Empty Presence

THE NEXT DAY

"What?! He didn't come to work?"

She glared at Miss Anna as she received the excuse letter from Kiel. She ripped the envelope and opened it, reading the contents, saying that Kiel has a high fever and couldn't go to work today. He apologized at the end.

The other lady trembled as soon as she received the President's piercing glares. "Mr Kiel told me to assist you t-today, Miss President" Miss Anna bowed with all her might, fidgeting with her fingers.

She's not used to the President's bad presence. She can admit that she will tremble just by looking at her right now.

Devyn was not in the mood last night and hearing this, she even got more irritated. It's because Kiel didn't even send her a text message or an email regarding this. Well, isn't it because he knew that Devyn would ditch her work, too, once she received this when she's still at home?

"What the heck is wrong with that jerk?" she slapped the envelope down on her desk. "Pass these to the employees on the third floor and make sure to ask for their opinions before getting it back, understood?" Devyn ordered in one go, pushing the folders.

Miss Anna hurried to her desk and gathered all the documents. "Yes, President! I will be going now. Please excuse me"

As soon as the other young lady left her, Devyn cursed out with her twitching lips.

"Is it so hard to call me or text me about this?" She saw the excuse letter and crumpled it, throwing it straight to the trashcan near her.

She sighed and rubbed her temples. Well, the truth is, she was already expecting this. This is not really a big deal for her since she understands, but this prickling feeling of irritation never left her side.

Suddenly, her phone from the side rang. She picked it up and read the notifications. If that was all about business or another invitation for a trash party, she would surely sue the one who sent it, but her eyes lost its frowning gazes when she read that it was from Kiel.

From: Assistant Kiel

This is Kiel Arnoux asking for a day of absence. I apologize if I sent the text late. I know that the president will ditch the work in the company. I will surely be at work tomorrow. You can leave the other hard work on my desk. Thank you for your understanding.

"That's it?"

Devyn gripped her phone. "How dare you tell me that I can't handle work alone?" she didn't even know why it sounded childish to her.

She didn't sleep well because of what happened last night. Devyn was very irritated that she entered the company alone without her assistant waiting at her.

"Whatever!"

The young lady threw her phone back to the side of the table and opened her laptop. She checked her email and received one from Kiel. It was the first one she read.

There were character references in there and some pictures of different alphas. Their height, age, work, anything about them that Devyn should know. There were at least ten, and then on the lower page, there was a note.

Note: I apologized. I know that the president got pissed at the party last night, so I arranged another appointment for you. Please reply to this email if you have any interest in one of them.

However, she didn't even have the interest in looking or scan their profiles. She exited the tab and opened a new one for her work. She thought to herself that she had no time for this. The lady suddenly finds it bothersome and a pain in the ass.

"You can't even send me your excuse letter first, but you manage to choose some useless alphas for me? Really, Mr Kiel?" she smirked with darker eyes. "Are you testing my patience?"

She recalled Miss Anna's face earlier while giving her the excuse letter.

"And you managed to ask her first than me? Aren't you a little unfair?" she added.

Feeling all these frustrations pent up inside, Devyn stood from her swivel chair and exited her office. She took the lift going down to the third floor.

The employees greeted her despite being surprised to see her there. It was very rare for them to see the president because she'll never go down if it's not something important.

By thinking this, the employees thought that maybe she's here to collect the papers faster, and so they hurried to review everything.

Meanwhile, Miss Anna, who's sitting on an empty table cubicle while waiting for the other employees, flinched upon feeling the darkening aura going to her.

She gripped those papers as she saw the President in front of her with crossed arms. She already regretted it. She told Kiel that she can handle being her assistant for the day, but it hasn't even been an hour and she's already feeling like backing out.

Miss Anna immediately stood up and bowed. "Yes, President! Do you need something? Please tell me and I will do it quickly." she said.

Devyn maintained that stoic expression as she said. "Follow me in the stockroom–" she glared at her. "Now,"

"Y-Yes, President!!!" Miss Anna told the last employee who submitted the papers to her to attend the documents first while she's away.

Devyn walked first as Miss Anna followed her, nearly running to her pace.

The stockroom wasn't that far. It was on the right side of the office. It's a well-maintained place since Devyn didn't want a dirty company. The cleaners were also making sure that they did their jobs properly.

BAM!

Miss Anna jolted when she felt Devyn's palm beside her head. She got cornered, making her nervous. 'Why does the president seem so impatient today?' she thought, feeling the sweats.

The President looked her in the eyes and asked. "Did Kiel contact you this morning?" she asked calmly but firmly.

"Yes, president!" Miss Anna explained. "He told me to give the excuse letter to you as soon as I reached the company."

"Did you meet him?" Devyn asked again.

The other lady shook her head. "He sent it to me through a mailman. I got it from my mailbox." She hurriedly replied, couldn't take her eyes away.

By this, Devyn retracted her palm and stepped backwards. "I see."

She seemed satisfied. "Miss Anna, as my assistant for today, report everything to me about Kiel's condition." Her sharp eyes once again struck the lady. "Surely you have information about it, right? Since the two of you are good friends."