A/N: Hello everyone! Welcome to Part Two. I decided to merge these two books together so I got rid of the second book's blurb, meaning you won't have any idea where the rest of the story is going—which makes it fun!
Thank you for all the continued support and love you've shown this book. Keep reading, voting, commenting. I want to know if this story is readable enough to be a real book. You guys tell me.
Here you go... =)
***
Cobalt Bay, California
September 5, 2012
“Well, this is swanky.”
I glanced around the spacious, fully-furnished apartment full of natural light and softened by romantic yet neutral colors, and grinned at Emma who was peering at a large spiral seashell she’d lifted from a clear glass bowl full of decorative shells, starfish and sand.
“Don’t you just love it?” I asked happily before plopping down on the pale, blue-green sofa parked across the narrow glass french doors that led to the cozy balcony overlooking the building’s courtyard in the back.
Emma put the shell back down and stood by the window next to the french doors, peering outside. “Oh, I love it, alright. It’s perfect for you with the full wall of bookshelves, the balcony, the courtyard, the office with the daybed, the whimsical wall art. It’s almost too perfect.”
I straightened at her statement. “Well, I did tell them what I wanted in an apartment. I just had no idea they sprung for accommodations and happened to find the perfect place for me.”
“For higher positions, yes, I can totally see that,” Emma said as she sank down on a bright yellow armchair across me. “But for a junior business analyst, I’m not so sure. The linen closet has extra towels and bedsheets, for God’s sakes. But then again, TVG is a pretty big company so who knows.”
“Burkett said not all newbies get it,” I told Emma, recalling the conversation I had with the administrator for the private foundation which sponsored me throughout college. “But since they’ve had their eye on me long before I graduated, I’ve been packaged with a good starting salary, a one-year contract and a year-long paid lease on a decent apartment which I could renew and keep at a subsidized rate for another three years should I stay on.”
I didn’t mention the offer to include car service but I’d turned that down since I preferred the pedestrian lifestyle I’ve gotten used to during college.
Emma raised a brow at me. “Are you sure it’s not someone very specific and important in the company who has his eyes on you?”
I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “I know what you’re thinking, Em. Trust me, it had crossed my mind a few times but the company has over thirty-thousand employees worldwide. I doubt they report a list of interns and newbies to him.”
I picked at the corner of a throw pillow and glanced away. “Besides, we haven’t spoken or seen each other in four years. He probably doesn’t even remember me.”
Emma snorted and got up on her feet right after the buzzer sounded. “Sure, keep telling yourself that. We all know better.”
“Em,” I reminded softly.
“Hold up,” she said, scooting towards the door. “Ty’s here. I’ll go help my poor boyfriend before he crumbles with the weight of your tremendous three-suitcase luggage—your entire life.”
I smiled and watched her saunter towards the door. “I’ll be right down.”
I stayed in my seat long after Emma left, pondering on the same thought that had been stumbling around my brain in the last six weeks since I signed my employment papers with TVG or The Vice Group.
The last four years of my college life had seemed like a scene straight out of a movie—excellent grades, a generous bursary, an awesome part-time job, a great set of friends and three job offers before graduation.
I would’ve never entertained the idea of working at TVG had Burkett not been so encouraging about it. He’d been counseling me since day one and I trusted his opinion. Even without it though, the offer was too good to turn down. Between it, a bank and a marketing firm, it was a no-brainer.
Except of course for the minor detail that Sebastian Vice was now technically my employer.
I groaned and buried my face in the cushioned arm of the sofa.
Four years and I was still nowhere close to completely letting go.
I did my best.
Once all the paperwork for the pawnshop and the Pendley house was done, I tried hard to push him out of my life. I decided to be practical and use all the stuff he’d sent over to my dorm, telling myself that to build tolerance to the pain of the memories, I had to live with a little dose of Sebastian’s memory daily. This was the convenient excuse I used when I decided to wear the emerald necklace every single day in the last four years.
He never came back to Philadelphia.
I never went back to Cobalt Bay.
I spent the summers either working at Old Nook or staying with Emma at her family’s beachfront vacation home in South Carolina.
