Subtle Endearment

8. Settling In

Kira

"How was the flight? I spent the majority of it sleep," Violet says stretching her arms out in the rental car. The black Nissan cars had been awaiting our arrival at the airport and we were now on the way to the hotel. Violet had ran to a car with her luggage the minute we landed. It was quite the sight seeing all the employees scramble to cars.

"I'm glad you were smart enough to follow me. The CEOs personal car wasn't waiting for him, we would've had to ride with him if we hadn't claimed a car so quickly," Violet says casually. As we sit in the back seat the driver adjusts the front mirror. "What if he heard you?" I whisper. "He doesn't work for Mr. Dewan, it doesn't really matter to be honest," she assures me.

"So How was your flight?" Violet asks again. "It was good, I didn't really have any problems with Ian," I say. "Ian? So I see you're on a first name basis with our boss now. Does he approve of this," Violet asks sarcastically. "He actually asked me to call him by his first name. Does he not do that with all employees?" I ask suddenly aware of the special treatment.

"He's definitely giving you special treatment. Maybe he l-" Violet clears her throat "Maybe he's looking to help you advance quicker. Now that I think about it, he did pay extra close attention to me when he trained me to be a secretary," Violet states. "But I just got here, why would I get a promotion so early in my career? Was he kind to you when he was training you?" I question curious to whether his behavior will be a temporary thing.

"No, he was the worst when training me, barking orders and ordering me around. I think I made coffee more than I did actual work," Violet says quite bitterly. "Ya know someone who's not so annoying?" She suddenly asks. "Who?"

"Daniel, he's been worried about you since the day we got ice cream. He thought something might've happened after he left you at work. "No, I'm fine. It's like I told you, I hurt myself when I wasn't paying attention walking to work the next day and decided to stay home," I say flipping through the Home Screen on my phone hoping she won't dig deeper.

The lie rolled off my tongue effortlessly. It's not that I want to lie to her, it just makes my life a whole lot easier but, isn't that what every liar tells themselves.

"We're here," the driver says as we pull up into the entry way of a hotel. The hotel stands at least six stories tall and a velvet colored rug is strung out at the entrance. From my seat I can see a long tan colored counter where three women stand dressed up waiting for the next customer.

Violet and I collect our luggage and give it to the porter who is concentrating on stacking it. "Thank you," I say to the man before making my way to the lobby where the other employees are. "We're here to close the contract with EnviorStem. I hope that I won't have to remind you all the importance of this deal. Any mistakes and I'll see personally that you're demoted," Ian says sternly making eye contact with everyone- everyone except me that is.

Did I do something wrong? I hope I didn't say something in my sleep I wasn't supposed to. I'm thinking too much, he definitely looked at me too...right? Maybe I'm just thinking too much since I heard what Violet said about training.

The other employees disperse to the counter awaiting check in and I'm left standing in the middle of the grand hotel. It's not that I've never been to a hotel but this is certainly the nicest one I've ever been to. The waiting area has gold and cream colored interior and a bit of a royal theme. Fitting for the top tech company. I feel out of place here.