I looked like I had gotten beat up in an alley. My face was heavily bruised, dress covered in blood, and it was all due to my inability to WALK. THROUGH. A. DOOR.
Allie had been right, people in the bathroom whispered concerns about her treatment of me as I tried to scrub the blood out of my dress. I tried to explain, but when they looked at my face, they flinched back as if believing my new beat-up look was something they could catch.
After several minutes of angry scrubbing, the blood had spread, making my pink dress look tie-dye. Adding a thick layer of foundation to my face made me look utterly pale and off-color. So as I sat back down at my desk, I felt more clown than assistant.
I felt like a fool as I watched a cleaning crew scrub Laurence Royal's rug, and the glass wall. I hated that there was a literal clean up crew scrubbing away the physical mess I made of an emotional situation.
The day was a blur of phone calls, aspirin for my smashed face, organizing sketches for the next line of clothes Allie was creating, more aspirin, putting together financials for Laurence, ordering lunch for both of my bosses, taking notes during one of Laurence and Allie's financial negotiation meetings that was more shouting than anything else and then more aspirin.
By the time the day came to a close, my face was numb, and I was utterly drained. I began to pack up my things, intending to crawl into a bath and watch You've Got Mail, when a new voice startled me.
"Excuse me," a voice said, annoyed. I looked up, from where I had begun to stack large folders into a filing cabinet under my desk, surprised to find a tall, beautiful woman with black hair standing before me, clutching the smallest purse known to humankind.
What did women keep in tiny purses?
"Yes?" I asked, too tired to put a smile on my face. I gave myself a pass after headbutting a glass wall and losing.
"I'm here for Laurence," she said, sounding irritated that I hadn't read her mind.
"Do you have an appointment?" I asked, glancing toward my computer, wondering if I had missed an appointment on his schedule.
She scoffed. "We have a date. And what are you, his keeper?"
I blinked up at her. The aspirin was wearing off, and I was becoming cranky. "Yes. I literally keep his schedule."
She looked me up and down, the way women did when analyzing a threat, and smiled that smile that said I was clearly little more than a bug, nothing to worry about when it came to threats.
"Cute. I wasn't aware that they hired just anybody off the street to work at a fashion company."
"And I wasn't aware that his poor taste transferred to women too," someone said behind me.
I spun to find Allie sitting in my desk chair, eyes on the computer screen, pulling up the master calender with a few stroke of the keys. "But I don't see 'Taking charity case out to dinner,' on his schedule so perhaps there is hope for him yet."
The woman's jaw dropped, clearly outmatched when it came to biting one-liners. Allie glanced over at the woman, brow suddenly going up, as if surprised to still find her standing there. "Oh, are you still here? Feel free to see yourself out. Only office personnel are allowed on this floor."
The woman continued to stare at Allie for another beat before she finally recovered her ability to speak. "I could have you fired. Both of you!"
Allie leaned back in my chair, a small smile crossing her mouth. One that didn't reach her eyes. "Tell you what. You go walk into his office right now. Tell him to fire me. If he does, I'll go without a word. If he doesn't, then you leave and never come back."
The woman walked past us, making a beeling for Laurence's office, her gait determined. "Fine!"
Allie watched her go, her smile turning mischievous. "Stupid woman." She shook her head. "And to think, Laurence didn't want the glass walls. Other than the occasional face smash, it makes for the perfect front-frow seats to his terrible dating choices."
We watched as the woman walked into his office, startling Laurence into dropping a stack of papers as the woman gestured towards us, face red, clearly screaming. The door was closed, so we didn't get to hear the words, but they were obviously full of rage.
Laurence glanced in our direction, his mind still clearly half in his work, trying to wrap his head around this woman's arrival. Allie wiggled her fingers at him in greeting. I just stared, caught in another Allie Laurence battle of wits.
