Oh no...oh no oh no! "I'm going to be so late" thought Lilly Linton as she hurriedly plummeted down the ladder out side her window and into the shed to get changed. "He is going to kill me, or rather, bore me to death with one of his icy cool stares which brings nothing but joyful silence!" She emerged only 2 minutes later running through Wilding Park with half her shirt undone and waistcoat in hand. For some strange reason the little girl feeding the ducks was giving her, or him rather, a funny look. "How strange..." Lilly muttered to herself. "Oh well" she thought "must be off" and she bowed slightly to the girl and went on her way.
You see the night before Lilly had, how shall we put it, gone out 'drinking' with some of the friends she had made whilst in a coffee shop. Now, of course, Lilly was in disguise because women couldn't go to coffee shops as their small and delicate minds could be brutally filled with such nonsense as politics. This couldn't be allowed therefore the idea was highly frowned upon, however, Lilly being the confident feminist she is decided to go one day and prove those chauvinistic bastards just what she thought of the idea.
On one of her visits, which she did regularly now, there was a middle-aged gentlemen sitting around with some friends discussing the hot topic of 'women on bicycles'. Apparently there was an incident of some girls riding bicycles in Green Park, in public, in day time. Lilly smiled to herself, remembering it as if it were only yesterday. "Oh how fun it was" she thought to herself. "I shall have to get Patsy and the girls to do it again". However, Lilly had accidentally wandered to the table of gentlemen whilst lost in her thoughts.
"Umph". There came a loud and muffled thud sound from the man in the green waistcoat. "Now look ere' son, watch where you're going alright. I almost spilt me coffee".
"Goodness gracious me. I am so sorry sir" came a chirpy but nervous reply from Lilly. She hurriedly offered to buy the man another cup of coffee, as she had just received her wages for the month from her rather gracious *cough* not *cough* employer Mr Ambrose, but the man instead offered her a seat at the table to 'fill her, or rather his, young mind with esteemed knowledge'.
A few cups of coffee and chats about 'women and politics' later, Lilly found herself being invited for a few beers later on in the evening by her fellow beer-drinking gentlemen. Now, with Lilly being the adventurous and outgoing woman/man that she was, decided that it would be a good idea to expand her horizon and all that crap. And, it would mean Mr Ambrose couldn't do anything about it as it was her free time. " Yes" Lilly thought, "it'll be a good experience. I mean Mr Ambrose did want a male secretary and what's more manly than going out drinking with some male friends?".
Lilly smirked to herself at the thought of Mr Ambrose finding out what she'd done. How she would love that.
"Eeekkkk" Lilly screamed quietly. She only had 2 minutes and 34 seconds precisely, according to her pocket watch, until she had to be at work. "Oh no...I'll never make it in time. Maybe Mr Ambrose will be in a good mood this morning and not even notice I'm late"
"Who are you kidding?" said the nasty little voice in the back of her head. "He'll probably 'deduct the time from your wages' and make you work triple as hard today just to spite you".
"Well stuff Mr Ambrose then, the chauvinistic bastard made of ice and granite" Lilly thought. "Who is he to tell me when and when not I can go drinking? Everyone shows up late to work some times, right? I mean, we're all human. Well, except Mr Ambrose. He doesn't even count as half a human sometimes!"
"Crap, crap, crap...1 minute and 43 seconds late" she thought. "This will have to be my new record - won't Mr Ambrose be proud" and a chuckle came to her lips.
Lilly sucked in a large breath and made her entrance into the Empire Building, across the lobby and up the stairs leading to her fate. She passed a rather scared looking Mr Stone on the way up. "Great! Mr Ambrose is NOT in a good mood. Repeat: NOT in a good mood. Just my luck".
Lilly was about to enter Mr Ambrose's office but...on second thoughts she realised she'd better just sneak into her office quietly whilst praying she would not be seen or heard until her hours were up. However, this was Mr Ambrose. In fact the Mr Ambrose: established billionaire and richest man in Europe (by exactly 1 pounds and 72 pence as he tells more often than necessary) therefore of course he notices every single thing.
I suddenly hear a familiar pink and know my employer has sensed my presence and sent me a message through the pneumatic system we have here. "Oh boy, here we go again". I sigh and unravel the scroll slowly as if one sudden move would make it blow up. I am hoping it goes something like this:
Mr Linton,
I am overcome with joy that you have decided that, out of your busy schedule, you would grace my establishment with your astounding presence. I am so overcome with joyfulness and happiness that I would be extremely grateful if you would step into my office. It will be a pleasure to see your lovely face once again on this fine morning.
Yours truly
Rikkard Ambrose
However, my hopes are squashed as I read 5 short and precise words:
Get into my office NOW!
"Well well, my employer must be in a good mood. I mean taking the time to add proper grammar and even 3 unnecessary capital letters in the form of the word 'now' ".
