BILLIONAIRE SCIENTIST & HIS NEW SECRETARY
CHAPTER 1
PART 4
Those who had read this fic earlier on would realise that I had combined "part 4 & 5" together in this part. Simply because they were intended to be one part together, and yes, that's why they were so short. Also, I have edited "part 5", especially the Tortall Messenger part because I didn't realise that so many symbols didn't appear on
Yup, my exams are FINALLY over! hooray! I don't own Tortallan characters! If I did, I wouldn't need to take exams... hahhahaaha I know the previous part may be a bit tedious to chew through, but was necessary for future plot devices...
NOTE:
DD Cafe is like starbucks. Huge, successful, many outlets kind of thing.
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Ouna's Office
"I wonder how the new girl is doing," Alanna said, still comfortably ensconced in Ouna's plush arm chair.
"Hmm," Ouna said, stretching in her chair. "I guess we will soon be able to tell... since all of you are supposed to have a meeting with the big bosses in 20 minutes' time?"
"I'll say," Alanna quipped and suddenly gave a mischevious smile, "I think Daine will be lucky if Numair is obediently at his desk..."
Ouna raised a brow, "And why is that?"
Alanna snorted. "Hello, yesterday was the charity gala that Tortall Inc sponsored. Numair went. Women swarmed. I have no doubt that Numair's not a monk who will go straight to bed at nine without wrecking some havoc."
Before Ouna could reply to that, someone knocked on her door. "That's strange," Ouna muttered. "Who can that be?"
Alanna got up from the chair and walked towards the door, "Probably George, delivering the coffee, snacks from the DD Cafe."
"Wait, THE George you talked about? THE George working at DD Cafe whom you ran into and you accidentally spilt coffee on. THE George who you went out a few times with and you said you felt totally comfortable with him? THAT George?" Ouna demanded.
"SHUSH!" Alanna hissed. "He's not deaf you know. It's no big deal. We're just friends."
Ouna snorted. "Like Jonathan views you as a 'friend'." Her eyes narrowed. "Hey... does Jonathan know about his love rival?"
Alanna rolled her eyes. "Jon and George are my f-r-i-e-n-d-s. There's no love rivalry or whatever rubbish you're talking about."
"Oooh... so he doesn't know about George," Ouna wagged her eyebrows.
Alanna glared at Ouna and yanked open the door before Ouna could comment further. Ouna scrutinised the newcomer as he walked in, introduced, and talked to Alanna. 'He's alright I guess,' Ouna thought. 'His nose stops him from being called handsome, but he has nice eyes. Very friendly and likeable. Different from Jonathan. Both of them are incredibly charming... Jonathan in a suave and seductive way, while George in a more, homely friendly manner, the kind you want to show your mom to...' Ouna stifled a smile. 'The man you want an affair with versus a man you want to marry... This should be interesting...'
George broke into Ouna's thoughts, "I'm sorry dear, was our discussion about soccer boring you?"
"Oh, no no," Ouna smiled. "I was just thinking about other things..." Ouna was saved from cooking up some explanation by another knock on her door.
The door opened and Jonathan stepped in, "Alanna dear, are you ready?"
Ouna struggled to hide her amusement. Jonathan and George eyed each other warily. Both immediately recognising each other as a potential rival. Jonathan, by his use of endearment and George, by the way he was sitting on the armrest of the chair that Alanna was sitting in. Both knew that it was rare that Alanna would allow a guy to sit so close to her or a guy to address her so fondly without a sound protest. 'Goodness,' Ouna thought in amusement. 'Any moment now, they will start growling at each other.'
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Numair's Apartment
'It figures that I just had to do things the hard way... Why couldn't he just respond to my knocking at his door, or my calling of his name when I entered his apartment? Noooo... he chooses not to respond and make me go walking through this huge palace that is mockingly called his apartment.' Daine thought grumpily, walking through Numair's hallway. If she was not so nervous at finding Numair, she would have taken time to be more in awe at the grandeur of the place. When she walked through the hall, there was a swimming pool and garden visible through the sliding doors. She had stumbled upon his library, where her eyes momentarily widened at the piles and range of books and papers stacked haphazardedly all over the enormous room.
Suddenly, her attention was caught by a trail of clothes strewn along a particular hallway. She blinked and gingerly picked her way through what seemed like shoes, socks, a towel, etc. Out of habit, she picked up the items as she followed the suspicious trail. She felt as if she was picking up the breadcrumbs left behind by Gretel that led to the witch's house.
Finally, she peered through a pair of double doors that were left open.
Daine's face burned red and nervously clutched the items that clearly belonged to the occupant on the bed.
Sleek muscle.
Silk bed sheets.
It was a wonder that she didn't suffer from a nose bleed.
A tanned man with a drool-worthy body was sprawled on a huge poster bed draped in silk. He appeared unclothed, but thank goodness for small mercies, a blanket barely covered him.
Suddenly a beep scared her out of her reverie. She scrambled to locate the source of the noise and found her palmtop blinking a message - "Hey Daine, 5 minutes to meeting. Get his ass down there asap. Big bosses meeting. Don't want to create bad impression do you? Evin."
