Obsession and Desire

Four o'clock in the morning, the thunderous noise of the alarm wakes Andy up.

ring! ring! ring! ring!

Andy Alf reaches for his bedside table, with one touch he deactivates his alarm and opens his eyes, he waits about two minutes and stands up, his slippers are on the right side of his bed in perfect order, Andy claps his hands twice and the light in his room comes on.

It is time to start with his daily routine, he wakes up a little, and in less than ten minutes he is taking an ice water shower, he has calculated his time, he uses a smart watch that marks how long the bath should last, so he defines his time perfectly, after the fifteen minutes programmed, there he is getting dressed with his sports clothes perfectly organized to go to do his exercise routine in the gym of his mansion.

At six o'clock in the morning, after having done his body maintenance routine, he takes a shower again, now with warm water to relax his muscles, fifteen minutes later, he combs his hair perfectly, massages his body with a fine cream, dresses in a dark black platinum suit, grooms his beard as every day, perfumes himself with one of the best French fragrances that his mother has given him and wears a beautiful gold Rolex on his left hand, which matches perfectly with his divinity. And although he was not an entirely vain being, he was overly obsessive about order, presentation, schedules, grooming, and perfection.

Everything in his room was perfectly arranged, he had an adjoining room that served as his closet, each garment in his closet was ordered by tones and uses, his shirts had to be perfectly ironed, his sportswear was not used more than twice and he exchanged them, he had a person hired to take care of his clothes exclusively, if he did not like something he immediately changed it, or simply discarded it.

Andy was a young multimillionaire, an economist by profession, with a couple of doctorates and a master's degree, he was the CEO of the largest export company in the city, ALF Y ASOCIADOS Company, the success of this company was due to the hard work of its CEO to business and management.

Besides being a successful businessman, he was young, he was only twenty-six years old, he was handsome, tall, his skin tone made his sensuality stand out, it was a cinnamon skin, dark brown eyes, his lock beard surrounded his jaw, his hair in perfect order showed how well cared for he was.

Despite being the CEO of his company and being able to have all the privileges he wanted, he was the first person to arrive at his office, at eight in the morning he was already starting his duties, the day before his cleaning employees were in charge of leaving everything in its place, his chair perfectly clean, his desk without a single trace of dust, his few paintings without a single uneven angle and his sculptures lay perfectly cared for. The aroma emanating from that office would attract the heart of any woman.

On the other side of the country**

"Camille, daughter, get up, you have to go to work at the cafeteria, hurry up little daughter, you'll be late!"

"Mom, mmm, I'm up!" Camille comes down the stairs of her humble house with shuffling steps, her slippers are so worn out that if anything they can cover her feet from the cold floor, her hair is in total disarray, her pajamas are a long old T-shirt of her deceased father, and her face is covered by two huge dark circles under her eyes from not sleeping.

"Daughter, did you get any rest?" Angela asks her daughter.

"Not much mom, last night they extended my shift at that cafeteria, I had to work overtime, and I accepted, we need your medicines and food for little Carolain" Camille approaches her mother and gives her a kiss on the cheek.

"Dear, have you received any response from the capital city from any of the companies where you have been looking for a job?" Angela looks at her daughter compassionately.

"No mom, not being a graduate of a recognized university doesn't give me any opportunity," Camille looks frustrated at her psychologist diploma, which is hanging as the only decoration in the living room.

Camille, a young woman of twenty-four years old, lived with her parents in a small town a few hours from the capital, with the great effort of her father she entered a small university nearby where she managed to obtain her degree a year ago as a psychologist, while she achieved this small triumph two important events changed in her life.

Her father died in a traffic accident, leaving her mother alone to take care of her and her little sister Salome, who is now ten years old. As if that were not enough, her mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, which required an aggressive treatment to save her life and prevented her from returning to work, so Camille, to survive with her family, had to take her mother's place in the cafeteria, since there was no work in town for a professional like her.

For a long time, she insisted, sending her resume, and applying to well-known companies in the capital, waiting for a response from one of them, but her hopes were fading away as she did not receive any, she felt that she was going to stay forever working in that place.

That morning after saying goodbye to his mother, taking his little sister to school, he receives a call on his old phone, he didn't know the number, however, he decides to answer.

"Hello?" she says in a very colloquial tone.

"Good morning, Miss, I'm calling from ALF & ASSOCIATES, is this Camille Ibis?" asks a woman on the other end of the line.

"Good morning! Excuse me for my way of answering, if you are speaking to her, please tell me."

"You applied for a vacancy in our company as head of human resources, I see that you are a professional in psychology, aren't you?"

"Yes, yes I am!" Camille's voice now sounded excited.

"Do you have any additional studies, such as a diploma, doctorate, or master's degree?" The woman on the other end of the line asks suspiciously.

