"You both stink of alcohol, it is disgusting. Almost as bad as your mother!" Steve Wesley stated as Alastair and Ace walked into his office, ready to hear what was ahead of them on a fine sunny Thursday morning.
Steve Wesley was not the kind of man you would want to mess with. He owned Wesley incorporated – a company that could only compare to the likes of Amazon. He had built it up, almost out the blue, from nothing when he was in his twenties; but now in his sixties and nearing retirement he had become grumpier, meaner, power hungry and more aggressive than he ever used to be, putting countless amounts of pressure onto his sons who were nowhere near ready to take over the company yet. He, like his eldest son Alastair, had dark brown hair waxed to his scalp and was always immaculately dressed. He was very thin and his gaunt face made his green eyes bulge out like a sparrows. He still lived with the boy's mother, Mikaela who was near enough ten years his junior. She used to be drop dead gorgeous but a life of living with a man like Steve Wesley would mess anyone up and she now lived her days drinking herself to oblivion in a separate part of their humongous mansion in the Surrey hills. She liked to always wear plasticky pink and had beautiful blue eyes, but over the years her age had started to really catch up with her. Together Steve and Mikaela had three boys – Alastair the eldest at thirty two was not a very nice man, taking after his father in every way possible and desperate to take over the company once his dad retired; Ace was twenty eight, a more polite young man, taking more traits from his mother's side, and although put on a front of being masculine and aggressive so no one took the piss out of him he also had a softer side, but this was rarely seen. Ace was very tech savvy and liked a challenge meaning, unfortunately for Alastair, he was naturally better at the job on near enough all occasions. The youngest brother was Aaron, just out of his teens at the ripe age of twenty. He had no idea what to do with his life and was bumming around travelling with some friends. Aaron was useless at anything and much the baby of the family; he had the worst traits of both his mother and father; blonde, dirty, ruffled hair that hung down to his shoulders and cold blue eyes that were nearly always covered by sunglasses however made him irresistible to the girls he met along his path.
"Oh, just sit down both of you, for fucks sake! Where did you go this time?" Steve twiddled his pen in his fingers, looking at his sons in disgust. They were out near enough every night and the state they were getting into was not an image he wanted to portray.
"Sevens. It's great in there... Ace had a good time. Took Paris again!" Alastair replied, sitting down whilst straightening out his navy suit jacket.
Ace took his seat and shook his head, hitting Alastair on the arm, "mate, that is finished. She is such a waste of space, total airhead! But yes, it was fun."
"At least you both look presentable, which is more than I can say for last week." The boys both rolled their eyes, smirking. They did not get along a lot of the time but they always had fun out together. "Anyway..." Steve got up and walked around to the wall calendar placed neatly on his wooden bookshelf, "we have those interviews today. Remember we are looking for an intelligent secretary so please do not employ someone who is good looking, I am not having anymore romantic affairs within my company walls, do you understand?" He looked over at the boys meaning business. They both nodded in reply. "Excellent. Well off you go, take an espresso on your way out. You are going to need it. Twenty people are ready and waiting for their interviews with you both today, make good choices please."
"Yes dad", they both replied as they stood up, grabbing an espresso off the side near the coffee machine and made their way out. "So, how about last night? I know you said you didn't wanna go back to that bar but wow were the chicks in there hot!" Alastair said, grinning from ear to ear from another successful evening with the ladies.
Ace shook his head, "honestly, I was just pleased to get rid of Paris, she was doing my fucking nut in."
Alastair laughed as they reached the interviewing room and they both made themselves comfortable on the cushioned leather chairs. Ace straightened out his notebook and looked through the list of names for the day, following it with his finger until Alastair accidentally knocked his espresso cup, the liquid drenching the rest of Ace's list of interviewee's names as he threw himself back in his chair, "for fucks sake Alastair, what is wrong with you?" he said angrily, shaking his trousers which were now dripping with coffee.
"Sorry mate, I obviously didn't mean to!"
Ace threw his hands up in the air as he walked round the desk and towards the door, "start without me, I will be back once I have a change of trousers. Think I have a spare suit in my car." Ace carried on walking, ignoring the laughing coming from Alastair as he left.
He slowly creeped past his dad's office, not wanting him to find out what had happened when he heard his dad scream down the phone making him stop and listen. "Mikaela, I swear to God if you are keeping something from me I will go mad. You know what I have done in the past, why do it again? .... Yes I understand it is difficult. Go and pour yourself another glass of champagne and tell me the bloody truth woman! .... You are saying she is alive? Well why the fuck has no one told me that? .... Her family died, you know that. I knew she was put in an orphanage, we have been trying to track her for decades... Yes, I know we don't have long to find her, why do you think I have been getting more miserable as the years go on. I know the importance of it all! ... Argh, goodbye Mikaela. Call me when you have some helpful information!"
