Me:Trying to ?
Sadie:See you tonight!
I set down my phone, thankful to have a night with friends ahead to decompress after the day I had. Honestly, it could have been a lot worse, despite the mortifying start to the day with Chester. I found myself occasionally peeking out the office door for a glimpse of him, but he never showed. I probably would be able to feel his presence, the air thickening with tension. I didn’t need that distraction. It was probably for the better.
I stretched my arms overhead and tilted my head to each side for an afternoon stretch. The workday was winding down and I just had to plow through a few more numbers for new accounts. As I began typing, I heard a trickle of laughter from across the room that perked my ears up. I glanced up and saw Mia leaning over another accountant’s desk and whispering, her hand covering her mouth to not be heard or read. I had a creeping feeling that whatever words she was saying were about me, but I tried to ignore it.
Then Mia laughed again, more loudly and callously this time, bringing my attention once again to her. The accountant she wastalking to didn’t seem to share her same humor and kept his mouth pressed in a firm line, his eyes on the computer in front of them. I had met him earlier, and he was nice enough. I was glad to see he wasn’t partaking in whatever Mia was up to. I didn’t trust her, and that was instilled even further when she caught me looking and gave me a little wave, her fingers wiggling as she smiled snidely.
What is her problem?
A few minutes later, Sarah strode in the office with a fresh cup of coffee. She set it on my desk firmly and sat with her back turned to Mia. The coffee steam rose up next to her and I could tell she was upset about something.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, tilting my head curiously.
“That bitch Mia is talking shit about you. I told you she was bad news.” She shook her head.
“I figured. She’s been whispering and eyeing me all day. I think she put holes in my coffee cup too.”
“I wouldn’t put it past her,” said Sarah with a shake of her head. “She’s a real piece of work. You’re brand new. What did you ever do to her?”
I shrugged, thinking she must have seen the video and was forming her own conclusions about me, sharing them with others. It made my stomach sink to the bottom floor of the lobby.
“Well, I don’t want to cause any trouble…” said Sarah, looking over her shoulder for a glance at Mia, before turning back to me. “But I’m about to knock her the fuck out.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. Sarah was quickly becoming my favorite person in the office.
“That won’t be necessary.” I put my hand up. “Thanks for telling me though.”
Sarah lifted herself off my desk and shrugged.
“Of course. Girls have to be better than that…” She shot me a smile and walked back to her desk, sipping on her coffee and giving Mia the death stare.
Chapter 6
Chester
After Will left to go pass out at his place, leaving me in a food coma after our large breakfast, I sent a junior associate out for another coffee to get me through the rest of the day. Of course, he annoyingly messed up my order, bringing me some sort of vanilla latte that was too sweet. How difficult was it to order a cappuccino? This just further irritated me that I was without an assistant, and now had to assign an idiot junior associate to do the simplests of tasks. The thought of calling up my formers assistant and chewing her out crossed my mind several times. I could see to it that she never worked again, but I had too much on my plate today to be that spiteful.
I choked down the too-sweet drink just to at least get some caffeine in me, and looked at my calendar for the day. Thankfully, my former assistant had the professionalism to schedule everything in before quitting during a night ofdebauchery in the club. I pressed my fingers to my temple as I read through the day. My phone trilled on my desk, and rather than answer it again, I ripped the cord out of the wall. Until I found a new assistant, I would not be answering that again.
I would need to find one quickly. Ideally, by tomorrow, but with my particularities, it was doubtful. I remembered what Will said about hiring Juliet as my new assistant. The idea was preposterous, but an intriguing one all the same. She was an accountant, not an assistant. I had also seen her naked, and wanted to see that again, which posed more of an issue than what her career skillset was. I chuckled to myself, shaking my head for even entertaining the idea. Will loved stirring the pot, even where millions of his dollars were invested.
I spent the rest of the afternoon at my desk, becoming better acquainted with the non-profit I was taking over and rehearsing my little speech for the board meeting later that afternoon. All the while, I kept having flashes of Juliet’s wet, bare skin on my mind, causing me to start thinking up excuses as to why I needed to go down to the accounting floor. If she was my assistant, I wouldn’t need excuses to see her. I pushed the thought out of my mind and continued going through the pile of paperwork on my desk.
A knock sounded at the door and I looked up to find the same junior associate who had flubbed my coffee order. He looked nervous as he shuffled in his shoes, as if he were a child playing dress-up.
“Yes?” I asked harshly.
“Th-the department heads are in the conference room…” he said, almost as a question than a statement.
I glanced at the time. Hell, it was already 4 p.m. I hadn’t even taken a lunch, being still so full from breakfast. I looked at my calendar and sure enough, there was the meeting highlighted in yellow on my computer screen and I was late. I cursed under my breath. I stood from my desk and strode past the nervous associate and out the door. My assistant would always give me five-minute warnings for every meeting. Maybe I would call and leave her that voicemail with a piece of my mind…
I walked through the office, keenly aware of everyone’s eyes on me. It was the first time I had emerged all day. I didn’t have time for introductions or even nods of acknowledgments to their existence. I strode into the conference room with my chin held high, making no apologies for my late entrance. I was the CEO. I didn’t have to apologize, nor answer to anyone. These people now answered to me. Everyone in the room seemed to sit up a little straighter. A few nervous throats cleared as I stood at the head of the long, rectangular table.
“Thank you all for coming today,” I said, commanding everyone’s attention and placing my palms on the table. “Today marks a historic day where Brandfield Enterprises merges with one of its biggest non-profits to date. I look forward to seeing what other history we can make together through this acquisition.”
The room was quiet, eyes watching me carefully. I decided to continue on to fill the silence.
