“Is it for real?”
Dao smiled. He got that question every time he sent out a call for application for an open position. “Yes it is.”
“I would like to schedule an appointment for an interview. Is that possible?”
“It sure is. What is your name?” “Kianna Sanderson.”
“Are you available today, Ms. Sanderson?” “Yes I am.”
“What time could you come in?”
There was a slight pause, sounds of paper moving around, then a reply, “Three o’clock?”
“That would work perfectly, Ms. Sanderson. Do you have our address?” That was a dumb question since any one who was anyone knew where the Red Dragon building was.
“Yes, I do.”
“Very well, I will see you at three o ‘clock.” He waited for her to hang up first before he did. Long after the conversation ended and he was walking into his office, he thought about that voice on the telephone. He could tell a lot from a person by the sound of their voice and with Ms. Sanderson, he wasn’t sure she could be anyone’s personal assistant. She sounded scared, unsure of herself. Pushing some air out his mouth, he flipped on the coffeemaker in his office and walked out to greet his secretary.
“Good morning, thank you for calling Red Dragon Records, how may I help you?” her voice sang.
He smiled. It was too early to be that cheerful, but he did give her some credit for trying. Leaning against the counter, he waited until she finished speaking on the phone before talking to her. “Debbie quit yesterday. I had the newspapers run an ad for me plus applicants from the time I hired Debbie and so far I have eight interviews for today.”
“Eight?” Beth-Ann’s eyes bulged. “In one night?”
“Some of the people are on our mailing list from applying for some kind of work here previously. I had sent out a mass email before I went to bed last night.”
“I’m just sayin’,” Beth-Ann stood to grab some papers from a counter behind her and walked back. “Eight is cutting it kinda close. You want to make sure the next one won’t flake like Debbie. I don’t understand her. She was supposed to give you two weeks notice.”
“Some people don’t believe that applies to them,” Dao grinned. “My first appointment should be here soon. And, erm, Beth—”
“Yeah, boss?”
“Have Denton add that two weeks notice is non-negotiable to the contract. I don’t want to deal with this mess again.”
“Got it, boss.”
By the time three o’clock rolled around, Dao was getting more and more unmotivated to find a new personal assistant. He had gone through seven interviews and none of them would be good enough. The females were scantily dressed and were wearing enough makeup to choke a cow and the two male possibilities both had demos in their back pockets that they wanted him to listen to. Frowning, he drained his fifteenth cup of coffee, popped a mint into his mouth and pressed the red button on his phone.
“Yes, Mr. Zhi?”
“Please send in Ms. Sanderson.” She couldn’t be any better than the last few he had seen that day, but he only had to sit through one more. It was so hard for him to sit there and pretend like he gave a damn about what they were saying. All through it, he wanted to ask them if they were dropped on the head as a child. He remained polite.
He was rubbing his eyes when the distinct clicks of female shoes were heard against the ground. They stopped at his door and he looked up. He stood with a smile and extended a hand to
her. Instantly, she stepped forward and took his hand.
“Good afternoon,” she greeted professionally.
The first thing he did was give her the look over. She was dressed appropriately for the job she was being interviewed for. That to Dao was like a breath of fresh air washing over him and he inhaled deeply while walking to close the door. She wore a business suit, black pants and jacket with a pale pink top just barely peeking out from beneath. He found himself drinking in the way the pink blended perfectly with her dark, ebony skin. She wore neither earrings, nor necklace and there was a faint scent of Jasmine as he passed her. “Hello.” Dao took his seat once more and stapled his fingers. “Did you find the place alright?”
“Yes.” She smiled again and a ray of sunlight flowed over the room. “It is kinda hard to miss.”
He knew she was referring to the red dragon statue at the front of the building. The dragon was wound around a sword. Dao loved the design. It wasn’t big enough to be overpowering and look as though they were trying too hard. The statue was just the right size to show what was inside the building.
