Continental Courier Service III

After her first bite, Carolyn kept her expression from slipping, but the look in her eyes made it clear that she was enjoying the taste of the food. Although the skills she had displayed were enough for Rome to hire her, her endearing personality was an additional benefit.

Both of them had similar portions, and neither was a slow eater, so they finished their meals at around the same time.

"I think I already know the answer, but how was it?" Rome asked.

"Yes, it was delicious. The flavour, smell, presentation, I can tell that much thought was put into every aspect. I even feel a little bad for not paying."

"Hahaha, I'm glad to hear you liked it, but you don't have to feel too bad. Now that you've joined the company, you're helping make the food here too."

"Hmm?"

"There are some ways to keep fish fresh once you have it, but delivery is a different problem. From here to the nearest beach, most merchants would need at least five months to make a round trip. I don't think I need to tell you what would happen to the fish by then."

"Yes, that did make me wonder. How does the restaurant get fresh seawater fish?"

"You see that's... a secret."

"Mr. Rome."

Feeling as if she had been tricked, Carolyn frowned, but Rome only laughed at her pouting face.

"Haha, sorry, all I can tell you is that we're the ones that supply them to this restaurant, and it's not just here either. From important construction materials to a letter for a loved one, we deliver everything as long as there's an order and for the right price. That, is the Continental Courier Service, and as the Assistant Manager of the Alterna Kingdom - Amber branch, I, Rome Taylor, welcome you."

Leading up to the welcome, Rome's presence continuously grew; even if she wanted to, she couldn't ignore him. Still, she felt like she would lose if she didn't respond, so Carolyn straightened her posture and answered with a clear voice.

"I, Carol, look forward to working with you."

Carolyn was tempted to use her real full name, but she didn't let her competitiveness get the better of her, not that she was sure what she was feeling competitive about.

After the meal, Rome gave her more details regarding what her role would be as his secretary. The branch manager was rarely in the city, so most of the time Rome was the one that organized meetings and decided on all matters that would normally require the branch manager's approval. He was effectively the branch manager in all but name, so Carolyn wondered what the branch manager was doing, but that wouldn't affect her duties. Her role was to assist Rome in performing his executive duties, which mainly involved taking note of what happened during meetings, organizing paperwork, reminding Rome of his schedule and bringing any business matters that reached her ears to his attention.

It was a loosely defined job description, but Rome promised he wouldn't have her do anything too removed from administrative work. Once they were done discussing Carolyn's duties, the two left the restaurant and returned to the office to finish organizing the paperwork. Carolyn ordered the documents before Rome was done assigning priority to them and asked if he wanted her to do anything else, but he suggested, well, forced her to leave since the workday was over. As she looked at the door that had been closed in her face, Carolyn sighed. She felt uncomfortable leaving when she knew he would keep working, but he had already made his stance clear.

The sky was lit by the sunset when Carolyn left her new workplace and returned to the Wild Boar Inn. Eager to report her success to Margaret, she opened the door and was surprised to see who was at the front desk.

"Marco?"

"Welcome back, Carol. I heard about the job. Did it go well?"

He was fully clothed this time, but even while greeting her, Marco was squatting. She didn't know why he was so passionate about exercise, but she found his determination admirable.

"Ah, yes. Where's Miss Margaret? I have to thank her for introducing this job to me."

"Oh, Ma stepped out a while ago. She should be back by dinnertime though."

"I see, thank you."

Slightly deflated, Carolyn went up to her room and changed clothes. She didn't have to wear a uniform for work, but that meant she had to buy more clothes lest she risk embarrassing herself. She could push through the rest of the week since it would be hard to shop before, during or after work, but going shopping on the weekend was a must.

Carolyn felt tired after work, but she doubted she could wake up in time for dinner, so after changing clothes she returned downstairs to talk to Marco, who was now stretching.

"Marco, could you tell me about the Continental Courier Service?"

"Isn't that your new workplace? Shouldn't you know more about them than me?"

"Not really. I know what they do since I work there now, but I've never heard of them before coming to the city."

"Really? I haven't gone there, but there should be a branch in almost every territory."

"Wow, they really do live up to their name. Do they have a good reputation?"

"Definitely. I heard that there was some competition when they first started, but nowadays there's no one in the field that can touch them."

"I thought I had a good idea about their scale, but this is more than I expected. Is it really okay for me to work there?"'

"Why are you asking me? Uncle Rome is the one who hired you, so there's no problem. Have some confidence in yourself."

"Yes, you're right. Are you close to Mr. Rome?"

"Mhmm. He's a regular that's an old friend of Ma. I hear he's been around since before I could walk."

"I see. That sounds like a very good relationship."

***Rome POV***

"Ah, I'm finally done."

I could barely read the clock because of how dark it was, but I was finally done sorting those documents. There were lots of times I felt running out of here and getting a drink, but my new employee sure sent some damn good motivation.

It was a couple minutes after I got Carol to leave. Looking at nothing but paper was starting to give me a headache, but there wouldn't have been any point in letting her go if I couldn't clear this up before tomorrow. It was around the fifth time that I sighed, someone knocked on the door.

"Rome?"

"Come in."

I hadn't been expecting anyone, but I thought that this would at least serve as a good distraction.

"Oh, Clara. How are you doing?"

"I'm doing fine. Thanks for asking."

The one that opened the door and entered my office was Clara, a kind old lady that was one of the cafeteria staff. She had been working there since before I entered the company, so we were familiar with each other. Still, this was the first time she had come to my current office.

"So, how can I help you?"

"Well, it's not really for me, but that new assistant of yours asked us to bring this to you. She's a really nice and polite girl."

I then watched in interest as Clara pushed in a cart with a tea set on top of it and poured me a cup of tea. I wasn't really a tea guy, but it smelled nice and I didn't want to waste Carol's good will, so I gave it a try.

"This is..."

I was shocked. The tea didn't have a strong flavour, but one sip was enough to blow away my stress. The most surprising part was that the tea wasn't unfamiliar either.

"This is chamomile tea, right?"

"That's right. She used the stock we had in the cafeteria to make it. So, how is it?"

"Take a cup for yourself. My words won't do it justice."

Clara knew I wasn't the type to throw around flattery, so she poured out a cup for herself.

"Oh my! I feel like I just became a year younger."

"Haha, that might be true. Did she add anything special to it?"

"I wasn't there when she was making it, but I hear she didn't add anything strange."

"So just the process can make this much of a difference. I sure got myself a hell of an assistant."

After finishing her cup of tea, Clara placed the tea set on the table at the center of the room and left with the cart. I offered to let her share the rest of the tea with the cafeteria staff, but she declined.

"That sounds nice, but it looks like you'll be needing it more than us."

And she was definitely right. I didn't want to risk the tea losing its effectiveness, so I finished it while working and used the aftertaste to push through. As I looked at the empty teacup and remembered the taste, I also recalled something else that I had heard.

"There might be some truth to that rumour."