Alex had this thought for a while now, but he never asked. George was not a native of the city of Elenor. He was not born and raised here, but about ten years ago, the Rutherfords shifted here. Alex knew this part of the story, but from where, why and what was their life before Elenor? Alex had no idea. And to give Alex credit, he never asked.
But now that they were on this topic, Alex had the urge to inquire. That was why he blurted that out.
Hearing Alex, the smile on George’s face stiffened as he looked at Alex, “I...” George hesitated. He scratched his forehead and looked around, trying to give himself some time.
It did not take George more than a few seconds to be back to his usual self. The smile was back on his face as he looked at Alex, “Why do you ask?”
“Auhh... Nothing in particular,” Alex shrugged, “I was just curious. What was your life before Elenor, why did you choose to settle here, and where are you guys from? I don’t even know that.” Alex told George, “I mean, I don’t remember anything about myself, but at least I should know about you guys. Don’t you think?”
.....
“Ohh...” George nodded, understanding Alex’s chain of thoughts. “Well, I will tell you all about it over some drinks.” George smiled, ” I have a lot of tales in my archive.”
Since George was not so keen on spilling the beans, Alex did not push further, and the two of them walked inside the building.
As soon as they entered, Alex felt deja vu, and he knew why. This place was a mini version of Theation in itself. As he watched girls dressed in skirts way above their knees walk in front of him, with their shaking butts and bouncing racks, his eyes could not help but open wide.
Wherever he turned his gaze, there were female employees. As Alex was sizing them up, everyone else was also looking at Alex. Partly because of his looks, but more so because George was standing beside him. Everyone was curious about the tall, handsome guy standing beside their boss.
When George saw the surprise on Alex’s face, he could not hide his glee. With his index finger, he gently closed Alex’s slightly open mouth, and with a tone filled with pride, said, “There are currently a hundred and nineteen employees in my company, excluding the security, of course...”
“...Out of that hundred and nineteen, only thirty-five are men, he... he... he...” George gave Alex a perverted smile and winked, “The rest are flowers I have planted for you to pluck... It’s all up to you now to choose the most fragrant one...”
Alex was brought out of his stupor, hearing George. Embarrassed, Alex looked around before putting some distance between himself and his father. He didn’t want anyone to know the conversation between them and put him in the same bracket as his pervy father.
George, on seeing Alex back away, grabbed his son by his arm and pulled him towards himself.
With his trademark mischievous smile, George gave Alex a nudge as he commented, “What are you embarrassed about? Didn’t I tell you this last time? I am investing so much to make this a paradise all because of you...”
The smile on George’s face grew wider and somewhat sinister, “Finally, this garden will have its caretaker,” George said, patting Alex’s shoulder and shaking his head. If Alex didn’t know better, he would have been tricked into believing that George genuinely did it all for him.
When George saw Alex looking at him unimpressed, he had a rough idea of what Alex was thinking, and he did not mind it much. As the two of them made their way to the topmost level, they were greeted by Matthew, George’s secretary.
Alex had met Matthew several times and had a fairly good impression of the latter. Matthew was about an inch taller than Alex. With his skin tone a shade fairer than Alex and pitch-black hair. If not for the fact that he was on the skinnier side, he would have been more popular than Alex among the ladies. Alas, Alex had never heard of him dating anyone. Even Alex felt that he was quite a catch, but no one appreciated him.
Apart from being good looking, Matthew was one heck of a funny guy. Whenever he was around, there was never a dull moment. Those rectangular framed glasses on his long face did make him look serious, but it was totally misleading. Alex did try to talk him into wearing those round, thin-rimmed, Harry Potter glasses for a change, but... Well, never mind. One could only lead the thirsty to the well. It was all up to the thirsty if he wanted to drink the water or not.
“Oh... Matthew... It’s good that you are here,” George said, patting him on his shoulder, “Look, who is here?”
Matthew nodded, looking at George, then turned his attention towards Alex, “Long time no see, pretty boy,” Matthew greeted Alex with delight.
“Look, who’s calling me a pretty boy?” Alex said, shaking his head, “Alas, these are the days we live in. The heartthrob of countless men is teasing me.”
As they joked around with one another, George intervened, “Yeah... Yeah... Lovebirds, good thing I made arrangements in the company. You guys won’t have to spend money getting a room.” George said with a smirk.
“Look, someone’s jealous...” Alex pointed out to Matthew as he eyed towards George.
