A New Dawn

II

Jiajun groaned in frustration as he removed his glasses to lightly pinch and massage the bridge of his nose, placing them on his obsessively organized office desk. The clicking of keyboards and smell of coffee wafted in from outside his office, his subordinates were hard at work to meet this quarter's quota of contracts and he was proud of them. Although, the office wouldn't hate if he expressed that more.
   Jiajun was a hard ass, and he knew it. Everyone did. If you were wrong, don't even worry about it. He would tell you, with no hesitation.
  It wasn't wrong to suggest that Jia's attitude was paid no heed due to his handsomeness. His name was literally the Chinese character for handsome. (Thanks, mom.) Women and men alike would attest to his physical attractiveness, even if he acted like an asshole the majority of the time but if not for his harshness, the office team would surely not be as successful as they were.
   Deciding he needed a fresh cup of coffee, Jiajun rose from his desk, adjusting his blue herringbone suit coat. He grabbed his thermos, and exited his office.
  He pretended not to notice the dying of conversation and stares of his employees as he made his way to the common area. Jia was a tall man, and his shoulders broad. He took care of himself — exercised regularly, ate healthily, even did skincare. He prided himself in his appearance, physical and fashion-wise. His dark black hair was barbered in a close cut on the sides, and perfectly pomaded on the top. He cut his own hair, and wouldn't let anyone else touch it. His face was typically free of facial hair, other than an occasional five o'clock shadow but even that looked nice. His hazel eyes darted around the office floor, making sure there weren't any still hands.
    That's right, you all better stare. He thought smugly to himself, careful not to let his expression be anything other than blank.
  Once he turned the corner into the small common area, conversation in the office immediately resumed. As he poured the hot coffee into his silver thermos, he saw small, tan manicured hands wrap around his waist, hugging him.
   Red nail polish.
   Jiajun's body stiffened as he nearly slammed the coffee carafe on the counter. The hands unsnapped from around his body and vanished. He quickly turned around, making eye contact with a pair of seductive green eyes.
  "Sorry, did I startle you?" The woman spoke, hands placed on her hips as she stared at Jiajun with a smirk.
   Jiajun glared at the woman. What if someone saw? His eyes gazed around the room, briefly darting towards the area where everyone worked before he focused back on the woman before him.
  "How are you, Ms. Flores?" He asked lowly, eyes looking her physique up and down. "Is your work coming along?"
   This was all apart of their little twisted game.
   "Quite, Mr. Tan. I just have a few revisions to make before I'm able to send over that document. I can.. stay later today and send it to you, if you'd like." Reneé purred, sliding her beautiful dark tresses over her shoulder to rest on her silky maroon blouse, drawing attention to the cleavage she oh, so eagerly wanted Jia to notice. She crossed her arms across her chest and leaned against the wall.
  To an eavesdropper, this was just a regular, run-of-the-mill, professional conversation between employer and employee.
  Not to Jiajun. Definitely not to Reneé. They had a strange.. relationship. If you considered a relationship tying someone up and spanking them until their ass was bright red, and they cried from pleasure and pain.. Then yes, that's what they had.
  He screwed the lid onto his thermos, placing a polite tight lipped smile on his face.
   You'll pay for that, his expression said.
   "Send it over when you've finished. You have until Friday to send over the team's reports and—"
   "Mr. Tan, your phone is ringing!" A voice alerted him.
   "Excuse me." Jia spoke in a monotone, his head tilting as he as he looked Reneé up and down once more before turning the corner and heading to his office as Reneé signed in frustration. 
  Once there, he picked up the ringing telephone.
  "Jiajun Tan, speaking." His deep voice answered.
  "Sorry to bother you, Mr. Tan." The high-pitched voice he instantly recognized responded apologetically. "Mister.. Um, Mr. Tan is requesting you come to his office to discuss the upcoming quarter."
   Jiajun sighed internally, and nodded his head.
  "Thank you, Lindsey. Please let my father know I'll be there shortly."
   "Yes sir." Lindsey squeaked.
   Jia placed the phone back on the receiver, and rubbed the bridge of his nose once more, groaning again. He straightened his desk's nameplate so it was aligned with his paperwork and exited his office.
  
   What does he want now?

   ~~~~~~~~~~~~

   "Good afternoon, Mr. Tan. You can head on in." The twenty-two year old secretary greeted him, her eyes lingering on his mountainous shoulders as he nodded and entered his father's office.
   On the ride in the glass elevator up to the twelfth floor, his father's, Jiajun obsessively straightened his suit, made sure not a single hair was out of place.
   If people thought Jiajun was a hard ass, they had yet to meet his father.
   Danial Tan.
   The Malaysia-born COO of Lowell & Tan Architectures Incorporated. After his parents obtained American citizenship a few years before the birth of Jiajun, Danial Tan worked endlessly and tirelessly with his college roommate Clyde Lowell — basically an uncle to Jia — to establish the company residing in the twelve-story building Uncle Clyde and his father designed themselves. Jia spent most of his teen-hood in this very building.
    After the passing of Lihua, Jia's mother and Danial's first and only wife, their relationship became strained. Danial buried himself in work, spending less and less time with Jiajun and when he was, he was enforcing and strict. He only wanted the best for his son; the best school, tutors, even extracurricular activities. Jia was to take Danial's place as COO once he retired.
   Which will be no time soon, the fifty year old man thought.
   Jia knocked on his father's office door, before entering.
   "Jiajun." Danial, greeted him professionally. One wouldn't think he was speaking to his son, but to one of his employees.
   "As you're aware, this quarter's contract quotas are due soon. I assume you have your team working diligently to—" Danial cut himself off, eyeing Jiajun with an inspecting glare.
Jiajun's bristled as he prepared to hear his father's critiques.

   "Fix your tie." Danial said sharply.

   Jia rolled his eyes. And here we fucking go, he thought.  "Father, I didn't come in here to hear your criticism about my tie. What is it you need?" He all but growled. Of course he had a problem with his damn tie. What didn't he have a problem with?
   Danial leaned back in his expensive office chair, scoffing lightly. "Kau sangat tidak bersyukur. Make sure I have those reports by Friday. You can go." He dismissed. And just like that, the father-son conversation was over.
   Really? I'm ungrateful? Jiajun thought scornfully.
  "Please pass the message along through Lindsey next time. It's a waste of time to come up here just to hear bullshit." Jiajun's voiced, unwavering, as he turned to exit Danial's office. He'd mastered the stern, monotone from his father.
   Jiajun nodded a thanks to Lindsey, to which she smiled sheepishly, and returned to his tenth floor office.
  Once there, the familiar keyboard clacking and low murmur of conversation soothed him.
   As he made his way towards his office, he locked eyes with Reneé, whose eyes had been glued to the elevator ever since he left. As he walked by her desk, he paused. His big tanned hand gripped Reneé's office chair. Acting as if he was informing her of the work that needed to done, he leaned over.
   "Make sure your ass is in my office after work." He whispered, his minty breath tickling her ear. That was an order.
   "Yes sir," she replied breathlessly, his presence almost overwhelming.
  Jiajun straightened himself and continued his stride to his office.
   "Reports are due Friday, people." He called out from the entryway of his office to the floor of employees. "I don't want to see idle hands. If you're not working, you're not making money."
Jiajun closed the door firmly behind him.

A/N: Whew, okay. I hope you guys enjoyed the first two chapters of A New Dawn! I'm super excited to continue this story, and I hope you all are too! Please don't hesitate to comment and show some love, and let me know what you think!

SBB

<3