Ch. 346..350: Forbidden Heat R18 Chapter 346-350

Chapter 346: Reiner – Lessons from the Queen

I bet her son is popular too but just in a different way. Without looking her way, I heaved a sigh and decided to just focus on the road ahead. When I drove through the mansion’s gates, I prayed that Reiner wasn’t waiting for me. The evening had been more than pleasant, and I enjoyed myself greatly, the last thing that I needed was a lecture from Reiner on how I should pack up and go home.

When we arrived back to the mansion, Queen had sobered up somewhat. On top of all the qualities that I already admired her for, alcohol tolerance quickly joined the list. It was a great thing that Queen sobered up during our ride because when we walked to the entrance of the mansion, a very stern-looking Reiner was there waiting for us.

To my surprise, he didn’t say anything to me this time. Perhaps it was because I was with Queen. Queen was still tipsy and that presented me with the perfect opportunity to leave her with Reiner so that I could make my swift escape.

“She’s a little tipsy so, I’ll leave her to you...” I said as I pushed Queen slightly forward towards Reiner.

Reiner looked down at his mother and then looked straight at me. He didn’t look impressed.

“Where did you take her?” Reiner asked his mother.

I bit my tongue thinking that he probably knew that I wouldn’t tell him where I went just like the last time. That was probably why he decided to ask his mother.

“Girl’s night out. Guys...don’t need to know!” Queen replied followed by a high pitch laugh.

Great. Queen isn’t telling him either.

“Good night, Queen. I better head off to my room now,” I quickly excused myself.

“Wait...” Reiner called after me.

“Let her go,” Queen hissed.

I quickly walked away before Reiner might decide to come after me. Thanks to Queen, I made it safely back to my room without any incident. After taking off my clothes and taking a shower, I reminded myself that I had to thank her for saving my ass back there. I’ll do that tomorrow or the next time that we meet. Talking about tomorrow, I’m signing my job contact already. My very first fulltime job. This is amazing!

...

“Don’t follow her,” Queen hissed with evident annoyance as she grabbed on to her son’s arm.

“Where did you two go?” Reiner demanded to know.

Queen heaved a sigh before looking up at Reiner’s face.

“I took her out for drinks at a bar. That’s all,” Queen said like it was no big deal.

“Natalia’s been coming back late almost every night lately. Do you know where she went?” Reiner asked.

“Hmm...and why would you want to know that?” Queen teased as she narrowed her eyes knowingly at her son.

“Just tell me if you know something,” Reiner muttered.

Queen heaved another sigh at her son’s stubbornness.

“I’m surprised you haven’t tracked her...” Queen said with an amused smile.

“She would get mad if she found out,” Reiner said softly.

“You know, baby. I don’t know why you’re making this so hard for yourself and for Natalia,” Queen said, sounding tired.

Reiner was silent for a moment as if he was deciding what to say to his mother.

“I...still believe that it would be best for her if she goes back home,” he replied honestly.

Queen sighed again before shaking her head from side to side. She held up a hand in front of her face like she couldn’t take it anymore.

“Listen, sweetie. Natalia doesn’t want to go back. She wants to stay here, and she’s been working her ass off to make that happen. I guess she didn’t tell you this and maybe I shouldn’t as well but...Natalia just got a fulltime job. She’s going to start working very soon. In case you haven’t figured it out, that means that she’s going to be on this island for a while whether you like it or not,” Queen said sternly.

Her serious and deeper tone of voice quickly replaced her usual light and carefree tone. The way she spoke and the solemness in her eyes made her look years older than she usually did. For a moment, she looked serious and mature beyond her age.

“She got a job?” Reiner asked cluelessly.

“Yes, she did...” Queen replied firmly with a nod of her head.

“I see...” Reiner murmured.

“Why are you so desperate to push her away?” Queen asked with furrowed brows as she stared up at her son’s face.

“I don’t know. I still think that life would be better for her if she returned from where she came from,” Reiner said.

Queen could sense some hesitation in his voice, and she smirked.

“King, your father, used to want the same thing for me. If I had did what he wanted and returned back to my old life, where would you be now, I wonder...” Queen said followed by a laugh.

Reiner didn’t quite know how to respond, and Queen didn’t have anymore to say to him. With a disappointed sigh, Queen turned on her heels and starting walking away towards the direction of her bedroom.

“You don’t need to walk me. This old woman can walk herself to her bedroom...” Queen said sarcastically.

“Yes, ma’am,” Reiner said softly as he watched his mother’s back.

After a couple of steps forward, Queen turned around to face her son once more.