“Whatever,” George brushed off Alex’s comment with a wave of his hand and looked at Matthew, “Let’s have everyone gather in front of the reception. I want to introduce Alex to everyone,” George said, “And, one more thing, have them close the entrance. I would prefer if there were only employees present.” George further instructed.
Matthew nodded and walked away from there, typing something on his phone.
“Come, let me show you around,” George said as he gestured to Alex with his hand towards the elevator, “We have added a couple of new things since the last time you were here.”
As they got off a floor down, George introduced while he nodded towards the female employee who just greeted him, “This is the game room. Though this was supposed to be the testing site for the games, whenever someone is having a bad day, they can come here and kill some zombies.” George tried to joke. Though the joke was a bad one, Alex really liked the idea of having the game room. He had no idea how much it affected the efficiency of the employees, but it was really a fun thing to have.
“Employees can log in using their employee credentials but can play no more than half an hour,” George further explained, “I can’t always keep an eye on them. So, there had to be some limit.”
Alex nodded. It was the right thing to do. Since the company is taking care of their leisure time, they need to work with twice the enthusiasm.
“But don’t worry, if you log in using my credentials, there is no limit,” George said and then leaned towards Alex as he whispered, “I know how much you like playing games. This room was set up especially for you.
So just chill while you are here. No need for you to work that hard.”
Alex could not help but smile. His father never ceases to amaze him. Shaking his head, they moved forward.in????????????????????.????????????
Though the building was not tall and just three stories, the area occupied was humongous. As they moved forward, there was also a small gym, a massage parlour, and if the employees had a pet, there was also a pet house. Other than that, for employees with kids who can’t be left alone at home. There was also a kid’s corner with a babysitter to look after them.
For such a small company compared to Theation, George had made sure that the amenities provided to the employees were not lacking in the least.
“I am sure everything other than the library and the kid’s centre is there for your own pleasure,” Alex looked at George and said, “Employees are a convenient excuse for you to use.”
“Huh... Casting pearls before swine,” George looked at Alex in disdain as he said, “Can’t even appreciate my goodwill.”
Touring the floors as Alex and George made their way down to the reception, quite a few people were already there. A few more walked in along with them.
Alex followed behind George as the two of them stood in front of the crowd. George did not begin right away, but he continued to wait for more and more employees to join them.
After a while, when George felt that most of them were there, he cleared his throat, making the low buzz in the crowd to die down, “You all must be wondering, why me, your one and only, the coolest boss ever, has asked you all to gather here on such a short notice?” George said as he pulled up his shoulders, trying to act cool, “Hmmm... You guys are curious, aren’t you?”
‘Fuck...’ That was all Alex could think of at that moment. Never... Even in his wildest dreams, Alex had never thought that George would be so narcissistic, even at work.
But everyone else in the crowd only smiled. It was as if the employees were long used to George acting this way.
“Now, without further ado, allow me to introduce you to the man you all have been wanting to meet for so long. My eldest son and the new COO of the company, Alex... Rutherford...” George said as he moved to the side, and with his arms wide open, pointed towards Alex.
There was pin-drop silence. No one moved a muscle. Everyone was surprised by the announcement. And it was not just the employees. Even Alex was shocked to learn that he was now the new COO of the company. He just entered the company through the back door and was made the new COO? Does this make sense? Well, if the company belongs to your father, maybe.
As the awkward silence stretched, Matthew tried to save Alex some face and came forward, starting to applaud. The sound of clapping brought everyone else out of their stupor, and with a wave, the reception resounded with clapping sounds.
Alex also stepped forward and, when the applauding slowly came to a halt, greeted everyone, “Hello everyone. I hope we get along and strive to add a couple of more stories to this building,” Alex said, smiling.
It didn’t matter if it was a bad PJ or not, but a few ladies began to applaud harder than before as they cheered for Alex hearing his voice. Alex has always managed to build a soft corner among the ladies. This was already the case in the PR department, and it was the same here. It was nothing new for him.
“Now... now... settle down. I know you are all thrilled to have this cutie here,” George’s remark was followed by cheers from the ladies.
As he heard his own father call him a cutie, Alex’s face could not help but twitch.
“But, what I am going to announce next is even better.” George ignored the bitter gaze Alex gave him, “On account of my son joining our company, we are going on a company retreat.”
‘What the Fuck...’
* * * * *
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