IV. Mundane

I didn’t like asking for help. I didn’t like being wrong. It made sense that I liked my job and would much rather prefer to stay with my uncle because I knew how to do the job. I knew my place; I knew what I was doing and after all that I loved working with my uncle. The opportunity was way too hard to reject, especially with my uncle recommending me and here I am in my room, in the Underworld.

My heart was trembling, but I was ready for work. I brought my laptop with me, though I doubted it would be much help down here and the two folders Hayden had given me the night before. He wanted me to have a look at the layout of the system and do a couple of tests. I placed my bag over my shoulder and walked to the elevator looking for any information on where I should be going. I took a couple of deep breaths entering the elevator and going down to the lower floors where the reception was. It was already 8 am and I was running late. I came out of the elevator and walked into a large open space. The windows were bright, but nothing was visible outside. I walked over to the counter and queued in line behind two tall guys. They both signed a large book and walked away, sliding their badges through the door, before walking in.

“Hi. I’m supposed to be working with Mr. Hades. Do you perhaps know where I could find his office?” I asked the sweet lady behind the counter innocently.

“King Hades, you mean? And I don’t think you will be personally working with him. What department did he put you in?” The lady asked, a lot more condescending and impolite than she had been to the other guys. I assumed humans weren’t well respected in the Underworld.

“I’m fairly certain that he said I will be working with him personally.” I smiled at the lady and she leaned over the counter as if to teach me something. Her light brown hair fell over the counter as she brushed it away.

“Hades has an assistant already and it’s not a human.” She squinted with a smile, looking over my head as another man approached us. He smiled as he leaned over to sign the book in front of me.

“Sorry, I don’t mean to push in, I’m running late.” He said smiling at the lady behind the counter and she smiled back tilting her head at me.

“She says she’s been invited to work for Hades personally.” She laughed and shook her head looking over at the man.

“Oh, you must be Miss Lockwood. It is a pleasure to meet you.” He offered me his hand to shake. His long hair fell over his shoulders. His face was perfectly symmetrical, and his blond locks smelt of coconut.

“What? It’s true?” The lady laughed it off assuming the man was just teasing me. I felt my heart fall into my stomach. I had never felt so unwelcome.

“Yeah, Hayden sacked his last assistant and he doesn’t trust Underworlders anymore, so he hired Miss Lockwood.” He smiled at me again. He was handsome. He wore a nice clean suit to match his bouncy blonde curls and sparkling eyes.

“But she’s human?!” The lady seemed appalled.

“I know…” He stared at her confused. “My name is Sylver, let me show you to his office, Miss Lockwood.” Sylver swiped his card and allowed me to walk through the door. “Sorry about her, some Underworlders aren’t keen on mundane’s living in their world.” He seemed embarrassed by her behavior, which gave me some hope of finding some friendly Underworlders.

“That’s understandable, I guess. I’m sure humans would be shocked if they saw beasts like Mihai just walking around on Earth.” We both laughed as we walked into the elevator.

“Hayden prefers working in the dark, so he’s always on the last floor. Also, he doesn’t like being called King Hades, so stick with Hayden. Also, you’ll hear everyone talk about how difficult he is to work with, but just try to do what he asks as quickly as you can, and if you make a mistake tell him, don’t ever hide it. Ask him for help if you need to, but leave him to do his work, he doesn’t like chit chat. He’s a workaholic so don’t be afraid to remind him that you are human and need to sleep and eat.” Sylver explained. He seemed to go on and on. I felt like taking out a note pad to note all those rules down. There were too many to remember off hand.

“Is that all?” I looked up at him with his words making rounds around my head in an attempt to embed inside my brain.

“You might also want to invest in some Underworld clothing. Other than that, that’s everything. He’s not as bad as you think.” He smiled and we landed on the last floor. The doors opened and everything was pitch black, with a couple of dim candles in the corners of the hall. I can’t work in pure darkness. We walked through the hallway and came to a stop in front of three doors. Hades, Olympus, Underworld. Sylver knocked lightly on the door with Hades above it and opened the door, allowing me to walk in first. The office was large, with four large tables and one table at the end of the room where Hayden was sitting on the phone. Sylver placed his finger to his mouth, signaling me to be quiet, and walked me over to Hayden’s table. The office was a lot lighter than I had thought it would be. The outside was pitch black, but three bright lights on the ceiling were lighting up the room. Hayden looked up at us for a second, brushing his thick hair out of his face and nodding to somebody on the phone.

“I know, I know, look can we talk about this later?” He stared at some paperwork on his table. “Well because I have better things to do. I have a new starter. I don’t have time for this. Okay. Bye, bye.” He hung up the phone and exhaled annoyed. “Welcome Miss Lockwood. Thank you Sylver for helping her find her way. I will give Toru a call and let him know you are on your way.” He smiled politely at Sylver and me.

“Thank you, sir.” Sylver smiled and turned to me one last time. “It was nice to meet you, Miss Lockwood.” He shook my hand again and walked out of Hayden’s office.

“You’re an hour early. Your uncle did tell me you were eager to learn. I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to send you any directions to my office, it completely fell out of my head.” He got up from his seat and walked over to me. “You can set your things down here. I will get you a log in for the computer and get your laptop calibrated to our server.” He opened the chair for me, and I sat down. I took out my laptop and handed it to him and he placed it on his desk. “Were you able to look through the file I gave you?”

