Emara Stone

'Happy First Day, Love'

My breath slows down, just enough for me to hear my heart thudding rapidly.

What the hell!

I shut the drawer abruptly before my mind wanders off into a dreamy office romance fantasy, where a hot CEO is secretly in love with me.

But he is not a CEO, he is Satan!

I immediately spin towards Hardick and Stacey, asking them casually, "Hey.. What do you guys have in your drawers?"

"Drawer? Oh, wow!" Stacey exclaims as she pulls out a black diary with HighBar printed on it in golden letters and a matching pen.

"I got the same pair." Hardick replies, holding his corporate freebies.

No rose or handwritten note.

I take a deep breath and fist my building anger from flipping this desk over.

Audacity of this prickly cactus to send me a rose and a letter, pretending to be all sweet after blackmailing me to come here. Unbelievable!

Just then a woman who looks like a female version of Ed Sheran walks in, asking us to join a group session with the CEO in the conference hall, now.

I pick my murderous face and march to the meeting room, which lights up magically the moment we walk in.

Not again these stupid lights from Hogwarts!

Hardick and Stacey glance around with their I-am-impressed faces, while I just flop into one of the ten leather chairs perfectly aligned around a long glass table, with the Seattle's skyline view on its right.

Everything in here looks expensive, smells expensive and feels expensive.

Yet he still wants money from me.

Just then the door swings open, and the sound of confident footsteps grab my attention. I glance up and there he is.. Dakota Black, in all his God-like CEO glory.

All six feet of him is wrapped in a perfectly charcoal grey tailored suit, paired with a matching tie and black shirt inside, looking like he just stepped out of a Vogue photo shoot.

His hair is sleeked back like he spent hours perfecting it, and that razor sharp jawline, he probably clean-shaved this morning to look extra stunning.

In one look, he appears to be sharp and stable, the kind of man you love to hate because he is too perfect.

Oh, but only I know how unstable and fucked up he is!

"Good morning, interns." Dakota greets us with over-the-top energy that no one naturally has this early.

"Good morning, sir." Hardick and Stacey wish him back, whereas I just glare at the motherfucker, who not only spoiled my beauty sleep, but also my date with the hot Mermaid guy.

"Did you have your office tour?" Dakota asks, casually leaning to the table and opening his laptop, diving straight into work as if the world depends on him.

"Yes, we had our office tour. It was amazing." Hardick replies in nervous excitement, and Stacey nods along.

Whereas I think of ways to make his life hellish, like he is making mine by blackmailing to work for him.

Ugh! I want to boil him in the hottest oil till he actually turns Black.

"Hmm." Dakota hums, clicking a few keys on his laptop while conversing with us. "What did you like the most during the tour?"

Ah, the compliment collector!

Always ready to soak in the praises like a narcissistic boss he is.

"Umm.. The robot at the gate pass was something I have seen for the first time." Stacey mumbles in a shy tone.

"Yeah, and that PingPong Bot, it was really creative." Hardick comments in sheepishly.

"Hmm.. And what you didn't like?" Dakota asks, keeping his gaze fixed to his laptop, while still exuding the calm authority of someone who is always in control.

"I didn't like the presence of too much robots everywhere, especially in the cafeteria." I state boldly, catching everyone's eyes, along with those busy green eyes as they glance up from the screen.

That got his attention.

"Why?" Dakota asks me, his tone not defensive but genuinely curious.

"Well.. It felt unfriendly." I say, noticing how his fingers paused above the keyboard as he listens to me carefully.

"Having robots cook and serve the food kind of kills the vibe. It feels cold, too mechanical. I believe humans add a personal touch and warmth to the surrounding."

The room goes silent.

Stacey and Hardick exchange nervous glances, like I said something wrong. But Dakota doesn't appear to be offended at all.

Instead, I see a flicker of intrigue behind his otherwise unreadable expression as he stands straight, leaving his laptop like he just found another interesting gadget.

"That's an interesting perspective, Miss Stone." His green eyes sharpen like laser to analyse me under his AI microscope.

"But let me explain.." He continues with a calm, but firm tone. "Repetitive tasks like serving food, making shakes, pouring coffee or even checking IDs at the gate are not the places where true human potential belongs. I personally believe, human brain is far too powerful and valuable to waste on such menial tasks."

Translation: Robots are his BFFs and I insulted his entire family.

"The reason these boring tasks are replaced by robots is because they do not require innovation or creativity in any way. They are designed to free up humans to focus on more meaningful work like creating, building and thinking." He says, defending his robo-army like Avengers.

"Our brain, when given the right knowledge can become the most potent weapon which can build or destroy our world. Either way, it's an ultimate tool for change and should be used for things which are larger than life."

Green eyes meet mine, I feel my intestine move as he holds my gaze boldly.

