Jiang Ying Yue stepped out of the private elevator into a beautiful penthouse unit. The place looked elegant and luxurious without being ostentatious. She was greeted by a cute young man. He gave her a welcoming smile.
"Hello. You must be Miss Jiang. My name is Dominic Chua. I'm Boss―I mean Miss Long's assistant. We spoke on the phone last night."
She shook his offered hand. "Hello, Mr. Chua. Thank you for this opportunity."
"Please call me Dominic."
"Thank you, Mr. Dominic."
The young man gave a small cute pout before smiling again. He led her through the massive unit into what looked like a library.
Her mouth opened and her eyes widened seeing the amazing collection of books. They were even in different languages. She caught herself just in time to arrange her expression into a neutral one.
They walked further inside the library until she saw a beautiful young woman sitting behind a big, dark desk. The desk was made of a kind of wood that she hadn't seen before. The irregular wavy black lines on the wood made the desk look very exotic.
The young woman sat in front of a computer, her expression focused. Her slender fingers flew rapidly yet silently over the keyboard. She didn't appear to notice that they had arrived.
"Please take a seat, Miss Jiang."
She was offered a cup of hot lemongrass green tea. They waited for a little over five minutes before the young woman behind the desk finally glanced at them.
"Boss, this is Miss Jiang," Dom told the young woman.
"I know." Iris Long stood up and walked around the desk. "Thanks, Dom."
"No problem, boss. Ehehe."
Jiang Ying Yue also stood up and admired the young woman as she walked towards her. Iris Long was wearing a peach-coloured knitted sweater dress. The dress hugged her hour-glass body perfectly. Jiang Ying Yue envied the other's figure a little because her own figure was more on the muscular side. Nevertheless, she was proud of her muscles because she would rather look strong and powerful than delicate and weak.
"Hello, Jiang Ying Yue," Iris greeted her and shook her hand. "I've been looking forward to meeting you ever since I heard about you from my brother."
Jiang Ying Yue stiffened but managed to give a polite smile. "Hello, Miss Long. Thank you for this opportunity."
Iris nodded and gestured for her to sit back down while she also took a seat across her.
Jiang Ying Yue handed Dominic her résumé and Dominic passed it to Iris. Iris only took a cursory glance at the résumé before setting it down on the low table between them, not bothering to look at it again.
'Has she decided not to hire me anymore? Why isn't she taking a closer look at my résumé? If she has no intentions of hiring me, why bother inviting me for an interview in the first place? Maybe she's only doing this as a favour to her brother. Just doing the motions and wash her hands off me. I shouldn't have accepted this interview.'
"So when can you start working?" Iris suddenly asked.
Jiang Ying Yue couldn't process immediately process the question. What did she mean? Was she hiring her or not? She blinked, unable to quickly give an answer.
"Hm?" Iris tilted her head looking at her. "Is there a problem?"
"No!" she hurriedly replied. "I mean, no, there's no problem at all. I can start working any time."
"Good. I have a photo shoot later. We leave at lunch time." Iris stood up.
Eh? Jiang Ying Yue was confused. Was she hired or not?
"Dom, finalize the hiring procedure. I already signed the employment contract. I need to start getting ready." Then she turned to Jiang Ying Yue. "Go follow Dom. He'll introduce you to my other bodyguard who'll be your colleague from now on. He'll explain what you'll need to know when it comes to working as my bodyguard. There's another bodyguard but he's only a temporary one. He'll leave now that you're here." Iris briefly nodded and was about to leave.
Jiang Ying Yue felt dazed for a few moments before regaining her senses. "Wait! Miss Long, I… Are you hiring me?"
"Yes."
"B-but…you haven't even checked my résumé yet."
"I did."
"There's another page to my résumé. You didn't look at it yet. Miss Long, I really appreciate this opportunity but I would like to be hired based on my qualifications and skills, not just because I have a connection with your brother."
"Hmm…" Iris studied her quietly.
She almost squirmed under the young woman's gaze but fought against it, instead making her already ramrod straight back even straighter.
Iris finally spoke again. "Don't worry, Jiang Ying Yue. I already know about all of your qualifications, skills, experience and achievements beyond what's written on your résumé. What did you think I was doing in front of the computer earlier? Playing games?"
"Oh." Jiang Ying Yue knitted her brows. "Did your brother send my information to you in advance?"
Iris laughed like it was the funniest thing she had ever heard. "I don't need my brother or any other people to send me information. I can gather whatever information that I need on my own. And Jiang Ying Yue, it seems that you're misinterpreting something. Don't think that I hired you as a favour to my brother. I don't give a whit about his feelings. Although I admit that your connection to him interests me, I'm not going to hire someone just because of that. Whatever happened between the two of you is none of my business. From now on, you're my bodyguard. You now belong to this household which has nothing to do with my brother. As long as you do your job properly, I'll treat you well. That's all."
Jiang Ying Yue took several deep breaths. She couldn't describe what she was exactly feeling at the moment. She heard that Iris Long was a temperamental spoiled brat, so she already readied herself to deal with prima donna attitude typical to spoiled heiresses. But now, contrary to her expectations, she was faced with a no-nonsense Iris Long who acted like a real boss. She made a decision.
"Thank you very much, Miss Long," she said, bowing her head. "I'll do my best to protect you and to ensure your safety as your bodyguard."
"That's what I want to hear," Iris said, smiling gently.
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