His name was Nathaniel

92

Nathaniel sat in his office, watching as his new apprentice skimmed through a pile of financial reports like they were somewhat interesting but not enough to hold his full attention.

It had been less than a day, and Nathaniel was already questioning his decision.

"So... this is it?" the apprentice asked, flipping a page with mild disinterest. "I thought working for Nathaniel Donovan would be more... exciting."

Nathaniel narrowed his eyes. "You've been here six hours."

"And I've already finished everything you gave me," he replied with a smirk, placing the completed reports in front of Nathaniel.

Nathaniel exhaled sharply, picking up the reports and scanning through them.

The calculations were right. The summaries were clean. The analysis was... decent.

Still, something felt off.

Nathaniel looked up. "You rushed this."

The apprentice leaned back in his chair. "I completed it."

Nathaniel folded his arms. "Did you double-check your figures?"

"Didn't need to."

Nathaniel stared at him, unimpressed. "You always double-check."

The apprentice groaned, rubbing his face. "God, you really are a perfectionist."

Nathaniel smirked slightly. "I really am."

The apprentice sighed, snatching one of the reports back. "Fine. I'll look over them again."

Nathaniel leaned back, studying him. "You're good. But you're sloppy."

The apprentice scoffed. "And you're obsessive."

Nathaniel smirked. "That's why I'm the one running the company."

The apprentice grinned. "Fair point."

Despite the tension, Nathaniel couldn't help but feel slightly impressed.

The guy wasn't afraid to push back.

And maybe that wasn't a bad thing.

⸻

Over the next few days, the clashes continued.

Nathaniel operated on precision, on structure. Everything had to be done exactly as he envisioned it.

The apprentice?

He thrived in chaos.

He worked fast, made decisions on instinct rather than careful calculation, and had a habit of questioning everything Nathaniel told him to do.

"Why do we even need a report for this?" he asked one afternoon.

Nathaniel didn't look up from his computer. "Because data matters."

"Yeah, but I already know the answer," the apprentice argued. "This market trend is obvious."

Nathaniel exhaled slowly, rubbing his temples. "You don't assume in business. You prove."

The apprentice sighed. "Right. Double-check everything. Got it."

Nathaniel glanced at him. "Do you always have to argue?"

The apprentice smirked. "Do you always have to micromanage?"

Nathaniel huffed out a quiet laugh. "You really don't know when to shut up."

The apprentice grinned. "Nope."

Nathaniel shook his head, but...

There was something refreshing about it.

For the first time in a long time, he wasn't surrounded by people who just nodded along with whatever he said.

And maybe that was exactly what he needed.

⸻