"But do not worry, Miss Stone." He addresses me, his voice softening just a fraction. "I assure you, the meals you will be receiving will be prepared 100% by humans. For other services, robots are there to assist."

That's what happens when your parents leave you. You start thinking you don't need any human to make you a coffee!

"And these robots.." His gaze scan the room as he continues to speak confidently, "Were built by people like you, people who wanted to push boundaries, to change the world. That's what Artificial Intelligence is about."

He pauses, his gaze falling back at me, sharp and deliberate. "And you will be working under them. Learning from the best."

A smile curve his lips and I swear.. I want to slap his arrogant I-am-better-than-anyone face.

"Alright then, let's begin." Dakota states, before clicking a button, and instantly, the room begins its transformation.

The lights in the room dim to a perfect cinematic glow and the glass window, which was transparent with breathtaking Seattle's skyline view, slowly starts to darken into pitch black.

And then -BAM- It lights up as computer screen.

Woahh! My heart flips like pancakes and I try my best to not look impressed, but then he starts stripping.

Dakota shrugs off his suit jacket, revealing his beastly broad shoulder and that black shirt which is clinging to him like a possessive girlfriend.

Carefully, he drapes the jacket over the back of his chair, then casually starts rolling up his sleeves of his shirt, revealing his veiny forearms that should be illegal.

I snap my eyes to the screen, and swallow hard, being awfully annoyed at myself for staring at the King of Assholes for more than five seconds.

Hello, brain! We hate this guy, remember?

Dakota steps towards the table, and clicks another button. The projector above our heads hums to life, and a sudden laser shoots down onto the glass table, creating a glowing 3D screen something straight out of a sci-fi movie.

What the fuck!

"Welcome to Highbars." Dakota smirks, looking highly satisfied at our jaw dropping faces.

I watch him take confident strides as he explains different models to us like a tech TED talk.

"Most of our products are based on voice commands for easy user interface, and for that you will be trained in JavaScript, C++ and Python, integrating with machine learning interfaces."

With a slight flick of his hand, the 3D image rotates around, like we are watching it live, while its description is lay out on the screen.

"For robots, a middle framework is used for controlling, handing sensors, and implementing AI algorithms."

I catch a glimpse of Tim, the mini cleaning bot I saw at Dakota's place, which I badly wanted to steal.

He would have looked great scrubbing my room's floor.

Just then the image shifts to a sleek, flawless and fire-proof counter top, which I clearly remember burning it.

"One of the bestselling products, Quartz non-flammable Kitchen countertop.." Green eyes glare at me spankably and I shift uncomfortably in my seat.

"Uses electric Blaze technology with voice command, Rasberry Pi and Arduino embedded systems." With another swipe of his hand, he continues to explain all the products under his company and some future goals.

Lastly, he forwards each of us a tablet, while instructing, "Use your IDs to log in, you will find a series of video lectures covering the technology and topics I mentioned earlier."

I scan the tablet from all sides, wondering how much I could sell it on E-bay.

"At the end of every lecture, you will be given programs to solve. These will act as your homework."

What? Homework?

I glance at Hardick, who seems way too excited about this, while I feel like I am going to faint.

I can't believe I have been tricked again into studying college disguised as an internship.

"Each of you will be assigned a project manager to keep a track of your progress, and guide you through tasks. You will report them daily, and by the end of third month, your work will be reviewed." Dakota says, not missing a tone.

"Based on your performance," Green chili eyes once again meet mine. "We will decide whether you will continue working here or leave with a certificate."

Really? Because I think even if I burn down all of his precious robots, he would still keep me in his company till I turn 80.

A tense silence follows and his gaze sweep over his lovely interns as he asks in an expectancy tone, "Any questions?"

When nobody says, he clicks a button. Lights glow brighter, and the room comes back to its original room with the Seattles view.

"Hope you have a productive day." With that he ends the meeting.

We stand up to our feet, gathering our stuff, when Dakota claps his hand in the air just once and as if under the spell of his command, all the chairs glide themselves back to their original positions in perfect alignment.

What. A. Show-off!

Seriously, who programs chairs to obey orders?

Of course! This man.. The lord of unnecessary tactics.

I roll my eyes, before walking out of this AI circus. Just as I was about to leave, I hear his voice cut through the air.

"Miss Stone."

My feet halt, and I slowly turn around to face the motherfucker, as I see him standing by his original spot with his eyes locked on me.

"Can I have a minute with you?"

🐈‍⬛ ྀི

I am back! I know I was gone for a long time.. It's just I have a problem with me, the same one that Emara has and she takes pills for it but I refused to take mine lol. 

I will talk about it later in the book and struggle related the issue.

Btw, Happy New Year Love ❤️