with sweat after taking the stairs. It made her wonder why she had used the stairs rather than the elevator.
Fuck my stupid brain!
"I understand everything, and honestly, you aren't making the right decision right now," Patrick said, also panting.
"What do you mean?" Arial looked at him, confusion deep in her eyes.
"Come. You should go through the document like I said."
Arial was back on the floor that housed Patrick's office. She sat on a chair, looking at what she had just signed herself into.
Apparently, her duties were enormous, though that wasn't exactly what baffled her.
She didn't care that she needed to be at his beck and call, stay at his huge estate in Madrid, sometimes sleep in the same room so she could fully attend to him, or practically have no life of her own.
Yes, those things bothered her.
But what bothered her the most was that she couldn't say no to them right now because of her damn greed.
She closed the document and smacked her forehead with it.
"What have I gotten myself into?" she mumbled as she massaged her temples.
"I suppose that's not all," Patrick said.
"I know that you were one of his college mates before his family died in that accident, and you two didn't seem to be on good terms."
"So the reason you had told me that paycheck before I could even read the clause was because you wanted greed to sink into me so I would sign before even reading it?" Arial asked.
"And when I finally read it, I wouldn't be able to terminate the contract because of the termination fee of 20,000 euros for the loss the company would suffer after thinking I was ready to work. It's either I stay and work for three months before I'm allowed to terminate without paying damages?"
"Exactly."
"What the actual fuck…" Arial muttered. "How did he turn out this way?"
Later, Arial composed herself and walked back to the office.
Miguel was seated at his desk, working on his computer.
"Patrick, you can go. Leave me with my new secretary," Miguel said as he typed, not even raising his head to look at her. Arial could still notice the slight mockery in his tone, and it made her skin crawl with embarrassment.
Arial looked at Patrick with pleading eyes, almost wanting him to stay rather than leaving her in the lion's den.
But Patrick only answered to one man in the room.
He nodded quickly and left, closing the door behind him.
The room suddenly fell silent.
Arial stood there, staring at her shoes. The way they shone strangely amused her at that moment until Miguel's voice broke the silence.
"So, tell me about yourself," Miguel said casually, still not looking away from his computer.
Still staring at her shoes, Arial gave a half-hearted reply.
"I expected you to know a lot about me already. Isn't that why you hired me? To mock me?"
A chuckle formed on Miguel's lips.
"Well, I never expected the arrogant princess to one day apply for the role of secretary in my office."
"And I also never expected the charming boy I once knew to appear in a wheelchair… and become cocky," Arial replied.
The moment the words left her mouth, she realized how terrible that sounded.
"Hmmm…" Miguel focused on his laptop again.
Then he closed it.
"Are you sure you can do this job?"
"I'm sorry," Arial apologized, lowering her head.
"I don't think you're ready yet," Miguel said. "Where's the respect?"
"I'm very sorry, sir. I just—"
"No. No excuses," Miguel cut in quickly. "I don't accept or listen to those. They irritate me. As my secretary, I trust you to refrain from that."
"Very well, sir," Arial mumbled.
Miguel smiled slightly, idly spinning the cufflinks he had picked up from his table.
He looked at Arial, and she looked back at him.
Obviously, he was interested in how her life had turned out. He wanted to hear it directly from her mouth, even though he had already asked his assistant to investigate everything.
"So, Arial," he said, "tell me about your misfortune… and this sudden greed of yours."
Arial's lips pressed together in annoyance, her hands clenching into fists.
She had never wanted to hit someone more than she wanted to hit her boss right now.
But she couldn't afford to lose five thousand dollars.
Neither could she afford a lawsuit, or a headline that read:
Secretary Hits Crippled Boss on First Day.
Still, she wasn't going to back down completely.
"Oh?" she said. "Then maybe you should explain how you ended up in your own misfortunate state."
The words, however, did nothing to Miguel.
He simply stared at her without any visible emotion.
Realizing she had pushed too far, Arial quickly folded.
"I'm sorry, sir. I spoke out of turn," she said again.
The room fell quiet.
Miguel kept staring at the once arrogant young woman.
Still arrogant… just slightly restrained.
"Well," Arial finally began, "life happened. My father was arrested—"
"Okay, you can stop," Miguel interrupted. "Your voice is starting to irritate my ears. I'd like some alone time. Invite Patrick inside."
"Oh…" Arial murmured.
But she didn't move.
Miguel raised his eyebrows slightly.
"And what part of that did you not understand?"
Oh… shit.
Arial quickly composed herself and left the office.
The moment she stepped outside, she let out a long breath.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck…" she muttered. "I thought I had my mouth under control, but his mouth just keeps getting cockier and cockier."
"Will he fire me for misconduct?" she wondered aloud.
Then she heard Miguel's voice through the door.
"Your first order and you're already making me repeat myself three times. Two cripples can't work together, you know?"
"Wait… did he just stylishly call me deaf?" Arial stared at the door.
"Miguel has really changed in many ways."
The thought sent goosebumps down her spine.
And this was the man she would be working for now.
She wasn't sure how long she could endure his cockiness.
Still, she quickly took the elevator this time and went to find Patrick.
Miguel sat in his office, sorting through documents on his laptop when a knock sounded.
"Come in," he said curtly.
Patrick entered.
"So, how was she?" he asked immediately.
Patrick was more than just an assistant to him.
He was a friend, almost like a brother, and the only person who truly understood Miguel.
"She seems perfect for the fun," Miguel said with a shrewd smirk that did not bode well for the woman in question.
Then he asked, "What about the lady? Do you know who she is?"
"Not yet," Patrick replied. "We couldn't find any information about her. I'm starting to think you might need a brain MRI, because we couldn't even find any footage from that night except what you described."
His tone carried both seriousness and humor.
"Well, fuck me," Miguel muttered as he stared into space.