First Day

Marco's POV

Getting stuck in traffic on the first day of work was definitely not part of my to-do list. I glanced at my old wristwatch every couple seconds and with each glance my anxiety rose.

"Don't be late, the boss hates tardiness" The lady on the phone had said. I gulped. I might as well turn back and head back home and spend the rest of the day drinking myself to oblivion.

But I wasn't going to do that.

Because Marco Alvarez wasn't going to be a quitter anymore. I had spent half my life scared of everything and running back into my shell at the slightest inconvenience but not anymore.

Not with my mother fighting for her life in the hospital and having no one else to support her but me.

Thinking of her pale weak face as she told me that she loved me and had faith in me, I suddenly felt stronger and positive. I paid the taxi driver and jumped out.

I was going to get to work early even if I had to walk the rest of the way. One last glance at my wristwatch and I began. Half walking, half jogging, half running.

I was about to pass out when I finally saw the tall building that was going to be my workplace. Sweating and panting, I walked through the entrance doors causing the few people around to give me strange looks. Few weeks ago, I would have shrunk a few meters or maybe even walked out the way I came in but not today. A final look on the wall clock facing the entrance of the building told me that I was atleast five minutes early. I fished out my handkerchief and moped the sweat on my brow, straightened my tie and suit, briefly looked through the file in my hand and walked towards the reception, satisfied that everything was intact.

The lady sitting behind the desk was young and beautiful. Her blond hair poured down her shoulder in an attractive manner. She was lightly made up and smiled as I got to her desk. Her name tag read 'Gloria'.

"Good morning and welcome to Hydela Motors, the world's largest automobile and transport company. How may I be of assistance to you today?" she said in a voice that indicated a long time of practice and use of that same line.

"Hi Gloria, my name is Marco Alvarez. I work here, actually today is my first day" I said flashing my best smile.

"Oh yes, I've been expecting you" she replied still smiling, "take the elevator to fifth floor, you will meet Shanice. She will take care of you"

"Thanks" I replied, gave her a little wave and walked towards the elevator.

I allowed myself the luxury of glancing around as I waited for the elevator to arrive. The office lobby was quite large and I saw different people dressed in different attires that said much about their work position. There were engineers in their overalls looking into blueprints. And then the office dwellers in their expensive suits and shoes that clicked on the floor as they walked, plastic cups of coffee in hand. Some ladies dressed in equally expensive blouses and corporate skirts looking serious and focused. And there was me, dressed in the cheapest suit I could find in the store, a pair of shoes that previously belonged to my dad which had began to chip at the sole, a milk coloured shirt that was a bit too tight and black tie that I got off a friend.

I looked so out of place in this big building.

And for a brief minute, I suddenly felt out of place.

"Are you sure you don't want to go home and watch some TV? It's not too late you know" I heard my mind nag.

"You can do this" I said to myself as the elevator finally opened. I mentally gave a prayer of thanks as I found it empty. A few minutes of solitary silence was all I needed to calm my frayed mind.

I got in and pressed the button that had five written on it. The doors were beginning to shut when the deepest voice I have ever heard in my short life said

"Hold that for me"

I put my hand in between the shutting doors, preventing them from closing.

I smelt him before I saw his face.

And it was no ordinary scent or cologne.

It smelt like power and money with just a hint of woodsy lavender and wild rose.

It was intoxicating and at the same time, warning.

My view to the lobby was suddenly blocked by the biggest man I have ever seen. Judging from his towering height, he must have been 6'4, broad strong shoulders, big muscular chest and bulging abs that were fighting for freedom in his navy blue shirt. He had a black suit on and unlike mine, it looked too expensive to be bought in the kind of stores I went for my shopping. They looked custom made. His shoes were a shining black beauty to behold. He had no tie on and two top buttons on the shirt were open, exposing a sprinkle of hair on his chest. His hair was jet black and kept in a messy but neat fashion. His hazel orbs swept from my hair to toe in a quick gaze and our eyes met for the briefest second before he walked in and finally the door closed and the elevator started moving.

The ride was silent but my mind wasn't.

Who was this man and why was I being affected by him so much?

His scent, now heavy, was doing strange things to my stomach and my knees. I didn't dare look sideways but I could feel his eyes boring holes into the side of my face.  Normally I would have wished that the elevator would go up as slow as possible but at that moment I wished we could go faster. I looked down at my sweaty palms and my eyes drifted back to his shoes.

I could almost see my face on its glossy surface.

Finally the elevator bell chimed and the doors slowly opened showing a quieter lobby on the fifth floor. I rushed out of the elevator, escaping the strong scent before my knees could give out. I didn't hear him come out till the doors closed again and I heard the retreating chim again.

I was finally able to breathe out.

Pulling my raging nerves as together as I could, I walked to the table on the far end. The seat was empty. I sighed in frustration and was about to head towards to elevator again when a door I hadn't noticed behind the seat opened and a middle aged lady appeared. She was shocked to see me standing there but recovered quickly and plastered a generous smile on her face just like Gloria had done. She was dressed in a black plain but moderately expensive dress, black jewelry and even though I couldn't see her legs from where I stood, I was almost sure she had a black shoe on. Her black hair was pin up with a fancy hair clip. She walked towards the desk in confident strides and sat down.

"Hi, I'm sorry. A lady's gotta visit the powder room" she said, the awkward smile still on her face.

I smiled back trying to ease her anxiety.