“Oh, since you’re my stupid son, I’m going to tell you this. No woman in her right mind would stay on this island because of some job that she got. You keep pushing her away and some tall, hot, buff and hot...I said hot twice...guy will come along and sweep her off her feet. If you can’t even figure out why the hell she’s still here...well, then, maybe you can be King’s son. I don’t need you as my son anymore...” Queen said bitterly before turning on her heels once again.

Chapter 347: Reiner – First Day at Work

**A week later**

Despite my big talks and dreams of moving out, I’m still stuck at the mansion with no solid idea of where to actually rent a place. At least, I’ve completed signing the job contract and the first day of work is already tomorrow. A week flew by in a blink of an eye and suddenly it seemed like my real adult life is finally going to start. I’ve always dreamt about my first day of work as a fulltime employee and I had to say that the dream didn’t quite include working on a private island at an agency dealing with mercenary services.

Well, not everybody gets their dream job, right?

The truth was I looked forward to starting work tomorrow and I was so excited. The other person who was so excited for me was Queen. She was so excited that she made me go around shopping with her for the past three days. Queen helped me pick out my work clothes and ended up paying for everything. Of course, I promised to pay her back when I got my first paycheck.

“You need to get your priorities right, honey. You can pay me back whenever; your first paycheck is supposed to be special. So, save it or use it for something that you really need...or want,” Queen said generously.

“I think we ended up buying too many clothes...” I mumbled as I eyed the multiple shopping bags on the floor.

“Just blame it on me and my wrong ways. So, yea, you don’t even need to pay me back,” Queen said with a laugh.

It was clear that she didn’t regret a thing that she did. Queen seemed to live a good and happy life. Surprisingly, King wasn’t around much, and I surmised that that was probably because he was busy with work at his company.

“Does King work at the company? He’s hardly at the mansion, right?” I asked with interest.

“Yes, he does. There’s so much going on there and very few people to help him. He comes back late and leaves early in the morning. You were wondering why you haven’t seen much of him, right?” Queen replied like it was just the usual.

“Right, I see...” I murmured.

I wondered if Reiner would be equally busy when he took over. Since that encounter last week, I haven’t seen Reiner either.

That night I went to bed early because I had to get up extra early for orientation day. Although I spent the entire night trying, I couldn’t get a wink of sleep. I woke up with dark bags under my eyes. One look in the mirror and I was convinced that the day would end in disaster. Thankfully, I had the right make up to save the day.

...

There’re so many people here. I knew that the building was huge which meant that many people worked here but I didn’t expect this many new recruits. Looking around, I saw many young and pretty women and wondered if they were hired as secretaries too. Most of the other recruits seemed to be men in ordinary business suits.

“Attention everyone. We are about to start the orientation session now so please take a seat. The session will last for three hours and will be followed by a lunch break. After lunch at the company’s cafeteria, we will split you into small groups and a member from HR will give you a tour of the company. After the tour, everyone will return here where a member from your department or your mentor will be here to receive you and tell you a little about your work. The real work starts tomorrow, bright and early...so please enjoy your orientation day. Welcome to our company,” an old lady announced through the microphone.

I particularly liked how precise and concise she was with her word and message. It was great to know what was expected of me and what was going to take place. That being said, the three-hour lecture that followed was a pain. Full stop.

After a lunch that tasted standard but was surprisingly affordable, we were ushered back into the auditorium where we were this morning. Just like the woman had said, we were split into groups of around ten people and the tour of the company started. After around an hour or so of walking around the various floors of the large building, my mind was struggling to keep up with where everything was. There were just too many departments and that made me realize that this company was way more complex than I could have ever imagined.

“This is the secretarial department. Any secretaries here?” my guide asked.

I quickly raised my hand along with the woman next to me. We then turned to smile at each other.

“Well, this is officially where your department is, and you’ll be working here when your boss doesn’t need you. Most of the time though, you’ll be with your boss or at your other table that is right in front of his or her private office,” the guide explained.

I paid extra attention to the floor and location of my own department. That was something that I had to remember and couldn’t afford to mess up.

The tour came to an end, and we were brought back to the auditorium. I had to admit that so far, I liked the tour part the most. It was much better than sitting in the same seat for three hours. Plus, I felt like I needed the toilet. Thankfully, that was towards the end of the three hours.

When I got back to the auditorium, the place was organized a little differently than before. Most noteworthy was the fact that there were signs of department names. I didn’t need further explanation for me to know that I had to walk towards the person that was holding up the ‘Secretarial Department’ sign.

