Oh no, here she comes.
There I was, trying to meet a deadline ahead of time while my friend came barreling towards me at full speed. We weren't even really friends, though. We were just work acquaintances. I didn't do the whole friendship thing.
"Aubrey, Aubrey!" Carlita shrieked while waving her arms frantically. I knew she’d forgotten that we were in an office and not at a party.
Maybe if I look like I'm busy working, she won't bother me.
Scooting my chair further into my office cubicle, I busied myself with reading through emails on my computer.
"Oh, cut the shit, I know you saw me."
Damn. Busted.
"Of course, I saw you! How could I miss something so beautiful?" My sarcasm was too advanced for Carlita because she clearly hadn't caught on.
"You're so sweet, that's why I love you."
I mentally rolled my eyes at the girl. She was good company but god was she clueless at times.
"I love you, too." I hated throwing around that word so carelessly. "Now, what did you come rushing over here for?"
"Guess what time it is?" She beamed.
"Uh," the numbers in the corner of my computer said ten thirty-two, so I went with that. "Just half past ten?"
"Wrong!"
"Jesus, will you lower your voice? I can't afford to have Tiffany on my ass even more than she already is."
I poked my head around the corner of my cubicle to see if my bitch of a boss was paying attention to our conversation. As usual, her pedicured feet were propped on her glass desk with a phone glued to her ear. I couldn't understand how anything ever got done in the office since all she did was call whomever it was that made her twirl her hair around her finger like a schoolgirl.
"Tiffany!" Carlita yelled at the top of her lungs, and then ducked down quickly.
"Are you out of your mind?" I hissed, ducking right there with her on the side of my desk.
After a few seconds, my 'friend' broke out into a fit of laughter. I swore that the girl tried to get me in unnecessary trouble at times.
"I doubt her snooty ass even heard anything. Hold on, let me check." She whispered.
Oh, now the bitch wants to whisper.
I watched as Carlita's small frame rose to its full height. She stood on her toes to get a better look over the cubicle walls. Even with heels on, it was still a challenge.
"Well?" I pressed.
"Coast is clear," she grinned proudly. "Now get up, I have things to tell you."
"Make it quick, I have work to do."
"Yes, because finding the perfect questions to answer for the advice column is so intriguing," she snorted a laugh. "Anyhoo, today is the day that begins the interview process for the new interns."
Carlita's eyes were wide with excitement. She balled her fists and waved them in small circles. Whatever she had for breakfast, I wanted some.
"I think I'm missing something here." I grew bored of the conversation quickly, wishing she would just go back to her side of the office. Far, far away from me.
"Clearly," dark brown eyes rolled. "Do you know what this means? It'll basically be like having our own assistants all the time. I'll get my own personal slave!"
"I don't think slavery is really something to get excited over."
"Oh, hush. You know what I mean. I hope I get to work with one that's a guy. Maybe I can have him as a different kind of slave, if you know what I mean." She winked, her false eyelashes fluttering down to her cheek.
I leaned my head to the side and looked at her like she was an idiot. We had work to do and all she thought about was having kinky sex in an office. If we were to get individual help, I hoped her intern was in the older age range.
"You are insane—” My sentence was cut off by my goblin of a boss who called my name.
"Pen, I need you in my office. Now!" Tiffany roared.
Cody, a sports writer on the other side of my desk, cowered further into his.
Mostly everyone who worked at the magazine was afraid of Tiffany Snow. She even had a nickname in the office because of her last name and vanity. People called her 'The White Bitch' from Epic Movie when it parodied The Chronicles of Narnia.
I hung my head low out of frustration before I stood and made my way to Tiffany's office. Carlita lifted her hands in defense and slowly walked backwards to her desk on the other side of the newsroom.
Tiffany shuffled papers into various folders that were scattered on her desk when I approached. I mentally debated if I should turn around and pretend I hadn't heard her call me, but her head snapped up when she saw me outside of the glass windows. The harshness of her blue eyes made me hurriedly enter.
"Pen, you're the only one of my workers that I can actually trust, so I need your help. Monty, you know the owner of the magazine?" I nodded quickly. "Good, you should know him. Well, he wants me to go out on business with some new clients, like, right fucking now. Since I was supposed to be interviewing the interns today, I need someone to do it and I guess I chose you. Do you think you can handle it, Pen?"
Would now be a good time to tell her that my name isn't Pen?
In my advice column, I was known as Miss Pen. It was the alias I came up with since I loved to write. Speaking of the column, it was Tuesday, which meant that Treacherous Road would write to the magazine looking for advice. I didn't know who the anonymous person behind the name was, but I always searched for their question out of the hundreds of comments I received. I felt connected with them through their writing. There was more to them than what they typed in the little box on our company's website.
