? ROOMMATES WITH
THE CEO ?
? Living with my boss ?
By: Racheal Dennis.
Chapter 5 ??
? He knows I’m an intern ?
Claire’s POV ?
I tried my best to complete the chores in time but by the time I got to the office, I’m already an hour late.
I try to sneak to my desk but Raven caught me with her eagle like eyes.
“I see you’re finally joining us, Claire” she said.
Darn it……
” Sorry.. ”
” I’ll let it slide since this is your second day at work” thank God.
” Thanks” I’m glad she didn’t threatened my internship.
She turned to face everyone.
“As I was saying…. For your second assignment, you’ll be paired up with another intern to come up with an entirely different characters for our upcoming fantasy RPG game. You’ll be given a week at this task and at the end of it, you will present your character to a panel of senior staff who will grade your performance. Your pairing has already been decided” she said with no expression at all, I wonder if this lady ever smile her face is always blank.
I wonder who I’ll end up with….. I pray my project partner will be friendly.
“Claire you’ll be paired with….” Raven look around as it searching for something, gosh why did she have to call my name first.
I look over my shoulder and realized Derrick is looking in my direction, I caught his gaze, he blushed and look away, embarrassed. Hmmm, I smirked mentally, so guys do blush.
“Charlotte” Raven said and that got my undivided attention instantly.
“Huh?” I looked at Raven in confusion.
“You’ll be paired with Charlotte” she repeated.
What?! Why her?.
“Looks like it’s you and me, morfield. Don’t worry, I’ll guide you through it. With my skill we’re sure to ace this” she said with a warm smile but I know she means something else, the smile didn’t even reach her eyes.
Dmn, I know I have the ugliest luck, I’m so not looking forward to this.
Raven announced the rest pair up and left, immediately Charlotte turns to me.
“So it’s a fantasy RPG game about a young boy on a quest to find a mystical sword to defeat the evil dragon that has been terrorizing his village. What character do you have in mind? ” She asked looking at me expectantly.
Charlotte is going to torture me with this project, she already doesn’t like me. Now she wants me to come up with a character, which character can I come up with that woman match her expectation.
I didn’t put much thought into it since she wants an instant character, I just open my mouth and say whatever comes out.
“What about a wide dragon he befriend along the way?, It’ll help him understand dragons better to prepare him for his final battle” I paused, I hope I’m not blabbing nonsense now ” we can even do a twist where the dragon ultimately sides the evil dragon and he’s forced to fight against his friend” I concluded.
Charlotte kept quiet for a minute or two, then blinked rapidly.
“It sounds pretty good but I’m thinking about….. A snail”
“A what now?” I asked.
” A snail that he meets along the way. Oh, oh, a magical snail! With mushrooms? ” She said.
” What’s the snail going to do? ”
” Give him mushrooms, trust me Claire I know better. The snail is going to be a smash hit”
So with her fancy degree this is what she comes up with? This is how high her IQ can get? G©sh I can’t believe I’m paired with her.
“OMG” Charlotte suddenly exclaimed looking over my shoulder. “Don’t look, but Mr Knight is coming this way” she said.
Uh no, what to do?
I duck under the table to hide.
” Claire? What are you doing under the table?” Charlotte asked loudly.
“Er, I dropped something” dummy, can’t you see I’m hiding?
She ignores me and faces the direction she saw Mr Knight.
“Mr Knight over here, hi” she said.
No, no, no what is she doing?
I heard footsteps approaching, they stopped right in front of the table.
“My name is Charlotte, I’m an intern here. Can I just say that you’re a huge inspiration to me? ”
Even under the table I can picture Charlotte batting her eyelashes and throwing an over-the-shoulder coy smile.
“Thanks” Killian respond however, sounded Curt.
“Would you like to come out from under the table….” Charlotte asks referring to me, ugh, that dummy. I smacked her ankles.
“Ow! What was that for?” She cried out. I didn’t reply until I heard the footsteps walk away.
“Wait Mr Knight, I…….” She paused when she couldn’t find the right words to use. “Claire! Did you do that on purpose? You made me look like a fool in front of Mr Knight”
” Is he gone? ”
” Yes”
I crawled out from under the table.