“Right. According to the list that I have there should be four of you...” the woman who was holding the sign said as her eyes counted the people standing around her.

Chapter 348: Reiner - Knight

Not surprisingly, all four new secretaries were all women. I looked around at the excited faces of the other young women and wondered if I had the exact same look on my face.

“Great. We’re all here. Thank you for being on time. Needless to say, as part of the secretarial staff, we are expected to do everything on time. Well now this is the moment that you’ve all been waiting for. Who will be your partner manager? In other words, who’s going to be your boss?” the woman said animatedly.

Her hand then flipped over the board that she was holding to reveal a simple table with two columns that was printed on the other side of the board. The first column was the secretary’s name and the second was the manager’s name.

I wasn’t told anything about this before and so I had no idea and was very surprised when I saw all ‘names’ in the managers’ column were all codenames. Maybe it was my fault for overlooking the details. Since King was also a codename, I should have expected other managers at his company to operate under a codename as well.

Still, what’s the point of knowing just the code name of your boss if you don’t even know who the person is?

I looked at the codename of the manager that was on the same row as my name. So, this guy’s, I assume he’s a guy, codename is Knight. Great. Just like chess pieces. I wondered for a while if that was intentional and soon decided that it probably was.

“Excuse me but...when do we get to meet our boss?” I asked.

I pray that I’ll get along with this Knight person. I’m going to work so hard to please him and make sure that I support him in everyway possible. I’m going the become the best secretary in the world!

“Tomorrow I will personally lead all of you to your manager’s office. So, meet me at the secretarial department at the start of the day and I’ll take you from there. Anyone not sure where the secretarial department is?” the woman asked.

Everyone was silent and the woman smiled with satisfaction and nodded.

That marked the official end of the orientation day and my first day at work.

...

During my drive back to the mansion, I began thinking that it might be a good idea to find out something about my future boss. If I knew something about him such as his working style, his personality, his beliefs, and any other relevant facts, it might help us get along well. In addition, I could adapt my working style to fit his or avoid the things that he didn’t like.

After parking my car at the mansion’s parking lot, I entered the mansion and decided to try my luck at finding Queen and asking her. There’s a good chance that Queen might know the identity of Knight, my future boss. If she does, then maybe she could give me a good head start by telling me something about him. Luck seemed to be on my side because Queen was relaxing on a sofa in the sitting room.

“Hey, Queen...” I said as I approached her.

“Natalia. You’re back already? How was your first day at work?” she asked cheerfully.

I sat down on the sofa opposite from hers.

“Great but the real work hasn’t really started yet. Today was just orientation...” I replied honestly.

“I’m sure that you’ll do great tomorrow as well,” Queen said, carefreely.

“Umm...actually, I have a question for you,” I said, getting right to the point.

“Sure, ask away!” Queen replied enthusiastically.

“The thing is we received our pairings today. You know, they pair a secretary to a manager that’s going to be her boss,” I explained.

“Yup. I know that. So, who did you get?” Queen asked with intense interest.

“I got a manager called Knight. It’s obviously a codename so I was wondering if you know the person and you know...if you do, can you tell me what he or she is like? I’m assuming he’s a guy though...just from the codename,” I said hopefully.

“Sorry, dear but I have no idea who Knight is. So many new managers have joined the company that I’ve lost track. You’re right, I’m quite sure he’s man as well. There are very few female managers in the company so I would be surprised if you got paired up with one,” Queen said apologetically.

I see, so no luck in getting some head start on how to deal with my boss then...

“Thank you, Queen. It doesn’t really matter. I was just curious, that’s all. I’ll be meeting my boss tomorrow anyways,” I said with a smile.

“I love your enthusiasm. Keep up the good work!” Queen cheered me on.

“Thank you. Good night,” I said as I got up from the sofa.

“Good night, Natalia! Sleep tight!” Queen yelled happily as she waved at me.

I smiled and waved back at her before taking my leave.

...

The next day, I was so excited about work that I arrived at the office way earlier than the official start time. Although I was early, the building was already packed with people who had arrived for work. The coffee shop and bakery on the first floor was busy and lines had started to form in front of the elevators’ entrance. I joined the line of the elevator that would climb to my desired floor.

After arriving at the right floor, I still had some time left so I decided to go to the toilet to calm my nerves. Checking my make up and my outfit in the mirror one last time helped to assure myself that I looked decently presentable. They say that first impression counts a lot at work, and I was determined to present my new boss with the best first impression ever.

By the time I arrived at the secretarial department, two of the other new secretaries have already arrived as well. A bit later, the final girl joined us to complete the group of four.

