FIRST DAY AT WORK

Erika p.o.v

The next day I woke up to the alarm ringing loudly, I noticed a bedsheet covering me, windows and curtains are closed which I left open last night, suddenly my horror movie knowledge kicked in and I got afraid seeing the dark forest outside nervously.

"oh god ..now I have to deal with ghosts too, "I thought to myself and went to do my morning routine, I took a hot shower and brushed my teeth, changed into a white crop top and black high waist jeans, and started drying my hair with a towel since I don't like applying heat on my hair regularly.

I have cleaned every room except for Mr. Stone's room and went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for Mr stone, my hair was still wet as my hair is long and takes time to dry, it's falling on my face frequently much to my irritation, I tried to adjust the loose tendrils falling on my face while kneading the dough, it's still dark outside scaring me a little, for the first time I wished Mr.stone to be around.

Dad always told me not to watch horror movies but I never heard him, now I have to pay for that huh...I have started preparing coffee for myself hoping Mr. Stone wouldn't take it from me this time but when I finished preparing it he came from behind and took it from my hands, is there any sensor that alerts him when I prepare coffee I thought to myself but felt relieved after seeing him as I was scared to be alone in this big haunted house.

He was wearing a loose grey T-shirt which was soaked with sweat and black track pants looking handsome as always, he had a slight amusement on his face when he took the coffee from me, is there something on my face?? I checked myself in the glass near and saw my forehead covered with flour,ughh..my long hair is always giving me problems I thought and tried to wipe it with my hand and smeared more flour..grhhh..why am I so clumsy for god's sake...

when I was trying hard and failing to clean my forehead..Mr.stone took a tissue from the dining table "Are you sure you have graduated Ms.Williams... I think you should join in kindergarten" he said while wiping the flour from my forehead with a small smile, I looked at him closely when he was wiping the flour from my forehead and thought how can a person be so rude and caring at the same time, his eyes looked so familiar for some reason like I have seen them very closely before but where??

"stop staring ..and don't be clumsy next time if you don't want to be fired" he said and went to sit at the dining table and opened his laptop,huhh..does he have any multiple personality disorder or is there any spirit that is possessing him in this house I thought looking around nervously..

I served him his breakfast and sat on the opposite chair without breakfast before me as I don't eat so early, he raised his eyebrow in a questioning manner "umm..my dad told me not to let anyone eat alone but if you want I will leave "I said getting up but stopped when he said "sit.. you don't have to leave" without looking at me and eating his breakfast, I sat back there with a small smile.

"umm...sir is this house haunted," I asked him nervously, at which he looked at me in confusion and I explained to him.

"last night I slept without closing my windows but when I woke up today they were closed and someone covered me with a bedsheet, so... I thought .." I said nervously looking around.

"well..one of my cooks used to stay in your room but he suddenly disappeared so.. I don't know.." he said with a hint of amusement in his voice scaring the shit out of me and resumed eating his breakfast.

"sir..can I stay in any other room?' i requested him at which he shook his head in a no and said"you have not even started working yet and you are already complaining huh... if you want to work in my team do your work without any complaints otherwise you may leave"

Huhh..can't he just give me another room?? he is really stingy I thought but gave him a fake smile and said"its ok sir..I can stay in that room, you know what... I don't believe in ghosts at all"

"Really...that's good then, you can stay here and look after my house when I leave for Kingston next week" he said at which I nodded nervously, well I can't complain now otherwise he will ask me to leave...

"Be at the laboratory by 9 am if you are late by one minute you may pack your bags " with that he left the kitchen leaving me alone, I have cleaned everything and went to my room to get ready.

I put my hair into a high ponytail, applied some moisturizer and lip balm, and opened the backpack Mr. Richrd gave me yesterday, there was a torch, binoculars, sample bottles, gloves, some white liquid in a bottle, scissors, clinical knives, tissues, alcohol wipes, sanitizer, and other plant specimen collecting materials.

