Chapter 3 - The boss

Juni walked down the halls to the elevator with his favorite black coat on his best shirt

right after counting off several instructions to his secretary, luckily for him, the bell boy

was not at work, probably out to get a breakfast or something when he saw another face working as the bell boy.

With quick amused smile on his lips, he quickly got on the elevator and pressed in his boss floor number "7" and with a minute a two ,he was strutting down the upper halls ,when his boss's wide glass furnished office door came into view with the inscription "Branch Manager" on it , he said to himself, "Im going to get one of those pretty soon, you just watch" and he knocked.

He opened the door after being invited in to a smiling boss(that was pretty rare),"Morning ma'am ,I was told you wanted to see me" Juni said while sitting down with a mirror of the boss's smile on his face. "oh right ,yes I did ,I'm sure you already know what this is about , don't you?" She peered at him below her reading glasses with her smile slowly turning into a smirk, he straightened up and kept a straight face as he replied with what he hoped was a sincere voice "Not really, ma'am".

With a smirk fully on her face now, she said "well, its about your promotion.." she paused to see his reaction and found his straining to hide his anxiety ,satisfied she continued" the board of directors has made a decision and have decided to give you.." a smile was slowly creeping its way onto his face,s he noticed with a frown and quickly added in conclusion "they decided to give you a competition"

The mortified look on Juni's face when the incoming smile crept back to where it came from was quite visible now as he scrambled to ask "what?!whyy?...".With a full smirk plastered on her face,she asked "Is the high and mighty Juni Cartel scared of a competition?" ,his face fell as he answered "that's not why ma'am plus…" then with a grin on his face which surprised her, he added "I don't play to lose".

She pretended that didn't shake her but it did as she finally made the reality clear to him "I know, but note, this is no game, there is only one opening position left which is why you are being pitched against another branch's best editor, do not lose unless you are going to have to wait 3 years after I retire before getting promoted"

"I got that ma'am, so what exactly is this competition about and who is my opponent?"he inquired

"A game of chess. You both have to sign different high ranking writers who have proved to be difficult to sig by other companies over the years. Any method is okay long as you sign them,the fastest gets the throne and if so it happens, that you both fail ,others will be put up to the task and you will have to wait for 3 more years" she paused while he gulped thinking "that can't happen to me,I won't let it".

"and as for who your competitor is, this is a tough one but I already told you they are putting up the best against the best, his name is Charles Wickson" she concluded and failed miserably to hide her smirk as she had known about this all along.

Charles Wickson was the oldest editor in the company's history and vey much considered the best of all, yes the man was due for a promotion but why put Juni in a competition with him when it was sure that Charles would win, he was even Juni's motivation and role model for goodness sake. Clara Thomas, the Branch manager noticed her subordinate's misery and reveled in it, she never really liked him anyway, he climbed to the top too fast for her liking, plus he sometimes questioned her actions.

Hiding his worries under a fake smile without noticing how much she loved what he was going through, he made to stand up when she said with a serious expression "I will send the details over to you by 1pm after getting them from the HQ"

"okay ma'am "He gave a curt nod and was at the door on his way out when she added "Make us proud ,Juni" there was no reply as the down casted man walked down the halls to the elevator where he met Sammy again "Heyy, Mr cartel –"the bell boy tried to say something but was interrupted with a hand gesture from Juni asking him to stop talking as they got into the elevator "going down?"sammy asked with no innuendo intended ,Juni replied under his breath " I hope not"

While getting off the elevator on his floor,the bell boy hurriedly puts something in his hand shouting "have a great day, Mr cartel" as he took the elevator down leaving Juni starting at the sweets in his hands which read "No Pressure" He poured the sweets on his secretary's desk just as he entered his office thinking "that was just it…there is definitely pressure involved in this" totally blocking out his frustrated secretary who had followed him in "What do you want beyonce?" he asked after slumping lazily in his seat

"do not call me that..ugh" Mark whined then asked anxiously "How did it go?"

"Get me a cup of coffee first and probably one for yourself" Juni answered

"I'm guessing not good" Mark sated heading out leaving Juni glaring at his retreating figure.