Ray's dilemma
This was not happening.
This had to be the worst day of his life. No, the worst day was when... Stop. Don't think about it.
Ray Starling had conditioned his brain not to go there. It had taken him years to train his mind into keeping a tight lid on his most painful memories but it was worth the effort. Atleast he got his sanity back in this trade-off.
He had fired his Chief of Staff (COS) yesterday. So he already had no COS. On top of it, he had just received the worst news from his lawyer, Tom Raisin.
Tom continued, "The only way you can become CEO of Starling Enterprises is to show your grandpa that you are a family man. He wants you to have a wife, kids, the whole works."
Ray could feel himself seething with rage, "Is this some kind of a joke? After everything I have seen my father go through, how can the old man lay this condition on me?"
Tom raised his eyebrow, "The old man is Chairman Emeritus of Starling Enterprises with veto powers. Get married, have a kid or two and then become CEO. This is what he told me. If you don't believe me, you can speak to him yourself."
Ray kept quiet. He knew how stubborn his grandpa could be. Once he made up his mind, noone could convince him otherwise. Not even me.
As Tom left his cabin, Ray started thinking about next steps. Step 1: Get a COS. Step 2: Get a wife. Ugh. I never wanted wife and kids. I have no place for love in my life.
Thankfully finding a COS was easier than finding a wife. Ray messaged his Talent Acquisition Head to line up interviews tomorrow.
The Next Day
"Sir, we are waiting for you to begin the interviews. Here are the candidate resumes. All of them are sitting outside your office", his secretary, Regina informed him.
Ray glared at her, got up and threw the stack of resumes in the dustbin. Though scared, Regina wasn't really surprised. Her boss was infamous for his beastly temper. "Umm, so I'll leave you to it", she said and practically fled his cabin.
Stupid Regina. Didn't she know his time was too valuable to be spent reading resumes. He got up and looked outside his office. He could see so many women looking up at him with hope, the moment they saw him at the door of his cabin. It's always the same. Glittering hair. Fluttering eyelashes. Wanting to use the COS role to get close to me. What do they take me for. I am no idiot. I will not be seduced by these gold diggers.
As Ray stood outside his cabin, glaring ferociously at all the candidates, his eyes slid to the one woman, who was not looking at him at all. Infact, it seemed she was actively ignoring him. She was talking on the phone and appeared totally engrossed in her conversation.
He pointed at her and said, "You." She didn't even bother looking up from her phone. He repeated, more loudly this time, "Hey, you. Yes, you. You're up."