"No, not really" Now Camille knows that she will be rejected again, as in the previous offers.

"Well, Miss Ibis, your tests were one hundred out of one hundred, but because of your academic profile, now we could only offer you a vacancy as a secretary in the human resources area, we need one urgently".

"Secretary? And how much would the salary be?" She says frustrated by what she has just been offered.

"Well, her salary would be about two thousand a month, plus her legal benefits, plus every two months she would have an extra bonus for her performance, not to mention that she would only work from Monday to Friday from eight in the morning to five in the afternoon".

Upon hearing the working conditions that Camille was being offered, she remained silent, trying to assimilate that it was four times what she was currently earning, and she could not believe it, she made sure to corroborate what she was hearing.

"Are you serious, Miss?" she asks doubtfully.

"I don't understand your question, I am calling you for a quite formal offer, check your email, if you are interested, we will expect you on Monday at the company, remember that all your hiring is immediate and will be digital, so you would only have to come to work if you sign your contract before six o'clock in the evening".

"Perfect Miss, thank you very much, I'll check my mail, thank you very much!" Camille jumps like an excited child, laughing with happiness in the street and although it is not what she expected for her profession, the conditions were right, and she could help her mother even more.

Camille had applied to this company about seven months ago, every month she presented different tests and interviews and had already lost hope of finding a vacancy in this place.

She was so happy that she had forgotten that she had to sign the contract before a fixed time, when she realized it was already seven o'clock at night, in her town the public internet sites were closed at six thirty, she had to look for a place where she could check.

"No, it can't be, damn it, the only good opportunity in my life and I lose it because of my absent" mindedness, it can't be!

Camille, upset at not having signed her contract, arrives home in tears, her frustration greater than her own will.

"But my love, what happened to you?" Angela embraces her daughter, as soon as she sees her come in.

"Mom, I lost the opportunity of my life, they called me from ALF Y ASOCIADOS, to offer me a vacancy, with a salary that you can't even imagine, I had to sign the digital contract before six o'clock in the afternoon, and guess what?"

"What girl, what?" Camille's mother is desperate now.

"Well, I forgot, I have no choice, there is no place where I can enter my email, I lost my only chance, mom" Camille melts into her mother's arms wrapped in tears.

Until they are interrupted by Carolain, her little sister.

"Hi Cam, do you need internet? A computer?" she replies jovially, as if it were nothing important.

"Yes, little one, but you know, in this town there is nothing".

"I know where we can find one, my friend Flory's mom works from home and she has a computer, she can lend it and she has a modem that gives her internet, we have played on the net, she lives three houses away from here, shall we go?

"Let's go, yes!" Camille's face changed completely, now she felt positive, minutes later they were at the little girl's friend's house, she signed the document digitally and went home.

Her phone rang after 8:30 p.m.

"Hello?" Now she answers nervously.

"Hello Camille, you've reached Martha, I called you this afternoon about your contract with ALF & ASSOCIATES, I regret to inform you that I cannot hire you, you sent me the contract too late".

"Miss Martha, I'm sorry it's just that in this town there is no way to easily access the internet, please don't leave me without the opportunity" Now her voice was broken, and she knew that if she did not go to work there, everything would be worse.

"Oh! Do not make those dramas please, I will make an exception with you because your resume and your tests were impeccable, but I want to tell you that if there is something too important in the company is punctuality, a single day that you are late is going to a discharge, in three mistakes you make will be fired and compensated, the CEO is a person too strict, you already have the information of the company, I expect you on Monday at eight in the morning, with excellent personal presentation, do not be late you have all the instructions given. Goodbye"

The woman did not even let Camille answer, but when she hung up the call, she, her mother and her sister melted in an embrace.

Camille's humility made her life difficult, but with immense pain she decided to go to live in the city where an aunt who offered her an inn for a few days while she was getting settled, she had the weekend to organize everything, on Sunday morning she was on a trip, leaving her mother and sister, promising to come every weekend to visit, the city was about four hours away and gave her time to return home.

Her aunt's house was just as humble as her mother's, but unlike her, her aunt was an unpleasant person, she agreed to stay a few days on the condition that she would pay her as soon as she received her first paycheck, and leave.

Monday eight am ALF & ASSOCIATES

Camille arrives at the company where she was hired, she was dressed in a somewhat worn black jacket, formal pants and old-fashioned high heels that her mother had lent her, by the time she went to work she didn't have a single elegant garment that would make her look good, so as best she could, she picked up borrowed and old trousers to be able to enter her new job.

It was five minutes to 8 o'clock, she had run all over town, from the train stop to the company it was about a ten-minute walk and she ran, her cheeks were flushed, and her appearance was not the best.

Before entering, some bodyguards asked her for her documents, but absent-minded as always, they had been left at her aunt's house.

"Miss, I already told you that without your ID we cannot let you in, we are sorry," says a man in a dark suit, in charge of security.

