Chapter 3 Hired

• Luke led me to the floor of the Editorial Department. He mentioned they called them E-team. In this department, there are 23 members, including the Editor-in-Chief, which is me.
• But only 10 of them were here in front of me now. The Assistant editor-in-chief, managing director, creative director, art director, head photographer, senior editor, head writer, photo editor, copy chief, and research chief are here.
• “Everyone, this is Ms. Ashley Rodriguez, your new Editor-in-chief.” Luke introduced me to my colleagues. I immediately fixed myself and stood up properly. I should look intimidating to them, so they would take me seriously, but the real thing is... I felt really shaken. I feel so nervous! Most of them are in their mid-thirties or forties, and here I am 23, and I’ll be commanding them what to do. They might not like that I am younger.
• “This is Ms. Abby De Guzman. She is the Assistant Editor-in-Chief. She will assist you.” I nodded and mouthed my thanks. He turned his gaze to Abby.
• “Ms. De Guzman, kindly introduce Ms. Rodriguez to the team and also take her on a tour around the building...” Abby nodded and grinned widely at Luke.
• “I shall go now, Ms. Ashley. Enjoy the rest of your day.” He excused himself and left.
• “Hi, Ma’am,” Abby greeted happily. She looks approachable, and I hope we will get along.
• Abby introduced the E-Team.
• “This is Mr. Daniel Buenaventura, the managing director.” She pointed to a man in his late 20s. He is tall and masculine. He looks handsome too. But Mr. Harry Moon is much more handsome than him. I smirked at that thought.
• “This is Meriam Arguelles, the Creative Director.” she pointed out to the woman, wearing a maroon off-shoulder bodycon dress, with her hair tied into a high ponytail, a light make-up that compliments her natural beauty makes her gorgeous. She looked like Selena Gomez! She was looking at me with a smile on her face. ‘Arghh… Why is she so gorgeous? I envied her…’ I thought.
• “This is Joshua Lopez, our Art Director.” She pointed to the tall man I think is in his late 20s.“
• “Steven Lao is the Head Photographer.” An old man wearing a blue knitted sweater, underneath was a white long sleeve with a black bow tie on his neck. He even wore a black Breton hat. His face had wrinkles on his forehead and has a mustache peppered with streaks. He looks like he was in his 40s,
• “Mr. Robert Dela Cruz, our senior editor.” He is a big guy with eyeglasses. He gives the impression that he is brusque, but he looks kind.
• “Mrs. Amara Jackson, the Head Writer.” She pointed out to the woman, whom I think is pregnant, but I don’t want to assume, just in case she just ate too much.
• “Jordan Fuentes photo editor.” He looks seriously handsome and has a bad boy look. “And these are the twins Michael Sanchez, the Copy Chief, and Mikaela Sanchez, Research Chief.” Michael, I think, is gay, but the twin looks bubbly.
• “Good morning. My real name is Ashtrella Rodriguez, but you can call me Ashley. I am looking forward to working with you!” I gave them my sweetest smile. As Abby introduced them, they nodded and greeted me one by one. After getting to know my team, Abby took me on a tour around the building. Our first stop was room B.
• “The 38th and 39th floors are the floors dedicated to the Editorial Department. Here on the 39th floor, we have the conference room for our department and your office.” my forehead furrowed.
• “Wait... There are three rooms here. What about the conference room we came from a while ago?” she smiled and shook his head.
• “We call it Room B. It’s called a brainstorming room, and we are the only ones who can enter that room, together with the people you’ve met... So if you notice, it was a bit chaotic there. Subordinates or other staff are not allowed to enter that room, only the heads of the department are.” I nodded. That makes sense.
• “Shall we go to the 38th floor first?” We entered the elevator and immediately went to the said floor. The occupied staff immediately greeted us. This floor is full of cubicles and E-Team staff.
• “Here you can find the office for the head of each department. That room at the end is the office of the Head Photographer, where they also edit their shoots. We also have our own studio on the 37th floor if they shoot the photos indoors. We will go there later.”
• “On your left, the room next to the photographers’ office, are storerooms... Props for the photoshoot are in that room. Here are the photocopying machines.” She pointed to a large room on the right where we were standing. There are no more receptionists here. Everyone is busy, but they work quietly, and all that we could hear are their movements. I turned my gaze to Abby when she led the way to the elevator again.