Ace furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as he carried on walking towards the staircase to go down to his car in the lobby, wondering what the hell his dad and mum were talking about. He threw open the door and heard a scream making him lose his trail of thought. "Effie?"
She looked up from picking the pile of papers that were now on the floor and stood up, straightening her pencil skirt and fluffing her shirt to make sure she was presentable enough. "Hello Mr Wesley, did not expect to see you here, I thought my interview was in the room down the corridor..." she fumbled in her bag, "I have the map of this impressive building somewhere."
Ace put his hand up to his mouth and laughed, "yeah, okay, I believe you."
Effie looked up and followed his eye gaze to the floor noticing the map staring straight at her, the last piece of paper she hadn't picked up. "Right, yeah." Feeling embarrassed she knelt down and grabbed it before standing up and flicking her hair over her shoulder, "you could have told me it was there before making me look like an idiot."
Ace smiled, seeing how flustered she was made his heart jump, "look, I didn't mean anything by it. I am just going to get some trousers, Alastair spilt coffee down mine and it is not a great first impression for interviewing."
Effie half-smiled, her purple eyes staring nervously at him, "oh I see. Thought I was late or something."
Ace shook his head, "nope, you are super early. Think the interviews start in half an hour. Fancy a coffee?"
Effie looked down at the floor nervously, "erm, is that an okay thing to do before an interview that you are going to be holding?"
Ace knelt down and grabbed the pen that had rolled near his feet from her dropped things. As he stood back up he held it out to her, "I am one under the CEO, I think I can say what is okay and not."
Effie smiled and looked through the door Ace had just come from then back at him, "hmm, alright then. If I don't get the job because of this though I won't let you forget it."
Ace laughed, "ooh, don't tempt me."
*
"Wow, that is seriously your car?" Effie remarked, stopping at the silver Tesla in front of her.
Ace smirked, "yeah, perks of the job I suppose."
Effie shook her head, "honestly, you have literally just fallen on your feet. You don't know how lucky you are! Oh my god!" She quickly turned around, putting her hand in front of her eyes as Ace stripped off his trousers. "You could have warned me you were going to just strip in the car park."
Ace laughed, "oh stop being so naiive, you work in a bar. You cannot tell me you haven't seen all of this before..."
Effie laughed, shaking her head, "you have no boundaries Mr Wesley."
Ace chucked his old trousers over his arm and walked round in front of her, the sweet smell of her perfume making his heart skip a beat. "You can open your eyes now."
Effie peeked through her fingers, narrowing her eyes to see if he was tricking her and slowly moved her hand away seeing him fully dressed. She looked at her watch as it started to buzz on her wrist, "oh shit, I'm late. My interview is in five minutes... You better hurry up!"
Ace pulled his phone out his jacket pocket and chewed his lip, "oh yeah, so you are right. Lift or stairs?"
Effie looked at him curiously, "stairs, I don't like lifts."
Ace pushed his lips firmly together and smiled, "good choice."
They walked up the stairs silently, both wanting to say so much but not finding it appropriate timing. As they got to the top Effie paused before walking through the door. "Are you coming?" Ace asked.
Effie shook her head, "won't look great will it? You go on ahead, I have my map, I'll find my way to you."
Ace ran his fingers through his thick hair in admiration for her, her confidence making her glow, "I hope you do."
He turned and opened the door, not noticing her blush as he left her on the echoey staircase.
"Where have you been?" Alastair demanded, standing up from his chair. "I called reception and they said you never went down, I thought you had ditched me to go through these stupid interviews alone!"
Ace walked confidently over to his brother and smirked, "I have done one better. I have found ourselves a secretary, no need for any more interviews. I won't tell dad if you don't but take the day off, rest that sorry head of yours and I'll call you later."
Alastair looked at him in confusion, "seriously? You're not setting me up? Cause that sounds amazing!"
Ace grinned, "you owe me one mate."
Alastair did not want to disagree with this one, desperate to rest his achey head on his soft, expensive mattress, along with whatever girl he could pick up along the way home. "Definitely."
Ace shook his head; his brother was never one to be told twice to take time off, hence why he was never relied upon by their dad for anything. He watched through the door as Alastair rushed past their dad's office and into the lift. As the lift doors shut Effie appeared, absolutely flawless, not a nerve in sight. She knew she had it in the bag, although her innocence made Ace curious as to how she worked. He confidently walked towards her, meeting her purple eyes instantly. "Miss... erm..."
"It is just Effie, no surname", she replied.
Ace looked at her baffled, "sorry, what?"
