Chapter 1
In the city of Manila, in one of the rooms in a prestigious estate, laid a mansion. On the top floor of this majestic mansion, a young man laid on the bed, his sleeping posture aristocratic with a defined pose. His left arm was shielding his face from the slanted lines of the sun rays peeking through the slightly parted curtains while his legs were crossed so each foot faced two perfect angles of the room as if a compass had been used to measure the position.
At exactly five thirty am, an alarm clock rang, filling the humongous room with its loud noise and despite the loudness, the sound was endearing. It was the voice of a woman coaxing someone in a sultry tone with the words, 'wake up darling, you've got lots of money to make today and no time to waste...' Followed by a deep, enchanting hum. The sultry voice didn't have to repeat itself before a long arm reached to tap on the clock and it instantly topped.
The man on the bed rolled to the other side and alighted, donning on his thick Arabian robe and going to sit on his desk where breakfast had been placed. He didn't take a second glance at the breakfast but instead picked the nearly kept newspaper and scanned through the front page of the 'Mani Daily.'
Then he turned to the back and went through recent information outlined regarding the stock exchange and the daily update. Eh, nothing interesting.
He dropped the newspaper and went to have his bath, making sure to observe himself in his seven ft length and four ft width mirror.
A hand reached to push his right hand into his hair, his long, lean fingers combing through the horse black smoothness that laid stop his head.
After checking himself in the mirror and deciding that he could go to work with his five o'clock shadow, his left eyebrow quirked up in agreement with his defined perfection. He had long, horizontally slanted eyelids like an anime character and thick lashes, protecting deep brown eyes. He was well over six ft tall, with broad shoulders and a body that, though it looked thin and lanky in a suit, it was gorgeous and well built when the suit gets taken off.
His index finger purposely traced the bridge of his long and thin nose, down to his pale, thin lips and then it stopped at his V shaped chin. The man hummed in satisfaction at his reflection and then took off his robe to reveal a defined torso, with the right amount of packs for a young CEO who, though dedicated his life to his family business, also took time off on some occasions to hit the gym.
Then he strode to his exceptionally equipped bathroom and took a good shower on the other side where a glass partition was separating the glass from the bath tub and the other equipments a lay man would have no idea of its existence in what was supposed to just be a bathroom.
After showering, he stepped out to see three maids already on standby, ready to attend to his needs, their heads bowed in humble reverence.
"Good morning young master." The three chorused, their voices docile and smooth like butter on a warm, sweet aromatic bread.
"Morning girls. Get to work." He ordered the model shaped girls, who had same height, similar features in eye color and body shape. The man had a preference with the kinds of maids he employed and Laura, his head maid never disappointed him with their application process or briefing.
Two of the girls exchanged smiles, walking around him with towels in hand. While one dabbed the remnant of water from his hair, the other one gently dried off his leg with another pure white towel. The third maid had gone into his walk-in closet. There was no need to check the list, she already knew his choice of attire for the day. The maid picked a two piece Benjamin Coquito suit, a white shirt and a golden crusted cufflink from the row of almost a thousand cufflinks before walking out. The other maid stepped into the inner part of the walk-in closet and headed to the row of ties, ranging from different colors to different shades. She picked a black tie and then opened the drawer for nearly arranged stockings, picking a black one as well.
When she stepped out to lay them on the bed while the first lady was already dressing him in his work attire for the day, the third maid went in to get a Benjamin Coquito Leather shoe, Benjamin Coquito limited edition silver watch and bracelet. Her boss loved bracelets.
Twenty minutes later, a perfectly dressed Zion towers was sitting at the dining, sipping tea with two slices of bread on the French breakable plate.
His head maid approached him, a small smile on her face.
"Good morning sir."
"Good morning Laura. How are you today?" Zion asked her in his rich, deep velvety voice that always managed to turn heads and snatch everyone's undivided attention whenever he spoke at social gatherings.
