First Day at Office

"Finally, it's completed." I muttered satisfied. I pressed the enter key and saved the file on the computer. Then I stood up and went straight to the bathroom to take a relaxing shower. While I was under the shower I kept thinking about the time I spent in this world. 

It has been 10 days since Cyrus kicked me out of the mansion but my life didn't stop because of this. As soon as I finished packing my bags, I tossed them into the trunk of my car and embarked on a three-day journey from New York to Los Angeles, covering over 2000km. During the journey, the road gave me time to think and be alone. I really needed that alone time away from any kind of pressure. It was a liberating journey for me and it allowed me to completely accept my new reality.

That journey of self-discovery was extremely important but it came with a steep price. The muscle pain I had to deal with afterwards was not something I wish to experience again so when I arrived in Los Angeles I booked a room in a hotel and slept like a donkey for the rest of the day. Don't think that I was short of money. Alexander was after all a rich person so he had a decent amount of money in his bank account. It was not a lot just about a million and maybe that's why Cyrus didn't make a fuss about this money.

When I woke up the first thing I did was to contact Cyrus and informed him about my arrival in Los Angeles. I wasn't being a responsible son informing his father but it was because we had to sign the contract about the ownership of Starlight and my living arrangements.

It didn't take long, just over an hour had passed when a person contacted me and arranged a meeting in the hotel conference room. I didn't bother remembering his name because it wasn't necessary. He came to the meeting with the contract which I signed after carefully reading it and documents about the ownership of a small 2-bedroom home in west Los Angeles. The house was already registered in my name so I didn't waste any time and bid the man farewell.

I checked out of the hotel and made my way to the house address. It was a cozy 2-bedroom house with a living room and a well-equipped kitchen. There was a small backyard for relaxation and it was located in a neighborhood with good security. It was clear that Cyrus wasn't stingy in buying me a house.

I unpacked my stuff, bought some necessities, and settled down in my new home. Since I had some time before officially taking over the company I started doing research on the differences between this world and my previous world. I specifically focused on the movie industry because that would be my bread and butter from now on.

Basically, the information I found was that there was no major changes but some small difference still made a pretty big impact in the movie industry. Some classic movies of my previous world were never produced here because maybe their writer chose not to go into the movie industry or some movies based on books never got adapted.

This is where I have a very big advantage because due to the system I possess considerable information about movies of my previous world. However, movies are not completely dependent on the story and quality it depends on the audience so it's not like I can produce classics of my previous world and make money lying down. What I have is just an advantage not some cheat codes.

I also did some research on Starlight Entertainment and got a rough idea as to where the company stands. Starlight is basically a distribution company that dabbles in movie production too and this is the reason it is constantly making losses. The distribution of movies is a profit-making venture of the company but all the profit is lost in movie production. Basically, the director and scriptwriters are the main reason for this.

Starlight was continuously producing worthless movies written by worthless writers. Granted starlight only produced low-budget movies but when the number increases significantly so are the losses. Since this was the case I thought of trying out a little experiment. I decided to produce a low-budget classic movie from my previous world to test the waters and that's what I was doing on my computer earlier. I was writing a script.

I broke away from my thoughts and got out of the Shower. I dressed in a new suit and had a small breakfast. It was my first day at the company because yesterday all the formalities were completed.

'I have a very good feeling about today.' I was in high spirits for my first day at the company.

I drove to the company building, I was expecting a welcome but there was not a single person to even receive me. I waited for a few minutes but seeing that no one was coming I made my way into the building by myself.

"Excuse me" I spoke to the receptionist who was busy on the computer and didn't even see me coming.

"Yes. How can I help you?" She stopped doing what she was doing and answered me with a very obvious fake smile.

"I am here to see Mr. Alexander Stone. Can you point me towards his office?" I lied. I knew something was going on as no one was outside to receive me so I decided to investigate a little undercover.

"He is not available at the moment you can wait and when he is available I will inform you." she said to me and went back to what she was doing before.

'She doesn't even know my face, how will she know when I am available?' My thoughts churned. There was definitely something going on here.