The only time I came anywhere close to my life that fateful summer was when Ty invited me to join him during spring break in DC on his senior year there. I dragged Emma with me who met Ty and fell head over heels in love with him. Thankfully, Ty was just as crazy about her and they’ve been together ever since.
Emma had decided to move to Cobalt Bay after graduation to work at her uncle’s advertising company and live with Ty who worked for a publishing house in the city. Having no family (Timothy had barely dropped in on me in the last four years), I suddenly feared being without my two closest friends that it made the decision to accept the job offer from TVG easier.
I told myself the same things I just told Emma earlier—that in a company so big, I doubted Sebastian would ever find out I was working for him.
If he ever did find out, well, then no big deal.
It’s been four years and he hadn’t exactly pined after me—not if the constant tabloid articles of him with a different beautiful woman each time were to be proof.
Except for the daisies.
Oh, yes, the daisies.
Each year, on my birthday, a package would arrive—always the same size, the same kind of white wooden frame—and it would be a simple but romantic watercolor of daisies.
It was unsigned but I didn’t have to think too hard to guess that one.
I had been tempted many times to ring him up and ask why he was sending them to me but I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t risk hearing his voice or seeing his face—it would be too much.
I hadn’t completely buried the past but a coffin was a coffin, whether it had been nailed shut or not.
If we ever ran into each other again—well, I’ll figure it out then.
It’s only been three days since I arrived in Cobalt Bay and this was my first day in my new apartment. I couldn’t ruin this whole new experience with my paranoia.
Pushing my runaway thoughts into the back of my mind, I got up on my feet and hurried down the hall to the elevator just as it opened.
I rolled my eyes and cleared my throat just loud enough to distract both Emma and Ty from their passionate lip-lock.
Emma just flashed me a grin and smacked her lips as Ty laughed and rolled the suitcases out of the elevator.
“Were you just wishing I lived on the twenty-fifth floor or something?” I teased Emma as I grabbed one of the three suitcases and rolled it towards my door.
Emma rolled her eyes. “No, I was actually thinking of how good it’d be for you to move out of our apartment so Ty and I can have the loud, wild, crazy sex we’ve always been dreaming of.”
I choked on my laughter and Ty just groaned, flushing slightly red.
“Did I ever tell you that part of Emma’s charm is her candidness?” Ty asked with a grin as he looped an arm around Emma’s shoulders and pressed her to him. “It’s why I have to keep kissing her. Otherwise, she’d be blurting out things that would make guys go crazy and I’d have a riot in my hands.”
“Ew, guest bedroom is to the right,” I told them with a face, heading to the kitchen as soon as we came into the front hall. “I’ll just do a quick inventory of the pantry then we can go out and get me some groceries, okay?”
When all I got were giggles and grunts, I sighed and took out my cellphone to start a grocery list.
After more than a year of having a long-distance relationship, I understood why the two couldn’t keep their hands off each other. I was happy for them. It was sweet but it reminded me of something I had lost long ago. I felt the pangs but decided I couldn’t resent people for their happiness.
Three hours later, I was home alone, spending my first evening in my new apartment.
The pantry had been surprisingly well-stocked that I didn’t need to get much except for milk, eggs and some produce. After grocery-shopping, we went back to Ty and Emma’s apartment to grab a few more things from my stay there for a few days and then they drove me home.
I made stir-fry for dinner and spent the rest of the evening unpacking the few stuff I brought with me.
The apartment came with cable, internet and phone services so after I was done packing and taking a shower, I curled up on the sofa and switched the TV on.
I watched a little bit of the local late night news and was just drifting off a little when I heard a name mentioned.
“Businessman Sebastian Vice made an appearance at the unveiling of the highly-publicized Hope Center at Cobalt Bay Medical last night. He was the man behind the Saving Hope project which culminated in the construction of the long-term care facility for terminally ill children and the housing services for their families,” the female news anchor stated as the screen flashed to a scene by the entrance of the new, shiny building where many elegantly-dressed people were gathered along with a crowd of families, watching and waiting as the mayor stepped aside from the podium to make way for the tall, broad form I would know anywhere as Sebastian as he came up to the microphone.