Chapter 349: Reiner - My New Boss

“Thank you for making it on time. Ready for the first day of real work? Follow me this way, I’ll drop you girls off at your managers’ office one by one. First, let us drop Nicole off first since her manager’s office is the closest to here,” the woman from yesterday said.

Everyone was clearly excited and perhaps a little anxious about meeting their new bosses for the first time. The codename and the mystery surrounding the identity of the managers only added to the tension. As luck or the locations of the managers’ office were to have it, I ended up being the last girl left after we had sent off the other three girls.

“Only you left now. Are you excited, Natalia?” the woman asked with a pleasant smile.

“A little...” I replied.

“Sorry that you had to be the last one, but your manager’s office is furthest away. This way please,” the woman said before leading the way.

She was right, the office we were heading to was a slightly long walk away after an elevator ride that transcended many floors. Finally, the woman came to stop at a very large pair of doors.

“This is Knight’s personal office. Beyond this door you will find one desk and that is yours. There is another pair of doors inside just like this one that will lead you to Knight’s personal office where he works,” the woman explained.

I nodded in understanding. So now what? Do I just go in there alone?

That seemed to be the case because the woman did not take a step forward or act like she was going to open the door at all.

“Good luck. I hope you enjoy working for our company. Of course, if you have any issues or concerns, you can reach me at the secretarial department,” she said and then left.

I stood in front of the door before I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath. This is it. I can do this! I can do this!

Compose yourself, Natalia!

While praying that my new boss wouldn’t be an overly strict or nagging person with an unbearable personality, I pushed opened the door. The room beyond had a worktable, some paintings of flowers on the wall as decoration and a set of sofas which were probably meant to be used by people waiting to see the boss in the next room.

Slowly, I tiptoed across the room to the other pair of double doors that would lead me to the boss’s private office. I breathed in a deep breath and held it before lifting my first up and knocking softly on the door.

“Come in,” a muffled voice said from the other side of the door.

My boss new boss is a man. That’s all that I could make out from the voice. Well, I had expected that anyways, so this new piece of information wasn’t exactly new.

Here I go!

Firmly, I pushed open the doors and walked with my backstraight into the room. The room was large and decorated in tones of grey. There was a large black leather sofa set and various decorations such as a flower vase, paintings on the walls and at the end of the room, there was a large wooden table. That was the boss’s desk. The large leather chair at the desk was turned the other way. Since I couldn’t see the boss anywhere in the room, I guessed that he must be sitting in the large leather chair that was turned with its back to me.

The view beyond the large glass wall behind the desk caught my eye. You could see the view of the business district from here. The sky was a perfect blue, and everything looked like it sparkled in the sunlight. The boss was also looking at this impressive view. I wondered if he got bored of seeing it every day from his office like this.

“Excuse me, I’m your new secretary...” I began saying as I tried to sound humble and polite.

There was a slight pause and then the leather chair started rotating around as the boss began turning to face me. For some reason, I felt so anxious and couldn’t refrain from biting my lower lip. It must have been just a second for the chair to completely turn around to face me, but it felt like forever. Everything seemed to move in slow motion. The only thing that was racing fast was my own heartbeat.

It was like the air in the room stopped moving. My body froze in place and my face felt numb. All sounds escaped my ears except the loud thud of my own rapidly beating heart. Then everything escaped my vision, and the world became dark, all except for the man that now had his body and face turned towards me as he sat on the large leather chair behind the table.

It felt like time stopped along with the beating of my heart.

“Why are you here?” I asked in pure shock.

“What are you doing here?” he asked as his eyes narrowed at me.

We asked our questions exactly at the same time and then an uncomfortable silence followed.

“That’s impossible...You’re Knight?” I asked in disbelief as my body froze in place.

But...Queen...she said that she didn’t know...

This can’t be happening. This is all just a big and bad mistake. I kept telling me these things but no matter how many times I blinked my eyes in disbelief, the man just wouldn’t disappear. It seemed like he was as shocked at this unexpected situation as I was. We continued to stare into each other’s eyes like we both didn’t know what to do or what else to say. A sinking feeling filled my stomach and my chest tightened.

“Yes, I’m Knight,” the man replied a little coldly after a short while of silence.

My lips and throat felt dry. I wasn’t sure if I could speak anymore so I decided not to say anything as my mind raced to find some kind of solution. Is it possible to request for a change of partners at this point? Can I ask one of the new girls to switch places with me?

Chapter 350: Reiner - Please Call me Natalia

As these thoughts ran through my head, his piercing blue eyes continued to stare at me from where he was seated behind the table.