“Yes sir. I have them right here. I found all the mistakes in the system and wrote my answers on the back of the page. I didn’t get a chance to get myself an entrance card, due to nobody believing that I am working with you, but other than that I think I’ve done everything you’ve asked for.” I chuckled and he stared at me concerned. He always looked serious; I could hardly notice his eyes slightly soften.

“No worries, I will take care of it.” He walked over to his desk and picked up some papers. “I need you to sign this form.”

“What is it?” I took them from his hands.

“Underworld is a dangerous place for a human. This is just to say that you will not leave the premises without an escort or unannounced. I promised your uncle I would take care of you, so I intend to keep that promise.” He smiled, but his face was still profoundly serious.

“Okay.” I signed the document and he took it back to his desk.

“I will get you a temporary log in for now and here’s a phone so you can reach me if you need anything.” He handed me a phone, that looked to be a little bit more advanced than an iPhone and handed me a piece of paper with my log in details. Hayden walked back to his table and sat down. I began to log on and the computer began to start up, but a weird sound was echoing, and the screen went completely blank. Assuming that this was normal I proceeded to wait for it to load.

Suddenly I could smell something burning and I turned to Hayden, but too afraid to say anything, I waited for another second, before looking over to him again. This time I caught his attention and he looked over to me just in time. An explosion echoed through my ears and I felt somebody carry me away from all the smoke and shattered glass. Dust filled the room and my computer was alight like a firework. Men rushed through the door, putting out the fire with extinguishers.

“Miss Lockwood? Are you alright? Are you hurt?” Hayden’s tall figure was aligned to mine as he stood in front of me, shadowing my view of the fire. His arm was still softly wrapped around my waist.

“I’m okay,” I said as my heart was inside my throat and I could barely breathe through the smoke. I could hardly put the pieces of what happened together. I knew the computer had exploded, but I wasn’t sure how Hayden had gotten us across the room so quickly. Hayden walked over to the men putting the fire out and talked to them for a second, before returning to me.

“You’re bleeding.” He calmly said pulling up a chair for me to sit down and getting down on one knee in front of me. I looked down to my ripped skirt and a thick line of blood had run down my leg. I lifted my torn skirt, revealing a piece of glass wedged in my skin. I exhaled a deep breath and looked away. “Does it hurt?” Hayden asked and I shook my head, looking at his beautiful eyes. He placed one of his hands on the side of my thigh, pulling my leg closer to him and I could barely catch my breath as my chest filled with cold air. Shivers ran down my spine as his hands ran across my leg. “I’m going to pull it out on three. Take a deep breath and hold on to the edge of the seat.” I nodded and took a deep breath trying to focus on the pain and not his hands on my thigh. “One, two, three…”

“Ouch!” He pulled the glass from my leg and it immediately began to bleed even more. The pain ran through my body like a bullet, but I refrained from crying. He placed his hand over my cut and held it there for a moment. I felt something soft brush against my skin and as he lifted his hand my cut was completely gone with a light scar left and blood running down my leg.

“Much better.” He smiled and walked over to the bathroom, coming out with a wet towel, handing it to me.

“Thank you.” I stared at him as he nodded like it was nothing and walked over to see if the fire had been put out. I could see several figures outside of the office, waiting to see what happened. Suddenly a slender girl with long, red hair ran through the door and hugged Hayden. I broke my stare immediately. Though I had seen more than enough on Earth, I was still amazed at Hayden’s ability to heal my leg.

“Are you okay? What happened?” I heard her say. She seemed eagerly clingy and Hayden pulled her hands off himself and quietly explained what happened, before asking her to leave and take everyone else with her. She nodded and walked past me with a stern look, taking everybody else with her.

“Perhaps you should return to your room for today and get some rest. I apologise and I assure you that I will find whoever is responsible for such a cruel joke.” His face was still as serious as ever, but it seemed like a mild inconvenience to him. If that is their way of greeting me to the Underworld, I wonder what else is waiting for me. I couldn’t possibly cop out of my first day working with the King of the Underworld when I was no longer hurt.

“I am okay to continue sir. You’ve taken care of my leg, so there is no reason for me not to continue.” I smiled, but he shook his head annoyed.

“You don’t have to do that. I know everyone has already warned you that I am a heartless workaholic, but I know that humans handle pain differently, with which comes shock and exhaustion. I won’t think any less of you or your work if you go back to your room and rest.” He seemed emotionless. I got up from my seat, ready to prove myself. I was just as good as any Underworlder there.

“I assure you that I am okay to continue sir.” I smiled and he nodded agreeing with my decision.

“Well you still need to go and change, your skirt is torn.” He pointed to the large rip in my skirt.

“Oh, that’s okay.” I smiled and walked over to his table taking a pin and pining my skirt together. “It will do for today.” I smiled as Hayden stared at me potentially impressed. His facial expressions were hard to distinguish.

“If you say so, Miss Lockwood.” He smiled and walked over to his table picking up my laptop and taking his out of his draw and walking us out of the dirty, dusty room. He led us both into the Underworld office and placed my laptop down at a table. He picked a flash drive from his pocket and stuck it into my laptop.

“Should be ready to go for now.” He sat down at his table with his laptop and continued to work as if nothing had happened.