My chest tightened as it always did when I saw his pictures and read articles of him anywhere.
This was the first time I saw him in something other than still life.
He was dressed impeccably in a black suit, his hair cut shorter on the sides, the dark waves neatly combed back, his face clean-shaven and still as sinfully handsome.
I lost track of what he was saying and what the news anchor said after that.
My eyes were glued to the screen, desperately watching for every shot that zoomed in on him, observing every change in his expression, every movement of his piercing green eyes.
The last time I fully paid attention to anything written or said about Sebastian was later that fall four years ago just after we said goodbye in school.
There was an article in one of the national gossip magazines reporting on Sebastian’s startling domesticity with a mystery girl he was seen with going around a farmer’s market, traversing through stores at the mall and strolling along downtown hand in hand. The only photo they had of us was Sebastian carrying most of my shopping bags while I had my arm looped through his as we wove through the crowd in the mall. We were mobile so the picture was a bit fuzzy and my face was fortunately leaning towards him while his was quite visible considering his height advantage over me and the fact that he was turned in my direction, smiling down at me. I panicked upon reading that and wondered what was going to happen next but there was never a mention of anything else after that. I always figured Sebastian cleaned that up nicely.
When the news feature ended and the screen changed to the weather, I blinked out of my daze and slumped in my seat, groaning loudly.
This was not a good way to start my new job working for a man I was still obsessed with.
My world had just gotten so much smaller and if I wanted to survive in it, I had to learn how to deal with the fact that he was going to be around, whether I liked it or not, whether it was good for my sanity or not.
I turned the TV off and marched into the bathroom to brush my teeth and braid my hair.
As I stared at my reflection in the mirror, I wondered if he would recognize me when he saw me.
I haven’t changed much.
My dark auburn hair was shorter, cut in more stylish layers, but still tumbling past my shoulders and down my back. I lost a lot of my baby fat and was now a bit leaner and more fit, thanks to a very active college life and working on my feet all day at Old Nook. My breasts and hips though were a different matter, having rounded a bit more throughout the years. My face was really the same and so were my dark brown eyes except that they were now a bit sad. I knew this because Ty told me the first time we saw each other again during that spring break visit.
“It doesn’t matter whether he can recognize you or not,” I told myself as I laid the braid over my right shoulder. “Your worlds will never collide again.”
I believed that.
Or at least, I was fervently praying it was true.
I climbed into my bed and rolled to my side, staring at the spray of wild flowers painted on the wall next to my bed. There were random murals all around the apartment—of flowers, seashells, even a nostalgic carnival scene in the office.
For a moment, I forgot my doubts and fears.
I turned the lamp off, closing my eyes as I pulled the covers over my shoulder.
For the first time, in a long time, I had a smile on my lips as I waited for sleep.
I had a new life to live.
There was no room for the past.
Sebastian would one day fade into nothing more but a distant, bittersweet memory—I just needed a few more years.
As consciousness started to slip away, my last thought was, Who are you kidding?
***
Monday came out of nowhere.
I had four days to get settled in, lay out my schedule and get ready for my first day at work but I still felt like a jumpy, frazzled cat the night before.
I slept fitfully through the night but fortunately, the only evidence of that were the slight shadows under my eyes that were easily covered up with some concealer.
I got up early, showered, made myself a nice, hearty breakfast and packed my lunch. I wore a plum-colored silk blouse, a simple black pencil skirt, a cropped black and gray tweed jacket and sensible black heels. I made it to the bus stop down the block from my apartment with several minutes to spare.
In no time, I found myself standing outside of a tall and imposing glass building that bore the minimalist stainless steel sign The Vice Group above the wide entrance doors, just below the larger abbreviation TVG right over it.
I signed my papers in Philadelphia, at Burkett’s office where David Chambers, one of the HR people from TVG, flew in to meet with me and a few other candidates they were looking into for other jobs in the company.
I took a deep, shaky breath and steeled my spine before making my way up the front steps, flashing my work badge at the security staff who flanked the doors.
Inside, the building was as luxurious and intimidating as it appeared outside, the front lobby full of employees milling about as they too started their work day.
