Chapter 6: Potential candidate

Thereafter, I went to Dad’s office.

After knocking on the door, and opened the door, I was surprised that Rachel was about to walk out.

Dad requested her to join us for a short discussion. Dad was full of compliments and praises for Rachel, and she tried to stop Dad.

Dad laughed at her and even called her ‘My humble Rachel’.

Indeed, she left a good impression in my heart. Down-to-earth, teachable, giving her best in whatever work scope that came her way; and she won’t mind to work extra hours in order for the better of everyone.

My first day was filled with her in my mind, wonder what tomorrow and the days to come would be for my mind?

Later, she went back to her workstation, while I stayed to discuss about the account matters with Dad.

I showed dad the envelope with accounting report that Jennifer gave me, he nodded.

“Jeremy, I will be going out to see an old friend. He used to be our external auditor. I will let him have a lot and review on our behalf.”

I nodded and said,

“Dad, whatever findings you get from him, ensure that he will keep it a secret. Dad, please don’t share it with anyone else besides Rachel and me. Not even Robert and the rest of the management team. We never know who are in her loop? We can’t trust others.”

Dad smiled and said,

“Alright, let’s talk about another thing. Emm, my observation led me to believe that you are interested in Rachel. Am I right?”

Dad mentioned Rachel’s name in a whisper.

He gazed at me and teased,

“I saw the way you looked at her during the briefing this morning and when she was here moments ago. Son, work hard to win her over. She is suitable for you, a good one to keep. You can’t find such a good and fine woman easily nowadays. Do you need our help?”

“Dad, please! Are you underestimating me? Do I need help?”

I tilted my head up and walked out of his room, while he laughed.

Dad followed me out with the envelope in his hand. I knew his destination.

Later, dad came to my office around 6:00pm and invite me to join him for dinner. Mom was waiting for us at a restaurant nearby.

I was reluctant to join them, and as I was about to decline Dad’s invitation, Dad said

“No, you are not going to skip dinner. Come with me. Your mom will be furious if you are not joining us. You can continue your work later or tomorrow.” No choice, but to obey.

Dinner with my parents could be quite fun, talking and sharing of my experiences in USA.

Dad would talked about how he handled his business in Malaysia, and Mom would talked about her cooking and baking.

Then, one of them would just have to bring this topic up for me.

Mom : “Jeremy, who is your girlfriend? Come on, tell us”

I : “Sorry to disappoint you, I don’t have any?”

Mom stared at me and exclaimed “Oh dear Jeremy, don’t tell me that you are … you are…gay!”

Dad : “What? Are you?”

I : “For goodness sake, Dad, Mom. I am not gay, I am a straight guy. I am only interested in woman, but right now, I am still available.”

Mom smiled and asked Dad, “Anyone in the office that might be a potential candidate for our son?”

Dad got excited, turned to mom and said, “Honey, I think Jeremy is interested with someone in our office? I saw the way he looked at her.”

Mom clapped her hand and asked further, “Who is it? Chloe Ooi? Good looking and she is two years younger than you?” I shook my head indicating my refusal to pursue Chloe.

Dad continued, “Of course, you won’t be interested in Chloe Ooi. I saw it in your eyes when she shook your hand.”

Mom was getting more and more excited, “Come on, who it is? Tell me now”

Dad excitedly told mom, “Rachel Jane. Honey, you adored her. We both like her attitude, personality, and her kindness.”

I smiled while mom kept on asking, “Is it true?”

I didn’t reply her instead only nodded.

Mom continued, “Son, she is a good girl. Grab the chances, pursue her. Your dad and I will support you.”

Of course, I know that she is a good person, but I need time to know her first, then pursue.

“Dad, there’s no hurry. Fate is needed for this sort of thing, isn’t it Mom?” I responded.

That’s my Mom’s favourite phrase whenever she talks about love relationship.

Back to office after dinner,

I continued my planning for the reshuffling of office system, and the various work scopes, work flow, document flow, etc. Planning, designing, more and more planning.

Time flies, only then do I realise that it is almost midnight. I decided to pack up and call it a day.

As I was closing the door of my office, I noticed that the lights are on at the common cubicle area.

Someone was working late. I walked to the cubicle and realised that it was Rachel.

Why was she working late?

I questioned her for her reason of staying late, and she said that she has many unfinished work.

I insisted her to call it a day and gave her a morning-off tomorrow as I bet she would be too tired to clock-in by 8:30am. Yet, she stubbornly insisted that she had no problem waking up early and working the whole day till night.

She even mentioned that it has had been her routine for the last one month. I was shocked, this definitely going to take a toil on her health.

I noticed that she didn’t have proper lunch today; and I bet that she skipped dinner tonight.

But she insisted that she had dinner, but when being asked on what she took for dinner, she couldn’t answer me.

That’s mean she did skip dinner.

I was angry that she took her health so lightly, all because of work. At that point, I insisted her to pack up and joined me for late dinner.

I could see that Rachel disagreed but I insisted.

We went to Olive Restaurant, and I ordered food. I tried to make conversation with Rachel, but she seemed to distance herself.

She would answer me in short sentence, or refrained from answering me. I guessed that she was sceptical with me, unable to trust me with personal information.

In fact, dad told me that she had an ex-boyfriend, Geoffrey who worked in one of our associate’s company.

She had quite a bad breakup, I heard that she was the one that dumped him because he cheated on her.

Wow! Thumbs up for her action! Good for her to dump that idiot.

At the table, I tried to share with her about myself, and when I asked her about her hometown, she just replied that she was from East Malaysia.

That was it. She didn’t say much anymore. She was full of mystery and secretive of herself.

After dinner, I insisted to send her home and this lady, she was stubborn as a rock! She wanted to hail a taxi at 2:00am. I was furious.