Allie leaned back in my office chair and slowly raised her heels to rest on my desk, crossed at the ankles, making it very clear that she was relaxed and waiting for Laurence to tell the woman that Laurence could not, in fact, fire Allie. She was HIS boss.
The woman suddenly stopped gesturing and after a long beat of silence, glanced through the glass back at us. Allie waved at her, head cocked to the side expectantly. The woman gestured toward me, and I could see the words she spoke.
"What about that one? You'll fire her, right?"
Laurence shook his head. "No."
The woman's voice grew so loud that it pierced the glass. "SHE'S JUST AN ASSISTANT!"
I winced, both from the decibel and the implication.
I just want more...
The woman stormed out of Laurence's office, flipping us off as she passed by.
Laurence walked out a moment later, sighing. "Was that really necessary?"
Allie stood up, brushing off her skirt as if she had just gone through battle, and I suppose in mean girl terms, she had. "That girl was terrible. And treated Lily like garbage. So I merely mirrored her behavior."
Then Allie walked to her office, back to work.
"I'm sorry Tabitha was cruel," Laurence said.
Shrugging, I went back to gathering my things. "Allie took care of it."
"Still. I'm sorry," Laurence said again. "You deserve better."
I couldn't seem to breathe until he was gone. Then, reaching down to grab the last of my things, I realized that something had been written into the front page of my gift from Laurence.
Miss Autumns,
You make my office life so much easier and have done a high-quality job. Here is to three more years. Let's hope that the next three are just as easy and filled with no changes.
C.F.O — L.R.
I stared down at the note, feeling down. The words were so... bland. No details about the last three years. No inside jokes. No humor. Nothing of note other than I was good enough at my job but otherwise unnoteworthy.
You are boring Lily Autumnts...
And after that Tabitha woman had arrived, it was all too clear that Laurence's taste was very far from anything that I was or would ever be.
I want more...
Slamming the book shut, I dropped it in the bottom drawer of my desk, growing determined. Laurence's words suddenly joined Liam's.
You deserve better...
I was walking before the plan had fully formed. But as it solidified, I couldn't get there fast enough. I burst through the door, startling Allie, who sat behind a sewing machine.
"I want your help."
Allie nodded, standing to her feet. "Okay. I'll—"
"Not with Mr. Royal."
She raised a brow. "Then what do you want?"
"To get over Laurence Royal."
Allie looked at me for a long moment. "Are you sure?" She didn't sound convinced.
I nodded my heart suddenly pounding as my determination grew. "I don't want to become a Tabitha to get his attention."
"You wouldn't—"
"It doesn't matter. The last relationship I was in left me feeling broken. I don't want that again." I thought of the way Tabitha looked at me. A mere bug in her eyes.
She's just an assistant...
"I want your help to become more confident. To become braver. To become better at defending myself."
You deserve better...
My throat tightened. "To think I am worth defending."
Allie's gaze softened. "I'm sorry he hurt you."
I wasn't sure if she was referring to Liam or Laurence. But her words hit me hard just the same. "I'm sorry that I let someone shake me."
She nodded. "Okay. Let's build that woman inside of you back up."
Allie rounded the table, handing me a piece of paper. "First things first, I need you to fill this out."
"You didn't know what I was going to ask for," I said, taking the paperwork.
She waved her hand dismissively. "The paperwork stays the same in either case. If you went with the first option, it would have caused an HR problem. Dating a boss is... tricky. But in this case, distance will make letting go easier."
Confused, I glanced down at the paperwork, my eyes going wide. "Wait... you're firing me?"
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Thank you for reading chapter four! I hope you are enjoying the story! Or are at least curious to see where it goes! Add this story to your reading list to know when the next chapter drops!
UPDATE DAYS - A NEW CHAPTER EVERY FRIDAY!
Is Allie actually firing Lily? What does this mean? Where will Lily work?
How will Laurence react to this news?
What will Allie do to help Lily?
What do you think will happen next?
CHAPTER QUESTION - Have you ever been fired from a job?