Except it wasn’t.
Right, because I had fired my assistant.
I loosened my tie and stared out the floor-to-ceiling glass window at the storm. I needed that tea.
My employees cowered as I walked through the office to the elevator to take me to the lobby. There was a café in the middle of it that all the employees used for lunch and breaks. They had a particular tea blend that I had, I hated to admit, become addicted to.
“Hi!” the girl at the counter chirped when she saw me.
“I need my usual,” I told her.
She gave me a blank look.
“He wants the Nordic blend in freshly boiled water from the espresso maker because it gets hotter and the water is pure, with a teaspoon of freshly zested lemon, no sugar. Steep the whole thing for exactly five and half minutes then strain,” a familiar voice said.
I turned around, and Tess blew me a kiss.
3
Tess
“It’s a bit early for his usual,” Holly called from behind the counter at the Sparrow and Thyme café where she was prepping for the lunch rush. Another of her employees was making a tray of espressos for a waiting Quantum Cyber assistant.
“He’s not getting shit today,” I said, slumping with my empty lunch box and my oversized bag at a table. I dropped the cardboard box holding my meager collection of office desk accessories, including a small magnetic note board, a coffee cup warmer, and my pink-and-gold desk organizer.
“Oh no!” Holly said, noticing my box. “Are they laying people off? I just saw another girl run out crying.”
“It’s just Beck being a jerkface.”
Holly gave me a sympathetic look.
“I thought you all had a big presentation today,” she said. She was CEO Owen Frost’s fiancée. He must have told her.
“I guess it wasn’t as important as we all thought, considering the presentation isn’t done,” I said.
Holly came from around the counter with a sausage roll and a cup of tea for me.
“I really can’t,” I said. “I am now jobless and will probably be homeless soon.”
“Then you not only need these but a slice of opera cake too,” she said. “And a lemon tart. On the house.”
I cut off a piece of the sausage roll. The spicy filling and the flaky, buttery pastry melted on my tongue.
“So good.” I sighed and scarfed down the rest. Thunder clapped outside, and rain started coming down in sheets.
“I should probably go out and search for another job,” I said, staring out the window.
“Temp agencies want you there early,” Holly informed me. “Trust me, the day is a wash.”
“At the very least, I should go home and put some pots out to collect the water that’s going to be leaking from the ceiling,” I said, pulling the cake toward me.
“I thought you put all your stuff in plastic bins after the last rain,” Holly said, sitting next to me with her own slice of cake.
“Yes, that was a lesson learned.” I grimaced.
“I’m surprised Beck fired you,” she said. “Owen said he thought Beck really liked you.”
I burst out laughing, sucking up tea in my nose.