I had to be stern with her. I was going to make her feel bad and guilty for declining me.

I asked her whether she preferred to trust taxi drivers instead of me, and after much persuading, she got into my car.

As she got inside my car, she was worried that I would be driving out of my way just to send her home. I told her not to worry as I was on the way home.

We arrived at Ville Residence where she rented a room where she stayed from her first day in Kuala Lumpur till now.

She bid goodbye and as she turned around to walk into the Residence entrance, I had a feeling that I needed to walk her back to her unit.

I again insisted, and she couldn’t refused.

My feeling was right, we met a drunkard in the lift who almost touched her on her face. Thank God that I was there to stop it, and kept her safe until she reached her unit.

While I was on my way home after ensuring that Rachel was safe in her unit, I kept wondering that the more I looked at her and talked to her, it was all so familiar.

Her every actions attracted me.

A simple person, dressed decently yet professional-look. She has a likeable personality of which she is known for being kind, friendly and helpful.

Most of all, she is a humble person. Though she is a capable person but she never showed off.

No wonder dad and mom are fond of her, love her to bits.

As my thoughts pondered on her, my heart seemed to skip a beat.

Why? Why am I feeling this way towards her?

I felt as if I have known her for a long time because I seemed to be attracted by her familiarity.

The experienced we had with the drunkard at Ville Residence kind of worry me about her safety.

As I laid on bed, I couldn’t help but worry. I need to convince her to move to a safer place. The accommodation the Company prepared for outstation or overseas employees are much better than the place she stayed.

I was extremely shocked to hear her reason the location of the company property is quite far from the office and that it is inconvenient for her to catch a bus or LRT.

Yet, she worked late almost every night as what dad told me. Didn’t she realised that she put herself in danger by returning home each night?

She would only hailed a taxi and if the LRT service is operating still, she would hop on it. Thank God for keeping her safe for the last five years.

However, I have decided to protect her as much as I could with whatever might that I have or could find.

Buzz! Buzz! Who’s that calling me at this wee hours?

A phone call from my buddy, Brian. “Hello, bro. How was your first day at work?”

I replied abruptly, “Fine. Started off with a meeting where my dad introduced me to everyone.

Then, followed with a tour to every department. Lots of works in hand that needed urgent completion, such as a new management system.”

Brian replied,

“Wow! You are going to be busy like a bee. But don’t forget me and Ray. We hope that we can meet somewhere for a short reunion.”

I laughed and replied,

“Sure, no problem. We will find time to meet. You and Ray are my best buddy since our university days.”

“Bro, how was the lady that you told me? Did you meet her face to face? How was she?” Brian asked excitedly.

“Who?” I pretended to ask.

“Hey! Come on. You know who I was referring to,” He continued to tease me.

I laughed as I felt a warmth in my heart as she was being mentioned to me.

Undeniably, talking and thinking about her made my heart beat faster.

“You mean Rachel. Yes, I met her and even had the opportunities to talk to her even had a late dinner with her. And I sent her home and protected her from a drunkard. So what do you think?” I replied with a laugh.

“Wow! What a day for you! I am happy for you. Buddy, strive on! Win her over.” Brian continued encouraging me.

I smiled at his motivation because he is right. I have decided since our dinner time that I am going to pursue her.

Funny, I never felt this way towards any woman in the past. My heart just beat faster whenever I thought of her.

Yes, I am going to spend more time with Rachel. I want to be with her, possibly every day. We need to know more about each other, hopefully and prayerfully she will feel the same for me.

Beside this, dad and mom had been recommending her to be my secretary as she is the best person to assist me in order for me to take over the company for dad as soon as possible.

The time I spent with her today, just one day is sufficient for me to confirm that she is the best person to be my secretary.

In fact, dad wanted to promote her directly to General Manager, but he knew her personality. She would surely disagreed and declined.

I thought likewise as dad.

I guessed that starting as secretary is good.

I am going to plan and draft her job descriptions as my secretary now. Soon, I began to draft and plan about it on my laptop and by the time I am done, it was the almost 4:00am.

I was exhausted, soon fell asleep.

Suddenly, I woke up to a sound of shattered glass. I got out of my bed, and walked towards the sound.

I found that the sliding glass panel of my balcony was shattered. I quickly switched on the lights to look around. I saw a red brick on my living room floor. Someone had thrown the brick to my glass panel.

Who was the culprit?

I quickly called the security centre, and they said that they heard the sound as well.

Soon, they came to my unit to look into the matter.

My apartment is on the tenth floor, and it was impossible to hurl a brick to my balcony from the ground.

The only answer is drone.

Someone had used a drone to hurl the brick to my balcony.

My goodness! I had just lived in this apartment for three days, and my glass panel was shattered. Who hated me to that extent of planning to cause damage by using a drone?

The security guard spoke,

“Mr Elijah, we will prepare a report for your insurance claim.”

The Management had made all buyers of the units to purchase insurance coverage compulsorily.

I took some photos and sent the photos to dad and texted him about it. I will have to lodge a police report for my insurance claim.

Therefore, I went to the nearest police station together with the Security Chief of Premium Hearth.

By the time I went back to my apartment, it was morning. I took a shower and get ready for work.

I felt exhausted, but no choice.

I need to go to the company as there were many things to do.

I had a simple breakfast of coffee and toast at the nearby café to Premium Hearth before heading for office.

Even though I had little sleep, maybe around half an hour but I wasn’t sleepy at all.

Perhaps, it was due to the rough awakening by the sound of shattered glass. I might as well make good of this opportunity to reach office earlier to get things done soonest possible.

I arrived office around 6:30am, it was quite dark as most of the lights were switched off by Raju.

I switched on the lights for the common area and walked to my office.

I buried myself into my work until I couldn’t open my eyes anymore and fell asleep on my desk.