I couldn’t believe I was running late. It was my first day after moving to a different department and I was going to be late. Not exactly the kind of first impression I was hoping to make. If it weren’t for my damn mother and her endless blind date setups, this would’ve never happened. I was never late. If anything - I always made a point of being the first to show up and the last to leave work. I didn’t want anyone thinking I didn’t work hard just because my family owned the business, not that anyone knew I was the heiress to the company…yet, but still, working hard was my way of proving myself and earning my place. 

For the last few years I had been working my way up the corporate ladder, one step at a time, just like everyone else. No one the wiser about my true identity and connection to the owners. As the oldest daughter in my family, my father had wanted to give me a high position right off the bat, but I thought it wiser to learn about the business from the ground up. I was able to persuade my father, but it was really my mother’s side of the family who owned the company, so it didn’t really matter what he thought, but it was still easier to keep the peace by pretending he had some say in the matter. 

SOAP Inc. manufactured and sold a wide variety of high quality cleaning products both domestically and internationally. As a global conglomerate the reach our products had was massive and the revenue was even bigger. I felt it was my responsibility to make sure I was as prepared and as competent as I could be when I finally took over the business from my parents. 

However, to make matters worse, not only was I late, I also slipped on the wet floor as I hurried out of the elevator as I didn’t see the caution sign before it was too late. I hit the ground with a loud thud and an embarrassing, guttural yelp that didn’t even sound human. Dazed, I laid on the ground for a minute, my clothes soaking up the moisture from the newly cleaned floor. My long, straight, silky black hair that I had so carefully styled this morning, was now stripy, damp and tangled. I was a mess. I wished someone would come and clean me up. 

“Miss…are you okay?”, said a deep voice from somewhere above me. 

I regretted my previous thought immediately. I wished I was invisible, that I could melt into the ground. Having someone see me like this was worse than death. 

“Ah, yes. I’m totally fine, thanks!”, I faked as much cheer into my voice as I could muster and awkwardly tried to prop myself up on my elbows to face whoever was here to witness the tragic state I was in. 

“Here, let me help you up.”, the man offered with a warm smile. He stretched out a tan hand towards me, taking a small step forward and bending downs slightly. He had a handsome face and seemed to be around my age, as I took his hand I read the name on his employee lanyard that hung around his neck - Jake Singh. I had memorized all the names of the people in my new department and I knew instantly he was one of them. Great. Just great. I wanted to let out a big sigh, but decided my composure was the last thing I wanted to lose, I had lost enough of my dignity already. 

As our hands linked and I tried to stand up at the same time as he was pulling me to my feet, he must have stepped too close to the slippery part of the floor, because he went flying onto his back, the momentum pulling me with him. It all just happened so fast. Jake let out a grunt and I shrieked as I landed on top of him. Face first into his chest. I was laying face first on my new coworkers chest on the floor of the office hallway. This was not happening. 

“Um…Are you guys alright?”, an unsure, high pitched voice could be heard from above. I wanted to cry, but instead scrambled to my feet, accidentally kneeing Jake in the groin in my hurry to get off him. He let out a less than dignified sound, but soon got to his feet as well. 

“Yes, absolutely. Just had a bit of a fall. Slippery floor. How about you, Mr… Singh?”, I rushed out, faltering a bit towards the end.

“Yes, well, I’m -.”, Jake started to say. 

“What’s all this commotion and where’s that new addition to our team hiding? She’s late…”, an older, sharp-looking woman interrupted as she stepped out of a nearby room. She looked around at the three of us, observing the state some of us were in, clearly a bit puzzled, but she didn’t miss a beat. 

“Looks like you found her. Welcome to the team, Ms. Lee.”, she said as she gave me an unreadable look, then motioned for us to follow her, “Let’s get this meeting started.”