Almost Caught

DEBORAH

My father gave me some good advice when I was offered a scholarship to earn my MBA from Alvarado's Media Empire (AME) in exchange for working as the executive secretary.

He informed me that in order to rise to the top, I would first need to work my way up from the bottom.

"Prove yourself indispensable to the CEO. Join their inner circle and serve as a trusted adviser. You just need to educate yourself on their culture and you'll be snapped up the moment you graduate."

After three years, I had established myself as indispensable. I would quickly rise to the position of CEO's "Right Hand." That, at least, is my ambitious objective.

Yet, as AME's greatest right hand, I've been having second thoughts as of late. Basically, I was the right hand that wanted to slap the damn face the majority of the time.

For Pete's sake, I just picked up a giant stone off the ground and plan to use it to scratch my own skull with it.

My boss, Mr. Sebastian Alvarado, is, of course, even though I hate to mention, a handsome, hunky, and sexy man with a freshly fvcked hair and in contrast to the favorable descriptions, a beast.

The moment he opens his mouth, his flawless face and toned body will be ruined.

From a particular experience, there is one detail that will remain firmly imprinted in my mind forever.

The first month we worked together, I made the mistake of going to the hotel gym during a convention and found him sweating and shirtless next to the treadmill. I've never seen such amazing hair on a man, and his face was something any male model would kill for. Newly puffed hair. That's what the ladies below dubbed it, and they claimed it lived up to the name.

Remembering him dabbing his chest with his shirt will haunt me always. Naturally, his opening his mouth had ruined the moment

When I thought of him, my gut tightened. He was tall, handsome, and completely evil. He was the most arrogant and self-righteous person I've ever encountered. I would overhear the other women in the office gossiping about his antics and question if a good-looking face was sufficient.

In addition, before I drink my now-cold coffee, which I bought 45 minutes ago on my way here, while contemplating him, I recall something my father told me.

"Early in life, you discover that beauty is only skin deep, whereas ugliness goes directly to the bone."

"Well, hello Miss Green!"

I'd like to say, "Hello, Mister Freshly Fvcked Hair!" but I can see that he's not in the mood for anything like how I think.

When I heard him greet me, my spirit almost left my body. Mr. Alvarado was waiting in the foyer between our offices, where my office leads off from.

He had a honeyed tone, but it was off, like honey that had been left out in the cold and cracked from freezing.

I said, "Good morning, Mr. Alvarado," as I often do, expecting the same brusque response.

But he mumbled as I tried to sneak by him.

"Sure enough? Good MORNING, Miss Green? In your private universe, what time is it now? " he said this with an emphasis on the word 'morning' as if I made a major mistake.

And yeah, I looked into my watch and realized I am an hour late.

Oh, I am sorry.

After pausing, I looked into his icy eyes. He towered above me by at least eight inches; prior to my employment with him, I had never felt so short. I had been working for Alvarado Media Empire for three years now but since his return from France, I started wearing heels regularly which had begun nine months ago. When I wanted to talk to him at eye level, I'd fantasize about being a circus performer.

Still, I had to squint to see over his shoulder, and his hazel eyes sparkled with delight.

"I had a terrible morning, I swear it won't happen again, Mister Alvarado."

I was relieved that my voice came out steady, so I vowed that this wouldn't happen again.

I tried not to meet his eyes because through that, I am sure that he can smell fear.

I had never been late before, but of course the first time it happened, he had to make a big deal out of it. I quietly shut the door behind me, tucked my coat and purse away, and turned on my computer without waking him up. I pretended he wasn't there, observing my every move from the doorway.

"This morning could be best described as a disaster because of all I've had to cope with in your absence. I already called the law office to fast-track the contracts I need for my Alpha file. I managed to find for myself the technical room to prepare my 4:00 p.m. presentations, and I tried to contact Lucille for the publications I need to see until noon today."

I did my best to comprehend the things he said despite the fact that I could totally see his red lips doing something nasty between my... oopsss, his eyes caught me smiling a little.

"To sum up: during that crucial hour that you were absent from, Miss Green, I did all that you should have been doing. Even if you're daydreaming about the shirtless gym bros you met yesterday, I hope you can make out what I'm saying, " without pausing for air, he said.

I blinked my eyes once. Twice. Thrice. I still can't find a word to give him a reply.

"So, Miss Green, what can you say about that... tiny irresponsibility?" He said this while staring me down, as if he is a detective attempting to discern something from my minuscule brain.

I said, "I'm sorry, Mr. Alvarado," with a slight trace of venom.

"I'm sorry that I put so much pressure on you to use a fax machine and make phone calls. And as I promised, that won't happen again."

He said, with an arrogant grin on his face, "You're right, it won't."