She glanced cautiously at the figure on the bed. He had barely stirred. 'I should be grateful that he's sleeping alone!' Daine thought and mentally slapped herself, 'Come on Daine! Be P-r-o-f-e-s-s-i-o-n-a-l! Buck up, do your job!' She determinedly stomped out the small voice that went, 'But secretaries don't go into their boss's bedroom to wake up their obviously naked bosses!'
She walked up to the bed and called, "Mr Salmalin? You are going to be late for a meeting... Mr Salmalin!" She gritted her teeth in exasperation, grabbed his shoulder and shook him.
"Don't you know when to keep quiet woman!" came a deep voice, thick with sleep. To Daine's utter surprise, a hand expertly gripped her arm and in a practiced roll, had her partially under him. His arm thrown carelessly over her and his head nuzzling her neck. "Shush, just sleep, it's way to early to be up and about," Numair muttered.
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On Tortall Messenger... (Note: Tortall Messenger is an online chatting service. Something like ICQ, Msn messenger, etc. )
Jon says: Are you still mad at me? XX
ALAnnA says: You know I am. How can you treat George like that?
Jon says: I just gave him the money and told him to keep the change. Is it so bad to tip someone?
ALAnnA says: NOT when you did it in that derogatory tone and called him the Coffee Boy. For crying out loud! He's about your age!
Jon says: You're over-reac-sjlnfd ALANNA! Don't stomp on my foot like that! We're in a meeting!
ALAnnA says: Then why the heck are you chatting on Tortall Messenger with me! XP You're the CEO! For crying out loud! Try to act professional!
Jon says: """ Oh please! Boring Benedict is going on and on about the environment. He may have formerly been in an elite position in Ministry of Research & Development, but we're now in the private sector. Hello! Profits are what matters. Not ideals. We're not the government who can derive revenue from taxes! For crying out loud! The Code of Environmental Protection released by the Government are g-u-i-d-e-l-i-n-e-s. They are NOT laws. Our competitors are not going to give two hoots about the code, neither should we.
ALAnnA says: Uh huh...
Jon says: Besides, speaking of unprofessional. Where's Numair? The meeting has started as he has not shown his face yet. How are we to make decisions about the direction of Tortall Inc without his input? I thought Ouna was supposed to get him a secretary by now to get his ass down here!
Jon says: Speak of the devil. He's here. Oh wow... what kind of night does he have man... he has some scratches on his cheek! rowrrrrr...
-some time later-
ALAnnA says: I'm sorry that your proposal not to follow the Code of Environmental Protection got shot down. The Board had seemed a bit receptive, maybe next time?
Jon says: Unlikely if Numair is insistent on adhering to that code which had set ridiculously high standards. Sigh... If only Numair works out the dollars and cents of things, instead of being in his ivory tower... Carthak Inc crept up closer to us in the last month's earnings.
ALAnnA says: Well, you know Numair, he has a big say when it comes to manufacture of products.
Jon says: It's obvious he does not seem to have a big say in hiring of his secretary though! She looks like a mouse! Ouna's trying to punish him is it?
ALAnnA says: Don't be so mean! Daine seems like a nice girl. Though I hope she doesn't feel too overwhelmed by him!
Jon says: She better not. I can't believe that she let him come to the meeting this late! If not I might as well use her pay to buy a zapping device that will zap him whenever he comes to a meeting late, if at all...
ALAnnA says: ha. ha. ha. Don't be mean... it's just her first day!
Jon says: Anyway, are you free for dinner tonight?
ALAnnA says: Nope, I have something on.
Jon says: Hmm...
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Thank you to all reviewers for reviewing! Below are just more specific replies to queries & concerns raised.
Jasmineb: Yup yup! George finally makes his appearance, going to have a bit of a love triangle going on...
Valkyrie228 : What If will probably be updated... eventually, I guess I now want to concentrate on this fic first, somehow the ideas come flowing easily with this fic, maybe because i don't need to refer to the books as much!
MysticMist: Thank you for liking my fic. Well, I think everyone has a free choice, if they like the fic well enough to review, they'll do it, if they don't, they don't. simple as that. The 10 review thing is for me to know whether people like it enough for me to continue investing effort to translate my thoughts into words and post it on If people don't like the fic enough to review, that's perfectly fine, I'll just save some webspace! But, re-reading the update, I think that it was perhaps naughty of me to be that teasing at the end, so I modified accordingly. But, internally, I'm keeping in mind that if people do not find interest in the story, I would save time, effort and space and stop updating. My internal gauge is 10 reviews.
I agree that it's best for writers to write for themselves and not to pander to audiences only. But I think there must be a distinction between the reason for the story direction and the reason for posting the story. I think most, if not all people who post on post because they want people to read their stories. If they did not, they probably would not bother translating their thoughts into words and posting it online for the world to see. That's the reason why I ask for 10 reviews. To know whether i should continue posting the story. As regards to story direction and plot, I write according to what I think and how I want the story to develop. Like no matter how many people might want a Daine-Neal or Daine-Kaddar pairing, I won't give a damn coz Numair-Daine forever! hearts in eyes
Anyway, I hope this clarifies things. I fully appreciate and admire that despite whatever feelings you might have for my asking 10 reviews, you didn't let that colour your feelings towards my fic.