Chapter 5
Rebecca had been avoiding Clarissa all week. Not out of anything outright the woman had done. It was more of an instinct. Something innately told her Clarissa not only didn’t like her, but wished her gone.
If it was out of jealousy, the woman was clearly out of her mind. Jay was still so distant. Rebecca wasn’t sure how much was fear of someone in the office knowing their shared history and how much was downright discomfort at having Rebecca there. They only spoke of work topics when they talked at all.
Which was why on Thursday morning, when Clarissa came in and crooked a finger at Rebecca, all she could do was panic and follow her. Jay hadn’t come in yet to tell her otherwise, and from what Rebecca had observed, Marlise let Clarissa do pretty much whatever she wanted.
“How can I help you?” Rebecca asked, stepping into Clarissa’s office for the first time. The room was filled with Clarissa’s signature scent, something spicy and tropical all at the same time. Her office was identical in size and layout to the office Rebecca shared with Jay, except the extra desk in here was empty.
Clarissa’s eyes moved to the empty desk as well. “I need a new assistant, and Marlise said as long as she approved the person, I could do the interviews myself.” She picked up a stack of resumes from off her desk and handed them to Rebecca.
“Are you wanting a second opinion?” Rebecca skimmed over the resume on top, noting the person had little experience in events.
Clarissa crossed her ankles as she leaned back against her desk. “Sort of. The thing is, I noticed you and Jay aren’t exactly hitting it off. He’s been weird since you’ve been here. So, I was thinking you should become my assistant, and we’ll just find someone better for Jay.”
“Oh, I don’t know. Shouldn’t Marlise decide—”
“She’s the one who assigned you to Jay, and that’s clearly not working out. Don’t you think you and I would have a better idea of who to pick for him?”
Rebecca opened and closed her mouth, torn as to how to respond. “You have a wedding tomorrow. This should probably wait until Monday.” She tried to hand back the resumes, but Clarissa kept her arms folded, refusing to take them back.
“Exactly. I don’t have time to go through these. Keep them at your desk and let me know who you whittle it down to.”
“Um, okay.” Rebecca retreated before this became any weirder, taking the resumes back to her office.
Jay came in five minutes later, and it was all she could do not to pounce on him right then and make him fix this. But the same instinct saying to avoid Clarissa also told her Clarissa would not like her telling Jay.
“Sorry I’m late. I had a meeting with a cake shop. It was close to my house so it didn’t make sense to come here first.”
“It’s fine, Jay. Don’t we need to go set up for Betty’s bridal luncheon, though?” She wanted out of there where they could talk freely.
Jay checked his phone. “Yeah, let’s go. I’d just like to talk to Dorothy first. I need her to make some calls for me.”
Rebecca followed him to the reception desk, and then over to the water cooler. Jay had told her after the first day to stop shadowing him so closely, that it made her look insecure. She’d responded with a glare and ten minutes of the silent treatment. Very mature behavior on both their parts.
She could tell she was annoying him now, but she didn’t care.
Jay gave her a strange look as they walked out together. “Is something wrong?”
“Yes,” she hissed once they’d passed the front windows. “Clarissa called me into her office while you were gone. She wants me to help find you a new assistant.”
“Wait, what?”
“She said I’m not a good fit for you.”
Jay’s hands balled into fists. “I think I’ll be the judge of that. Don’t worry about it, I’ll set her straight when we get back. She can’t fire you. That’s up to me or Marlise.”
“She wasn’t trying to fire me. She was trying to make me her assistant.”
Jay rubbed his temples. “Okay, start over. Tell me everything she said.” He opened the passenger door for her before going around to his side. Despite his gruffness, he’d never once stopped being the gentleman she knew his mother had ingrained into him.
“Clarissa handed me a stack of resumes and said you’ve been acting weird since I arrived, and I should become her assistant, and together we could pick out someone better for you.”
“Awesome.” Jay sighed and drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. “And what did you say in response? About me?”
Rebecca rolled her eyes. “I didn’t say a thing about you. I told her we should wait until Monday with all the weddings this weekend. And that’s when she insisted I take all the resumes and go through them myself. Because obviously she’s too busy, but I have oodles of time.”
Jay pulled into traffic, waving to the driver who let him in. “You’re not actually wanting to be her assistant, are you?”
