Colour Me In (On Hiatus)

One

Reception. On a scale from one to glamorous, this was much closer to one. But, fresh out of college with a receptionist job landed at a very large and very successful publishing company in New York City, hey...I'd take it. Pilsner and Wood had published some of my favorite reads from romance to science fiction and now I was working for them, granted, it was nothing more than a low level clerical position, but something told me I was on the road to doing what I loved. First days were always the worst though, and it figures I'd have a shit morning. Delayed subway, check. Heel stuck in street grate, check. Latte spilled on front of blouse, check. By the time I walked into the building, I had three minutes to spare and I hoped to God the elevator didn't take more than thirty seconds. I pressed the button for the seventeenth floor and just as the doors were about to close, someone's hand ceased their movements. Handsome was the first word that came to my otherwise thoughtless brain.

"Hi." He smiled warmly.

"Hello." He went to push my floor's button but stopped when he realized I'd already done so.

"We're both going to seventeen, I see." I only smiled, not knowing what to respond with. "I'm Julien."

"Camila"

"Do you work here, Camila?"

"It's my first day, yeah."

"Oh, you're our new receptionist?"

"That'd be me." I rocked back and forth on my heels. "You can call me Mila."

"It's very nice to meet you, Mila."

"You too, Julien." We were almost to our floor when I continued the conversation. "What do you do?"

"Oh, I'm a copy editor." He smiled, "My desk is right near yours actually."

"Interesting..." I immediately hated myself for the lame response, but the doors opened just in time, saving me from further embarrassment.

"Yeah, I think so." His reply was sweet and I found myself smiling silently. "Do you need help...getting anything set up, or..."

"I'm fine, thank you though."

"Of course." He pointed to a desk only a few feet away from mine. "I'm right there, so don't hesitate to ask."

"Thanks." My smile was very, very real. I tried to take my time in setting up my things, but my nerves were too wired, plus I really didn't have too much with me. I figured once I was settled, I'd bring in some pictures or something.

"You must be Miss Rice." I looked up to see a fairly attractive man smiling down at me.

"Camila, hi." We shook hands and he introduced himself.

"I'm Marcus Altman. I'll be your supervisor."

"It's a pleasure, Mr. Altman."

"Please, call me Marcus. I'm the same age as half of these people...I don't need to feel like I'm above them." I could respect that. Seemingly down-to-earth boss, check. "Are you settling in alright, Camila?"

"I am, yeah."

"Good to hear. Would you mind following me, I'll get you set up with all of the information you need for our system." I nodded and stood up. As I followed him, Julien's eyes followed me. I caught his gaze for a few seconds and I held it, our smiles must have been truly complimentary. After a good ten minutes with Marcus, I was all set to go back to my desk and he followed me. "Can I have everybody's attention, please?" Heads looked up from their desks but the only pair of eyes I cared about were already locked on mine. "This is Camila Rice, she's going to be the nucleus of this office, so I'd like all of you to give her a warm welcome." A string of surprisingly friendly greetings came my way and I waved to everyone. Again, not knowing what to say. Just then the elevator doors opened and in walked a very beautiful man. "Ah, nice of you to finally join us Damien." Marcus teased him. "I was just introducing everyone to our new receptionist, Camila Rice." His icy blue eyes took me in while simultaneously giving me an entire body full of chills. He was just as gorgeous as Julien, but in an entirely different way.