"Sir, please, look, I am going to work here today, call Mrs. Marta, there are two minutes left until eight o'clock, I could lose my job," Camille pleads.

"You don't understand that you can't come in, besides, look at you, I don't know how they could have hired you, look at your presentation" He answers her in a contemptuous manner.

Camille is frustrated and tries to call Marta, she is on one of the steps of the entrance trying to get a signal on her old phone, not being aware of where she is looking, she crashes into a man, his scent invades her nose, and her eyes are enraptured when she looks to the front of who it was. It was Andy Alf.

The most handsome man her eyes had ever seen in her entire life, her cheeks are flushed, and she dies of embarrassment, next to this beautiful man is a blonde about the same height, perfectly groomed, she looked like a beauty queen, with a red dress, that covered her in a sculptural way. Both looked like something out of a magazine.

"Hey, your filth! Be more careful" says Keyra Jones, Andy Alf's fiancée.

"Keyra please, where are your manners?" Andy snorts at her

"Camille ducks her head in embarrassment" Andy makes a nodding face at her apology and continues his way.

"Now I'll have to change my clothes, that woman would leave her poor smell all over me," Keyra says as they walk away from the staircase".

Camile tries to locate Martha's phone number, but to her dismay she doesn't even have the credit to call her and inform her that she is outside, but as fate would have it, she is the one who calls her.

"Girl, what happened to you, I already gave the order for you to enter. Precisely, you crashed with the CEO, that's not lucky!"

"Miss. Marta, thank you very much. How did you know that?" she answers intrigued.

"We have cameras everywhere, one of the men at the door told me that you were already here but that you were not carrying your document, I looked to make sure it was you and I see you fall to the floor, go upstairs and I will wait for you immediately, you must report your arrival, I will change the appointment time".

Camille immediately goes up to the company, all its facilities are equipped with the highest technology, its employees wear beautiful dresses, and she feels miserable to be dressed in those borrowed clothes, her hair is combed, but not completely straight.

When she arrives at Martha's, she feels how everyone looks down on her and inside her there is a feeling of frustration.

Martha tells her all her duties and leaves her at her place of work, evidently it was according to how she was dressed, a small office behind all the main offices, not much light came in, but at least the eyes of her better dressed colleagues pointing out her poverty did not come in either.

The following days she had limited herself to making the human resources reports of the company, she only crossed words with Martha and little interacted with others, she was stigmatized by the way she dressed and her economic condition, even though this job changed her life she felt bad.

It was Friday morning Andy Alf as every day starts his routine at four in the morning, that night he had not had a good rest so his mood was lousy, more than usual, so today would be a total hell for employees who made a mistake, at eight in the morning when everyone was already working, he sat at his desk to review each report thoroughly if a tilde or a comma was missing he returned it, and to Camille's misfortune in his there was a minimal drafting error.

The phone in her small office rings for the first time since she started working.

"Camille Ibis, come to my office in two minutes."

She had no idea who was calling her, so she asks Martha who with a regretful face looks at her and tells her that she has thirty seconds left to get to the gentleman's office.

Camille, not believing Martha's words, walks casually down the hallway to Andy's office, and under the gaze of her coworkers, she walks calmly without any fear of what the boss she has not yet met might do to her.

Camille knocks twice on Andy's door, she is impressed by the perfection of each of the spaces around her, she knows to herself that the only office out of context like hers was his.

The door opens automatically, she is dumbfounded to see the office of her boss, it looked like a space of a God of Olympus, but modernized, it emanated a perfect smell, in front of it was located a desk of a fine solid glass, which was only occupied by a few documents and a beautiful laptop with a giant screen.

Behind the desk was on his back in a giant presidential chair, the boss, THE CEO, you could only make out his hair sticking out and his hand on his forearm, glinting the beautiful gold watch.

"It took you seven minutes to get to my office, Camille Ibis, weren't you warned that punctuality is the company's motto?" The tone of voice is quite high and threatening.

She didn't even know the name of her boss; she had been so clueless that she barely knew that Martha was the one who hired her. And such was the contempt of her colleagues that no one spoke to her to get some information.

"How many minutes did I tell you had to approach?"

"Two minutes, sir."

"Why did it take you six minutes to get to my office, if knowing the spaces on this floor, I know that the distance between yours and this one is approximately one minute and thirty seconds, I gave you thirty seconds more in case you slipped or something similar."

Camille did not expect to hear this from Andy, the cold and calculating way he was talking to her made her shiver.

"I, I'm sorry sir, excuse me, it won't happen again." Her voice becomes softer and to Andy's ears, for whatever reason, it is endearing.

He turns to face her, his gaze fixed on her face, the two of them gaze at each other in rapture, as if they already knew each other. She immediately turns red, and embarrassment invades her, she never imagined that her boss was such a young, handsome, and overwhelming man.