” He must think I’m a total weirdo for yelping like that, I have to go apologise” she complained.
” Wait, we should be doing our assignment”
” I don’t care about that, I have to go find him” that said, she left in a hurry.
I groaned and slump in my chair.
” Are you okay?” I heard Derrick’s voice asked.
“We’re about to design a SNAIL for an epic fantasy game and the person who insists on doing it, isn’t even here”
He chuckled.
” If it helps, I’m not having a great time with my partner either. Glen thinks that just because his dad was on the design team he knows everything. I have no say. What about you? I’m sure the snail isn’t your first choice”
” I wanted to create a wise dragon” I told him.
” No way! That was what I had in mind too” he said with an excited grin ” I even drew some sketches while Glen yapped away”
He hands me his sketch book and I was taken aback by his drawings. They’re so intricate and detailed. His talent is certainly not to be triffled with.
“We would make a perfect team” he said.
I smiled and nod in agreement.
“No kidding, Glen and Charlotte would be a perfect match” I said
“They would….. You know what, I think Raven wouldn’t mind if we team up instead” he suggested.
” Are you sure? ”
” Yeah, not even Raven is immune to a charming smile like mine. I’m sure if I ask nicely she’ll agree”
” Derrick….. ”
” What do you say Claire, let’s ditch our partners and form the dream team”
I really want to team up with him, and impress Raven with my project, but then again, Charlotte is a dummy and Glen…
I can’t afford to watch Charlotte fail even though she is mean to me, I can’t be that selfish to her.
“I think I’ll stick with Charlotte”
“Alright then. I’ll try to make it work with Glen too” he said. ” Good luck to the both of us”
” We’re going to need it” I replied.
Just then Charlotte came back, beads of sweat on her forehead.
“I couldn’t find Mr Knight. But on my way, I thought of something that would really make our snail character stand out. A talking snail! ”
Oh boy….. She still on that, God help me. I just ignore her.
************
It’s nearly the end of the day, when Derrick came to me.
“Are you leaving already, Claire?” He asked.
“Yeah, I have some chores to do back home”
“I hear a TV station is here to interview Mr Knight. The other interns are going over to watch. Want to catch that before you go? ” He asked.
Hmmm, I can watch from afar…..
I’d like to get to know him a little better too.
Derrick and I arrived at the scene of the interview, but we didn’t get too close, just in a safe distance.
Interviewer:- so Mr Knight, what are some upcoming games for Knight Gaming?
Killian:- Knight Gaming will be launching an epic fantasy RPG game about dragons. It’ll be the first of it’s kind VR experience where users get to actually slay dragons.
Interviewer:- Every one of your games has been a huge hit, even the more r©mantic genre-have you considered doing more of those?
Killian:- To be honest I’m not one for romance.
Interviewer:- is that why we hardly hear about dating scandals?
He’s not one for romance? Then what’s his secret collections about?
“I get it, you know” Derrick cut off my thoughts.
“Huh, what do you get?”
“Why Mr Knight says he’s not one for r©mance”
“What do you mean? ” I asked him.
” Just think about it: he’s the head of a gaming company, that specializes in battle-style RPG games. Sure, they had some smaller scale romantic games but our target consumers are ultimately boys. What would they think if the CEO claims to be a romantic at heart? A cold, charismatic image is one that he has to maintain” he paused as if to catch some breath, then he continues.
” Besides, who’s heard of a CEO who’s a romantic? Tabloids would label him a flirt or a softie, both of which are detrimental to his image”
Is that why he doesn’t want to let anyone know about his love for romantic films?
Just then Mr Knight glances my way, in a state of confusion, I duck behind Charlotte.
“Claire”? Ugh! What’s wrong with you today? ”
” Sorry, just let me hide here for a while” I told her.
Shortly after the interview ended and we all went home.
************
Once I got back to the penthouse, I fall into the routine of tidying up the place.
I wind up in front of Killian’s bedroom door.