I headed up to the large reception desk and smiled at the three women behind the granite counter.
“Hi, my name’s Cassandra Collins,” I said warmly. “I’m the new junior analyst reporting to Tamara Hayes. It’s my first day.”
“No kidding,” one of the women, a tall, very skinny red-head with a severely tight ponytail and the name tag that said Sasha, muttered with a roll of her eyes as she punched into her computer.
“Since you have your badge, head up to the fifteenth floor and take the third door to your right,” she told me in a bored, condescending tone. “All of Tamara’s toddlers are in there. She’ll come find you when she’s ready.”
I pursed my lips in an effort to keep myself from snapping at her. It wouldn’t do well for me to end up in a cat fight at the front lobby on my first day on the job.
“Thank you, Sasha,” I said with extreme politeness before heading for the bay of turnstiles and badging my way through it.
People bustled into the elevator along with me and I kept a friendly smile on my face as I took in each of them discreetly.
“First day?”
I glanced at the guy behind me and caught him grinning brightly at me.
He was tall and athletic with a blond crew cut and coffee-brown eyes. He was dressed in black slacks, a light blue collared shirt and a navy blue sweater over it.
“What’s the dead give-away?” I asked, smiling back.
“The fact that you’re standing too close to old Mick,” he answered in a whisper. “He’s the guy in the red polka dot sweater. Any woman who works here knows to keep a good distance so he wouldn’t accidentally bump into her.”
I stared at the man at the front of the elevator in the said shirt as he moved his head to a jolly rhythm, listening to his head phones.
“Don’t fall for that,” a woman on my left, a petite asian beauty, shook her head at me with a smile. “Gabe’s just pulling your leg. Mike’s as sweet as anyone’s grandpa.”
Gabe chuckled. “Well, thanks for nothing, Lynn. I was just having some fun with her.”
Lynn just rolled her eyes and extended a hand at me. “I’m Lynn Park. I work over at accounting. The guy who’s giving you a hard time is Gabe Lucas, our IT manager. Unfortunately, if you want to report him for his faulty sense of humor, you’d have to go higher up.”
“Oh, come on now, I was just being friendly,” Gabe said with a casual shrug. “What’s your name, by the way, and where do I have to go to hunt you down to have lunch with me later?”
My eyes widened slightly at Gabe’s brazen attitude but I couldn’t find myself offended.
He was cute and funny and seemed perfectly comfortable with people’s reactions to his teasing tactics.
“I’m Cassandra Collins,” I said, shaking Lynn’s hand then Gabe’s since he nearly grabbed mine as soon as I turned away from Lynn. “I’m a junior analyst at the Business Strategies department.”
“Oh, you’ll love Tamara!” Lynn gushed. “She’s a sweetheart. A tiger but a sweetheart.”
“With very sharp claws if you rub her wrong,” Gabe muttered before Lynn slapped him on the arm.
“You put a rubber centipede in her coffee! Did you think she was going to be happy with you?”
I couldn’t suppress my grin as Gabe rubbed his arm where Lynn hit him.
“Thanks for the warning, Lynn,” I told her as she headed for the open elevator door.
“Let me know if he keeps pestering you,” she said with a grin and a wave before disappearing out into the hall.
“I’m not all that bad, you know?” Gabe said more quietly as we settled into a corner now that the elevator was nearly empty. “I just like to spice things up around here. We all work too hard.”
“Well, if I’m in dire need of fun, I’ll know who to look for,” I said, chuckling just as the elevator stopped and slid open at the fifteenth floor.
I paused on my way out and beamed at Gabe. “Thank you. I’ll see you around, if you don’t get into serious trouble before then.”
His face broke into a broad, sunny smile and I laughed again on my way down the hall, hunting for the third door.
The room was vast, lined with rows of cubicles around the center and edged with offices all around it. The offices, which I assumed were for more senior staff, had opaque glass walls that provided privacy but still allowed plenty of light coming from the windows to stream into the large room.
“Cassandra Collins?”
I turned to see a woman in a tight tangerine turtleneck and a pencil skirt walk towards me, her chic jet-black bob with blunt bangs framing her heart-shaped face stylishly.
