章 8: First day of work
"Miss Violet, please wake up."
A soft voice called out to me, waking me up from my deep slumber. My eyes flipped open, then it made contact with a pair of brown eyes. It was the girl who helped prepare the bath for me before.
"It's almost time for you to start your first day of work."
First day of work? Ah... right. I did ask for a job before, but they never really told me what kind of job it exactly was.
"What kind of work am I supposed to do, miss...?"
"You can call me Nina, miss," she introduced herself, and then explained about the job, "You will be working in Lord William's office as his secretary."
A secretary?
"When do I start?" I walked out of my bed and went to the bathroom to realize the bathtub was already filled with steaming hot water.
"In thirty minutes," Nina replied after glancing at the wall clock which indicated it was now nine in the morning, "Do you know where the lord's office is located, miss?" I nodded to her, recalling the path Andrew led me to before. "Then I shall take my leave," she bowed briefly and proceeded towards the door.
After Nina left, I took out a simple white dress from my closet, then quickly bathed myself. I checked my appearance one last time in the mirror, confirming that I looked neat enough before departing for the office.
Walking on the path towards the office, my mind traveled to the event that happened just the night before. Is this house perhaps... haunted? I could feel goosebumps all over my body with the thoughts of it. My life was already all too gloomy and I didn't want a ghost as an addition. A gloomy and haunted life. That was not a life I wanted.
I let out a heavy sigh as I stride closer to my destination. The sound of my shoes clicking on every step I took resonated loudly as my surroundings were very quiet. I was already inside the building in which the office was located, but no souls were seen. Was this place always this empty? I remembered the last time I was here, there were a number of people roaming around the building. Where did they all go?
A big brown door with delicately carved cravings came into my sight and I softly knocked on it, receiving permission to come in.
"Please, come in."
I opened the door quietly, then stepped inside the room. The last time I saw it, there wasn't a medium-sized table beside Sir Luke's desk.
"I'm glad to see you here, Violet," Luke smiled as his gaze shifted from the paper in his hand to me, "Sit here," he pointed to the desk beside him.
"What do I have to do, sir?" I asked him as I sat down.
He raised his hand to his chin, his eyebrows furrowed closer to each other, as in a thinking manner, "I will let you know when I think of it."
Huh? That was the first word that appeared in my mind. He didn't know what work he wanted to give me? Then why did he let me be his secretary in the first place?
Realizing my confusion at his words, he laughed gently, "I don't need any help right now, so you can just do whatever you want here. I will ask for your help when I need it."
I nodded to him but was still not pleased by his response as I still didn't have anything to do at the moment. My little fingers tapped on the wooden table rhythmically, showing the boredom I felt.
I never really had the chance to properly observe the face of the man in front of me, as I never looked straight at him for a long time. Now that I was given the opportunity to, he appeared to be a very fine-looking man.
Even from the side, his chiseled features stood out. He had jet black hair, which complimented his deep red eyes, making it all the more beautiful. A straight-edged nose, completed with a slightly rosy lip. His strong, prominent jaw curved gracefully around his face, and his shirt almost didn't help cover the strong, muscular body hidden under. I didn't know what God was thinking when he made him. Perhaps, he gave all the good looks from the next thousands of future humans to this very man.
"Is there something on my face?" he asked, flashing me a little smile when he noticed I had been staring at him.
Ack, I stared at him too obviously. I quickly shifted my gaze away from him and fidgeted my fingers as I was caught staring at him. "Nothing, sir. I was just bored and had nothing to do," I replied as an excuse.
"Really?" he let out a hearty laugh, asking, "Does my face amuse you?"
He obviously knew his looks were godly and was teasing me for being mesmerized by them. Cheeky.
"Not... really," I said, my voice small as a whisper.
He smiled as his response and continued to scribble on the paper with his expensive-looking fountain pen. Paper after paper, his work seemed endless. Was he serious when he said he didn't need any help? By the looks of it, the amount of paper on the table must be work that needed to be done by at the very least three people. Don't even mention the other pile under his desk.
