BLEEDING SILVER

Chapter 12

Strict blue eyes under a tamed pair of bushy eyebrows met Alina's gaze. He is wearing spruce blue turtle neck top perfectly complimenting his steel gray formal coat. His raven black hair was neatly brushed up, as if bragging his chiseled manly jaws.

Alina seats across the man, with his modernized office table separating them. On it is a glass plaque with carvings which say, 'Altair Hendrix' and 'Chief Finance Officer' under it.

"Do you understand?" the man asked in a dangerously low tone.

Alina's surrounding almost turned white the moment she met his glare. He is the first to intimidate her, so far. She considers this superior presence as the one with the capability to turn her future opportunities upside-down if he feels like it. Apparently, she was given orientation as to the basics of the department. So far, she was instructed to do small yet meticulous office works. At this point on, Altair was ordering Alina to report directly to him every end of the duty for grading purposes.

"Yes, Sir," she calmly replied.

"You are dismissed then. Journalize your activities during immersion proper." Altair then directed his gaze on the computer in front of him.

"Sir, if I may," Alina hesitantly drifts her eyes to Altair's.

Altair, however, did not bother to look back. Rather, he raised an eyebrow.

"Thank you for this opportunity," Alina said nevertheless, referring to his recommendation. Until now, Alina was not able to think of a reason to accept someone who was home-schooled just until her first year in the university. She admits even to herself that she does not have enough credentials to be in the Finance Department especially that the company is one of the bests in the region. She was hoping to apply for lower offices but got more than what she thinks she deserves.

Altair just let a small nod.

When Alina exited the office, she was greeted by a brunette woman wearing ash gray formal coat, the same color as her pencil skirt. Her honey brown eyes dazzle with excitement upon seeing the newcomer. "You must be Ms. Strider."

"Yes, Ma'am."

"I am Lilith Fawn, your supervisor during working hours. I'll be relaying your instructions from Mr. Hendrix's office." She extended her hands towards Alina.

"Alina Strider. Thank you for your guidance, Ms. Fawn," Alina shook her hand.

The holistic view of their office is a wide silver-themed space with only two office tables on a left corner behind a translucent glass division after the guest area. At the middle, a coffee table, surrounded by L-shaped black leather sofas, was strategically placed four meters from the water dispenser near the kitchen counter. Meanwhile, the CFO's office is an enclosed space by the far left.

"Let's get started then." Lilith made a short pause, as if remembering something. "By the way, you are only bound to visit the ground floor up to this floor only. The floor especially above us is strictly forbidden to anyone but to Mr. Hendrix. It is said to be his dwelling."

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Alright then. Follow me," Lilith leads Alina to one of the tables with a lot of papers piled on top of it. "For the moment, this is your area. Start first with sorting the receipts with tax identification number."

Alina was given one order after another, each of which she accomplished properly. This cycle went on until late afternoon. Objectively, she has been put to so much work load for her first day to such extent that she only took two ten-minute breaks the entire day. As soon as the moon starts rising the horizon, Alina was instructed by Lilith to enter Altair's office for the daily report. Alina obliged to do so. Now, she sits on her usual spot in front of Altair with a printout on her hand. In silence, Alina noticed that Altair did not even walk out of his office even for once the entire day, something which amazed her. Just as she cleared her mind of her thoughts, her eyes widened as she notices a strong scent in the office. She was sure that it was not here earlier this morning.

Casablanca lily.