I should probably avoid his room entirely. But I think back to what Derrick said at the office. So that’s why he’s so uptight about it? He really has no reason for that, but I guess it’s not easy to be Killian Knight after all……
“Are you thinking of ways to get into the room again?” Killian’s voice startled me, I jumped at his voice. G©sh, when did he get back.
“Wow! You need to stop scaring me like that”
“You need to be aware of your surroundings. Well congratulations, it seems you managed to complete your chores this morning” he said.
” I’m sorry” he seems taken aback by my sudden apology.
” For? ” He asked.
“Your secret is safe with me, you know?” He raised an eyebrow, then I continue ” I get I- The CEO of Knight Gaming is secretly a classic romantic films buff? It probably wouldn’t go down well. So, rest assured, I won’t tell anyone about what I saw yesterday. In fact…….. ”
I take out my phone and open the photo I took last night. I wanted to delete ibut I couldn’t risk getting kicked out, I can just use it to threaten him some more, so I decided to keep it.
“I’ll keep it for now, but I promise you no one will ever get their hands on this photo” I assured him.
“I don’t see a reason why I should trust you”
” Well you don’t have a choice” I keep the phone away.
” So, is that why the questionnaire had those questions about ‘The sketchbook? ‘ I love that film too” I said. ” Back in morfield we barely had entertainment, so I would rent those films to watch. That’s probably how I scored full marks”
There was a flicker of undecipherable emotion in his eyes.
” Good for you” and that was it. He walks into his room and slams the door on me.
What was that?
All of a sudden the door reopen, Killian has taken off his jacket and undone a couple of buttons on his white dress shirt. His chest is slightly exposed and it just so happens that with our height difference, I’m in direct view of it.
“I do have a question” he said.
“W-what?”
” What is your day job? ” He asked.
No way!
” I’m a chef” I blunt out the first word that come in my mouth.
” Really? You weren’t dressed like one this morning” he said more like wonder.
” Why do you ask? ”
” I saw someone who looked like you at Knight Gaming today. I think it’s one of those interns…. I guess you have one of those generic faces” he said.
He shut the door on me once again.
Phew! That was close, I have to be more careful at the office. Wait, what did he mean by generic faces?
Killian!
I bang on the door, little did I expect Killian to open the door right when I raised my fist, and it lands on his hard chest. I’m pretty sure I exerted all my force, but he hardly flinch from it. Killian clears his throat, he wrap his hand around my wrist and moved my hand away.
“That’s Mr Knight to you”
He shuts the door, I’m too embarrassed to stand there, so I ran to my room and toss on my bed and force myself to sleep.
****************
The next morning I arrived at the office in time, since there was no Killian, no, scratch that Mr Knight, to delay me with chores.
“Morning Derrick” I greeted Derrick cheerfully immediately I step in the office.
I look around but all the tables are empty.
“Where are all the other interns?” I asked him.
“Everyone is gathered in Mr Knight’s office. You should be on your way over too” Derrick said.
” Mr Knight’s office? Why is everyone there? ”
” He would like to meet all the interns today. Raven says he normally makes it point to meet the interns on their first day but apparently he’s been swapped. So I guess today’s the day. Come on, let’s go”
No, no, no, this can’t be happening, I need to find something to cover my face. I spot a few items in front of me. A folder. I took the folder with me.
When we got there, Raven started talking.
“Good morning Mr Knight. This is the new batch of interns who joined us” Raven said to me Knight.
” Good morning” he replied.
Then Raven begin the introduction.
“We have Charlotte”
“Good morning Mr Knight” Charlotte greets him.
“Yeah… I think we met yesterday” he said.
” This is Derrick Yang” Raven gestures to Derrick.” And this is….. ” I’m holding the folder in front of my face.
“Erm, Claire? What’s going on?” Raven asks me.
“I just really want to start on my assignment right now” I said in a low voice, so that Mr Knight wouldn’t hear me.
” Well that can wait. Would you like to put the folder down? ”
” Erm….. ”
I slowly put the folder down to reveal my face.
“Wait a second…… Is that….” Lucas, who didn’t notice was in the office, exclaimed shocked.
” Good morning, Claire” Mr Knight greet me with a sly smile.
Is this going to be the end of my internship?
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