"Do you have any work you can give to me now, sir?" I asked, hoping that he would give me something to do.
He shook his head and I frowned, "But you look pretty busy, sir."
"Not really, I used to do more than this," he replied casually. More than this? He certainly loves his job. "Ah, I'm feeling pretty hungry now. Can you bring me something to eat?"
Finally! A little smile emerged on my face but I quickly hide it with a calm expression, "Where should I go, sir?"
"Go to the second floor. You will see a kitchen and Bob will be there. Ask for two servings of lunch."
I nodded my head and went to the second floor. The moment I arrived on the second floor, a delicious scent immediately made its way into my nose. My stomach growled a little as I went around the big kitchen to search for Bob. He was cooking a serving of meat alone.
"Bob, Sir Luke asked for two servings of lunch."
Bob slightly turned his gaze away from his cooking, "Ah, Miss Violet. I was just going to send your lunch after I finish this one. Please wait a moment."
I sat on the chair and waited for him quietly. He soon finished with his cooking and decorated it nicely on a plate. He handed two plates to me, "Are you sure you can hold this yourself, miss? I can help you if you want to."
"Thank you for the offer, but I can manage," I smiled at him and thanked him for the food. I went back to the first floor and the plate almost slipped off my hands when I opened the office door. "Whoops," I hastily saved the slipping plate and balanced it securely in my hand. I put both plates on the edge of Luke's desk, careful not to touch the papers lying around it.
"Thank you," he smiled and I went back to my own desk, thinking about what I should do next when he said, "Feed me."
His order caught me by surprise and I looked at him with a bewildered expression. "P-pardon?"
He raised his hands, showing that he was holding a paper and pen on both sides, "My hands are full."
Was he being serious right now?
"Feed me," he said one more time with pleading eyes.
I reluctantly went back to the edges of his table, then grabbed a spoonful of the meat Bob deliciously cooked before. My hand went up very slowly towards his now open mouth, then finally landed in it. I didn't know what kind of expression I was showing right now. Opposite to me, Luke had a happy expression sprawling on his face. He opened his mouth again without looking at me as if waiting for the next batch of food. I was not happy with this situation, so I shoved a big amount of meat into his mouth.
He choked and coughed after a large amount of food went inside his mouth.
"Oh! I'm sorry, sir. You look hungry, so I put a little more of the meat inside. Here's a napkin," I handed him a clean napkin as I apologized with little sincerity.
"It's fine," he said with a slightly grumpy voice. "I would like it better if you gave me smaller portions."
Satisfied that he choked on the meat, I gave him smaller portions just like he requested. I fed him until the plate was clean and moved on to the next plate.
"That's for you," he said while wiping his mouth. I had a questioning look on my face, not expecting that it was actually for me.
"What? I'm not a glutton, Violet," he let out a little chuckle, "Of course, I need my secretary to eat her lunch as well, or else she won't be able to do her job nicely."
"You didn't even give me anything to do," I frowned as I sat down on my own desk, "You only asked me to feed you, and I don't think that's what a secretary is supposed to do, sir."
"Then, what's a secretary supposed to do?" He asked, making me even more confused than I already am.
"I don't know, I have never worked as a secretary before."
"Well, your job is to feed me lunch," he said, and I couldn't help but stare at him with a frown, causing him to laugh. "Now, eat. Or do you want me to feed you too?"
I quickly gobbled down my lunch the moment I heard him say such a ridiculous offer. Seeing me eating in a hurry, he laughed and said, "Eat slowly."
Such delicacies. Can I marry Bob? I would love to eat his cooking for the rest of my life. I smiled as I ate my lunch, feeling happy now that my stomach was full.
"We are done with work today," Luke said after I just finished my lunch, "Let's train."
"Train?" I asked.
"Yes, train. You wanted to learn how to fight, right?" He stretched his arms up and down, then right and left, "I will be your teacher, so be prepared."
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