"Pen, are you with me or not? I have to leave in five minutes." Tiffany snapped her fingers in front of my face, the sound making me jolt back to the present.
"Yeah, sorry," I mumbled. "What, exactly, do you need me to do?"
"I need you to sit your pretty little ass behind my desk and interview whoever stumbles into this office. Got it?" Her hands grabbed my shoulders and pushed me to the back of the room where the desk sat.
"Tiffany, I haven't interviewed anyone in over a year. The last time was when I was in college, and it was for class credit. I don't know how to interview someone when they're applying for a job." My breath began to get heavy, the nerves and panic consuming me.
"My god, will you calm down? It's not that serious. If it was, I would get someone else to do the job. They're interns for crying out loud!" Tiffany's mascara coated eyes rolled.
"What am I supposed to ask them?"
"Look, I've made a list of basic questions for you to go through. There's no need for you to have a seizure right now. Also, the resumes and cover letters of all the people coming in today are right here in this folder." A black folder from the edge of the desk was pushed toward me by Tiffany's hand.
"Okay, this isn't too hard." I gulped and sat down behind her desk.
"No, it's not. You're just so uptight and have the need to plan out everything. My advice to you; chill the hell out, girl," she grinned. "And I have to go now, so don't make me look bad."
And with a wave over the shoulder, she was out the door leaving me sat in her large leather office chair.
Surprisingly, the next two hours passed by smoothly. There was only one interviewee left, and I was ready to get the process over with. I slouched when Carlita barged into the office immediately after one of the applicants left.
"Holy shit, you lucky bitch!" She yelled after the glass door was closed behind her.
"Please, do come in."
"No, you don't understand," she grinned like a killer going after its prey. "God's gift to women is about to walk into this office. I gave him a little detour so I could talk to you first."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"You have to make this guy get hired. Please. Do it for those of us that don't get any action!"
That would be me.
"Who, Carlita? Hire who?" I began to get anxious just from watching her, feeling the start of my underarms perspiring.
"You'll find out in about a minute. I gotta go so he doesn't catch me for giving him the wrong directions to this office."
She slipped out of the door before I had the chance to ask more questions. I was lost in my thoughts until a pair of legs stood before the desk. My eyes traveled from what wasn't hidden by the edge if glass and all the way up to a face that was etched in confusion.
"Sorry I'm late, I had a bit of a delay." Said a voice that belonged to deep cheekbones, dark hair, and green eyes. Holy hell, his voice was low.
"Aubrey Martina. It’s nice to meet you." I reached, more like shoved out of nervousness, my hand for the man to shake.
"Rhode Harper. The pleasure is all mine." His large hand clasped around my own, holding on to it for a beat longer than necessary. "Are we waiting on anyone else?"
I’d never heard anyone else with that first name. It was different, and I knew this man was far from ordinary. The same hand that shook mine, ran through the faint stubble of his jaw after he asked. He cleared his throat when I didn't answer right away.
"Sorry," I flushed from the hold his eyes had on my face. "We-uh, no, it's just us!"
Dammit, I sound too excited.
"My apologies, I was just expecting someone a little..." He glanced over my appearance, his eyes making me feel as though he'd just discovered everything there was to know about me with just one simple look. "Older to be doing the interview."
At that moment, I stopped any fantasies that were about to make their way into my mind about this man. What did he mean, 'someone older'? Just because I was young, did not mean that I was not capable of doing a job. He didn't look older than twenty-five, himself.
"Excuse me?" I smiled because I wasn't sure what he meant by it.
"You're very young," And you're a blunt bastard. "I don't know if I feel comfortable with you deciding if I get the job or not. Surely, you haven't been here long, yourself."
I laughed out loud. Who did this guy think he was? He was only here for an internship, not editor in chief. Carlita's face pressed against the glass window behind his back while licking it did not help my anger, either. It intensified it.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Let me go get my babysitter."
I spat sarcastically and folded my arms over my chest. I mustered up the nastiest glare and locked it on the green eyes and tanned face that tantalized me. If he kept running his mouth, there wouldn't even be an interview.
"With that attitude, it seems you need one."
Little did I know, his last sentence was the start of something that would keep me on my toes for as long as they would let me.
A/N: Hey, you. Thank you for coming to check out this book. If you continue on to the next chapter, that would mean a lot to me. Also, please don't forget to vote!
When this book is complete, I will edit it. It has its mistakes, so please just focus on the story right now.
Thank you for taking the time to read!