After arranging everything in my backpack I went to the living room waiting for Mr. Stone but didn't see him, Mr. Richard came and gave me a set of keys and said"hurry up..you will be late"

I looked at him in confusion not understanding what he was saying, he rolled his eyes and said"what were you expecting?? Mr. Stone will drive you himself to the lab huh..?? wake up dear, he has better things to do, now come on these are the scooter keys of Mr. Stone's last cook, use the scooter to run errands for Mr. Stone, now come on follow my car " he said and started walking outside.

I went outside to see a red Suzuki Burgman and jumped with excitement, I always wanted to drive a scooter but dad never allowed me, now I can ride this beautiful scooter whenever I want I thought, and ran to it.

I immediately started driving following Mr. Richard's car, when I was driving through the empty roads with thick green trees on both sides, cool air started blowing through my hair, I felt like I am in heaven and closed my eyes for a moment, after a few minutes we have reached Mr.Stone's Research center, there's an entrance building among the four buildings with 4 floors connected to another building by a small bridge, I didn't know where Mr stone is, so I just went inside to search for him.

I walked through the building checking different sections of the research center and saw some teams working seriously, then I saw a beautiful woman who looked like she's in her late thirties.

I went to her and asked "umm..excuse me mam .. can you please tell me where Mr. Stone's office is?"

"he will be in the laboratory, it's on the top floor" she said with a small smile,she looked like a nice person.

"I never saw you around..are you new here??" she asked

"I am Erika Williams, Mr. Stone's new assistant," I said holding out my hand, she shook my hand and said"hi..I am Katherine steel, general physician here, you are his assistant?? that's new.. because he never had an assistant, anyway good luck with our lion king" she said and walked away.

Lion king???..huhh..my idol is really scary I thought and checked the time and saw that I was already late, so I started running and reached the top floor, there I saw a door with DR.christopher stone HOD written on it, and there's another room adjacent to it with LABORATORY written on the door.

I rushed towards the laboratory and went inside without knocking and bumped into someone "whoa..easy there " Daniel said holding me from falling "oh thank god Daniel it's you, I thought I bumped into Mr stone, anyways he isn't here? is he?? " I asked daniel holding his shoulder for support and panting.

"if you both are done with your important conversation, we will continue less important things like plant physiology class" Mr stone said scaring the living lights out of me, he was standing near a whiteboard with a marker pen in his hand, he was looking too good wearing a labcoat, whatever he wears it suits him... it's just that his personality is unpredictable Daniel immediately went and sat near caroline who was sitting before Mr. Stone, I didn't know what to do so I stood there, Mr. Stone didn't say anything to me and continued his class.

I went and stood near a window looking outside, it was such beautiful scenery, no pollution, no vehicles and people busily running here and there it's very peaceful here, a cool breeze has blown through the window touching my face, I closed my eyes enjoying the gentle breeze.

Then I felt a hand on my shoulder and opened my eyes to see Mr. Stone standing there, I gulped and lowered my head in fear, he cleared his throat and said"I am not paying you to stand here ideally, go and sit with them and clean the board after I finish my class" with that he went away and resumed his class.

I felt really happy when he said I could sit with them so I immediately went and sat near Daniel, caroline gave me a glance and looked away, i should really patch up with her I thought.

Mr. Stone started explaining different techniques on how to cut a plant root to obtain specimens, he was so good when he was explaining but the thing is his standards are too high for me to catch up with his flow, so I just put on a blank face whenever he asked any questions in between, personally seeing my idol explaining made me really happy, so I just stared at him smiling.

"ok so now we are done with the project introduction, I want you guys to know that PROJECT-042 is really important to me, if you do one mistake, you are out of this project so be very careful from today onwards, I hope we will work hard together and finish this project successfully ..good luck" he said throwing the duster to me and walked out of the laboratory.

I started cleaning the board and saw Daniel and Caroline taking some notes, I went to caroline and asked"hey ...we are ok right??".

"As long as you don't get in my way, we will be ok" she said rolling her eyes.

"I have no intention to get in your way, all I want is a place in this team " I said sincerely.

she sighed and said"All right then..if you help me pursue Chris, I will ask him to take you in his team"

I grinned and said"sure..but I don't know what to do, I mean how can I help you??"

she smiled and said"you don't have to worry about it.. I will tell you what to do, meet me before preparing his lunch " with that she resumed her work and I went to Mr. Stone's office with his bag of necessities.

