Derek looked around his room looking at different files in the cabinets lined on a wall beside his table.  He grabbed one and started studying it.

Suddenly a thought crossed his mind. He should call his mother. He couldn't meet her in the morning as she was sleeping when he left the house. He reached for his phone and dialed his mother's number.  After two or three rings, she picked up the phone.

"Hello Derek," she said warmly.

"Good morning mum," he said to her.

"How's your first day as the CEO of the Stevenson enterprises? How's your day going so far?" she sounded excited.

"Mum, I miss dad. I wish he was here to see me. Everything here reminds me of him. I'm sitting on his chair, mum. I'm feeling strange. "  he said to her.

"Derek, it's okay. Sometimes we have to take the place of our loved ones. Sometimes we do it by choice and sometimes we don't even have a choice. Your father must be very proud of you if he was here. It was his dream to see you sitting in his place." she said

"Day is good. Met the staff. Met the assistant, miss Jacobs. They are all quite nice people." he said with a smile.

"I'm glad you could meet all of them. By the way, Derek, you-know-what? Rosie makes very good coffee. Ask her to make it for you. I'm sure you will like it." she said

"Mom, Who's Rosie?  he asked surprised.

"Your assistant. Rosaline Jacobs. I called her Rosie. " she told him.

"Okay mom I will make sure I ask her to make me a cup of her world famous coffee," he said with a laugh.

"Okay dear, have a nice day. Bye," she said

"You too, mom. Take care. Bye." he said to her and hung up.

He picked up the black cordless phone sitting on its cradle and pressed 0 on it. The phone on the other end was picked by Rosie.

"Yes?" she said as she picked up the phone.

"come in my office," he said with a bossy tone

"Sure, sir," she said as she straightened her clothes and adjusted her glasses.

She knocked on the door and went in.

"Sir, you called me," she said

"Please sit," he said as he motioned her to sit on one of the chairs in front of his desk. She did as she was told.

"So, Miss Jacobs or Rosie as my mother calls you, I wanted to talk to you about a few things."  He said as he toyed with his pen on the table.

"Sure, I'm all ears," she said with a nod.

"I believe in a close working partnership that is also known as a working relationship. As you are my assistant, I would like to know you better so that we're compatible together. I'm sure you'd like to do the same." he said with a slight smile.

"Sir, you're right.  I agree with you. It's very important to have a good understanding between the employers and the employees.  It improves the working environment." She said with a quick smile.

"So let's start.  I want you to tell me each and everything about everyone who works here. But, first,  I would like you to make me a cup of your famous coffee that my mum loves a lot. If you don't mind making coffee for both of us. We can talk about everything over coffee." He said with a smile.

"Sure, sir. Would you like to have some biscuits with coffee?"  she asked before she got up to leave.

"Yes. That would be very kind of you." He said without looking at her. He was looking at his phone, typing a message. She came in the room 10 minutes later carrying a tray with two cups of coffee and biscuits in a plate. She set the tray lightly on the table and cleared her throat to announce her presence in the room as Derek was sitting with his head down on his desk. He sat up straight at once.

"Sir, your coffee." She said as she put his cup and the plate of biscuits in front of him.

" Oh, thank you, Miss Jacobs. Please sit and have yours so we can start." He said as he took his cup and started eating the biscuits from the plate.

"Let's start. So you tell me about yourself. How long has it been since you started working here? What about your family and education?" He asked as he sipped his coffee.

"Sir, I started working here about 3 months ago. I am a college student or rather I was. There is no one close left of my family. My mother died 7 months ago. She was the only family I had. Everyone here is really nice.  They are nice in a way that they have feelings of brotherhood and tolerance for each other. Although they all look very grim. They don't smile that much." She said as she finished her coffee.

"Well, sorry to hear about your mother. I'm sure she must be a wonderful lady. All mothers are wonderful. As far as the people are concerned, most of them are older than us so I don't even expect them to smile or talk with us." He said with a reassuring smile.

"By the way, thanks for the coffee. It truly is very delicious. I would like to have it again. If you don't mind making a cup for me every morning."He said to her.

She smiled and looked down at her empty cup.

"No sir, your coffee will be here in the morning. And thanks for the appreciation. Its part of my job to fulfill your needs. If you don't mind, I shall go and have some files sorted out. Thanks for having coffee with me, It was an absolute pleasure for me." She said as she picked up the tray and got up to leave.

"Sure, Miss Jacobs." He once again as he picked up his phone and started typing rapidly.