III

"The hell with the contract!" Shiloh said. He immediately grabbed my shoulder.

Suddenly I closed my eyes. I was actually really scared that he would be rude to me but he didn't. In fact, he hugged me tightly. Then, he let go of his hand. "I don't want our relationship to continue like this. I want you. I don't want anything else. Only you in my heart," he said while stroking my hair.

I held his hand that was stroking my hair. His hand suddenly stopped. Then, I removed his hand from my hair. "Isn't it better like this. Me, you, contract,"I argued.

Shiloh held my hand back and pressed it to his face. He told me to look at him. I don't know why he put my hand on his face. Maybe he thought that this treatment made me melt. Unfortunately, that treatment will end in vain.

Based on psychology, there are several love languages. They are quality time, touch, act of service, gift and words of affirmation. According to my estimation, Shiloh is showing his love language which is touch. Unfortunately, my love language is not touch. So, of course, I don't feel loved and Shiloh's efforts will not pay off.

While I was silent, Shiloh repeated his words again. "The hell with contracts! I don't care about contracts. I don't want our relationship on top of a contract." He choked for a moment before continuing his words. "I want our relationship to be officially lovers."

***

Two years earlier,

I walked to my room which was quite far from the entrance. Therefore, before reaching my room, I had to pass through the editor's room and the bulletin board in the announcement area. In working culture, not only being smart to win the hearts of superiors but also we have to be smart to win the hearts of colleagues. One of the simple things to win the hearts of colleagues is to greet each other.

"Good morning everyone," I greeted everyone in the editor's room.

"Eh, Clay, morning. Did you just arrive?" said a man.

That man is Mr. Justin, the editor-in-chief at CBL News Jakarta. He was my former boss here when I was a junior journalist. With my promotion, of course, I got a new boss. My new boss is good but Justin is no less good. Even Justin still calls me by a special nickname which is Clay.

"Yeah, I'm a little busy this morning, Sir," I responded.

"Oh yeah, did you know the latest news?" Justin asked.

"About what?"

I walked over to Justin. Curiosity welled up. There seems to be some interesting news that would be a shame if I missed it.

"About the transfer of employees to our overseas offices," explained Mr. Justin.

I am even more excited to hear this good news. I've always wanted to go abroad. Whether for vacation or working abroad. Anyway, everything about abroad always makes my heart beat fast. After taking a deep breath to calm my heart, I asked Mr. Justin for further information. "Where is the branch office? England, America or where?"

Justin was silent for a moment. He closed his eyes in response to my question. It seemed he was recalling this information in his mind. Then he opened his eyes. "Ah… I remember! If I'm not mistaken, the news about mutation to an office in New York, United States of America."

I am surprised. I opened my mouth wide. If a fly flies, I'm sure it will get into my mouth. My gaping mouth could be mistaken for a cave because it was so deep and wide. Not wanting to waste any time, I quickly came to my senses from all this shock. I have to immediately go to the bulletin board to confirm the truth of this information.

After getting tired of running to the bulletin board, I stopped for a moment. I saw so many people crowding the announcement board that I couldn't see the announcement clearly.

"Of course everyone wants to see the bulletin board. Who doesn't want to work abroad?" I thought. However, I didn't give up. I tried to break through the crowd of people gathered in front of the bulletin board by relying on my tiny body.

Finally, my efforts succeeded, and I arrived right in front of the bulletin board. Now, all the information posted on the bulletin board is seen. I directed my eyes from the top left to the bottom right. After a while, I found information regarding employee transfers.

Announcement

To all employees of CBL News Jakarta branch,

Due to the growing company, we need employees to fill positions as executive assistants who will be placed in our main office in New York City, United States. This position is open to anyone in this company with a minimum of three years of service in various positions in our company. If you are interested, you can contact your respective superiors and take the test which will be held in the next two weeks.

Regards,

Shiloh Sullivan

CEO of CBL News

After reading the bulletin board, I immediately ran to my boss' office, Mr. Ethan. From a distance, Mr. Ethan's room filled with a crowd of people. Suddenly the line disbanded, and I received information that Mr. Ethan would instruct further information in the meeting room.

***

Mr. Ethan explained all the information about the branch office in New York. I paid close attention to each of Mr. Ethan's explanations. Any information ranging from the history of CBL News, all CBL News branch offices in each country, the job hierarchy, and a glimpse of the job desk of the Executive Assistant, the position that is currently needed. The explanations given are many but I know this information will be useful in the future. I also believe that I'm not the only one who thinks so. To be sure, I looked around. Many of them took notes, took pictures through cell phone cameras, and recorded them through voice recording machines. As the saying goes, to defeat the enemy, we must know them well.