Reiner - Please Call me Natalia

As these thoughts ran through my head, his piercing blue eyes continued to stare at me from where he was seated behind the table.

“Maybe this is some kind of mistake…” I mumbled.

“I wish that it was too because as far as I’m concerned, you should be heading back home. Isn’t that right, Natalia?” Reiner said with a displeased smirk.

I narrowed my eyes at him to show my own displeasure. Who would have thought that I would end up with Reiner as my boss of all people?!

There were just too many issues related to this problem that I didn’t know where to start. Firstly, he used to be my butler. Secondly, because he used to be my butler, I knew that there was nothing that I could do that he couldn’t. He probably did everything better than I could ever do them. Last but definitely not least, he didn’t want me here. At all.

“I know that you don’t want me here so…maybe you can request for the secretarial department to swap me with another secretary…” I suggested in a small voice.

Reiner sighed softly before he slowly got up from his seat. Walking around the table, he slowly approached me until he was standing right in front of me. He looked down at me and I looked up directly into his blue eyes. It’s been a while since I’ve been this close and alone with him. I wouldn’t say that I was scared or intimidated, it just felt slightly strange.

Slowly, Reiner lifted his hand up towards my face. My body froze in place as my eyes glanced down just as his fingertips removed a strand of my hair away from my face.

“If you can’t work for me, why don’t you just quit this job and go home just like I’ve always told you to?”

Reiner said softly yet sternly.

Without thinking, my hand automatically moved and smacked his hand away from my face. I glared at him as I gritted my teeth together in anger. Did he just tell me to quit my job? It’s my first day here on the job, how dare he tell me to quit?!

“I am not going to quit my job. Even if I do, it won’t be because of you…” I said determinedly.

“I see. Well then, I look forward to working with you, my new secretary,” Reiner replied with a smile.

He’s definitely looking down on me and it’s not simply because he is much taller. He’s looking down on me and my skills. It’s not just my imagination, he’s smirking at me because he thinks that I can’t do my job right. I’m going to prove him wrong even if it costs me my life!

“I’m going to succeed at this job. Just you wait and see!” I declared loud and clear as I glared up into his freaking beautiful blue eyes.

“Don’t be so full of yourself. I bet you can’t even make a cup of decent coffee for the guest,” Reiner scoffed at me.

“Even I can do that!” I snapped.

Even if my coffee won’t ever taste as good as the ones that he can make…but still…

Reiner raised a brow curiously at me.

“Didn’t they teach you not to snap at your boss? Don’t tell me that this is the best you can do to show your new boss some respect…” Reiner teased as he looked down at me.

This is insane! I want to snap back at him so badly, but I can’t. This is so frustrating! How dare he talk to me like that? He’s mocking me again!

No, Natalia. You must hold it in. If you get mad, you’ll be playing right into his hands.

“I’m sorry, Sir…” I whispered in a small and submissive voice.

“You can call me Knight,” he replied.

“Please call me Natalia,” I replied as if this was the first time that we were meeting.

At that moment, I wondered if things would have been different between us if we had met this way instead. What if he never left his island and we didn’t share any unfortunate history? What if we just met like normal people did for the first time at our workplace? If everything was as simple as that, would things be different between Reiner and me?

“Do you need me for anything right now? If not, I’ll be on standby just outside your door…” I said as a way to excuse myself.

My mind feels like a mess and some alone time is probably what I needed most right now to collect the pieces of myself together again.

“No. You may leave,” Reiner replied but his eyes never left my face.

“Thank you…” I mumbled.

…

My legs felt like jelly once I exited Reiner’s office and shut the door firmly closed behind me. I leaned on the door to keep myself from slipping down into a puddle on the floor. Did that really just happen?

I applied for a job here and somehow, I ended up as Reiner’s secretary. With the many things that had been going on plus the fact that I’ve been trying my best to avoid him, I didn’t even know that he had started working at his father’s company. Well, perhaps it was to be expected that he would have to start working here sooner or later. It made sense, that was probably part of the main reason why he came back to this island and his home in the first place.

My shaky legs took me to the chair behind what was now my worktable. I flopped down onto the chair and banged my forehead softly down on the table. My head hurts. Now that I think about it, I wondered what kind of job Reiner did. He’s supposed to be one of the managers at this company now too. My eyes glanced over to the closed door, and I prayed that he wouldn’t come walking out of there.

The truth was that I knew that I couldn’t keep on avoiding Reiner forever. Some way or another, I’m going to have to come up with a way to work well with him. Having Reiner as my boss will probably be very troublesome; however, I could imagine many versions of worst bosses for sure. This wasn’t so bad, I guess.

--To be continued…