Vince"s POV"Vince, it"s me. Are you awake?"
"Yes, come in."
Edward is walking towards me with pile of papers in his hands. It has been 2 hours since the welcome program ended. I wanted to take a nap to rest myself a bit before I start my work.
"Bro, I know that you said these papers should be emailed to you tonight but I already have the details that you asked for."
"Details?"
"About Ms. Yve Smith."
"Okay, that"s good. But are all those papers about her?"
"Uhmm, no. This blue folder contains the names of the on-call staff and the red folder has the reports on the names you asked me to."
"Good. Thanks, Ed."
"Vince, you know most of the people will not like the sudden change, especially by those on the upper hand."
"I know, that"s why we will play their game. We will let the other employees know their dark secrets until I will be left with no other choice but to remove them."
"I see. Vince, I am always scared when you carry out your evil plans. It"s like you"re a different person."
"Don"t be so scared. This is still me. It"s just a good businessman needs to ensure that his employees are true to their works, that"s all."
"So, what do you plan with the on-call?"
"I will hire the qualified ones as contractual. But they will be trained for the position of the regular employees that will be promoted. On-calls will become regular employees and the regular employees will become managers and supervisors while the bad superiors will be removed from their positions."
"Tsk3x. You really thought this through."
"Why does it seem that you are shocked?"
"I thought that you will be distracted by your personal mission but I was wrong."
"Ed, you still need to work on your character understanding skills. My personal and business are two different sides of me."
"I"ll make sure to work on that. Hahahahahahahaha. Then I guess I should take my leave then."
"Ed, how about our lunch? I am hungry."
"Oh, don"t worry about that. One of the kitchen employees will bring it here. It seems that it has been a practice by your father to have his meals sent here."
"Ughh... I don"t like that. Cancel that order and we will go down ourselves to eat our lunch in the employees lounge."
"Yes, boss."
Edward held the door open for me to go out my office. We use the elevator to go to the lounge. I never wanted to eat alone in my office. I always eat with my employees in the company lounge and experience the same feeling. I want to see for myself how my employees are being compensated. Many things are being shared by the employees during meal time. Most of them are their problems and if I can help them, I will. I value my employees because they are valuable a.s.sets of the company.
As I walk closer to the lounge I can hear the people talking and their utensils. But just as I entered the room, their heads turned to me and the deafening silence filled the room.
"Just go on with your meals. I am not here as your boss. Instead I"m here a fellow hungry human being who wants to eat. Don"t mind me."
I said to them but no one dared to make any noise. This is difficult.
"Sir, I think that will be difficult. We are not used to seeing our boss, none other than the CEO eating here in the lounge with us." One of the man in suit said.
"Well, from now on get use to it. I don"t like eating in my office alone. I always enjoy the noise of the people eating and talking their lives out during lunch break. It somehow relieves my stress. Please believe me when I say that whatever things you talked about in this lounger, whether positive or negative, it will affect your jobs. So please, let us enjoy all our meals."
I bowed and to my relief all of them clapped and resumed eating. Edward and I decided to follow the line.
"That was quite a speech." Edward grinned.
"Please. It"s one of the things that I hated about my father."
"Sir, please go ahead." One of the ladies in front said.
"No, it"s fine. We can wait for our turn."
As I answered the lady, I saw Ms. Yve Smith hiding behind one of the employees. I wonder why she is hiding. Or is it just me giving more colors to it. I will definitely read her file after work.
Come to think of it if she is my Yvory, then that would explain her att.i.tude. But if not, I don"t see any reason for her to do this.
Finally it is my turn to get the food and I told the kitchen staff not to give me any special treatment. I sat on the table good for two near the "return trays" area. Edward and I ate our meal in peace.
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Yve"s POV
"What is he doing here?"
I ask myself as I try to hide from his eyesight. I can"t help but thank G.o.d that his att.i.tude didn"t change.
Even before, he doesn"t like to receive any special treatment just because he is from a wealthy and powerful family. He would also try other things that are for commoners like me. Thinking back it was one of the reasons why I fell in love with him.
"Yve? Yve? Planet Earth to Yvory! Are you still okay?" Nyelle asked returning me back to Earth.
"Yeah, I"m fine. I was just thinking about something."
"Something? Or Someone?" She asked while turning her head to guide my eyes to Mr. Gray.
As I followed Nyelle"s gaze, my eyes met Mr. Gray"s eyes. We stared at each other for a few seconds before I turned away.
Is he really staring at me? Does he already know? What should I do?