17 V. I Chapter 15: Assistant CEO

"Welcome to LEO Corp," Ciel said, smiling slightly at Laksa as they made their way into the office they now shared. Laksa's desk was placed on the opposite side of the rectangular room, giving them both the room they needed to work.

"Did we have to get here so early? It's b-b-barely even four," Laksa said, one of his words marred by a yawn.

"Tomorrow I'll just set an alarm for you, but today I wanted to show you what I do every morning," Ciel explained.

"Hmmm..."

Ciel started up the stairs to the second floor. He found a few late workers, and he helped them into the rest area, an exact copy of the one next to his office. Jaeyline had liked the idea so much she put one on each of LEO Corp's thirty-some floors.

He made his way up the building, telling the sleepy workers to get some rest before work. Ciel lied that he would wake them up for work, deciding he'd do their work so they could get proper sleep. He was ahead of his own work, anyway.

"Do you really do this every day?" asked Laksa.

"No. More like four of the six days I work," replied Ciel.

"How come you were never this good at work before you came here?"

"Probably because I don't have any bruises or broken bones keeping me from doing work this time," Ciel replied.

Laksa was quiet.

"Let's go to the office," Ciel said.

They reached the office around six, having taken two hours to take care of the employees. There was a small line of six to seven people lined up at the opaque glass doors.

"Give me a second to sit down, and I'll call you in one by one," Ciel said, stepping into the office with his brother. "That's your desk. I'll be scanning all of the work for you, so you won't be getting questions about things you don't know. I'll also supply a notebook of the information you may need. Ask if you need anything," he said, handing Ciel the thick notebook.

Ciel sat down at his desk, booting up his laptop and taking out the little black planner. "Miss Jenny, please come in," he called.

The first person in line walked into the office, taking the seat opposite Ciel's desk.

"What can I help you with?" he asked.

"Um... actually, I had a favor to ask you. Can you drop by our department later to review our work?"

"Your department is color, right?"

"Yes."

"Is your COO not doing a good job?" he asked, marking down in his planner visit color.

"No! She's doing great! It's just... the next release is coming up, and she-- the whole department is swamped. We just need to make sure we're doing the right thing."

Ciel nodded. "I see. You don't mind if I bring two others with me, do you?" he asked.

Jenny shook her head quickly. "Of course not, Sir!"

"Just Ciel, please. I've realized titles and honorifics create a barrier between colleagues. In the end, we both work under President Jaeyline." Ciel smiled, walking over to the coffee maker, already running. "Would you like a cup?" he asked.

"Sure, Ciel."

Ciel poured six cups, one for each of the people waiting, and added creamer and sugar the Jenny's. "Is it good? Too sweet?"

"Perfect," she replied, surprised.

"I took a guess based on your clothes," Ciel replied. "I'll be there with my assistant and the other guest when I have a break today."

"Thank you very much, Sir," she said.

Ciel nodded as she walked out.

"Mr. John, how may I help you?"

Ciel went through the line of people, by the time he was done, Jaeyline walked in. Ciel made them coffee, keeping Ciel's black, Laksa's sweet, and Jaeyline's creamy. After handing them out, Ciel took the files off his desk and dropped them off in Jaeyline's office.

"Immaculate, as always. You know, I'm going to think the world will end the day your papers are anything less than perfect," Jaeyline said.

Ciel smiled. "Thank you. Jenny Olman came to my office this morning, asking I go down and inspect their work with the next release. I said I'd bring two. Laksa is a given, as he's my assistant, but would you like to go?"

Jaeyline's brows rose. "I've seen the designs, and our color team is spectacular. I would love to go down and check it out."

Ciel nodded. "Once break starts, I'll come in and get you."

Jaeyline nodded.

As Ciel turned to leave, he noticed the little ring he'd been fixing on her finger. He smiled to himself as he sat back down at his desk, plunging into his work.

.

"Ciel, break started ten minutes ago."

Ciel looked up, pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose, eyes stinging a bit from how hard he was concentrating on the document on the screen. "What did you say?" he asked.

"Break started ten minutes ago," Laksa repeated. "You put it down in that planner of your that you were going to go to the color department, right?"

Ciel nodded, glancing in the planner before standing. "President?" he asked, knocking on the glass doors. "It's time."

Jaeyline walked out of the office. "Ready?"

"Yes," Ciel replied. He stood at Jaeyline's right, Laksa on Jaeyline's left. It was a simple show of status as well as a tight security system.

As the doors opened into the Seventeenth floor, everyone looked up before freezing.

"Assistant Ciel! President Jaeyline!"

"I was told by Mr. Ciel that you wanted to show me your color theme for this month's release, right?" Jaeyline asked.

"Yes! Please tell us what you like what what we should change," COO Kelly said, striding forward. "Mr. Ciel, Miss Jaeyline." She looked curiously at Laksa. "Are you Mr. Ciel's stalker?" she asked.

"In a way," Ciel replied, smiling. "This is my brother. Laksa M... Michaelis."