“Yes, that’s me.”
The woman stopped in front of me, narrowed her eyes slightly in mild scrutiny, before her face broke into a broad smile, her dark red lips parting to show extremely white teeth. She looked glamorous like a model but also happened to possess an extremely voluptuous figure shown off confidently in those body-hugging clothes.
“I’m Tamara,” she introduced, extending a hand to me.
I expected her to be older—she was the Business Strategies Director after all—but she only seemed to be in her mid to late thirties.
“It’s so good to finally meet you at last,” I said enthusiastically, following her as she started walking along the outer aisle around the cubicle area. “I’m very privileged to find a place in your team. Thank you for taking me on.”
“Your grades and credentials were excellent so it was an easy decision,” she said as she stopped in front of a glass office door and opened it. She ushered me into the room and gestured towards a chair across the large executive desk. “You came highly recommended. Your work with Old Nook was impressive. I corresponded with Mrs. Whittaker about it.”
“Thank you.” I blushed slightly and gave a brief nod.
Mrs. Whittaker, along with her husband, owned Old Nook. The bookstore was well-loved having been in business for many decades but with a small change in the book offerings, the launch of a points/rewards program and the set up of online pre-ordering, it increased its profitability by a significant margin that surprised both me and the old couple who were at first very reluctant to do anything different. We started it on my sophomore year and business has taken off since then.
“We deal with larger business scales here, as you can imagine,” Tamara continued, sitting back in her high-backed leather chair. “We have our hands in many cookie jars. They require different things, they target different markets and they behave in different economic environments. We normally dedicate teams to each facet of the business but more than occasionally, you’d find yourself in various projects outside of your usual scope. Flexibility is very important.”
“I understand,” I said softly.
A corner of Tamara’s scarlet mouth tipped up as she studied me. “I know you do. Other than Old Nook, you ramped up the city’s Local Tourist project when you worked with several small businesses to incorporate them into the program. I believe it was sold out every Sunday. You managed to get local businesses profiting more than they ever did on Sundays in the last three years than they did in the last decade. Other than that, the city was alive on Sundays, even drawing out-of-town crowd to join in on the ‘local experience’ as you marketed it. It was brilliant. You also coordinated in different levels with admirable efficiency—the vendors, the government, the school, the media, the market. I have no doubt of your flexibility.”
I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, wondering where the director was going with all of this. She knew of every single project I was involved in during college. They were nicely enumerated on my CV along with glowing letters of recommendation volunteered by many of the groups and business I worked with.
In fact, she’d already offered me a ridiculous employment package because of it.
“Why did you do it?” she asked all of a sudden.
I blinked, her question taking a second to register. “I beg your pardon?”
“Why did you do it?” she repeated patiently. “Why did you come up with the ideas and projects that you did? Grades alone can gain you decent employment opportunities. You did far more than anyone in your class.”
I bit my lip, considering my answer for a moment. “To be perfectly honest, I had nothing else going on in my life and I had the time and opportunity to do it. Also, because I spent so much of my time around the city and the campus, I saw what could be improved. I understood the businesses, I understood the people, I understood how we could all help each other out. It never hurts to aim to be better. There are risks but you have to believe in the payout. But first you must recognize there is one to be made otherwise all you’ll ever muster are half-hearted attempts and they are never as contagious. You have to believe in the project. Hope is contagious.”
I pressed my lips together the second I realized I was rambling—I would’ve never thought of that as my answer but then I never expected her to ask that question. It seemed rather personal and not necessarily relevant in my new role here—not if I was going to start at the bottom of the food chain and do coffee runs and errands for everyone else.
“I always knew I was a good leader for this team and today is one of those days when I pat myself on the shoulder with a little bit more enthusiasm,” Tamara said, her smile broadening, as she lifted a folder from a small pile on her right. “Because today I know I’m making a smart choice in asking you to step into slightly bigger shoes—one that I have no concern you’d fill easily and efficiently.”
I stiffened, staring at her blankly, unsure if I heard her right.
