Chapter 6: Chapter 6

THE moment I entered Mariel's favorite Japanese restaurant, I immediately spotted my best friend. She was seated in the corner of the restaurant, her one hand busy on her phone while the other was softly tapping the table.

She finally noticed me when I was only a few meters away from her. She put down her phone on the table and curiously arched her brow at me. I gave her a small smile as I went to her.

"So?" Mariel asked me after sitting next to her. "What happened to the interview?"

I shrugged my shoulders and picked up the menu on the table. "It was okay," I answered in a small voice.

From the corner of my eyes, I saw her lips parted a little. Then she cleared her throat. "Hey, it's okay, Charity," Mariel said in a gentle voice. Then I felt her tap my shoulder. "Let's just eat out for today."

I put down the menu and turned to her. Then slowly, a wide smile stretched on my face. "I got the job, Mar!"

I witnessed how Mariel's mouth hung open. Then she snatched the menu from me and slapped it on my arm.

"What the heck, Charity Salvacion Alinsky! Since when did you learn how to joke?"

She was glaring at me and I couldn't help but chuckle at her reaction. "Since I started living in Greece?"

Conrad and Luke were both jesters. I couldn't count how many times those two had pranked me over the years I was with them.

I gave her a guilty smile, then looked again at the menu. "Come on, let's just order the most expensive meal in this place. I'll treat you."

She rolled her eyes at me. "As if I can't treat myself."

I just chuckled before giving her a side hug. "But thank you for supporting me on this, Mar. Promise, I'll make it up to you. I'll extend my stay here so we can still go on vacation."

"What will your father say about this?" she asked after the waiter left us. "Imagine his reaction if he finds out that his only daughter was working as a secretary here in the Philippines?"

I pursed my lips. "Of course, I wouldn't tell him about this."

She sighed. "When will you start working for Xander?"

"On Wednesday." That's two days from now. "But I'll go to the office tomorrow for the orientation." I looked around and called a waiter near us.

"That fast?"

I nodded my head. "He told me he couldn't function without a secretary." I smiled at her. "So… let's go to Tagaytay after this because tomorrow, I'll be finally starting my new job." I bit my lower lip. "And Mariel… Xander personally conducted the interview earlier."

"What?"

I nodded as I recalled what happened earlier.

I took a deep breath as I waited outside Xander's office. My heart rate doubled after it was announced that Xander would do the final interview by himself.

Shit. I couldn't even handle myself in front of him. Just looked at what happened earlier. I acted like my old self in front of him. Damn. I didn't know if I would manage to survive this interview.

You can do this, Charity. I said to myself as I looked at the folder I was holding.

I looked at the empty seat beside me. I was the last applicant Xander was going to talk to. The second applicant was already inside. The first one—the girl with thick glasses, only lasted five minutes in his office.

My heart pounded when the door opened and the second applicant emerged with a smile on her face. What happened inside?

"Miss Alinsky." The HR manager looked at me from the table outside Xander's office. I guessed that would be my place if I get hired as his secretary.

I stood up from my seat and smoothened the imaginary crease on my skirt. I took another deep breath before I finally entered the door. His office was huge. I immediately saw his executive table with his name on it. The walls were made of glass. In the receiving area of the office, there was a glass coffee table, a single-seater, and an L-shaped sofa. I noticed an abstract painting hanging on the wall. There's also a pot of snake plant seated on the corner of the office.

"Hey… it's you!"

My eyes went to Xander. He was seated at the back of his desk. He stood up and walked to me. Recognition was evident on his face. Of course, I just bumped into him earlier. And he said he remembered our encounter on the plane.

Now, I hope he doesn't think I'm clumsy and I don't qualify for the job.

"Good morning, sir." I forced myself to act calm and professional in front of him. "I…" I pretended to look for something to say. "I didn't expect you're the VP Finance in this company." Of course, I needed to act shocked or he might get suspicious that I planned this, right? Shit. I should have listened to Mariel when she said that this was a bad idea. Now I wanted to run to the door and never show myself to him again.

"Uh… I wanted to apologize for that incident on the plane."

"No. It's okay." He said with a smile. "Let's forget about it. I don't want you to feel uncomfortable." He cleared his throat. "It's just a weird coincidence to find you here."

I smiled awkwardly. "Yeah. I didn't expect you're the VP of this company."

