Hurrah! Chapter duex! Boring but destined to be better! Enjoy.
XXX is a short delay in time (within 24hrs usually)
Presence
Chapter 2
Feb. 20th 2003
Athrun sighed once again as he looked at the clock in the corner of the room. It was consistent that he'd be working till late in the evening these days. With emerging competitors that threatened to draw client base, he had to keep Zala corp. as the prominent figure. It would have made things a whole lot easier on him if he would hire a communication expert, although the extra hours were never something that bothered him. A sudden mechanical beep startled him. Sighing, he hit a button on the phone beside him. He really didn't like to be disturbed while he worked.
"Yes?" he said as he continued to flip through his papers.
"Mr. Zala sir, There is someone here to see you" came the deep voice of the front desk security guard. Another loud sigh was heard as Athrun glanced over at the clock.
"I'm not expecting anyone this evening" he said boredly. Did this man really expect to have someone show up so late after regular business hours?
"She insists greatly and apologies for the lateness" he retorted.
"Very well, send her up" Athrun said, clicking the button off once again. He didn't have a clue who would randomly show up but he knew he could use a bit of a breather, productive or not. Setting down the papers he had in his hand, he took his glasses off. Rubbing the temples of his head he could feel instant relief from not looking at the files. Taking a quick sip of his now cold coffee that he had managed to get while calling various clients, he waited. He glanced at the clock once again, figuring that he would probably be able to head home within the hour. The loud squeak of the door made him jump as a petite blonde woman poked her head through the doorway.
"Please sit and explain the sudden need to drop by" he said as he gestured at the chair across from him. Having never seen the women before he was intent on making this quick.
"I was wondering if this offer was still in effect" the women said as she withdrew and envelope from her pocket. Extending her hand, she handed it to Athrun. Picking up his glasses he extracted the contents, quickly reading them. What a shocking surprise this was.
"You realized this was sent over two years ago?" he said looking over the piece of paper at the woman. "Why such a late response?"
"I was out of the country for a while, I just got back today" she said, just as intently watching the blue haired man. Athrun couldn't help but smirk, he was right. She'd left the country as he predicted. The woman was a mastermind of relations in both business and politics. She could convince anyone, even a leprechaun to wear pink if she wanted. Most of it was inherited from her father, a great politician. This wasn't the first time he'd try to recruit her for his company. The first was when she was still in college. During an internship with one of his suppliers firms, she had caught his eye with her surprising wit. Although once the internship ended, she decided to follow more closely to her father and go after politics over business. The decision ended poorly, two domestic assault cases, one destroyed marriage, one hell of a press field day, and she'd been left without of a job. From there she simply dropped off the map for the last two years and yet out of the blue, here she sat.
"What can you tell me about this company" he quizzed, looking for the smallest of falter.
"Stocks are up 2% this week, and are projected to be up at least 20% by year's end. 60% market share, You produce 40% cheaper then any of your competitors..."
"That's enough" he said, it was pretty obvious she was quite knowledgeable. The fact that she already new production cost was a bit shocking. It wasn't something that wasn't publicly displayed and in truth, only two people in the whole company knew (3 including Mrs. Ex communications). It was their competitive edge that was kept in a bag should leverage ever be needed. Athrun continued to gauge the blonde, the overflowing confidence coming from her was incredible. Although he didn't want to drop a job on her lap after such a poor timing on her response, but her expertise would be quite the asset.
"One other thing.. I don't need a poor image reflecting on my company, so I'll ask this now. What happened two years ago was a misunderstanding that the news blew out of control? Yes or a No is fine" he said, not wanting to get a life story.
"Yes it was" she said sternly, as she brush a stray strand of hair from her face. "I was wrongly sabotaged" Athrun saw truth in her response, it would be silly now a days to take the news as creditable. They sat there in silence as Athrun ran various scenarios. Sighing, he removed his glasses to rub the tiredness from his eyes.
"Be back here by 8am tomorrow morning" he said sternly.
"Will do" she said standing up, extending an arm towards Athrun. "The names Cagalli by the way"
"Athrun Zala" he said, standing up and giving a brisk hand shake. Promptly he sat back down as the blonde quickly grabbed the few things she brought.
"Have a good evening" she said as she reached the door, Athrun merely nodded and gave a quick wave. After she was gone, he sat there for a long moment analyzing what had happened. Looking down he picked up the letter the woman had brought rereading once again. His choice seemed reasonable.