Dao decided to test her. Though he already had her resume in his file before him, he cleared his throat and asked, “May I see your resume?” To his surprise, she was prepared and filed through the
folder in her hands, then held a copy of her resume out to him. “Thank you.” He began reading through it. It seemed she had a number of experiences. Though none of them had anything to do with being a personal assistant, he wondered why she was still on his list. Knowing that she can work with the public came in very handy and endeared her toward him a little more—maybe that was why he had kept her email. “It says here you have a diploma in Office Administration? What exactly does that entail?”
“Well, simply put, I’m a glorified secretary,” she replied in a polite voice.
Dao nodded in appreciation for her simplicity. He had a long day and the last thing he wanted was to have another long, knock-down-dragged-out session. Reading again, he placed the resume down and looked her square in the eyes. “Are you looking for a record deal?” He watched as her eyes changed from smilingly nervous to fiery. He arched his brow, curious to see what she was going to say—if he had read her right.
“Look, Mr. Zhi. The truth is, I have a mortgage, car payments, bills, I need a job that will allow me to handle all of those,” she paused. “And besides, the last thing anyone wants me to do is sing.”
Studying her carefully, he laughed, “You cannot be that bad.”
“Trust me, Mr. Zhi, I’m the worse. I don’t even sing in the shower, I hum.”
He leant back in the overstuffed chair and chuckled. “Anyone you know want a deal?”
“No. I don’t really have much time to hang with anyone but my girl, Jace. And between you and me, we don’t want to hear her sing either.”
Dao found himself smiling more than he had in the last week. There was something wonderfully, liberating about being around her, something strangely depressing about seeing her eyes fall into sadness. He couldn’t remember the last time he met a woman like her. She was straightforward, nervous about the interview, but relaxed with her answers. He knew she was nervous from the way she had wiped her palms onto the thighs of her pants before she shook his hand. Also by the way she sat in the seat, at the edge with her back straight and neck held high. She probably didn’t even realize she was doing all those. Dao had learnt over the years to gauge people’s reactions, their small idiosyncrasies and come to a decision about their personalities. Her words were well pronounced like a woman that had been well educated, but he could still pick up a small hint of an accent. “The reason I asked those questions is—”
“It’s perfectly alright. I suspect everyone out there has a talent and you’re the man to make them stars.”
Dao nodded as he reached across his desk to pick up a blue folder. “I tell you what, Ms. Sanderson,” Dao stood and extended the folder to her. “You’ve got yourself a job then. Take this out and give it to Beth-Ann, the secretary. If you want the job, there are some papers you need to fill out.”
She squealed happily before pressing her palm against her lips to stifle her excitement. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do that. It’s just—I don’t think you understand what you have just given me.”
“I’m happy you’re happy,” Dao spoke softly. He almost reluctantly released the papers when she took the folder from his hand.
“Thank you!”
“You’re very welcome. Come and see me once you’re finished with the paperwork.”
“I will!”
He watched her almost dart out the door. Standing there with a smile on his lips, he almost burst out laughing when she skidded to a stop, turned around and returned to close his door. When the door closed, he laughed and slumped back into his seat. There was such beauty in laughing freely. She had the kind of laughter that had no strings or hatred behind it. It was alluring.
If it was one thing he knew, working with Ms. Kianna Sanderson was not going to be boring in the least.
K
ianna was so excited that after she finished signing the paperwork, she found out where the restroom was and excused herself. Her knees were shaking, but she managed to make her way to the restroom and stopped before the mirror. She clenched her fist and let out a stifled squeal. She followed that up by flailing her arms happily, ran around in a giddy circle and stopped once more
before the mirror.
Jace was
not
going to believe what had just happened. The realization hit her like a brick. Kianna had a job at Red Dragon. It was such a coveted position and she had managed to snag it without any experience at all. There was going to be so many people that would be jealous of her, but she didn’t care—she couldn’t. If she was going to afford her trip in her lifetime, she had to hold on to this new job. She had to make sure she kept her temper in check, not show how truly depressed she was or that she has no friends aside
from one. She had to act as if she was a part of their world and get her job done.
