The door slammed, nearly hitting Lisa in the face. She stumbled back.

.

She couldn't keep shut, could she?

When the man had walked into the board room, she had presumed he was from Kim Royale Corp. She had wanted to be friendly. Start some chatter. Make a good impression.

"It's such a nice day, wish we didn't have to spend it inside at a meeting," she had said as she closed the blinds.

"It's an important meeting." The man set his briefcase down on the table and began to remove his coat.

"True," she said. She began to lay out the folders with Kim Royale's proposal in front of each chair. "But don't you think we ought to be dealing with another company? I mean, really." She gave a little snort of derision.

"I'm not sure I know what you mean."

"Oh, didn't you see the article in the paper? About those factories in India?" Lisa had watched the news report online, too. A well informed business woman like herself had to be right on top of the latest news, especially when it came to her company's business partners.

She left out saying that she'd had a good cry after reading it, though.

"Yes, I've seen the article."

"I know hotels need to have towels, but is it really necessary for them to come from exceptionally poor sweatshops? I can't imagine the sort of person who would willingly put profit over the welfare of thousands of people who are just trying to earn a living. Probably some sort of monster. Like a moustache twirling villain from an old cartoon."

"Indeed." For some reason, he hadn't sounded all that impressed. Probably should have left out the moustache twirling villain.

At that moment, the door had opened. Her boss had come in, and said,

"I've seen you already met Mr. Lee, Ms. Manoban." Mr. Lee. Of SM & Lee. International leaders in the sale of linens. Sweatshop profiteer.

And now she could hear yelling on the other side of the door as her boss shouted into the phone, demanding that she be fired at once. He hadn't seen Lisa's point when she told him about the children who worked in those sweatshops.

She went back to her desk and stared at the in-tray for a while before deciding that there was no point in trying to get anything done. She would be out of a job in half an hour or less. She pulled out her phone and began to play Mario Run.

"You better take care of it!" she heard Mr. Yang shout and then the bang of the handset being slammed into the cradle. She tensed, but he didn't come out of his office.

Less than ten minutes later a man stepped into her office. She hadn't met him before. He could be from main office, for the meeting, but she wasn't going to make the same mistake twice in one day. She kept shut and her eyes fixed on the running character on her phone.

"Are you Ms. Manoban?"

"Yes." She glanced up.

"Kim Hanbin," he said, holding out a hand. "Vice-president of financing, from head office."

Hanbin. She tried not to giggle.

Hanbin was tall and light brown haired. She always liked light hair on other people – maybe it was just brunette pride leaking through. His hair would be fantastic in any colour, however. It was fluffy and windswept looking and he had fantastic sideburns that framed a strong jaw.

Hanbin is Han-som.

She giggled a little bit as she took his hand. Was it possible to fall in love with a head of hair?

"Mr. Yang asked me to come talk with you."

The giggles died.

He sat down on the chair on the opposite side of her desk, pushing the in-tray out of the way.

She gave a tiny smile, bracing herself for severe sacking that she was about to receive. Hanbin smiled in return, leaning back in the chair and putting his hands behind his head.

"So I was thinking," he said slowly, "that this is less about an out of place comment, and more about personalities."

"Personalities?" she repeated. Was this how people were fired now-a-days?

"Yes. Mr. Yang needs a PA who doesn't get in the way of his enormous ego. A sit by quietly sort of person. That-" he flashed brilliant white teeth with another smile, "is not you."

"I told the head of a business partner that I thought they were a moustache twirling villain." She was arguing. Why was she arguing? She didn't want to get sacked.

"We were all thinking it," Hanbin said with a laugh. "Those news reports – that kind of honesty isn't appreciated by everyone, but I still think that there's a place for you in this company."

"So are you looking for an assistant who never shuts up?" That was her. All over.

He laughed. "Sadly, no. I have a PA. I have a much better fit in mind for you."

"What do you mean?" she asked. She was waiting for him to shout "Fooled ya! You're so fired."

It was bound to happen. No sane company would keep her.

"Ms. Ruby Jane is currently looking for a PA, and something tells me that you – you are perfect for each other."

"Ms. Ruby Jane?" she asked. She was trying to remember all the Ruby Janes in the industry related here she knew. There was only one. "Kim Jennie Ruby Jane? The CEO of Kim Royale corp.?"

He nodded.

"The Ice Queen herself?" She said it, and instantly clapped her hands over . It might have been a company nick-name that everyone used, but it was still not a good thing to say when you were talking to someone who wanted to promote you.

Hanbin's smile didn't falter. "That's the one."

She lowered her hands slowly. She searched his eyes. They were wide, sparkling, and honest.

"What do you say?"

"You're promoting me?"

"Absolutely." He was smiling again. Great big white perfect teeth set in a wide mouth.

"Okay."

On her first day, she was handed a key by the security guard, told to go to the top floor and then left to her own devises.

It had been a long weekend. The promotion had meant moving to another city, for one thing, and she wasn't quite sure how Hanbin managed to convince the landlord to let her in quite so quickly in the middle of the month. And she'd only taken enough clothes for the week,