XXX
Getting to work a bit earlier then normal, Athrun got everything ready to go, even finding a few spare minutes to tidy the strewn about files on his desk. By 7:30 he was able grab a cup of coffee and be back at his desk just in time for the days newspapers. It was always important to keep to date with the news, and it was always a good way to start the day. It was ideal as employees would start showing up in about an hour for their days work, it was a peaceful silence he'd always like to indulge in. He hadn't even gotten a chance to take a sip of his coffee when his phone bleeped loudly. Immediately sighing, he clicked the button.
"What do you want?" he said as he flipped through his paper. It was probably something small like the heater not working or even Kira just calling to complain about lack of budget again.
"I have a Cagalli Attha here looking for a job" came the female guards voice, sounding rather perplexed. Light murmurs of arguing could be heard in the background. "Sorry, rather a new employee sir?" she said still sounding rather confused. Athrun looked at the clock in the corner, she was a whole half an hour early.
"Please send her up, and give her a permanent clearance pass" Athrun said, going back to reading his paper. He had gotten through almost half way through the paper by the time the blonde made it to his office.
"Good morning" the blonde said, as she pushed open the door to his office.
"Don't think being 30 minutes early will get you off of two years of tardiness" he said as he looked over the top his paper. Athrun was always blunt and to the point, he never wasted a moment and you could always expect him to say what was on his mind. Truth was he found a perfect way to punish her, not literally, but it would deal with the small problem to ensure that it wouldn't happen again.
"That wasn't the case at all Athrun" Cagalli said as she placed her briefcase down on the floor and removed her jacket. Being February it was quite cold outside this time of year, although from being in a city this big had kept the snow to a minimal, it didn't stop it from being freezing cold.
"That's Zala to you" he said, folding his paper and placing it on his desk. He didn't mean to come off like an ass, but he believed that employees should view there bosses with respect over friendship. Friendship usually put them same level, and the strive to succeed was typically lost "I'll show you were you can put your things"
Leading her down the hallway they came to a door, only 10feet from Athrun's own office. Pulling out his keys, he quickly shuffled through the the ring until he found the right one, and opened the door. "This will be your office" he said, removing the key from his key chain and handing it to her. The office was decently sized, a desk sat in the middle of the room with a bookcase and two filing cabinets off to the side. It also contained a small closet and a round table that could easily sit four people. On the table there was a few stacks of files and some papers. " Here is the contract, I'll need that turned in by the end of the day, so feel free to read over it." Athrun said, separating it from the rest. "Everything else you need is separated and labelled accordingly. Walking over to the desk he pointed to two large stacks of files. "My test to you. I'll use this to gauge whether or not your competent enough for your job.I'll need all of it done by the end of the month. It's various filing and follow-ups. Everything you may need of course can be found over there" he said, pointing back at the round table. "If not you can always ask me. Any questions?" Athrun said, looking at the blonde who had already put her things away and was reading through the contract.
"No I don't" she said looking up. "Actually, since it'll probably come up eventually. Where's the bathroom here?" she said, continuing to read.
"Very end of the hall, past the elevator" he said plainly, trying to read her expression. Again he could only get nothing but confidence and determination, but he'd see how long that would last. The work load he had given her was the whole last quarters (4 months) worth that had yet to be dealt with. It would be interesting to see how much she could get done in the month time frame. He wasn't expecting all of it to be done, but wasn't expecting too little of it done either. "That's it then, I'll be in my office if you need me" he said walking towards the door. As he looked back over his shoulder, he found the blonde was already sitting and flipping through a few of the files. It was good to see the women was more then eager to dig into the new workload, but he couldn't help but notice In a way it kind of reminded him of himself. Hopefully things would go well.
Marth 9th 2003
Athrun sighed as he got back into his office. He'd spent the late afternoon out of the office with Kira going over budgeting reports. While it was a nice breather, he still had a bit of work left and it was already late at night. Looking at his desk he found two large piles of files waiting for him. Taking one off the top of the pile, he quickly read it. He was shocked at the amount of detail and precision of the report. Going through a few more, he found himself in utter amazement. He'd only given the task a little over two weeks ago, and the amount of material he had given her was easily about 4months work. Even if he had done the work himself had he had the time, it probably would have taken him the month. Athrun sat down behind his desk, silently pondering his thoughts. He was truly amazed.
Ta-da , hope you all enjoy. Feel free to critque/comment :D