"By the way my name is Marcus. May I have the pleasure of knowing your name, beautiful miss?" I tried a different approach this time.

She looked at me deeply for a few seconds like she was judging whether I was worth her time or not.

"Amanda." She replied 

"Amanda a beautiful name like yourself." I buttered her up.

"Thank you." She replied back much friendlier than before.

I continued the small talk with her for a few more moments while observing the people going in and out of the company. It looked like everyone was in a hurry.

"It looks to be a very hectic day for the company. Is it always like this?" I asked a very important question offhandedly.

"No, it's not a daily occurrence. Today a new boss is taking over the company so everyone is busy." She answered in a tired manner.

"Oh! But there is a need for small employees to be so busy it should be the bosses who should be worried right." I continued the topic.

"What you say is true but the new boss is a spoiled rich kid I heard, so everyone is panicking." She also looked worried.

"Oh what else have you heard?" I leaned forward and asked in a gossip-like manner.

"I heard from the HR Manager's assistant that the new boss was given this company after being disowned by his father. It is rumored that he is a very violent and overbearing person. Many people even resigned after hearing that the company was given to him." She whispered it to me.

"So that's the reason why everyone is so busy. Those who can run are running and those who can't are trying to bear the workload of those who ran away." I understood the situation right away but my face was not looking good. It would be a disaster for both the company and me if this continued.

"Yes, I also wanted to resign but I have loans I need to pay and this is a very good job so I am stuck here." She started complaining while I was thinking about the consequences of these rumors and their countermeasures.

"So who is in charge right now." I asked hurriedly because I didn't have that much time right now.

"Usually it is Mr. Harrison who is in charge but he is not here yet so Mr. Nelson should be in charge right now." She looked bewildered at my question but still answered it.

"Where can I find Mr. Nelson then?" I asked with a no-nonsense attitude and she pointed me towards the office.

I hurriedly walked towards Mr. Nelson's office while thinking of ways to deal with this new problem on my plate.

'I can't even enjoy my first day in a company I own.' I say cursing my luck again because who else can I blame for my predicament.

I reached at the office door of Mr. Nelson but before I could enter I overheard a conversation taking place inside.

"Nick you can't just walk away. You are the only director in the company." The first person said in a deep voice.

"Sam you and I both know that this company has no future. Many people already left you should also come with me." The second person said trying to sound convincing.

"Nick I can't leave, I gave my blood and seat to this company. I don't want to see it getting destroyed."

"This company was doomed the moment Cyrus Stone gave it away to his most useless son Sam but I don't want to fall together with this company and my choice is final."

"Nick think about all the time this company supported you, how much of a loss the company had to suffer from your movies but the company still supported you. Now you just want to walk away when the company needs your help."

"You cannot change my decision Sam I am not going to stay no matter what you say."

"And you don't have to stay. You can leave." I said while entering the room.

Both people were a little taken aback by the interruption and looked at me.

"And who are you to tell me to leave kid?" The Nick person asked me aggressively.

"I am Cyrus Stone's most useless son, Alexander Stone." I answered in a lazy tone as I was not in the mood to argue back with someone I won't have to meet again.

My identity surprised them but the Nick person did not look bothered. He didn't even try to look apologetic for his remarks. Sam on the other hand recovered quickly but had an apologetic smile on his face.

"So you are the new owner of this company Mr. Stone. It's a pleasure to meet you. I am Samuel Nelson, head of the HR department. I am sorry I wasn't able to receive you." The Sam person replied and stretched his hand out.

"It's ok I can understand that it is a hectic day for the company and you have much more important matters to deal with than receiving me." I replied in a friendlier manner and shook his hand. I had a good impression of the man from the earlier conversation.

"So what can I do for you Mr. Stone?" He asked me in a measured tone.

"I have a rough idea of what is going on in the company. I want you to calm down the employees and handle the situation like you were doing right now. After that arrange a meeting with the company's senior staff." I spoke my instructions clearly as there wasn't much I could do right now other than believing and hoping that the situation will improve.