Mission: Undercover

Chapter 4

The following day, as soon as she made her coffee, Vanessa began to prepare for her first day of work.

She wore tight black high-waisted pants, a pink tank top with a high neckline, and high-heeled shoes. Since she had plenty of time, she finished her coffee on the balcony with a few cigarettes and headed for the office afterward.

Mike met Vanessa in the hallway on their floor. "Good morning, Nessa. I've been waiting for you."

"Good morning, Mike." Vanessa greeted him with a smile.

"Come with me. Let me take you to your office."

As expected, Mike took Vanessa to the office that belonged to him till yesterday.

"With a little nostalgia, I'm officially handing over my office to you," Mike said with a mix of solemnity and sadness as they entered the office. "Please, take care well of it."

Vanessa looked at him strangely for a moment. But then she thought that even though she never allowed herself to be emotional, perhaps it was customary for people to show emotion in moments like this—when parting with something, even with an office, after long years spent there.

"You can count on me," she answered. "Plus, you can always come to visit it."

They both started laughing.

"Oh, you can be sure I will," Mike said with a smile and continued a little more seriously. "But the joke aside—you can redecorate it to your liking. You can rearrange the furniture as you see fit."

"Thank you for the carte blanche, but I think it's perfect this way."

"Phew!" Mike sighed as he imitated wiping sweat from his forehead.

They both burst out laughing again.

"Okay, now for work. Cole is busy today, so I'll show you the basic paperwork now."

Strange... Vanessa thought as they sat behind the desk.

"You already know it will be your responsibility to organize and conduct all the interviews when new employees are needed."

Vanessa nodded.

Then Mike continued. "Also, you'll have to get acquainted with Cole's schedule and assist him with everything needed. He will tell you everything in detail, but usually, the assistant has to organize his meetings and sometimes meet people themselves. You will also need to get acquainted with all the employees you will be making work schedules for. Everything needed is here." Mike showed Vanessa the locations of all the files on the computer and how to work with the types of software. "Feel free to explore them later. Everything else Cole will tell you later on."

"Alright, I will check everything," Vanessa replied, confident that she would not encounter any technical problems. The communication and staff control software and tools seemed simple and easy to use.

"Now, let me show you around if you want," Mike said as he got up from the chair.

"I'd be thankful."

Mike and Vanessa walked around the building, and Mike didn't fail to show Vanessa the cafe on the tenth floor.

"We have a coffee machine on our floor, and you can always ask Marissa for coffee, but when you want to relax in a good atmosphere—this is the place!"

The cafe was not very large, but what attracted attention was the vast terrace, which had a view from the back of the building directly to the mountain.

"It looks wonderful. Thank you for taking the time to walk me around, Mike."

"Don't mention it. Now, I need to return to my work. But if you need anything, you can call me anytime."