As common curtesy of decent folk here in the heart of London I thought it only right that I would write my dear employer a short note back. Here it goes:
My dear Mr Ambrose,
I thank you for taking the time to write to me by means of an organised system. You have no idea what it means to me to hear from you on such an ordinary day; I truly appreciate it. I am terribly sorry that you feel the need to write to me and waste such precious time (and therefore knowledge and power) therefore I shall come at once into your office.
Yours truly,
MISS Lilly Linton
That should teach him I thought as I posted the scroll back through the tubes and pulled the lever. However, as I was making my way to the door which separates our offices, not 2 seconds later, I hear another pink.
Mr Linton,
I would not have to waste my time writing to you if you actually arrived on time. Do not write such time-wasting replies again and GET INTO MY OFFICE NOW!
Rikkard Ambrose
"Oops!"
Knock. Knock. Knock. "Mr Linton...hurry up"
"Yes Sir Mr Ambrose Sir"
"And stop making such sarcastic remarks"
"Of course Sir Mr Ambrose Sir" and with that I march into his office with my head held high.
The first thing I see is the dark and brooding figure of Mr Rikkard Ambrose scribbling some words on a rather important looking document.
10 seconds...still silence
30 seconds...more silence
2 minutes... That's right, you've guessed it: more silence
"He hmm.. Mr Ambrose Sir, you asked to see me"
"Ah yes, Mr Linton. Did you receive your pay for last month?"
"My pay?"
"Yes Mr Linton your money, for your services"
"Erm...yes sir, I...I did"
"Oh good. The full amount I presume"
"Yes Sir".
At this moment I was starting to worry since my employer was unusually calm. "This can't be a good sign I thought"
"And Mr Linton, what services do I require of you"
"Em..to be a secretary, Sir"
"Yes Mr Linton, and of these 'required skills' is one of them to be on time to the work place"
"Oh...em...why yes Sir but if this is about this morning I can explain"
"Really Mr Linton, because I would love to know how come you deem it appropriate to arrive late then not bother coming to see me"
"Well, Sir, you see I was doing some exploring and...em...making friends at a...em...coff...place. Yes at a place "
At this point Mr Ambrose's eyebrows has moved about 2 mm up and I could detect a slight quiver in his left pinky.
"A coff-place Mr Linton"
"Why yes Mr Ambrose...but that's not the point. Anyway, you see I was with my new...em...male friends so I was up rather late and forgot to set my alarm so...em...yes"
"Going to coff-places Mr Linton, making 'friends' Mr Linton. Well, I am pleased"
"Really Sir, because I was worried for a second and..."
"No Mr Linton" and with that he was out of his seat and round to me in a split second. So close I could feel the heat of his mouth on mine and his hard muscles against my body. "You have been very bad Mr Linton"
"Oh em really... " I spluttered, keeping my gaze from his because I couldn't look into his eyes not knowing what he was going to do or say.
"Yes, and, do you know what this means"
I couldn't resist looking into his stormy sea-green eyes, eyes that burned with an emotion I couldn't quite place. Passion? Rage? Desire?
"It means" he whispered softly into my ear. "It means...you're going to work double shifts next weeks and have the time wasted deducted from your wages". He gave me one more glance then rushed back to his desk within 3 long strides.
"Now get me file 38XV224 and file 227B, quickly now Mr Linton, we haven't got all day". This manner continued all day with a few short breaks for me to 'powder my nose' and I even got a 10 minute break for lunch!
Finally the end of the day came and I hurriedly gathered my things in desperation to leave. However, one thing stopped me. I remembered I had to tell Mr Ambrose something, something rather important.
Knock knock. I wait for a few second then make my way into his office.
"Ahem... Mr Ambrose". I start coughing a few sharp coughs but no reply.
"Mr Linton do you need something or are you going to spend all day coughing whilst I am trying to work"
"Sir I have to tell you something. I require Friday evening off between 6 and 8 pm".
Mr Ambrose immediately stops writing and looks up at me with his stone cold eyes, gazing at me and boring deep through my soul. "And why exactly is that Mr Linton"
"I'm meeting someone.."
"Someone Mr Linton, who?"
"Well you see...a...em...a man Sir so I'll be needing Friday evening off. Good night sir" and with that I bowed lightly and quite nearly ran out of the door and down the stair case leaving a rather shocked Mr Ambrose.
"Shocked indeed I thought to myself" as I distinctly remembered his left pinky twitching not once but twice during the process by which I told him I had a date.
Till tomorrow my dear employer.
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This chapter is dedicated to rosemarie151999 and @fizzybizzybee for the inspiration of the coffee shop and support during writing it. Thank you! This story is also a fanfic of the amazing trilogy by RobThier so credits to him for being amazing!
Well guys...what did you think. Lilly has a hot date but who is this mystery man? And why is Lilly going on a date...with a man? All will be revealed in the next chapter.
Thank you all for reading. It means so much to me and of course vote, share and leave comments. ❤️❤️
Till next time 😋