Chapter 1 First Day At Work

SERENA'S POV. I excitedly walked into the sales department of Blackwood Corps. My heart was racing and I almost did a little dance of joy. It took all the composure I had in me to remain calm. But, nothing could take away the smile plastered on my face. I sniffed in the air, it smelt good. Life was good. It was my first day of work as a trainee in Blackwood Corps. Sales department, precisely. My dream job. Haha! I had hastily left the house after taking a shower. I wanted to be at work as early as possible, because first impression matters. Well, I was here right on time, but my stomach was rumbling and making loud noises. I didn't have breakfast. "Grrraaa." It sounded, and I looked around to see if anyone heard that. Great! They were all minding their own businesses. But, I needed to go eat something. I quickly rearranged my files properly on my desk and walked out of the office. I walked down to the coffee station for a cup of coffee at least. During my lunch break, I'll go get a proper meal. No one was around the coffee station when I got there which was actually comforting. One of the perks of being in a new environment is trying to get along with everyone which I kinda suck in. I picked up a cup and filled it with coffee and as soon as I lifted the cup to my lips, I heard someone clear her throat behind me. "Hey." I said, as I turned to see who it was. "Hi." The lady said, as she looked at me from my head to my feet and back to my head before settling her gaze on my eyes. I know I didn't look bad, but I felt a little bit uncomfortable with her gaze. I could tell she was checking me out. Her lips finally curved upwards into a small smile. "You are new." She said and I nodded. "Yeah, a new trainee in the sales department." I said and she gave me a look of approval. "Nice, same here. But not from the sales department though. I'll see you around." She said and walked away with her nose up in the air. I didn't know if I liked her or not. I shrugged and walked away with the cup of coffee still in my hands. I pushed the door open and bumped into someone, half of the contents of the cup spilled on his navy blue suit and my eyes widened. To top everything up, I accidentally dropped the cup in my panic and the remaining contents spilled on the floor close to his feet. How wonderful! "Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry, it was an accident." I said. I had a tissue in my pocket which I immediately pulled out and tried to wipe away the coffee. "It's fine." He said, using his left hand to wave me off. Some of the staff around gave me a weird look. It was as if they felt pity for me, and I lifted up my gaze to meet his eyes. He had a blank expression on his face and I couldn't tell if he was angry or not. But there was one thing I knew. He was my boss! I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me. Imagine coming to work on the first day, and trying to impress your boss, but your first encounter with him was spilling coffee all over his suit. A pretty lady, who was the boss's secretary rushed out from behind him. "What have you done? Why do you have a cup of coffee with you? Don't you know the rules? You do not eat at your workstation." The lady scolded and I quickly apologized. "It was not intentional." I said. "You are the new trainee, am I correct?" My boss asked with a deep voice which sent shivers down my spine. "Yes...yes I am." I said in a shaky voice. "Fair enough." He said and walked past me. The boss's secretary still hovered around me. "You are lucky he is in a good mood today. You would have left here in the same way you came. Now, get someone to clean this mess and stay out of his way." She fumed and glared at me before walking away. I found it amusing because even the boss was not as angry as she was. What exactly was her problem? I returned to the office some minutes later, to see some other trainees. I also saw the lady I had seen earlier at the coffee station. I was glad I wasn't the only new trainee and hoped we all get along well. The boss's secretary soon came in with a smile on her face. "Hello everyone and welcome to Blackwood Corps. I am sure you all know your assignments and you all also know everything you are supposed to do. I learnt they were all sent to your emails. Anyway, I am not supposed to be addressing you. I'm just a very concerned staff who doesn't want to see anyone lagging behind. Your department managers would have done this, but they are having a meeting with the board right now." She said, smiling. I smiled too, as her eyes wandered from face to face, but as soon as it landed on me, her smile faded into a frown and I subconsciously stopped breathing. "Welcome to the family." She said, finally taking her gaze off me, and I exhaled in relief. She glanced at me one more time before she finally left. We all got to work pretty soon. It was not as bad as I thought it would be. In fact, at midday, we heard the news about the success of a project the company had been pursuing for a long time now and there was a celebratory party coming up pretty soon because of it. Well, everything was starting on the right path. The next day, work went smoothly as well. I was getting along with everything now, infact the job looked too easy. Perhaps, it was because I was just a trainee. The day would have ended well if my desktop computer didn't just go off for no reason when I was in the middle of something. I felt like shoving my fist into the computer, why was it frustrating me? I stood up, and tried to see what was wrong with it. At that moment, the office door was pushed open and my boss walked in with a file in his hand. He didn't look my way as he walked straight to another staff who sat two desks away from me. "I heard you and your team have some outside sales to do. Go through this file before you do so, and get back to me." He said, then he turned to leave. I quickly averted my gaze, but he had already seen me. "Is there a problem?" He asked with a raised brow. "No..I...I.." I stammered. What the hell was wrong with me? "I mean..uh...my computer...it..it stopped." I finally said, then he walked towards me. "Did you touch anything?" He inquired and I shook my head in negation. He leaned over and pressed the power button on the computer, but the computer still didn't boot. He leaned in again and disconnected the computer from the power source before reconnecting it back, and surprisingly it worked. His hand gently brushed past mine as he stood up, and I felt goosebumps all over my body. I turned to him, and he was staring at me too. We were lost in each other's eyes for about a minute, before I finally blinked and looked away. "I..I.. thanks. It worked." I said, in confusion. "Yeah, it did." He said, also looking confused. I looked down and returned to my seat as he walked away. On getting to the door, he glanced at me one more time before walking out. My heart was pounding nervously. I could feel everyone's eyes on me, but I ignored them. I refused to look up…