The first few days at Kingsley Tech Group went by in a quiet rhythm for Arabella. She focused on learning the ropes—absorbing processes, writing clean code, and staying out of unnecessary interactions. Her desk was tucked near the back of the development floor, which suited her just fine.
Arabella liked things she could understand—logic, structure, silence. People weren't always that easy.
By Thursday, the tech department was pulled into a short meeting regarding a new AI assistant project the company planned to pitch. Mr. Caldwell, their floor manager, stood near the screen as he addressed them.
"We're not reinventing the wheel here. The product's core is done, but we want sharper internal tools—like smart rerouting, sentiment flagging, and predictive scripts. If you've got any ideas, pitch in."
Suggestions started floating around the table—most of them practical, rooted in past work.
Arablella just listened and mulled over every suggestion. She wanted to speak but also did not want to. When the conversation paused, Mr. Caldwell glanced toward Arabella, and said," You worked on similar projects before, right? Anything you want to suggest?"
Arabella hesitated, then replied quietly, "We could try integrating a lightweight sentiment detector. It wouldn't slow down response time and might help with rerouting emotional queries faster."
Caldwell nodded. "Noted. Add it to the suggestion list."
Then, they moved to next topic. For this, Arabella was glad and started relaxing and stared taking part in the discussion, speaking somewhat quietly.
On Friday, they compiled all the ideas into one formal document for executive review.
Now, it just needed the CEO's signature. But, Mr. Caldwell git a sudden call about some urgent meeting with a client. He looked around and spotted Arabella and caled her over. He handed her the file and said,
"Can you drop this off with the CEO's assistant? We need it to get signed by the CEO."
Arabella blinked. "Me?"
"Yeah, I gotta sudden meeting and might get late. Just pass it over."
Arabella clutched the file like it might bite. Still, she nodded.
The executive floor was a different world—sleek, expensive, and far too quiet. She walked to the assistant's desk only to find it empty A sticked note said 'Be back soon'.
Arabella waited for some time but the assistant did nkt return. She debated putting the file on his table or entering the office herself.
In the end, she sighed and made the decision to enter the office because she could not just leave the file unattended here.
After a long breath, she knocked on the CEO's door, gently.
A pause, then: "Come in."
The door opened to reveal Damon Kingsley standing near his desk, sleeves rolled, no tie, eyes sharp. He turned mid-call, gave her a quick glance, then ended it.
His gaze flicked from her to the folder in her hands.
"Miss Pearls," he said, calm.
Her heart skipped a beat as heard him call her name.
She steadied herself and stepped forward. "I was told to bring this to your assistant. It needs your signature."
He took the folder, flipped it open, and scanned the pages silently. His fingers moved with practiced ease, and the room was too quiet.
Arabella stood awkwardly, hands clasped in front of her.
"You're on the team under Caldwell, right?"
"Yes, sir."
He signed the last page and returned the folder to her.
"That'll do."
She nodded. "Thank you."
As she turned to leave, she heard him speak again.
"You're quick on the learning curve."
She paused. "I'm just trying to do my job well, sir."
A small smile touched his lips. "That's all anyone expects."
Arabella left without another word, but her heart was drumming in her ears.
Was the CEO actually making small talk with her?
Behind her, Damon was also thinking about her.
He was getting intrigued by her quiet personality and dedication to her work, as he had observed for last few days.
He didn't know why but she always ended up having his attention without doing anything specific.
Now, as he watched her leave he wanted to tease her, make her squirm and flustered but he held back. It was not the time, not yet.