Flawless // z.m

One.

There was no doubt in my mind that Mr. Malik was an arrogant prick. If his name didn't scream cocky to you, then maybe the countless amounts of self portraits around his building would. I wasn't really sure how I ended up working for him, but I guess I could thank my dad and his many, many connections (as he liked to call them).

I was born and raised under the skyline of Chicago, the violent, busy streets feeling like home to me. My upbringing was normal, I was fortunate enough to never witness death or divorce; but that didn't stop me from becoming a walking disaster.

I was blessed with two left feet and the inability to form a complete sentence under pressure, which didn't really help the fact that Zayn Malik was my soon-to-be employer. I had never met him directly, only spoken to him briefly over the phone and email to prepare for his arrival. I didn't have to see his face to know his disdain. His low, demanding voice was enough for me to know that working for him was not going to be a walk in the park, but I'd have to manage until I could find a new job... or get fired.

Mr. Malik was supposed to arrive from London from a business trip in a just a few days and I was supposed to be preparing for his arrival. I was told that I needed to get a car waiting for him at the airport, a schedule printed for his upcoming week and a video conference scheduled for his new software launch with some equally arrogant asshole.

The tasks were fairly simple when assigned to me but being born as Arabelle Samuels ensured that everything had to go wrong.

I had somehow ordered the wrong shade of black car, if that were possible, scheduled two meetings on the same day at the same time and failed to work the video projector. Now I was seated in Mr. Malik's luxurious black leather chair, feverishly shifting through his files to find the manual for the stupid projector. I pushed past countless business cards and failed software ideas until I reached the bottom of his drawer.

I gripped the small booklet like my life depended on it and quickly flipped through the pages. My finger trailed the words along with my eyes and I quickly grabbed the small controller and began pushing all the buttons the diagram showed me. Mr. Styles, who was the man Mr. Malik is doing business with, was located in London and was probably more than annoyed with my being late.

The projector didn't turn on like it was supposed to and I was seriously contemplating throwing it out the window and letting it crash twelve floors below. I huffed and scanned the words again, this time carefully pushing each button in a slow manner. The large screen on the other end of the office lit up and I let out a breath of relief before slumping into the plush chair.

Honestly, this could have been done over the phone.

"Mr. Styles! I am so sorry for the wait; I didn't realize it would take this long to set up the projector." I offered a nervous smile at the young man on the large screen who was smiling back at me. Large dimples carved his cheeks as his smile widened and his emerald eyes gleamed with amusement. He was young, incredibly young and his soft chestnut curls only took years off his age.

"It's quite alright Miss Samuels." He smiled. I nodded, reaching for the papers that laid out the details for the upcoming video conference.

"Mr. Malik will be back at the office on Monday, the best time for him would be Wednesday at 2:30 PM" I read directly off the paper in front of me, my hands shaking as I tried to focus on the words. "He already has the software features planned out but would like to run them by you to make any changes before he sends out the final copies for signatures. Mr. Malik has requested that your company send out the drafts to the engineers as they are located in London."

Once I reached the bottom of the page, I nervously looked up at the man on the large screen, noting that he still adorned a dimpled smile.

"I've heard this all before Miss Samuels. I already spoke to Mr. Malik whilst he was in London and set up the meeting. We just wanted to test the projector... and his new assistant." Mr. Styles' left eye dropped to a wink as he leaned closer to the screen, "Malik's a bit of a hard-ass"

My cheeks heated up at his confession and I quickly nodded. Mr. Styles seemed to notice my embarrassment as I had quite possibly failed his little test, and leaned back into his seat.

"Everything seems to be in order, make sure you set up the projector ahead of time on Wednesday" Mr. Styles interwined his fingers across his lap and gave me a soft nod. I cleared my throat and nodded my head, unable to form words due to my shear humiliation.

"Good luck Miss Samuels, hope all goes well." Before I could reply he had reached across his desk and pressed a button, causing the video to switch off and fill the large office with silence.  I sighed and pressed a few buttons on the remote to shut off Mr. Malik's projector and leaned back into his seat.

What would Mr. Styles tell my new boss? That I was incompetent and incapable of handling a simple task such as setting up a projector? And what the hell was the point of making me go through hell to set up the call, when it was already taken care of? The thought that he only did that for his own amusement sparked a flame of anger in me. Sure he was my boss but he had to treat me with respect. I was not going to let him walk all over me. Mr. Malik's strong disliking towards me only seemed to grow as we neared the date of his arrival, and I gladly returned the feelings of distaste.

I groaned and pulled at the roots of my hair, cursing my dad for forcing me into this job.

After gathering the scattered pieces of my confidence, I finally managed to call up Mr. Malik and inform him that all was taken care of.

"Zayn Malik!" He snapped the second the first ring went through. I jumped slightly at his harsh, irritated tone and cleared my throat a few times.

"Good morning Mr. Malik. I was calling to inform you that your matte black Audi R8 will be waiting for you on Sunday evening at Gate C. The driver will deliver you to your home and drive you to work Monday morning, where your usual driver will take over his duties." I had successfully kept my voice at a even, steady level, not hints of shattered confidence present.

"Your meeting with Styles Technologies is scheduled for Wednesday at 2:30 PM, as you already know" I almost sneered the last part, but instantly recovered when I remembered who I was speaking to. The annoyance sparked up again and I swallowed a few times to push it down. I haven't even met my boss yet and I already wanted to strangle him. "The projector is working fine and I'll go over the rest of your schedule with you on Monday." I had received complete silence on his end, even now that my little speech was over.

"That's all." I concluded, hoping this would probe some sort of reaction out of him.

"Great, see you Monday" and with that, the line went dead. 

helllllo. rich, asshole zayn has become my guilty pleasure. also matte black cars. hope you enjoy :) x