Chapter 74

Chapter 74

"Alright, go sort out my design files from last month, and arrange them by date. I need them this afternoon." He waved his hand and started looking down at his computer.

I walked out of the office and let out a long breath.

This boss really lived up to his reputation - totally intimidating.

I returned to my desk and started looking for last month's files.

Selina sneaked over and said, "How did it go? He didn't yell at you, did he? If Mr. Fields doesn't lose his temper the first time meeting a new assistant, that's already good."

"It was okay, he just gave me some work to do." I smiled and got down to organizing the files.

There were quite a few files, a whole stack. I sorted them one by one by date, afraid of getting a single number wrong.

I kept working until noon before finally getting them mostly organized.

During lunch break, my colleagues all went to the company cafeteria, but I was too lazy to go and just ate bread at my desk.

Selina didn't leave either and sat next to me scrolling through her phone.

"By the way Layla, you know what? A lot of people were surprised that you got to stay as Mr. Fields' assistant," Selina suddenly said.

I was stunned. "Why?"

Selina lowered her voice. "Because so many people came for interviews before and all got rejected by Mr. Fields. There was this girl who had five years of experience as a design assistant, super experienced, but she got yelled at and cried on her first day because she put files in the wrong slot.

And there was this guy, graduated from a top school, his hand sketches were pretty good, but he got kicked out by Mr. Fields just because he put one extra spoonful of sugar in the coffee."

I was secretly shocked - this Alan's requirements were way too harsh.

Selina looked me up and down. "But seriously, you're so pretty, and Mr. Fields didn't give you a hard time. There was this pretty assistant before, and Mr. Fields said her mind wasn't on work and fired her after three days. You're pretty lucky."

I smiled and said nothing.

Actually, I knew Alan wasn't looking at appearance - he saw that I was low-key enough and obedient enough.

As we were talking, two female colleagues walked by with coffee, their voices just loud enough for us to hear.

"What do you think - what's Layla's background? How did she become Mr. Fields' assistant?"

"Who knows? She is pretty good-looking though. Probably got in through some connection, right?"

"I think so too. Look at her resume, only one year of work experience, which doesn't seem particularly outstanding. How would someone as picky as Mr. Fields choose her?"

"Maybe she's related to the boss? Think about it, Mr. Fields has gone through so many assistants, the boss must be getting a headache too. Maybe he found someone pretty to smooth things over?"

"But Mr. Fields doesn't fall for that! The previous one who was even prettier than her got fired too, didn't she?"

"Who knows? Maybe this Layla has some special tricks? Look at her, all quiet and meek, but she probably has all kinds of schemes going on in her head."

Their words stabbed at my heart like needles. The bread in my hand instantly lost its appeal.

Sure enough, no matter where I went, gossip was unavoidable.

Just because I was good-looking and got chosen by the difficult Alan, I became the target of their jealousy.

Selina frowned, about to speak up, but I held her back. I shook my head, signaling her to let it go. There was no point arguing with people who didn't understand me.

Those two female colleagues were still gossiping. "I heard that Mr. Fields was especially harsh with female assistants before, but with her, he didn't even lose his temper this morning. Don't you think that's strange?"

"What's strange about it? Men go soft when they see a pretty woman. Maybe this Layla has an unusual relationship with Mr. Fields in private?"

"Don't say that. What if she hears us?"

"So what if she hears? We're telling the truth! Besides being good-looking, what else can she do?"

The grievance in my heart suddenly welled up. From Emerald City to Silverlight City, I just wanted to live a quiet life. Why did people always have to make malicious assumptions about me?

Just then, Alan's office door suddenly opened. He stood in the doorway, his face terrifyingly dark, looking at those two female colleagues.

The two women immediately shut up, their faces turning pale.

Alan said coldly, "During work hours, don't you need to work? Did the company hire you to gossip about colleagues? Or to actually do your jobs?"

The two colleagues were too scared to speak, heads down, at a loss.

Alan said with no room for argument, "Pour out your coffee. Now, immediately, get back to your desks and organize this month's sales reports. I want them before you leave today."

The two colleagues quickly responded, "Yes, Mr. Fields."

They fled back to their desks.

The office instantly fell silent, everyone keeping their heads down, not daring to make a sound.

Alan's gaze swept across the room and finally landed on me. My heart tightened, thinking he was going to say something to me too, but he just said flatly, "Are the files organized? I want to see them at three this afternoon."

"Almost done, Mr. Fields. I'll check one more time to make sure there are no problems," I quickly said.

He said nothing more and turned back into his office.

Selina quietly nudged my arm and lowered her voice. "Don't worry, that's just how Mr. Fields is. He can't stand people gossiping behind others' backs. Those two just now deserved it - they're old employees who always gossip about new colleagues."

I nodded, but my feelings were mixed. Alan had gotten me out of that situation, but I still felt uncomfortable.

I put down the bread and picked up the organized files again, checking them carefully.

At three in the afternoon, I delivered the organized files to Alan's office on time. He sat behind his desk, picked up the files, and carefully flipped through them page by page, his brow furrowed, making my heart race.

After more than ten minutes, he finally put down the files, looked up at me, and said, "Not bad, no mistakes."

I was delighted and about to speak when he added, "Tomorrow morning, find my design sketches from last year, sort them by series, and wipe each one clean - not a speck of dust. Also, order me a coffee with three sugars and no milk, deliver it at exactly ten-thirty."

"Yes, Mr. Fields," I quickly responded.

"You can go." He waved his hand.

I walked out of the office. Although Alan was difficult, at least he kept things professional. As long as I did my work well, he wouldn't give me a hard time.

Over the next few days, I did everything carefully. I arrived at the company early each morning, cleaned Alan's office, then went to the archives to find the materials he needed.

At ten-thirty in the morning, I'd deliver the coffee with three sugars and no milk to his desk right on time. In the afternoon, I'd organize files and draw basic sketches, not daring to be careless.

Alan's obsessive-compulsive disorder was seriously extreme. Once, I had arranged the files by date, but just the last page was in the wrong position. He spotted it immediately and threw the files in front of me.