I knocked twice and heard a come in and went inside" sir..it's your juice time, do you want me to prepare??" I asked nervously he didn't say anything for a min still typing something on his laptop.

"you heard my class today, did you understand anything?" he asked me still typing something, I was a little shocked by his question but if I tell him I didn't understand anything he will not consider me for his project so I lied.

"y..ye..yes sir..it was very interesting, you were really good at explaining" he stopped typing and gave me a serious look and said"really..so I can ask you a question from today's class right ??"

"i..i...i am not sure" i said with fear, he scoffed and said"save it.. I know you didn't understand anything, here..take this book" he shoved a book on his table towards me.

I went near his table and took it, its a book on basic techniques of collecting plant specimen, but why he is giving it to me, I looked at him in confusion, he rolled his eyes and said"study it properly.. I can't have a dumb assistant hanging around me all the time".

"thank you...i..I will definitely study it" I said taking it from him happily, I never got an autograph from him before but today I am getting a book from him so I am really making some progress I guess.

"umm...i..i will get your juice sir" I said and was about to leave but he stopped me saying"do you know where to go?" at which I shook my head in a no, he sighed and got up walking towards me.

"I know your IQ level is almost zero but don't be so dumb that I will regret taking you as my assistant, now.. let's go I will show you the pantry" he said and started walking out and I followed him almost running to catch up with his pace, I know that he is a genius but does he really have to hurt me every time I thought and felt sad.

I have followed him to a big open place where there are some cooking utensils,a coffee machine, few tables with chairs.

"This is pantry here you will cook my lunch and prepare coffee for me, I hope you will do it according to my diet chart, you can understand what is a diet chart right?? or do I have to explain that too" he asked looking doubtfully at which I shook my head in a no looking down.

"how many times do I have to tell you to look at me when I am talking to you" he said irritated, but I didn't look at him because tears have formed in my eyes.

" I will do my best to prepare your food according to your diet chart" I said in a shaky voice, he lifted my head and saw my tears, i immediately wiped them and smiled, he held my chin for a few seconds looking into my eyes.

"Chris we need your help with this .." caroline said entering the pantry and stopped seeing both of us, I immediately stepped away from him and smiled at her, I didn't want another misunderstanding.

"umm...i..i will prepare you juice sir..you guys carry on" with that I started making juice, while Mr. Stone went outside with caroline, they both would really make a good couple, I mean both are rich, intelligent..and compatible I thought to myself.

Meanwhile Daniel came inside the pantry looking exhausted,"huhh...I will become an old man before this project completes, it's really hard to catch up with Mr. Stone" he said sitting on one chair.

"Atleast you are catching up with him..look at me... I didn't understand anything at all" I said, he got up from where he was sitting and came to me, he saw tears in my eyes and said" hey are you crying?? why?? did Mr.stone say anything again??", I shook my head in a no.

"it's not about what he said Daniel, he was right though, I have overestimated myself by thinking that I could work on project042..but now I understand how difficult this project is..I couldn't even catch up with introduction class" I said grabbing a cup to prepare coffee for Daniel.

"Hey..don't say that you can still catch up with us..you just need a little practice that's all..you stay at Mr.stone's house right?? " he asked at which I nodded.

"I heard that his library has so many books on plant science..from basics to advanced level since you have access to his library make good use of it, you just take out some time every day and prepare yourself for the project before we officially start working on it..we will start the real work after a month, all this month it will be about sample collection so it's not that important, I hope you will be ready by that time" he asked me hopefully at which I smiled a little and nodded.

"huhh thank god finally you are smiling..now can I please ask you for a coffee" he asked like a cute puppy, I smacked his shoulder and said"so all this speech is about your coffee huhh.. just a minute I will prepare your coffee".

"here's your coffee, hope you will feel relieved after having it" I said handing him a cup of coffee, he took the coffee from my hands and drank it immediately releasing a sigh of relief.

"you are my savior Eri..you know that" he said at which I smiled and went to Mr. Stone's office to give him his juice, when I entered inside I saw caroline hugging Mr.Stone, I didn't understand what to do so I left the juice on the table and ran outside, not wanting to disturb them.