Hannah blinked. The middle-aged woman was very rude, not to mention her messy, graying, wavy hair. What was her problem this morning that made her snap at people like that?
“Are you just going to stand there and not say anything? Tell me what you need,” the woman demanded.
But Hannah remained calm. She just nodded politely.
“I’m Hannah Harrison.”
“Hannah?” The woman was stunned for a moment. Then her eyes widened. “Oh, sorry. I’m just a little hectic this morning. Have a seat, Hannah.”
Carefully, Hannah entered the extremely cluttered office. There were piles of files everywhere, and she wondered how anyone could possibly organize it all.
“I’m Joan,” the woman said as she sat down. She looked stressed as she stared at the computer screen.
“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Joan.”
“I hope you can handle the chaos around here. I’m retiring next month, and I have a lot of work to finish.”
So Hannah would replace Joan.
“I’m too old for this,” Joan sighed.
“What can I do to help now?”
Joan explained that Don’s company was expanding into importing and moving all of the company’s management to digital. Don’s company had long used manual databases and calculations, which had caused many delays.
However, the company’s human resources department wasn’t fully prepared for the change, especially the HR department. Joan had long planned to retire, but Don asked her to stay on until a replacement was found.
Eventually, Hannah started working right away to see what she could do to help Joan. It turned out that Hannah was already very familiar with the program Don’s company used, having mastered it at her previous job before meeting Alden.
In fact, it was Hannah who ended up explaining the program to Joan. Seeing how well Hannah knew the program, Joan was very impressed.
“Don made the right choice in choosing my replacement. You’re really brilliant,” Joan praised.
“I just worked in the same field a long time ago.” Hannah smiled. “I’m not that brilliant, Mrs. Joan.”
“Whatever it is, you make my job a lot easier.”
“I hope so.”
The door to the HR office was knocked on from outside, then opened. Don stood in the doorway, showing his wide, friendly smile.
“Hi, I think you’ve met Joan,” Don greeted. “You’re getting the hang of your job, aren’t you, Hannah?”
“She’s great! She knows more than I do,” Joan interjected.
“Really? That’s fantastic.” Don looked pleased.
Joan put her arm around Hannah’s shoulder. “I feel like Hannah is my guardian angel.”
“You’re exaggerating.” Hannah chuckled softly.
Someone appeared next to Don, a woman who gave Hannah a rather disdainful look. Her hair was a pretty, wavy, reddish color that fell down to her chest. Her outfit was somewhat sexy, though formal.
“What’s all the excitement?” she asked.
“Joan, Hannah and I were discussing work,” Don glanced at the woman. “I already told you about Joan’s replacement, Abby.”
“Oh, right…” Abby just nodded, not very enthusiastically. “We’ve got a meeting in ten minutes, Don. Let’s go.”
“Well, I’ll be off then,” Don said, excusing himself.
As soon as Don and Abby were gone, Joan snorted harshly. She started packing files into a box.
“Don’t get too close to Abby,” Joan said.
Hannah turned and looked curiously at the middle-aged woman.
“Keep your communication with her to a minimum.”
“Why?” Hannah asked.
“Abby is Don’s girlfriend and the daughter of one of his business associates. She works here as a secretary. But I think she’s really just here to keep an eye on Don.”
“Oh…” Hannah nodded in understanding.
“There are a lot of two-faced people around here. So you’d better not say anything that might cause problems.”
“Noted. I’ll keep that in mind, Mrs. Joan.”
“But don’t worry. As long as you follow company procedures, everything will be fine.”
Before she knew it, it was noon. Joan invited Hannah to the cafeteria for lunch. Joan said that the food was really good.
It turned out that the cafeteria was very large and every department, including the factory workers, ate there. Hannah went in and looked around in awe, even though the line was quite long.
Joan introduced Hannah to people from other departments she knew as they waited in line to eat.
“Do you mind if I cut in line?” Don suddenly appeared beside Hannah.
Hannah turned and chuckled. “Well, I can’t decide that.”
“No, get in line,” Joan ordered.
“Oh, come on, Joan. I’m really hungry. I just finished a meeting and…”
Joan cut him off. “Get in line behind me. And don’t be loud.”
“Thanks, Joan.”
Actually, the other employees wouldn’t have minded if Don cut in line-he was the owner of the company, after all. But Don was disciplined and didn’t want to take advantage of his privilege. That’s why Don was so admired by the employees.
Don turned and looked at Hannah until their eyes met.
“Why are you eating in the cafeteria? Doesn’t anyone bring food to your office?” Hannah asked.
Don shook his head. “I want to eat with everyone in the cafeteria. I need to mingle with the employees and understand what they’re like.”
“Well, managing over 300 people is pretty overwhelming,” Joan commented.
Don grabbed a tray and started to hand it to Hannah, but suddenly a hand reached out from beside Hannah and grabbed the tray. Abby’s eyes glared at Hannah.
“What are you doing?” Abby asked Don.
“Getting food.”
“Don, we have a lunch date with my father. Stop this nonsense.” Abby grabbed the tray out of Don’s hand and carelessly handed it to Hannah. “Act like a boss.”
Don remained calm and smiled, nodding diplomatically.
“I’ll see you all later,” Don said, excusing himself.
Abby immediately clung to Don’s arm, as if she were genuinely afraid of someone interrupting him. The staff standing around Hannah began to whisper quietly.
“Poor Don,” Joan muttered.
Hannah glanced at Don as he approached the cafeteria exit. Suddenly, Abby turned and gave Hannah a sharp look.
“Hey, you!” Abby called out.
Hannah froze for a moment.
“Yes, you! The new HR! Come here!” Abby ordered.