A Mischief

Chapter Four

Paislee entered her little efficiency apartment after 9 p.m. She eyed her bed avidly. It was far more appealing than a meal and a bath. She dropped her bag on the table, hit the bed on her stomach and let her craving for a deprived sleep take her away.

The nuisance of the automatic alarm alerted her to wakefulness. She slowly sat up, reached for the small clock at her bedside and silenced it. 'How a new day arrived so quickly?' The dread of facing another day on dissatisfying jobs ran an unconscious shiver in her. The end of her third job for the day always left her drained. She let herself out of bed to begin preparing for her early barista job.

"I'd just give up starting school this year," Himari's voice had come at the end of the line.

"Please don't say that," Paislee's concerned voice responded.

"But I have only this week to make the payment, Pais."

"I will send you the money on Thursday." Paislee assured without conviction. That meant she had just three days to make up the money.

"Thank you."

Paislee could sense the doubts in her little sister's voice, but didn't blame her. "How is Dad doing?" she went ahead to seek.

"He is better."

"Give Mom and Dad my love. I have to go." Paislee put off the call. Himari's call had come when her short break was almost over.

The conversation with Himari yesterday played on Piaslee's mind, as she rounded up her bath and dressed for work. She had promised her father everything would be okay. Her little sister could not miss attending the university this year. She had obtained a half scholarship. That was fair, but the other half was still a lot of money.

Piaslee had not wanted to ask further about her father, for fear of hearing the worst. Himari always acted mature; she wouldn't give her the right picture of things at home if she didn't press for it. Recently, she avoided detailed information.

She heaved a sigh as she zipped up her uniform to complete her dressing. A week had passed since the interview at MT Telecom. She learnt all intakes were made. Her shallow hope in Ty's promise vanished.

The convenience the job at MT Telecom would have afforded her remained an elusive wish. It could have paid her twice the wages of her three jobs put together, and allowed her to work only within decent hours.

She looked at the little alarm clock. It was 4:32 a.m. That left her enough time to hurry and report to work at 5:00 a.m. She reached for her handbag, then her phone. Naturally, she pressed the power button to see her notifications quickly. The last time she took a look at her phone was early evening yesterday when Himari had called.

A notification message from MT Telecom. It stood out on her phone screen. 'Whatever it was?' Paislee tapped on it to open and momentarily forgot to breathe.

* * *
Paislee stepped out of the orientation hall, proudly wearing her staff tag. She took the elevator to the fortieth floor. It was her third day at MT Telecom. She would have visited the CEO's office two days ago, but leant staff appointments were only on Wednesdays. It terrified her to meet the boss, but she needed to tell him in person how thankful she was for the opportunity.

The other person she wished to see was Ty Braylon. No one seemed to know much about him, except that he was always with the boss. She had only seen him once walking along with the CEO. The unquestionable civility of the environment naturally kept her from running after them and yelling his name.

It took Paislee about fifteen minutes of waiting at the CEO's secretary's office to be called in. She entered the warmly elegant office. The atmosphere was cool and serene. Ryan Mitchell was inside alone. He sat behind his massive desk piled with neatly arranged files and papers.

Paislee's heart beat rapidly, as she approached Ryan's desk. With an adorable crown of shiny brown hair, styled to a neat two inches length, slicked back, with a parting on the left, and very low neatly trimmed side hairs that rounded into manly peppered stubble beard and a low neat mustache, he always looked intimidating in person.

"Good morning, Mr. Mitchell," she greeted, bowing her head with reverence. Her parents had trained them to be so cultured. It was a practice, which her friends had regarded as fun. When she looked up at him, he gestured to her to one of the seats in front of his desk.

She observed Ryan resting his hands on the desk and only looked at her in silence. It was enough indication for her to state her purpose of visit. "I wish to sincerely thank you for the opportunity to work at MT Telecom, sir. It means very much to me."

"You thank the wrong person, Miss Yamasaki. You should be thanking that knucklehead." Ryan's voice was rich and deep.

"Mr. Braylon?" She smiled mildly in spite of herself. She didn't expect any humor from Ryan. His addressing Ty a knucklehead and the fact that Ty had also called him a derogatory name, explained the extent of the informality between the two men.

"His recommendation may have gotten you in, but that has not changed my opinion of you."

Paislee sat up straight at Ryan's blunt statement. "I promise to do my best, sir. I will not abuse this opportunity."

"Ensure you do that and you won't have a problem keeping your job."

"Yes, sir," Paislee said softly and remained silent in contemplation.

"Anything else?"

Ryan's question pricked Paislee to the oddness of her silence. She wanted to say something, but refrained. "No, sir. I better head back to the orientation," she said with a nervous laughter as she stood up. It was more than an hour before the next session, but she could no longer endure his presence, nor ask him the question that was pressing on her mind.

Ryan nodded without a word and opened the file that lay before him. Without looking up at her again, he heard the clutter of shoes leaving his office.

Logic had no play in his decision to employ Paislee. He could not believe he gave into Ty's pestering and acted against reason. Well, it wasn't without a price Ty agreed to pay. He could not deprive the deserving candidates the position. For employing an extra person the organization did not need, Ty had promised not to share any special dealings with her. For her sake, he hoped she would prove to be more than an empty pretty face. Otherwise, he would not hesitate cutting her off.

Barely twenty minutes later, Ty walked into the CEO's office. "How dare you call me a knucklehead before her?" he queried, taking a seat before Ryan's desk.

"You called me an asshole before her?" Ryan didn't bother looking up at Ty.

"It is what you are after treating a beautiful lady that way."

"It is what you are after insisting I employ an unqualified dumb head."

"You couldn't conclude she is dumb."

"That leaves time to prove."

Ryan was capable of hearing all the sound around Ty as much as Ty could hear those around him, when they were apart. Activating the gadget on them that made it possible was important for Ty's job of keeping him safe.

Ty rarely spoke to anyone when they were apart. He paid utmost attention to him, and avoided the sound from him disrupting Ryan. That he went out of his way to have a conversation with Paislee was unusual. It bothered Ryan if it was wise to allow Paislee to work in the company. However, he kept his concern to himself.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thank for reading thus far ❤️

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