"My name is Marco Alvarez. Today is my first day here and Gloria told me to meet you for further instructions"

"I'm sure she said you should meet Shanice. Well, she's at the bosses office"

I finally looked at the name tag on her gown and it read 'Becky'

"Oh...I'm sorry.... I thought..."

"It's okay. This is her desk. I'm just here to answer her phone if she gets any calls. My office is on the fourth floor. My name is Becky" she said offering her hand to me for a handshake and obviously also offering me friendship.

I took her hand and gave it a quick shake.

"You can sit down there" she said pointing to the sofa at the right, "the boss will soon be in and she would come back down"

I walked to the sofa and sat down heavily finally resting my fatigued legs and again from somewhere deep in my mind, the man from the elevator popped up. My stomach did flips and again I began to wonder who the guy was.

Was I going to see him everyday?

Was he a client or did he work here too?

Why was his presence so nerve wracking?

Why was I getting a bon......

My train of thoughts was destructed by Becky calling my name.

"I just got a call from the bosses office. He just got in and is asking to meet you"

"Meet...me?" I asked as a streak of sweat rolled down my weary face.

"Yes Marco. There's nothing to be afraid of. He might look intimidating but he is as harmless as a cat"

As harmless as a cat? A cat almost took my eyes out when I was eight. Cats are not harmless!!

"Shanice is there too so there won't be a problem. His office is on the Tenth floor. You will know it when you see it. Good luck and welcome to the team" she added flashing me a reassuring smile.

But the smile did nothing to reassure me. I was sweating buckets in the hot suit and my legs were killing me.

I walked tiredly to the elevator and found it empty again. I clicked on the number ten on the panel and the door shut with a dull click and the elevator started moving upwards.

I was too tired to think of anything and just let the time pass.

The elevator stopped and the doors opened to a moderately crowded lobby. The tenth floor was busier than the fifth floor with so many mini office blocks that I lost count after several tens. Different telephones rung at the same time, different shades of voices. A fat sweating man ran into the elevator with loads of paper on his meaty arm pushing me roughly off it into the lobby. He grunted an apology as the door shut and I was too dazed to respond. Everybody seemed to be in a hurry, doing this or doing that. Papers rustling, feets tapping, keyboard clapping and someone yelling.

Someone was yelling!!

That did nothing to calm my nerves and I just stood contemplating why the owner of a big company like this would decide to have his office in this madhouse.

But I was to find out that this was the most important place in the whole building and if you manage to secure even if it was a table here, you were one of the most important people to the company.

I followed the voice of the yelling person and all I saw was the very broad back of a very tall person and somehow I was sure that he wasn't the one talking. He was standing too calmly to be yelling.

"....you can't do this to me. I have put in fifteen years of my life into this company. I served your father with my whole heart and now he has let a child take his place. You can't do this" I heard the yelling voice say.

There was something about that broad back that was vaguely familiar.

I was about to connect the dots when someone tapped my shoulder, distracting me again. I turned to see, yet again, a smiling lady.

I was absolutely tired of seeing smiling ladies.

How many secretaries does this place have?

"Are you the new guy?" She asked looking me over.

The way she asked the question, her hard gaze on me and her creepily perfect smile made me feel uneasy.

"Yeah" I answered

"Follow me"

She started walking without a second backwards glance towards the far end of lobby.  During our extremely short conversation, the yelling duo had separated and everywhere was quiet if not for the telephones and typing fingers on weary keyboards.

Deep down I wanted to find out what had happened

But I moved on without a word.

As we walked, some people looked up at me, some smiled, some waved and some just stared.

From the distance I could see an office with it's entire walls made in glass. Standing by the elevator, you wouldn't see it which was why I missed it when I first got there. It was large and I could see that it was tastefully furnished. It was so close to the other office units, yet so isolated. It was like a different planet. I could see a large oak desk and a seat made in the same design. Everything on the table was distractingly neat. A plaque with CEO written in gold was stuck to the glass just above the door. Even though I could only see a lady bent over the desk adjusting some files, I was immediately intimidated and my anxiety rose.

The lady leading me opened the door and waved me in and without saying another word left and shut the door.

Again I smelt him before seeing him.

The man I had encountered at the elevator walked out from another door in the office, his hands slightly damp. He looked up and our eyes met causing my stomach to do a triple flip and land on its ass. This time, his eyes kept mine for a minute before he continued walking to the table.

"You can go now Shanice"

I don't know when those innocent words turned sexual but I felt my pants tighten as he said them.

"This is Marco Alvarez and he is......" The lady who happened to be Shanice and also the one who had spoken to me on the phone a few days back tried to explain but he cut her short.

Somehow I felt good about the way he interrupted her. She hadn't met me before and we hadn't even said hello. She couldn't just introduce me like she's known me her whole life. And if I wasn't the only new guy that day, maybe she wouldn't even have recognized me. I was upset when she started but it disappeared when he spoke again.

"I will take it from here Shanice, thank you"

His deep baritone entering my ears and tickling my eardrum, sending the blood that was meant to be going to my frayed brain down to my member which was getting uncomfortably hard in my shorts.

She said something I couldn't make out and started towards the door. Our eyes met for a few seconds and I may have imagined it but I saw her eye me angrily before giving me a deadly scrowl before walking out and shutting the door noisily.

I looked back at the man behind the table and caught him staring deeply at me.

And at that moment, under his hard gaze, my hands stopped working and the file in them fell, the papers in them flying all over the floor.

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