Lies. Lies. Lies. I couldn't believe I lied in front of him.

"Can I have your name? I'm sorry, I didn't get the files from the hiring manager."

"Charity Alinsky, Sir."

"Miss Alinsky." He mentioned the vacant couch. "Please, take a seat."

After sitting on the sofa, he took the seat in front of me. Now, I was only a meter away from him.

Calm down you freaking heart, I said to myself as I handed him the folder I was holding.

He opened the resume and looked at it. "Charity Alinsky.

Why does my name sound so good from his lips? Or was it his voice?

"You're half Greek?" he asked as he looked at my face. He was studying my face as if there's something wrong with it. Shit. I felt like melting under his stares.

Oh. I blinked my eyes. "Uh, yes sir," I said after I cleared my throat. "My father was Greek and my mother was Filipina. I lived here in the Philippines for eighteen years before I migrated to Greece."

"Olive green," he said, smiling at me. "Your eyes are olive green in daylight."

Oh. He managed to notice that?

"You also cut your hair short," he said, his eyes still never leaving mine.

I could feel the heart inside my chest. I stopped my hand from touching my hair. "Oh…" I managed to give him a casual smile. "The weather here is hot so I decided to cut it short."

He pursed his lips then looked at the paper in his hand. "It says here you finished Business Management in Greece. You even took up an MBA in France."

Even though I already omitted some information about myself, I knew he would still ask those questions.

"You're overqualified for the job, Miss Alinsky," he said as his eyes went back to me. "And you even came from one of the business families in Greece."

My jaw almost dropped. Shit. Did he know the Alinskys? Oh. Shit. Applying to be his secretary was really a bad idea.

"Why are you applying as my secretary, Miss Alinsky?" he asked me, his forehead in a confused frown. "No. Why are you here in the Philippines?

I bit my lower lip. I could literally hear the loud beating of my heart inside my chest.

Shit. Calm down, Charity. You've got this.

"I…" I swallowed before I continued. "The truth is… I left my family in Greece. I had a huge spat with my father."

I saw how his frown deepened. "What happened?"

"My father… he wanted me to marry one of his business associates. But I opposed it." I let out a sad smile. "He kicked me out of the house and sent me here to the Philippines to fend for myself."

Of course, that was all lies. My father won't do that to me.

I'm sorry for lying, Baba.

"Oh… I'm sorry it happened to you." Xander said in a gentle voice. "That must've been hard."

I felt guilt creeping in my system but I shrugged it off. "He cut off my savings account so here I was, applying for a job." I let out a small smile. "My cousin offered to help me but I wanted to prove to them that I can stand alone."

"Why apply as a secretary?" he continued to ask as he took another glance at the piece of paper in his hand.

"With your credentials, you can easily find a high paying job, Miss Alinsky."

"This is the first post I saw while I was looking for a job," I answered. "Besides, working here would be convenient for me since I'm just staying a couple of blocks from this building."

Lies and lies. If I were Pinocchio, I'd bet my nose would have already pierced him. I cleared my throat. "I have experience doing secretarial jobs, Sir. As you can read in my resume, I worked as my father's secretary for a year."

"You see, Charity. I'm not only looking for someone experienced for the job, I also wanted a secretary who's strictly professional." He sighed as he fixed his tie. "You see, Charity. I fired my former secretary because she tried to seduce me…"

Of course, I already knew that story but I tried to act as if I heard it for the first time.

I parted my lips before I cleared my throat. "Don't worry, Sir. That won't happen with me. I'm not that kind of employee."

"Oh…" His eyebrows cocked. "You don't find me attractive?"

Shit! Attractive? Huh. If only you knew how attractive I was with you. "Well… I admit you're good looking, Sir. But no offense, you're not my type. I wanted someone with green eyes just like mine."

And…that's the biggest lie that ever came off my mouth. I didn't know how I managed to say that with a straight face.

I bit my lower lip as soon as I said that.

I watched how Xander Villarama parted his lips. Then a laugh escaped from it. "Don't worry I'm not offended," he said, his lips forming a smile. "You can start the other day."

I blinked my eyes in disbelief. "I passed?"

"Yeah. I like you." He stood up and extended his hand to me. "Welcome to the Villarama Group of Companies, Miss Charity Alinsky."

I secretly wiped my hand on the side of my skirt before accepting his hand. I hoped he didn't notice my sweaty palm.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Villarama."