"Pleasure. I will be filling the role of CEO Michaelis' assistant. I got an urgent call saying he was so overworked he was about to collapse, so I figured I could spend some quality time with my big brother," Laksa said, smiling.

"You two are a lot alike. You must be lucky to have such a responsible and kind big brother."

"I am," Laksa replied.

Ciel had already moved on from the conversation, looking at the different fabrics laying on a large table in the middle of the room. There were several spools of thread in different colors and shades, along with many, many samples of fabrics heaped on the table. "These are the options for this month's collection, are they not?"

"You're correct," one of the employees said. "We just have so many options it's hard to keep them organized. But these are the colors and fabrics we've chosen."

Ciel took the tray of fabrics from the employee, inspecting them and matching colors with the threads. "Let's hear what Miss Jaeyline thinks, shall we?" he asked, keeping his tone neutral.

Jaeyline picked each of the fabrics up, inspecting them. "I have a question," Jaeyline said. "Why did you want us to come down here?"

"We just... wanted to make sure everything was up to standards," Jenny said.

"Is that all?" inquired Jaeyline.

"N- no... We also wanted to make sure everything was perfect. We've noticed how often you and Mr. Ciel stay behind to handle any work that others couldn't finish in time. We know how hard you both work, and we just wanted to... maybe... convey that we know and we appreciate everything through this month's colors."

Ciel walked to Jaeyline's side, his indifferent face melting into a gentle smile. "But.. you've never once picked colors or fabrics that didn't. Miss Jaeyline and I could see just how much you cared about LEO Corp. and us through the hard work you do every month. It's because of it that we have to step up our games, to keep up with all of you. A team is only as strong as its weakest member, but in the office, we all strive for better and better work, each of us pushing the rest stronger and stronger. We find people we admire, and work harder to help them as best we can. LEO Corp. rests on that foundation, and that's why we haven't fallen to ruin." Ciel moved one foot back, moving his arm over his chest while extending the other as if to take a partner's for a dance as he bowed. "Thank you for your work."

Laksa mirrored his motion, and Jaeyline bowed at forty-five degrees. She said, "You never once needed us in here to check. You've always done a magnificent job. Just because we do a bit of extra work, don't take it personally. We trust that you will make the right choices."

The hundred-some Color and Fabric Department employees nodded before bowing ninety degrees. "Thank you very much!"

.

"Does that happen often?" Laksa asked on their way back up.

"No. Normally, the employees would go to the COO, and the COO would go to the next rank, which is CEO, though now they will most likely go to you, since you now rank above them, but lower than me in the office tierarchy."

"Great. Is everything I need to know in that book of yours?"

"Mostly. You may have to do a bit of research for things you can't really write down, like color and fabric for different clothes. You may end up going to buy some yourself. That's what I did for my training." Ciel opened his laptop, looking at news notifications before going to the company's shares. He was slightly shocked as he saw the name Jackson on the list of shareholders. "Laksa, how come the old bastard's name is on the list of LEO shareholders?" he asked.

Laksa looked up. "Ah. I forgot he did that. He figured, since LEO is such a popular brand, he might as well earn some money." He went back to reading before looking up again. "Just how much money do you have in savings?"

"Why?"

"Just curious."

"More than enough to buy all of LEO's current shares and probably take over the company," Ciel replied.

Laksa whistled. "God, what are you, an unannounced billionaire?"

"Basically."

"Wow."

"Focus."

Laksa went back to the book.

Ciel focused on the charts of the shares again before moving on to looking at designs submitted.

Knock.

"Come in," Laksa called.

Ciel nodded to himself, wrapped up in work. Laksa would have to handle this one by himself.

"My name is Laksa Jackson, Mr. Michaelis' personal assistant. How may I help you?"

"I'm on the News Analytic team, and we just got news that Rosenblade's made a move. They just put Mr. Ciel and Miss Jaeyline's names on the assassination list. I want to know what actions to take."

Laksa glanced up at his brother, who was focusing so hard, he hadn't heard what the woman had said.

"How many resources do you have in that department?" he asked, face turning serious.

"We have six members in the Reaper list, along with several others who frequent the assassination guild."

"Good. Take down the missions. As quickly as you can. And if anyone takes them, kill them. Tell me if you need help, because I will help you personally."

"Of course, Mr. Jackson. If I remember correctly, you're part of the Jackson family, the UK's mafia?"

"Yes."

"Then I put my faith in you to keep Mr. Michaelis and Miss Jaeyline safe."

Laksa nodded. "I swear it on my professional pride."

"I will hold you to that. Have a good day, Assistant CEO Laksa Jackson." She got up and left.

Laksa sighed, his eyes going to a flat wrapped package on his desk. Curious, he opened it, an identical black planner to Ciel's and a fancy pen laying in the wrapping. Laksa smiled slightly. He opened it, turning to the date, and wrote, Kill Assassins, in the first empty space. He wasn't going to let Ciel or his possible future sister-in-law be put in danger. Tonight was going to be a new moon.

Perfect.

Laksa closed the planner, turning back to the notebook.

That night was going to be a moonless killing night.