“There’s been an open senior business analyst role for four months now, ever since one of my people went off to get married and live in a different country. It was no secret,” she said as she laid out the folder open on the desk, pushing it slowly towards me. “It’s not urgent that we fill it. We have everything covered right now but I think you have the makings of an excellent strategist, Cassandra. You have an innate business sense and a sincere interest in building strong relationships with your partners. The Vice Group has always been viewed as a bit of an industry predator and I’m of a mind to change that. Your insight and experience will help us make more friends out there which means more resources for us.”
“What if the others like things exactly as they are?” I blurted out, uncertain where that question came from.
Tamara chuckled. “That’ll be my crusade to win. Don’t doubt that I’m aggressively protective of our business interests but I don’t like to be limited with intimidation as my main strategy. Playing nice can have many pleasant advantages.”
“But you haven’t even seen me work,” I said, wondering why I seemed to be protesting what was clearly a promotion. “The CV lists off all my accomplishments but I’ve never worked for you or for this company before. You’re taking a pretty big risk.”
She just arched a brow in amusement. “You did say there are risks but I have to believe in the payout. You should too, if you want me to put stock into your answer earlier.”
“But you’re right, I have no clue as to how you’ll thrive in this team,” she continued with a sigh. “There are a number of other junior analysts who have their eye on this role. The problem is, I already know too well how they work in this team. Since I’m starting a new strategy with the company direction here, I’ve decided to do the same with my hiring choice and put my money on the newbie. What do you think?”
I glanced down at the sheaf of papers laid out in front of me, unable to make out what they say as the texts floated in my vision.
A niggling kernel of doubt was sprouting in the back of my head at the supreme coincidence of landing a promotion on my first day but I pushed it away, reminding myself that I did accomplish a great deal for myself in college and that if I was being offered steak instead of porridge, it’s because I deserved it.
I looked up at Tamara, so sure all of a sudden. “I accept.”
Tamara blinked in surprise, as if she was almost certain I’d push back, and then beamed at me. “Excellent. Don’t worry, I’m told I’m a great mentor. You’ll shadow with me for a bit and I’ll put you into as many meetings and strategies sessions as possible so you can get fully immersed in the role. It’ll be fun, I promise.”
I don’t know why I doubted that last part of her statement.
I was curious and eager to learn and do new things, especially something important and impacting, but I doubted that everybody was going to happy I came in and ate the pie.
I absently fingered the emerald pendant on my neck as Tamara shuffled through the papers with me, discussing the details of the new job.
I wondered if he knew I was here. If he knew I was a step higher in the ladder—a step closer to him.
***
I appealed to Tamara to delay the announcement of my new role. She agreed to let me sit at the original cubicle assigned to me and work with the other junior analysts until the company newsletter came out in two weeks where the announcement would be. She understood that it gave me a chance to settle in and get to know people who wouldn’t normally respond well to an outsider taking on a more senior role.
She took me around the room and made introductions but there were so many names and faces I couldn’t remember all of them.
“So, you’re the new girl.”
I looked up from my computer where I was trying out all my log-in information and saw a tall, slender girl in a sleek, all-black outfit with a short bob full of white blond curls she pushed back with a black beaded headband.
“Dana, hi,” I greeted with a smile.
I remembered her—she was a junior analyst and I thought she looked like a young Meg Ryan until she narrowed her ice-blue gaze at me.
“You looked pretty friendly with Tamara for a newbie,” she commented snidely, her arms crossing in front of her. “But then, she usually has a soft spot for charity cases.”
For the second time today, I had to press my lips together to keep myself from saying something I might regret.
This really felt like high school.
“I’ll make sure to mention you admire her generosity,” I said sweetly, secretly relishing the widening of her eyes. “If you don’t mind, I’d really like to get started on my day here.”
Dana straightened and glanced at all the paperwork on my desk.
“That’s the Ruthgard portfolio,” she said, scowling. “I didn’t know Tamara included you in the project. Only her and Bob are working on it. She said it was a pretty delicate acquisition and mostly involved the top execs only.”