• “Let us go to the 37th floor,” she said. When we got to the said floor, she was right about this photoshoot studio. There is a room that I think was the dressing room. We headed back to our office, which is on the 39th floor, while she was still talking.
• “On the 36th floor is the function hall where all staff gathers for events like the Christmas party or the company’s anniversary. On the 35th and 34th floor is the accounting department, 33rd is the HR department, 32nd is the storeroom where magazines are kept. Previous issues there as well, so if you want to see the older editions of the magazines, you can check on the 32nd floor. The 31st floor is the office of the admin department.
• 30th and 29th the printing department, where we print the magazine.
• 28th pantry area, 27th is the canteen.
• 26th, 25th, and 24th commercial studios with coffee shops, milk tea shops, and restaurants. The 23rd floor is the office of the COO, Ms. Madelaine Moon... Ms. M is what we usually call her. She is the sister of the CEO. On the 22nd is the security department, 21st is the clinic, 20th floor is SMI merchandise.“ My forehead creased. “A what?”
• “SMI merchandise store. Our company has its own merchants.” She said coolly. When we reached the 39th floor, we headed to my office immediately, and she opened the door for me as she continued talking.
• I mouthed my thanks, and we both sat on the couch. Abby continued talking.
• “On the 19th floor is another function room. The 18th to 15th floor is the office of other staff and secretaries of the board of directors, the 14th floor is the Board Of Director’s room where the BODs work when they visit here. The 13th floor is what we called the paper room. Where you can find the paper to be used in the magazine. That was set aside for security purposes.
• The CCTV office is on the 12th floor, where you can find CCTV monitors, and only security personnel is allowed. The 11th floor was the office of the CEO’s parents. On the 10th, the floor is a gaming room for any staff who are tired and want to unwind. They can play any kind of game there. The 9th floor is a gym, the 8th floor, and the 7th floor are the rooms where the staff can rest or sleep when they must do overtime. There are rooms and beds there.” She chuckled.
• “The maintenance department is on the 6th floor, the 5th floor to 3rd floor is another pantry and canteen. The 2nd floor is the screening room, where they are interviewing applicants who want to apply to join the company or for the models. We are often there for testing models, and of course, the 1st floor is the lobby. Basement 1-4 is the car park, since we have a lot of employees here, so we are expecting a lot of cars...” she shrugged. She looked around at my office.
• “This is your office, Miss Ashley. Mine is the room connected to yours.” She pointed to the door on the left side of my office. I looked around, and the color scheme was mostly a mix of cream, white, and a touch of brown. My desk was an ordinary desk, and I had a swivel chair. There were four chairs laid out in front of it. There were two bookshelves and three other doors that I wondered where they led to.
• Abby pointed out the door that led to her office, which was located on the left. On the right side, the door led to my restroom/powder room, and the last door led to the mini-pantry. Where there is a mini-refrigerator, an electric stove, and a coffeemaker. There is also a magazine stand next to my desk. I also have a coffee table placed near the floor-to-ceiling glass window, just like the office-of-the-CEO, and there is a couch where we are sitting. Compared to my previous work, my office here is way bigger and grander.
• I turned to Abby as she spoke, I raised a brow. “Miss Ashley, are you going to start work today?” I shook my head.
• “Not yet. Tomorrow is my first day.” I smiled, and she just nodded.
• “Thank you for giving me the tour,” I said sincerely.
• “No need to thank me. It is my job to assist you.” She smiled cheekily. She cocked her head to the side. “I hope you don’t mind, but how old are you, Ms. Ashley?”
• “Oh! I’m 23 years old.” She was taken aback.
• “It means I’m a year older than you?! I’m 24.” She gasped. “But you are too young to be our new EC. Ma’am Arlene, the former Editor-in-Chief. She was in her late 40s. She got fired because Sir Harry is so strict. He always has high expectations when it comes to our department.” She was suddenly sad.
• “I graduated at a very young age because I was accelerated. And I already have experience as an EC.” She nodded.
• I heaved a sigh before I stood up.
• “So... It’s nice to meet you, Abby, and I hope we’ll get along together.” I smiled and raised my hand to give her a handshake. She grabs my hand enthusiastically. “I’m looking forward to working with you, Ms. Ashley.”