If he would just shut up, everything would be perfect. A piece of duct tape could serve as a temporary fix. I used to keep some in my desk and would fondle it every once in a while, wishing I could find an useful use for it.

"Miss Green, so that today will be memorable to you, please have complete status tables for the Bravo, Charlie and Delta projects on my desk by 5 o'clock; I don't want you to forget about this. You'll make up the time you didn't get this morning by giving me a simulated board presentation on the Alpha account in the conference room at six. You'll have to show me that you can handle this account before I'll trust you with it," wth great fvckin' authority, he said.

As I saw him walk away, my eyes widened and I heard the bang of his office door as if it's a thunderbolt striking the whole AME Building. Because this was also my MBA thesis, he had to know that I would finish it ahead of schedule. As soon as the contracts were finalized, I still had a few months to complete my slides which they were not; they had not even been completed as a draft.

Poor Deb.

Now, on top of everything else, he expected me to prepare a fake presentation for the board of directors.

I checked the time on my wrist. Cool, 7.5 hours if I don't stop for lunch. After opening the Alpha file, I immediately got to work.

I sat at my desk, stuck to it with my coffee and a bag of trail mix I'd bought from the vending machine, as coworkers trickled out for lunch. Time was not on my side today, otherwise else I would have brought leftovers or gone out with the other interns to grab a bite to eat. I was working at Alvarado Media Empire as part of the MBA in- ternship program when I heard the exterior office door open and turned to see Vivian Taylor, who worked in accounting.

"Are you ready for lunch?" she enquired.

There's no way I can make it. Could it be that today truly is the day from hell? When I sent an embarrassed glance her way, her grin morphed into a smirk.

"Is it a 'Day from Hell' or a 'Boss from Hell?" She sat herself down on the rim of my desk and proceeded to scorch herself. Apparently, "he went on a bit of a rampage this morning."

I shot her a look of understanding. Even though Vivian wasn't officially on Sebastian Alvarado's staff, she was familiar with the man's reputation and work. His father, Alberto Alvarado, founded the company, and he was the youngest of his three sons. He was also known for having a very short temper.

I couldn't get this done on time if there were two of me.

While Vivian was returning, I started to say, "And in addition to everything else, I've already snagged them. If you're going somewhere with chocolate, bring me fifty pounds so I can eat my feelings afterwards."

A quick look up revealed that it wasn't Vivian waiting for me. I felt my face heating up and retracted my skirt.

I am dead...let me shoot a bullet on my head instead.

"My apologies to Mr. Alvarado." I bowed as if my head is bloody.

"Since you and the other office females have plenty of time to discuss questionable undergarments, Miss Green, I need you to rush down to the Marketing office and grab the market analysis and segmentation for Charlie project in addition to putting together the Alpha presentation."

While checking his reflection in my window, he fixed his tie.

I still didn't manage to reply until he said another words that stunned me.

"Is it clear Miss Deborah Singh - Green?" his voice is as sharp as the lightning and as deep as my future grave.

"Yes boss...I mean Mister Alvarado," I replied with trembling knees.

With that, he slammed the door and it made the wall shake as if a magnitude earthquake passed by for a second.

"Did he just call me an office girl?" I murmured.

And what's with the slamming of the door like a teenager who weren't able to join a Friday night party with his friends. He's so... he's evil.

07:03 P.M.

CONFERENCE HALL

Clearly, Mr. Alvarado has his sights set on me. I am one hour three minutes late. I learned firsthand this morning why he detested being late.

It's safe to say that "late" isn't defined in the Sebastian Alvarado Dickhead Dictionary. In addition to "love," "caring," "thank you," and "lunch."

And so there I was, sprinting to the executioner through the empty corridors in my Italian pumps that were more like stilts.

"Calm down, Deb. He has a keen sense of smell and can detect any hint of panic," I murmured.

As I got closer to the meeting room, I slowed to a walk in an effort to regulate my breathing. The area under the door was bathed in a gentle glow. Undoubtedly, he was inside, patiently awaiting my arrival. I carefully tried to straighten my hair and clothes while also organizing the stack of papers in my arms. Holding my breath, I approached the door and knocked on it.

However, I was intrigued by an odd noise coming from the conference room.

"What's going on inside?"

An animal's growl, that's the sound and I'm sure of it.

Out of curiosity about the strange sound inside, I immediately opened the huge door without his permission and I discovered a bloodied Mister Alvarado on the floor.

His shirt was ripped and I saw his still-arrogant torso stained with blood from a freshly cut wound on his rib cage.

Blood dripped from a recently slashed wound on his ribcage and soiled his still-arrogant body, which was exposed by the rip in his shirt.

"Get out!" His voice shook as he attempted to send me away, but my feet were stuck to the floor as I stared at him.

Then, someone turned off the lights of the conference room and then I saw nothing but darkness inside.