“She needed an assistant,” I said casually, deciding to omit the fact that Tamara wanted my input on how to best offer on the struggling wireless telecom who was convinced we were going to wipe them out of the market. “I make excellent notes and good coffee. I’m certain she needs you for more important tasks.”
Dana’s ruffled feathers seemed smoothened by that but she still didn’t look happy.
“They’re pushing for an outcome in a week,” she said with a huff. “The top guys are all clamoring to close the deal. It’ll be a stressful next few days for you. You better be on your best game if you don’t want to be seen out the door in two weeks.”
“Thank you for the advice, Dana,” I said through nearly gritted teeth. “I’ll get to work now if I’m to take it to heart.”
She shrugged and left and I sighed deeply as I picked up one of the folders to sift through while some of my applications were installing on the computer.
“She’s just resentful because you got the job when she’d been telling everybody her cousin was going to have it.”
I looked up again and found Bradley, one of the junior analysts, standing behind me, smiling knowingly.
I remembered him too. He was kind of hard to forget in his hot pink pants and bright blue shirt with a mustard yellow tweed coat over it.
I grinned, grateful for a friendly face for a change. “Good to know. I thought she was just a regular Miss Congeniality around here.”
“Welcome on board, Cassandra,” he said with a light chuckle. “Don’t worry. Not all of us here are bitches.”
“Thank you, Bradley,” I said warmly. “I’ll do my best to stick close to the nice ones.”
“I’ll help you navigate,” he said, grabbing a spare chair from the cubicle next to mine and wheeling it close to my desk. He put down his clipboard and lowered his voice.
“Tamara has enlightened me to your role here and assigned me as your assistant,” he said in a more serious tone. “Don’t worry, I can keep things hush-hush until the official announcement comes out. But anything you need, let me know. I’m only five cubicles down.”
I opened my mouth to say something but I was too surprised to manage anything intelligible yet.
He handed me a list from his clipboard that looked like a schedule outline. “We have a couple of meetings to attend later today. I’ll sit in with you. Tamara and Bob are mostly working on the Ruthgard project but we need to prepare financial reports for the board meeting on Monday. There will be a lot of important people in that meeting. Some of them require specific things in the reports. I’ll go over them with you so we can make the necessary personalized tweaks.”
I blinked at him. “You don’t hate me?”
Bradley’s eyes widened. “Hate you? Why? Because you’re very good at this?”
“Because I’m new.”
Bradley rolled his eyes. “It doesn’t matter to me. Tamara is an excellent judge of character. If she thinks you can do this job, I feel privileged that she chose me to partner up with you. Besides, you seem like a very nice person.”
I smiled slowly. “Thank you, Bradley. I’ll do my best to keep up.”
The morning went by so fast I nearly forgot to take my lunch break if Bradley didn’t appear at my cubicle again to insist we head out to the cafeteria together.
We sat with a group of other junior analysts who were polite but a little wary of me.
“So are we still on Saturday night?” one of the guys, Chad, I think, asked as he glanced at everyone around the table. Then he looked at me and smiled. “You can come too, Cassandra. We usually like to meet up at Bar None on Saturday evenings for some drinks. It’s very popular and they have the best nachos and the hottest chicks.”
Bradley rolled his eyes. “Trust you to put food and women in the same sentence, Chad. I’m still in but I’m bringing Liam with me.”
“Of course,” Chad said with a roll of his eyes before making smooching noises that caused laughter around the table. “You never go anywhere without your lover boy.”
“I can’t go, Chad,” Savannah, a pretty blond with a doll face, said as she daintily sipped her iced green tea. “I have a spa appointment. They can only squeeze me in that night and I can’t miss it.”
Chad raised a brow at her, looking bored. “Don’t tell me. You’re getting all prettified for the boss, aren’t you? You and a couple dozen other girls go crazy whenever he’s in. It’s sickening to watch.”
“You’re just jealous, Chad,” Savannah retorted with an indignant sniff. “He smiled at me last time. Really looked at me and smiled, you know.”
“For ten seconds, yes, and only because your cleavage was on full display,” Miriam, an exotic-looking brunette, said with a disgusted expression on her face. “Then he happily turned away and resumed his conversation with that old German banker he was touring around before you not-so-accidentally collided with him in a pretty wide lobby. Didn’t he nicely advise you to get prescription glasses and that as far as he knew, they were covered by the benefits plan?”
