Reiner - Knight

Not surprisingly, all four new secretaries were all women. I looked around at the excited faces of the other young women and wondered if I had the exact same look on my face.

“Great. We’re all here. Thank you for being on time. Needless to say, as part of the secretarial staff, we are expected to do everything on time. Well now this is the moment that you’ve all been waiting for.

Who will be your partner manager? In other words, who’s going to be your boss?” the woman said animatedly.

Her hand then flipped over the board that she was holding to reveal a simple table with two columns that was printed on the other side of the board. The first column was the secretary’s name and the second was the manager’s name.

I wasn’t told anything about this before and so I had no idea and was very surprised when I saw all ‘names’ in the managers’ column were all codenames. Maybe it was my fault for overlooking the details. Since King was also a codename, I should have expected other managers at his company to operate under a codename as well.

Still, what’s the point of knowing just the code name of your boss if you don’t even know who the person is?

I looked at the codename of the manager that was on the same row as my name. So, this guy’s, I assume he’s a guy, codename is Knight. Great. Just like chess pieces. I wondered for a while if that was intentional and soon decided that it probably was.

“Excuse me but…when do we get to meet our boss?” I asked.

I pray that I’ll get along with this Knight person. I’m going to work so hard to please him and make sure that I support him in everyway possible. I’m going the become the best secretary in the world!

“Tomorrow I will personally lead all of you to your manager’s office. So, meet me at the secretarial department at the start of the day and I’ll take you from there. Anyone not sure where the secretarial department is?” the woman asked.

Everyone was silent and the woman smiled with satisfaction and nodded.

That marked the official end of the orientation day and my first day at work.

…

During my drive back to the mansion, I began thinking that it might be a good idea to find out something about my future boss. If I knew something about him such as his working style, his personality, his beliefs, and any other relevant facts, it might help us get along well. In addition, I could adapt my working style to fit his or avoid the things that he didn’t like.

After parking my car at the mansion’s parking lot, I entered the mansion and decided to try my luck at finding Queen and asking her. There’s a good chance that Queen might know the identity of Knight, my future boss. If she does, then maybe she could give me a good head start by telling me something about him. Luck seemed to be on my side because Queen was relaxing on a sofa in the sitting room.

“Hey, Queen…” I said as I approached her.

“Natalia. You’re back already? How was your first day at work?” she asked cheerfully.

I sat down on the sofa opposite from hers.

“Great but the real work hasn’t really started yet. Today was just orientation…” I replied honestly.

“I’m sure that you’ll do great tomorrow as well,” Queen said, carefreely.

“Umm…actually, I have a question for you,” I said, getting right to the point.

“Sure, ask away!” Queen replied enthusiastically.

“The thing is we received our pairings today. You know, they pair a secretary to a manager that’s going to be her boss,” I explained.

“Yup. I know that. So, who did you get?” Queen asked with intense interest.

“I got a manager called Knight. It’s obviously a codename so I was wondering if you know the person and you know…if you do, can you tell me what he or she is like? I’m assuming he’s a guy though…just from the codename,” I said hopefully.

“Sorry, dear but I have no idea who Knight is. So many new managers have joined the company that I’ve lost track. You’re right, I’m quite sure he’s man as well. There are very few female managers in the company so I would be surprised if you got paired up with one,” Queen said apologetically.

I see, so no luck in getting some head start on how to deal with my boss then…

“Thank you, Queen. It doesn’t really matter. I was just curious, that’s all. I’ll be meeting my boss tomorrow anyways,” I said with a smile.

“I love your enthusiasm. Keep up the good work!” Queen cheered me on.

“Thank you. Good night,” I said as I got up from the sofa.

“Good night, Natalia! Sleep tight!” Queen yelled happily as she waved at me.

I smiled and waved back at her before taking my leave.

…

The next day, I was so excited about work that I arrived at the office way earlier than the official start time. Although I was early, the building was already packed with people who had arrived for work. The coffee shop and bakery on the first floor was busy and lines had started to form in front of the elevators’

entrance. I joined the line of the elevator that would climb to my desired floor.

After arriving at the right floor, I still had some time left so I decided to go to the toilet to calm my nerves. Checking my make up and my outfit in the mirror one last time helped to assure myself that I looked decently presentable. They say that first impression counts a lot at work, and I was determined to present my new boss with the best first impression ever.

By the time I arrived at the secretarial department, two of the other new secretaries have already arrived as well. A bit later, the final girl joined us to complete the group of four.

--To be continued…