Chapter 3 A Day At Shield Limited

"What is the problem, Ma'am?" the driver asked.

She bent over and picked up her purse, which she had previously assumed she dropped at home or

fallen off on the way.

"Not to bother, It's nothing," she replied. "How much is my ride?" she asked.

"Your fee is $10 Ma'am," he replied.

"Here," She handed him over the money and headed towards the company's gate.

Walking towards the reception, Ivy realized she was about 7minutes late already. She noticed a lady on a white-sleeved shirt with a pink skirt at the counter. She had nice and catchy brown eyes and packed her blond hair into a ponytail.

"Good morning Miss," Ivy greeted.

"Good morning Ma'am, how may we help you? Do you have an appointment?" the receptionist inquired.

"Uhnn... Yes, I was called this morning to come get my job letter and resume work here," Ivy said.

"Okay, let me confirm that," she took a quick look at her schedule, using her finger to scan through the file.

"Ivy Smith?" she asked.

"Y-Yes," Ivy answered.

"Alright, take this way to the second floor, the first door when you turn left," the receptionist directed.

"That's the C.E.O office and you can get your letters from him" she added.

Ivy said gratefully before heading upstairs, "Ok Miss, thank you."

A male voice from inside responded to her soft knock on the door, beckoning her inside. A fine tall man, with dark brown hairs, and an athletic built body was seated in the office.

He was on a call and giving how much he laughed and joked, she assumed the person he was speaking with on the phone was a close buddy. She waited there, biding her time till he was done.

As the call ended, he slamed the phone on his desk, noticing there was someone in his office, "Yeah? How may I help you?"

"Good day Sir. I'm Ivy smith. The receptionist requested that I reach you to obtain my work letter and other employment-related documents," Ivy stated

"Oh!" he took a quick look at his wrist watch.

"Such an audacity on a first day at work! When were you asked to resume?" he sounded.

"I'm sorry Sir. It won't happen again," she apologized, completely ignoring the question.

"It better not!" Jay said, stretching out the letter at Ivy.

"Thank you, Sir," said Ivy as she received the brown envelope from her new boss.

Focusing on the laptop right in front of him, he added, "Ask the receptionist to direct you to the recruitment department, one of the team members will take it from there."

"Okay Sir," she said as she headed out of Jay's office.

Ivy found her way to the recruitment department after being directed by the receptionist and a young lady, probably about Ivy's age, from the recruiting department, showed her to a coworking area, where she'll be sharing with some other workers.

"Phew! I'm glad I can relax a bit," Ivy sounded as she settled onto the office swivel chair, content with her already exhausted state.

"Thank you," she said to the lady who was already making her way out.

"You are most welcome. Please let me know if you have troubles in any area," the lady responded with a kind of smile that would make anyone feel so comfortable within a blink of an eye.

Ivy returned the smile and pick up some files to sort.

"OMG! $2500 is such good pay, only if I can deal with this rude and bossy C.E.O.," she thought.

As she got engrossed in her thought, the telephone on her desk beeped, it was Jay. She got up carrying another file, heading straight for his office after answering the call.

"What's my schedule like for today?" he asked her as she walked in.

Flipping through the pages on the file, Ivy answered,

"You have a meeting with Limelight's CEO by 12, Sir."

"And?" Jay queried.

"That's all for today Sir," Ivy replied.

"You may go," Jay said, using his finger to demonstrate.

Ivy returned to her desk, and was busy sorting some files while waiting for the day to be over, when the lady from the recruitment department came by again.

"Hi," she said.

"Hello," Ivy responded feeling a bit distracted.

"The name is Maria," she replied with a chuckle.

"I'm Ivy, nice to meet you Maria. Thank you for helping me out earlier.

Maria threw a smile across her face and responded, "I'm glad I was able to help. How are you coping with your assigned role?" she asked.

"I was going to ask; the C.E.O.... is he always like that?...like..." she paused trying not to sound offensive and minding her choice of words.

Maria smiled and answered, "Oh, Jay Hilton? You mean...like rude?"

They both laughed together.

"All I know is that Jay is very strict with his employees, but not to worry you'll get used to him, give it time," Maria assured.

"Everyone in the office has grown accustomed to his demeanor. But I believe that is his sole flaw," she added.

Ivy wasn't having it. "That's what you think though. Personally, I do not find it cool when people are being unnecessarily rude or impolite regardless of class. But it's okay. I'm here to work, as long as I'm getting paid," she said jokingly, and immediately turned back to the files piled up on her table.

They chatted for few more minutes till Maria left her to work.

Soon, it was closing hour. Ivy reflected on her first day at work with her boss as she sat at the back seat in the cab heading home, she noted that it didn't go as expected but just hoped that because she will be reporting directly to him, things would improve.

If she had a positive working connection with Jay, it would be advantageous and at least make a lot of sense, and also save her ass some stress.

************

Before returning home, Jay decided to stop by a restaurant so as to grab some food and snacks for himself and his girlfriend, Rose. Upon entering the eatery, he is undoubtedly taken aback and disheartened by what meets his eyes.

What a terrible way to begin his evening!