Savannah and Miriam started to argue and I glanced at Bradley. “Who are they talking about?”
“The boss-boss,” he answered with a grin, enjoying the ensuing argument. “Sebastian Vice.”
My fork clumsily fell with a clatter on the table, momentarily drawing everyone’s attention.
“Yeah, Cassandra,” Annette, the only other one left in the group who hadn’t said much, chirped up with an amused expression. “Don’t tell us you don’t know of him. You know? Sebastian Vice of the Cobalt Bay billionaires? Half the girls who work here do so because they all want him.”
“Not that you have to worry about it,” Savannah cut in with a dismissive shake of her head. “He’s rarely in the office. He’s always out on meetings or business trips or some type of charity event. Even if he’s in, it’s not like he mingles with the junior staff much. We barely get to see him.”
“I think he’s just trying to avoid the embarrassing scene of having one of you throw yourself at his feet in worship,” Chad muttered. “He doesn’t date employees but it hasn’t discouraged you at all, has it?”
“I won’t be an employee anymore if I were his girlfriend now, would I?” Savannah glared at Chad before smiling dreamily. “I’ll be too busy looking after him and going to all kinds of events as his date, you know?”
Miriam touched my arm lightly. “Have we mentioned she’s a little bit delusional?”
I swallowed hard, fighting the thundering of my heart. “Um...”
“I just want him for sex,” Annette said teasingly, rolling her eyes at Savannah. “She wants to marry him.”
Cassandra Francesca Collins, will you do me the great honor of becoming my most beloved wife?
Sebastian’s face and words flashed through my mind, reminding me of that summer night, four years ago, when he went down on one knee and presented me the engagement ring.
My heart twisted.
“He’s hot and rich,” Savannah snapped irritably. “Tell me of any girl who won’t marry him in an instant!”
I suddenly felt very warm and I awkwardly tugged at the collar of my shirt.
Annette smiled at me. “Are we making you too uncomfortable with our conversation, Cassandra? Trust me, it’ll be worse come Monday. Well, that’s if he shows up.”
“Oh, I love your necklace!” Miriam gushed, pointing at my collar.
“You know, his eyes are almost as green as that,” Savannah stated, Miriam nodding in agreement.
I almost blurted out I know but I stopped myself in time.
“He’s going out with that Japanese Miss Universe contestant though, isn’t he?” Chad asked, popping a fry into his mouth. “The one with the really hot ass, remember?”
Bradley nodded. “Yeah, I think that’s his latest girlfriend.”
“He doesn’t have girlfriends.”
Five heads swiveled in my direction and I bit my lip to keep from cursing out loud at my carelessness.
“What do you mean?” Miriam asked.
“I mean, I don’t think they’re his girlfriends,” I rambled on, struggling to keep the nervousness out of my voice. “He’s seen with a different girl each time. If you were his girlfriend, would you let that happen?”
“I agree,” Annette seconded. “That’s too bad for you, Savannah. He doesn’t seem like the type to settle down with one girl anytime soon.”
If you only knew.
Savannah’s pretty face darkened with a frown. “Only because he hasn’t met the right girl yet. You’ll see. I’ll get my hair all done up and my face will be flawless. He won’t be able to take his eyes off me.”
“The more important question is, how will he even get his eyes on you, in the first place?” Chad snickered, earning a punch on the arm from Savannah.
“She’ll probably trip on herself this time,” Miriam said with a snort. “Maybe he’ll recommend you visit a chiropractor next.”
I laughed along with the rest, determined to hold it all in.
I chose to work for his company.
I should’ve known he would come up in conversations. Sebastian just attracted that kind of female attention wherever he went.
I just had no idea how much it would affect me.
It was only Monday yet here I was, already dreading the next one.
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A/N: Four years later... So, what do you think? I decided to post this early because this is mostly an establishing chapter to kind of get you into the next phase of the story. I would appreciate all your feedback. Keep voting and commenting! =)
XOXO! -Ninya
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