Chapter 2010 - Secret Audit (1)

The door of the conference room was closed so Chloe knocked briefly before pushing the door open and peeking in. She saw two women in sharp black business suits standing at the far end of the long conference table. Both women had their hair up in a tight bun without a single strand out of place, and they had matching stern expressions while talking and pointing at the papers that were in front of them. They didn't seem to notice Chloe's presence.

Chloe cleared her throat to get their attention. "Excuse me, I…"

"Miss Chloe Long?", one of the women cut her off.

Chloe nodded.

"You are late.", the other woman said curtly and gestured for Chloe to come in.

Chloe closed the door behind her. "I apologize, I…"

"You are assigned to a special project to work under a new supervisor.", the first woman said.

Chloe's surprise was obvious. First, by this news, and second by the fact that both women were collecting the papers as if they are leaving.

"Special project?", Chloe croaked.

The second woman kept the papers in the folder and responded: "The details are not known to us, so you are to wait here for your supervisor to fill you in on the details. He was here at nine o'clock, but you weren't so…"

Both women forced a smile and looked at Chloe like she committed a big offense.

Chloe gulped softly. It seemed that she was in trouble. "I understand."

Chloe lowered her gaze and she jerked when the door of the conference room closed behind the two women, leaving her alone. Now what? They told her to wait and considering that she was late, maybe the new supervisor will be super-late or does not show up at all, in order to teach her a lesson. Or what if she was fired?

'Great job, Chloe!' Her thoughts were dripping with sarcasm. 'First week and you messed up…'

Chloe exhaled dejectedly and turned to look through the window. The sun was rising, and the lack of clouds announced another hot August day in Los Angeles, but Chloe felt chills, and that was not because of the AC which kept the room on 70 degrees Fahrenheit.

Chloe's insides tightened when she heard the door of the conference room closing. She took a deep breath, schooled her features to appear calm with a small smile, and turned to face whoever came in.

She froze when she saw Noah walking to the head of the table with two coffee cups in his hands. He looked extra handsome in a sharp business suit but… why was he here?

"Miss Long, do you normally come after nine o'clock to work?", he asked without looking at her and she was not sure if he was angry.

She reminded herself that the man in front of her is director Bennet and she should not stare or act too friendly.

"Uhm… I try to be in by nine, but something happened. I apologize, director Bennet. It will not happen again."

"Do you mind telling me what caused you to be late?"

He sat on the chair and looked at her with amusement in his eyes.

Thanks to Eve-lens, Noah has instant access to all the cameras in the Boyle Heights neighborhood and he saw Chloe dash from her apartment building and rush to work. He guessed that she didn't have breakfast or coffee, so when she entered the building, he went to fetch two coffees, but he will not tell her that.

"I overslept and I didn't hear my alarm clock."

Noah was surprised by her honesty. Couldn't she make up some reason? Her neighbor had a fever… A cat died… A dog needed to go to a vet… Nothing? Just plain truth? "Overslept? Maybe you should get a different alarm clock, Miss Long. There are alarm clocks on wheels that move, and you need to chase them. And I also heard about one that flips the bed. Should I send you some links?"

Chloe pressed her lips into a line. She knew that he was teasing her, but this is work and he is director Bennet, and she needs to stay professional. However, she had to ask… "Why are you here?"

She was expecting a supervisor person, and not Noah. Or will Noah be here also? Is that why he brought two coffees, one for him and the other one for the supervisor?

"The question you should ask is, why are YOU here.", Noah said.

"That also.", Chloe said, and she saw that Noah gestured to her to take a seat.

Chloe sat on the chair while leaving one gap between them and she was surprised when he pushed one cup with coffee in front of her.

"Thanks…", she mumbled as she accepted the coffee, but she didn't drink. She looked at him and her eyes were darting toward the door in expectation of another person to enter.

"You must be curious about the project you are assigned to…", Noah said, and he saw Chloe nod. "We will do an internal audit of finances at Blanc and you will be part of the team. I need you to keep it a secret because if it's announced, whoever is messing with our money might get a heads up and clean their tracks. Also, if they know who is doing the audit, that person might be exposed to bribery or intimidation so this will be between you and me."

Chloe nodded in understanding and added: "And other members of the team."

Noah smirked. "There are no other members, Chloe. It's just you and me."

Chloe's face fell. "Are you serious?"

"Do I look like I'm joking?"

Chloe panicked. Doing an audit is a great chance to learn from her seniors while helping them out, but if there are no seniors, how is she supposed to handle this? "I just joined, and I have no idea how to do an audit. I don't even know where to start. I think you made a mistake."

Noah rapped his fingers on the surface of the table while waiting for Chloe to finish. "Chloe, I picked you because you are smart and straightforward. The fact that you joined recently works in your favor because you don't have existing connections that will make me doubt if you are preferring one department over another. As for how to go about it, you will start by requesting a list of expenses from every department and find irregularities while comparing their reported balance with the actual one. It will be a great chance for you to familiarize yourself with the company and key people in it. If you need inputs and guidance I will be available. Do you have any other concerns?"

Chloe's eyes darted over the table as she processed Noah's words. In a way, it made sense. Maybe.

It took her some time to realize… "You are the supervisor I was supposed to meet with?"

Noah responded with a small nod.

She thought that the work so far was overwhelming but in the last minute she got another information dump that she will need time to process. This all sounded like too much, but she didn't dare complain. What's the worst thing that can happen? She messes up and gets fired? Maybe, but she will not go down without a fight. Chloe looked at Noah. "When do we start?"

Noah stood up and gestured toward the door. "Right now."

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