Long chapter incoming

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"Would you like me to arrange another assistant for you?" Zaria laughed at her boyfriend's antics, who was acting as though he had been bullied and was reporting the incident to his mother.

"How about you arrange yourself?" He pulled her closer into his arms.

"I'll speak to Miss Roatta about it. I can find her another assistant and come back to you." She was not certain whether it would be easy but she knew that her mother would not force her into doing anything she didn't want to.

"Forget about me. I'm just kidding." He pecked her neck. It was already good enough that she was willing to go back just to make him comfortable, and that was enough to make him feel much better. "It's just that no matter who my assistant is, I will still prefer you."

"What a coincidence. I only prefer you as my boss." She admitted.

"Is it because you will have your boyfriend close to you the whole day?" He asked teasingly.

She shook her head and pushed him against the wall to whisper in his ear, "It's because your way of punishing me if I make mistakes… is quite unique."

He swallowed and pulled her against him, spanking her backside. "And you're doing something against work ethics right now. Are you asking to be punished?"

"Desmond, we're still in the company hallway." She gently reminded him.

"This is an executive floor." He reminded her that no one would idly roam around here if they didn't work here, and everyone who worked here was certain of their relationship.

He was right, except, he was unaware that his temporary assistant was peeking at the corner, glaring at Zaria with jealousy and hate.

"I need to go." She kissed he corner of his lips. "If Jessica doesn't do her job well enough, tell me about it.

"I will do so even before you ask." He exaggerated.

"You look like a child right now." She laughed, ruffling his hair.

He smiled and let her dote on him. "That's what happens when you're away from your girlfriend."

She knew that she would never be able to leave if she continued making fun of him, so she pushed him to his office and went on to grab a snack before getting back to work.

Soon after he settled down in his office, Jessica entered while flashing a bright smile.

"Sir, do you need a drink?" She asked jovially.

"I only drink coffee and I have a coffee machine for that?" He ignored her, going on with his work.

She was embarrassed, but she continued smiling and even mimicked Zaria's smile, as she closed in on him. "Then, shall I bring you some food?"

He continued to ignore her. He had female asisstants before, who he fired for the same reason that was now giving him the urge to kick Jessica out.

The woman had undone four buttons of her blouse, and she sauntered around while trying to be in front of him the whole time so he would see a glimpse of her boobs.

"Sir…sir?" She tapped the desk to get his attention.

"Get out." He ordered, and she could only disappear.

He must be in a bad mood. It must be because of what Zaria said about her. She gritted her teeth hatefully and cursed Zaria in her heart.

She left the office reluctantly and had to return later, to deliver a file.

"Sir, Mr. Preston asked me to give you this." She held onto the file even though she had said that it was for him.

"Give it to me." He demanded, glaring at her for wasting his time.

She ignored his glare and stalked towards his desk slowly, leaning over to him. "Sir, I…" She spoke gently, blushing when he looked up.

"Get the fuck out!" He roared out of the blue, making the young woman tremble. She picked up the file she had dropped out of shock and recoil to the side. When she looked up, she saw that Desmond's face was full of rage, so she didn't dare to say a word more and slipped away in shame.

How could he embarrass her so much? And what the hell was wrong with him? Wasn't he supposed to be a womanizer who fell for any woman as long as she was beautiful? She was more beautiful than that damned Zaria! How could he not see her?

It seemed as though she was out of luck, because she bumped into Zaria on her way out. The bitch looked like she was in a hurry which infuriated Jessica. Who was she acting so serious for? She brushed past Zaria, knocking her files out of her hand.

Zaria was caught offguard by the young woman who had suddenly bumped into her. She was quick to catch the smugness in her eyes before the latter could prentiously apologize.

"I'm so sorry!" She gasped exaggeratively.

Zaria chuckled gently and pulled her back as the latter tried to leave. "Pick them up." She ordered.

Jessica was in disbelief, not having expected that Zaria would be this petty.

"What are you waiting for?" Zaria probed with a raised eyebrow, threatening to let the matter spiral out of hand if Jessica did not do as she was told.

She could only crouch and gather the papers, which she placed in Zaria's palm.

"Apologize." Zaria demanded. "What you said just now was a fake way to get away with what you have done deliberately."

"I'm sorry." Jessica was embarrassed after being caught in the act, but Zaria was not done with her just yet.

She checked through the papers in her hands and gave a few of them to the woman before her. "Retype these. They are needed for a meeting in ten minutes." She ordered.

"That's enough! Are you trying to bully me just because you think you have the CEO on your side?" Jessica laughed. She would not allow anyone to trample on her, the CEO's assistant, even if that person was Zaria.

Zaria had heard these words so many times that she was amused. Did all the women in the company have to tie everything she did to Desmond?

"Do you think you're the most beautiful woman in the company?" Jessica snarled.

"If by "the company" you mean one man—the one you just tried to seduce, then yes." Zaria shrugged matter-of-factly. There was only one reason why a woman would hate her so much, and that had to be because Desmond had rejected her despite being intimate with another assistant. She was trying to provoke her, and Zaria would simply use the same tactic against her. "He is blind to whores who throw themselves at him. How about you try a smarter move next time?"

She ignored the young woman and proceeded to the COO's office. She knew that her response was childish but she was not going to let another woman treat her spitefully after trying to seduce her boyfriend. Where did she get such guts?

As soon as she arrived in her office, she received an email from the CEO's office.

As expected, Desmond wanted another assistant after his encounter with Jessica. He prefered a man this time, and it would be best if he had a girlfiend or was married.

She gloated in his misfortune before she started looking through the details of the young men in the company. After thinking about it, she decided to hire one permanently and after three months, she would exchange positions with them. Thinking about it, she called his office telephone and the man sounded like he was on the verge of erupting.

"My love, can you bear with it a little? I will announce a vacancy in a few minutes." She explained her plan to him.

He thought it was brilliant, as long as she explained the matter beforehand. Besides, he didn't want her to be troubled so he agreed to it.

Soon after Zaria announced the vacancy on the website of Preston and Fory Group, the inbox of her email was flooding with applications. She felt dizzy after looking through a few of them, so she filtered them using all the required qualifications and sent a mass reply to the few young men that qualified, calling them for an interview the following day. The sooner she got rid of Jessica, the better it would be for Desmond so she did not hesitate.

…

The following day.

At 9am, Zaria went to the conference room where she would hold the interview. She didn't need anyone to help her but she hoped she would not meet too many lunatics.

Her prayer went unanswered because the first candidate was a crazy idiot who had written all the answers on his palm, which he read out in order whether or not it was in line with the context. She dismissed the fool who claimed to have worked for a nonexistent company that went bankrupt, before letting in the next candidate.

The man walked in confidently, his pose commanding respect as he sat down opposite her. There was something strange about him but Zaria couldn't exactly point it out.

"Good Morning, Miss Williams." He greeted her with a smile, and she had to admit that he had a soothing voice to match his handsome face. It reminded her of someone who she couldn't immediately recall.

"What's your name?" She asked.

"I'm sorry. My name was snatched from me." He sounded as though he was complaining.

She slapped her forehead. It had to be another lunatic. What a waste of handsomeness

"What's the name that was stolen from you?" She tried to assume that he was making sense so she wouldn't kick him out.

"Zeus." He spoke. "Zeus Williams or Zeus Roatta. It's up to you what you think should be my surname.