She inhaled deeply before wetting her hands beneath the cold tap. She brushed the cool palms against her heated cheeks. She reeled a paper towel from the holder and patted her face dry, then dropped it into the bin. After applying a fresh coat of lip gloss, straightening her hair and clothes, Kianna exited the restroom and knocked softly against Dao’s door.
“Come in,” the voice called.
She entered. He was on the telephone with someone. She felt out of place, not knowing what to do. Kianna clutched her purse before her and used that moment to peer around the office. It was a beautiful office. She had been so scared before that she hadn’t noticed any of it. It was very different from the one at the funeral home.
There were two leather seats across from his desk where she had sat for her interview. Behind those, was a large, leather sofa that looked overly comfortable. The room was perfectly lit because of the ground to ceiling windows that were the outer walls. There was a beautiful potted bamboo plant in the far corner. On his desk was the picture of an older couple, she assumed were his parents. There was a picture of a banyan tree and that brought a smirk to her lips. It was of a beautiful Banyan tree and she wondered if it was of the
Big Banyan
.
There were so many stories about that tree— stories that left her smiling and hopeful every time she read them.
“Ms. Sanderson,” he spoke, pulling her from her musings. “Please have a seat at the desk.”
She followed where his finger pointed to see there was another door. Kianna hadn’t realized that before. How had she missed that during her second go around? Maybe it was because she was too busy wondering about the age of the women Dao Zhi loved to have in his arms. She nodded and walked through the door. This room was even better.
The view from so high up was absolutely breathtaking. Standing at the large windows, she looked around for as far as her eyes could see. She could see above some of the skyscrapers and far out in the horizon was Lake Ontario. She inhaled deeply as if she could smell the fresh air from the water.
The clicking of the door closing drew her to turn around and she smiled shyly. She took a seat, crossed her legs beneath the table, then waited to see what the meeting was all about.
“First,” Dao spoke. “Welcome to Red Dragon. I feel I should give you a quick rundown of what your job entails. When working for me, the job descriptions tend to be a tad different from anyone else. Your job is a very, involved one. The only
two people that work directly with me almost one hundred percent of the time are you and Beth-Ann. Beth is my wall through the phones and emails. You, my dear, will be privileged to a lot of important information, my house, my car…”
“Your house?” Kianna interrupted.
“Yes. My house. I don’t always work from the office,” he explained. “Does that make you uncomfortable?”
“Erm—honestly?” “Always.”
“I don’t know. I’ve never had to go to someone’s house for work before. But I’ll handle it.”
The meeting turned into a personal Dao Zhi tour of the building from the first floor back up to the twenty-eighth. She found out where supplies were kept, how to order supplies though she never had to—that was Beth-Ann’s job. She was introduced to some of Dao’s international stars and she found that most of them weren’t as vain as she thought they would be.
It was all around a great day and after a few hours, she left Red Dragon to go home and rest up for the next day. On her drive home, she began thinking of Dao. She was used to being around all cultures, but the Chinese had always intrigued her. She loved their colour superstitions, foods— everything. But Dao Zhi was so much different
than she had expected. He was tall, with a body that she could tell was rather sleek and muscular beneath those designer clothes. He had gorgeous brown eyes, neatly cut dark hair and a smile that could put the moon to shame.
What are you doing, Kiki?
Even as she left that evening for home, she was still giddy with her crush on her boss. That was never a good thing. While she waited at the traffic light, Kianna literally shook herself and reached for the stereo. But excitement still pumped through her veins. Instead of going home, she pulled up at Jace’s house and knocked at the door. Jace pulled the door open. “Kiki? You alright?
Why are you grinning so much?”
“I got a job,” Kianna explained before reaching in to press a quick kiss to her friend’s cheek. The two women walked into the house and closed the door. Both ladies sat in the kitchen around a plate of nachos and began speaking.