“Maybe this is some kind of mistake...” I mumbled.

“I wish that it was too because as far as I’m concerned, you should be heading back home. Isn’t that right, Natalia?” Reiner said with a displeased smirk.

I narrowed my eyes at him to show my own displeasure. Who would have thought that I would end up with Reiner as my boss of all people?!

There were just too many issues related to this problem that I didn’t know where to start. Firstly, he used to be my butler. Secondly, because he used to be my butler, I knew that there was nothing that I could do that he couldn’t. He probably did everything better than I could ever do them. Last but definitely not least, he didn’t want me here. At all.

“I know that you don’t want me here so...maybe you can request for the secretarial department to swap me with another secretary...” I suggested in a small voice.

Reiner sighed softly before he slowly got up from his seat. Walking around the table, he slowly approached me until he was standing right in front of me. He looked down at me and I looked up directly into his blue eyes. It’s been a while since I’ve been this close and alone with him. I wouldn’t say that I was scared or intimidated, it just felt slightly strange.

Slowly, Reiner lifted his hand up towards my face. My body froze in place as my eyes glanced down just as his fingertips removed a strand of my hair away from my face.

“If you can’t work for me, why don’t you just quit this job and go home just like I’ve always told you to?” Reiner said softly yet sternly.

Without thinking, my hand automatically moved and smacked his hand away from my face. I glared at him as I gritted my teeth together in anger. Did he just tell me to quit my job? It’s my first day here on the job, how dare he tell me to quit?!

“I am not going to quit my job. Even if I do, it won’t be because of you...” I said determinedly.

“I see. Well then, I look forward to working with you, my new secretary,” Reiner replied with a smile.

He’s definitely looking down on me and it’s not simply because he is much taller. He’s looking down on me and my skills. It’s not just my imagination, he’s smirking at me because he thinks that I can’t do my job right. I’m going to prove him wrong even if it costs me my life!

“I’m going to succeed at this job. Just you wait and see!” I declared loud and clear as I glared up into his freaking beautiful blue eyes.

“Don’t be so full of yourself. I bet you can’t even make a cup of decent coffee for the guest,” Reiner scoffed at me.

“Even I can do that!” I snapped.

Even if my coffee won’t ever taste as good as the ones that he can make...but still...

Reiner raised a brow curiously at me.

“Didn’t they teach you not to snap at your boss? Don’t tell me that this is the best you can do to show your new boss some respect...” Reiner teased as he looked down at me.

This is insane! I want to snap back at him so badly, but I can’t. This is so frustrating! How dare he talk to me like that? He’s mocking me again!

No, Natalia. You must hold it in. If you get mad, you’ll be playing right into his hands.

“I’m sorry, Sir...” I whispered in a small and submissive voice.

“You can call me Knight,” he replied.

“Please call me Natalia,” I replied as if this was the first time that we were meeting.

At that moment, I wondered if things would have been different between us if we had met this way instead. What if he never left his island and we didn’t share any unfortunate history? What if we just met like normal people did for the first time at our workplace? If everything was as simple as that, would things be different between Reiner and me?

“Do you need me for anything right now? If not, I’ll be on standby just outside your door...” I said as a way to excuse myself.

My mind feels like a mess and some alone time is probably what I needed most right now to collect the pieces of myself together again.

“No. You may leave,” Reiner replied but his eyes never left my face.

“Thank you...” I mumbled.

...

My legs felt like jelly once I exited Reiner’s office and shut the door firmly closed behind me. I leaned on the door to keep myself from slipping down into a puddle on the floor. Did that really just happen?

I applied for a job here and somehow, I ended up as Reiner’s secretary. With the many things that had been going on plus the fact that I’ve been trying my best to avoid him, I didn’t even know that he had started working at his father’s company. Well, perhaps it was to be expected that he would have to start working here sooner or later. It made sense, that was probably part of the main reason why he came back to this island and his home in the first place.

My shaky legs took me to the chair behind what was now my worktable. I flopped down onto the chair and banged my forehead softly down on the table. My head hurts. Now that I think about it, I wondered what kind of job Reiner did. He’s supposed to be one of the managers at this company now too. My eyes glanced over to the closed door, and I prayed that he wouldn’t come walking out of there.

The truth was that I knew that I couldn’t keep on avoiding Reiner forever. Some way or another, I’m going to have to come up with a way to work well with him. Having Reiner as my boss will probably be very troublesome; however, I could imagine many versions of worst bosses for sure. This wasn’t so bad, I guess.