- Ah, but it's you, the one who bumped into me and my fiancée in the street, I see that your absent-mindedness is one of your most notorious defects- She tells him while making a grimace with her mouth and sketching irony.

Camille's face is now full of fury, everyone in that company was miserable, from her boss onwards.

"If it's me, tell me what you are calling me for, sir".

"I'm Andy Alf, the CEO of the company you work for, in case you hadn't been informed, and in case you didn't take the trouble to find out".

"Tell me Mr. Alf, why were you calling me?" Camille answers, gritting her teeth to avoid shouting at him for his arrogance.

"You made a spelling mistake in this report, you are missing a tilde, in a word, which could change the context of this, this would bring you a sanction, did you know that?

Inwardly Camille thought that it was the most ridiculous claim that anyone could make to him in the world, he can correct it, there was no need for all this spectacle.

"I'm sorry sir, forgive my absent-mindedness, as you said, it's my biggest fault, I promise it won't happen again." She says looking at him ironically.

"You are suspended for a week without pay, you should have read the regulations when she entered".

"A tear rolls down Camille's cheek, tired of everything that happens to her. A week without payment would mean she wouldn't have enough to cover one of her scheduled expenses" Please don't do this to me, I need the money.

As Andy gets closer to her, he realizes that despite her clothes she is a very beautiful young woman, the skin on her face is smooth and free of makeup, her hair, although not perfectly combed, is shiny and she emanates a particular scent.

No employee had ever asked her to surrender to one of her sanctions, since none of them had any consequence of being left without a week's salary thanks to the huge salaries they received there, so he understood that the girl really needed the money.

Andy closed the door and asked her to sit down, he asked her about her life, and she told him about everything she was going through, feeling compassion for her, he made her sign a memo, he didn't leave her out of work for a week, he wasn't as insensitive as everyone thought.

She left his office fifteen minutes later with her head down, locked herself back in the room she had been assigned to work in and went about her duties without so much as a word, her frustration was palpable.

After that moment she couldn't stop thinking about her boss, how handsome he was, how perfect, and how "generous" he was with his sanction. From then on, her jobs were perfect, she didn't want to affect her salary that she sacredly sent to her mother every time she received it.

Again, it is Friday night, this time she has too much work commissioned by Martha, she takes advantage of the well-paid overtime to get more money and survive in that huge city, there is no one in the office or so she thinks, so she leaves her burrow to look for a coffee. She sees a light on and approaches to observe that it is Andy's office, for her it was unbelievable that someone who could delegate everything to a third party would work as a slave just like her.

She doesn't notice and hears a voice over a loudspeaker speaking to her.

"Ibis, come to my office, you have thirty seconds".

Camille runs off in a panic to the restrooms, then remembers it is her boss talking to her and runs back to the CEO's office like a marathon.

"What are you doing hanging around here at this hour, Ibis? Your workday ended four hours ago and it's Friday." He says as he looks at her from behind his desk, sitting with his tie loose on his pedestal.

"Sir, I'm working overtime, you know I need the money," she says.

"Apparently for you it's all about money," he is sarcastic again.

"Well, if I were a mega millionaire I'd be at home, or in a spectacular place making a billion - She responds sarcastically as he does.

Andy, despite having shown that he was an ogre in front of the others, gives her a smiling smile, he thinks it's funny what he just told her".

"You see Miss Ibis, we don't all think the same way, I work for my future estate, I don't delegate to anyone that I can do myself. By the way, were you going to the kitchen for coffee?"

"Yes sir, I know I'm on my working hours, but I need a drink, I feel like I'm going to fall asleep on my desk, but I'll be right back, I won't take another minute over the hour."

Andy stares at her, since the day of the report he can't stop thinking about her, he can't explain why, he doesn't know why, she wasn't even close to the profile of woman that Keyra was, or anyone of her social stratum, she was humble, she was simple, uncomplicated, but very applied and efficient, during all that week he had watched her from his camera, every movement, every second, every time she cried, and that night he had stayed intentionally just to be with her, even if it was from his office. All in all, it was the first time his reason was affected, and he had no idea what was going on with him.

"I'll join you; I'll have coffee with you" He gets up from his desk and moves to her side.

The smell that the man was emanating flooded Camille's nose, she stared at him, he was so much like a God, she could not even believe that her boss was going to have coffee with her in the company cafeteria.

They walked out together down the office hallway, and without thinking they found themselves together drinking coffee from a fine pot, which he intentionally had ready for his employee, he already knew that when he stayed overtime, he would prepare a small one and follow his duty. They both kept silent, but never stopped looking at each other, she asked him for permission and went back to her office, Andy stood there, staring at nothing, what was so special about a woman like Camille...? It seemed that she was becoming one more of his obsessions.