"Fine sir. Did you sleep well?" She replied.
"Of course I did. But it seems you didn't, judging from the eye bags under your eyes." Zion noted and the woman gave a nervous, almost inaudible chuckle because nothing ever went past her boss's watchful and observant eyes.
"Er, my apologies for that sir. I had to review the list for the new furniture that would be delivered during the weekend and-"
"Of course you had to." His gaze flickered to a little imperfection on the middle aged woman's attire, a little tear on the shoulder, almost unnoticeable but enough to be caught by her employer's scrutinizing gaze.
The lady got tongue tied, unable to say anymore as her boss had cut her off before she could conclude her explanation. She was right though, she'd truly been busy with deliveries they would be receiving during the weekend.
Zion had requested a new set of household furniture to replace the ones he got after completing his mansion a year and half ago. He barely sat in the living room, with how busy his schedule was.
Still, he got bored of seeing the same set and immediately requested a new one, with darker colors. The old ones would be given out to the next family on his list of families he usually made his donations to. People saw it as pride, but the head maid knew her boss was a generous and kind man. Maybe he was a little too neat and wanted everything to be done to perfection but who cares? He had the money and could afford the luxury for that level of neatness.
"Here's what you'll do. Call Margie, she'll be taking over, along with the temp maid assigned to work when she's on duty while you take a day off to rest properly and resume tomorrow-- without those disturbing eye bags." He eyed the middle aged woman's round face and her pale complexion, deciding he didn't want someone dying while on duty at his house.
Having Margie take over even though it wasn't her time for duty would be the best option then.
Margie was the assistant head maid of his house. Another woman who had been working for him for a while and knew to carry out every duty required to an utmost perfection.
Stuttering, the lady gratefully thanked her boss with words of appreciation while he nodded once, a clear sign for her to vacate his presence instantly.
A while later, Zion was seated in his Audi, on his way to work. He had one of his long legs perfectly crossed over the other, his forehead resting against his fist which was supported by his elbow, propped up on his thigh. When his security guard opened the backdoor and he alighted, he looked around and took in a deep breath of fresh air, prepared for the new week's work. A car had stopped behind him, with five suited men sitting in it. They were his bodyguards.
One of them alighted and opened the door from the other side, picking his bag. The other one picked his silver apple laptop and then they matched forward to catch up with him because he was already inside his private elevator.
Stepping into the twenty sixth floor which solely belonged to him, Zion opened his arms and his second assistant took the suit jacket off him. He had three assistants.
He heaved a sigh and walked to his desk, glaring at it for any sign of dust. Last week Friday, there had been a speck of dust on the edge of his mahogany table and he had to reprimand the cleaner assigned to his floor for that purpose.
He hated reprimanding people because even the strongest person would shed a few tears. Zion was blunt with words. Only the few people close to him and his family members knew he meant no harm whatsoever.
Seeing the table appear squeaky clean, he sat on the black and majestic CEO chair which had his name imprinted in gold letters at the top for the world to see who owned it. Then he heaved another sigh and nodded at his acting assistant who was waiting for the order he knew would come.
"Zane?"
The young acting assistant came forward, thanking his stars that his boss finally needed him for something.
He had no idea why his boss needed to hire two assistants and one personal assistant that would begin as an intern. Sometimes, he would feel useless because in a day, he would only deal with menial chores and nothing serious at work, all because his boss wanted to delegate duties to the other two assistants. His pregnant assistant had gone on maternity leave but there was of course a replacement arranged already. There were days when he would be the only one getting things done, working like a horse while the other assistant would handle menial tasks. Zane knew he also felt the same way: helpless. Like they could easily get replaced in a whim.
"Get me my coffee." Zion ordered.
Zane, who had been internally rejoicing, immediately felt his mood do a one eighty degree. "Yes sir." He quickly left anyway.
But the young assistant couldn't help but think, this would be a long day.