"Do I have to spell it out for you? It is just Effie. I was orphaned, came out when I was eighteen and my life has been the bar."
Ace raised his eyebrow at her, wanting to know more about her past, "would you like to follow me", he said, knowing the cameras were on them for his dad to see all. He had to act professional otherwise his dad would question what was going on.
"Sure... the interview room is over there though isn't it?" Effie asked, pointing back down the corridor where Ace had come from.
"We are going to my office actually, bit more personal."
Effie eyed him suspiciously and walked the other way, knowing exactly where she was going from the map she had studied whilst stuck on the staircase when Ace had left her. Impressed, Ace followed, rushing in front as he got to his office door. He opened it for her and looked up at the camera, knowing he would have to keep very professional throughout this next conversation.
"Please take a seat Miss Effie", he said, gesturing to the grey chair shaped like a shell in front of his desk.
Effie didn't hear him, taking in all the photos and memorabilia around his office, "wow, Oprah, Michael Jackson, Taylor Swift... Such iconic stars. I'm impressed."
Ace laughed, straightening his jacket and pulling down his trousers as he sat in his leather chair. "Effie, please, take a seat", he instructed.
She turned to look at him, suddenly put in her place. "Right, yes, sorry." She sat down, placing her bag down and taking her yellow jacket off to reveal a small white top tucked neatly into the top of the high waisted black pencil skirt she had on.
Ace tried to contain himself, he had never felt such lust for someone so quickly. Effie seemed different yet so familiar but he found himself putting up a wall in between them, scared of the emotions he was starting to feel out of nowhere. "So, question 1, why would you like this job? A bartender is not really a job that is similar to a secretary."
Effie was ready for this question, she knew it would come up, "I disagree... a bartender is front of house, same as a receptionist, you have to look the part, be friendly, confident, know what you are talking about, be good at talking to people, talking down heated conversations and lastly, being able to clean up messes that are not your own."
Ace sat silently, processing the fast speeded answer that was thrown at him. "Right. Great. Thanks." He carried on just staring at her, not wanting to ask her the standard interview questions he had taken from Alastair on his desk. "How long have you been a bartender for?"
"Eight years, as soon as I was kicked out the orphanage. It was dire, I couldn't wait to leave and earn my own money and live my own life", Effie replied.
Ace nodded, "okay, and where is it you are from?"
"Here. Surrey." Her answers were becoming shorter and shorter, not knowing the intention of his questions that were not related to the job at all, nothing she had prepared for.
"Siblings?"
"None."
"Parents?"
"None."
"Family?"
"None."
"Friends?"
Effie shook her head, a stone cold expression on her face, "sorry, why do you need to know this for a receptionist job?"
Ace looked back at her expressionless, his lips pressed firmly together, "I don't."
Effie stood up, "look, have I wasted your time or are you just being difficult? Cause this isn't really fair. After last night especially, you are being a little..."
Ace raised his eyebrows, "yes?"
Effie pressed her lips together, "nothing." She held out her hand, "thank you for your time Mr Wesley, I won't waste anymore of it."
Ace carried on looking at her, not moving a muscle, "sit down Effie!" he said authoritatively. She huffed as she did as he asked, wondering why she felt like she had to listen to him. He pressed his fingers together in deep thought, "I am giving you the job, starting from Monday. I expect you here at 8am every day and working through until 6pm. You get a half an hour lunch break and your desk will be just outside this room..."
"I thought it was by the lifts? There was an empty desk..."
"No" Ace interrupted, "you are mainly a receptionist for me. My dad gives me jobs that I delegate to you. Alastair won't have much to do with you, do you understand?"
Effie nodded, "sure."
Ace broke into a small smile, "great. Well, thank you for your time. I will see you Monday morning." He stood up and held out his hand across his desk, "I look forward to working with you."
She took his hand in hers and looked at him curiously, her deep purple eyes glaring straight into his emerald green, "thank you for your time."
They both felt the magnetic force pushing them together and instantly separated their hands in shock. "I will let myself out, thank you again", Effie said as she picked up her jacket and bag.
He watched her leave and nodded before she shut the door behind her, letting out a huge sigh of relief for keeping it together. Tension had built throughout their entire conversation, he had never felt so strongly towards someone and he didn't know what he was going to do come Monday morning.
"Ace?"
Ace whipped back round to face his dad who had just opened the door. "Yeah?"
"Who was that?"
Ace put his hands in his trouser pockets, "Effie, dad. She is our new receptionist. Got good experience actually, working with people, over the phone, and with Alastair actually."
Steve laughed, "excellent. God help her then. Fancy getting breakfast? I see Alastair has already vacated the premises."
Ace grabbed his phone off the side and walked over to his dad, "great idea. I'm starving."