Waking up with a throbbing headache wasn't the sort of 'good morning' I was expecting at all. I fisted a handful of my hair, attempting to reduce the pain, then I pushed myself up to get out of bed. Just then many questions crossed my mind.
What happened yesterday? How did I reach here? What happened to Branden?
"Uurgh!" groaning, I sat up fully and forced my heavy eyelids to open. After 3 attempts when I finally had succeeded my eyes widened in terror. IT WAS...
"9:36AM! I'm dead!" rushing out of my comfy bed, ignoring my throbbing head, I ran to my washroom with towel. Finishing my 'business', I had my 40 minutes shower in 10 minutes.
Yepp! you read it correctly, in 10 minutes, that's what intimidating bosses can make you do. Tripping over on few of my belongings I entered my room again while saying a quick 'good morning' to Sofia who was making her way to the kitchen while putting her hair up in a bun. I put on my outfit that Sof picked out for me last night, since my fashion sense are 'unacceptable'.
Her words, not mine.
I jogged my way into the kitchen and spotted Sof standing there making breakfast for herself. She looked back at me and turned her attention back to the glass in front of her. "killer of a headache?"
"Tell me about it." I replied with a dull voice.
What happened last night?
The question was swirling around in my head the moment I woke up but decided not to say anything and worry her.
I probably let myself in.
"Looks like your boss isn't as harsh as you think he is." She broke the silence and sat down on the kitchen counter.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, he dropped you off here yesterday when you were wasted. Where the hell was your date?" She groaned in annoyance; I could sense a bit of anger in her tone.
What was I meant to say to that? Was I meant to say that I got so drunk I didn't even care about him? It would just make me look bad. I ended up sighing and grabbing my bag.
"I'm going to head to work."
"Ok. Have fun." She had a smile on her face, which she tried to hide.
I exited the building and got into the taxi while taking out my phone to check if I had received any emails.
Did he really drop me off?
I just couldn't digest what Sof had told me. At that point a smile managed to creep up onto my face. But the smile was soon slapped away when I reached the building that had 'The Stock's Architects' in bold on top of the building.
I can't mess this up for myself.
This was the kind of opportunity that I was looking for a very long time. I had obtained it I couldn't let it slip out of my hand.
"Good Morning, Isa."
She looked up from her computer and sent a smile my way. "Good Morning, Lillian. Mr Stock isn't here yet, which is highly odd, but I'll show you your office in the meantime."
"That would be great."
And it would be great if I don't have to encounter him today at all. But of course, that wasn't acceptable by fate.
We walked straight down the corridor while she walked in front of me. Many people were staring while whispering.
What happened, now? I attempting to guess, but nothing came to my mind.
At the end of the corridor was a closed door and on the door was a sign that read, Mr Stock.
The name itself caused shivers to run down my arms. But without thinking twice I followed her into a room that appeared to be an office, which was right next to his office.
What did you expect, Lilly! You're his PA obviously your office had to be near his.
As soon as I stepped into the office the thought of him left my head.
"Wow" I couldn't stop it from escaping my mouth. I was in awe. We were still standing near the door as I took in every inch of the room. Opposite me was a big glass window, where the whole area could be seen. It looked amazing from above in this office.
I bet the area looks even better at night.
My attention got shifted to my right where there were three sofas surrounding a small wooden tea table.
"Come inside. This is your office."
I smiled and stepped inside and let the door close behind me. I looked to my left and acknowledged a huge glass table that was sitting there with computer, keyboard, and mouse on the top. At the corner of the table were a vase of flowers. I couldn't help but to walk closer and run my hand through them. They looked nice.
"Those flowers were delivered for you this morning."
I turned around abruptly. "By whom?"
"I have no idea. They did leave a card though. Here." She handed me a small white card that read my name on top.
Cute.
"I'll let you settle in before Sir comes." She turned and soon left the room.
My heels clicked on the marble floor as I made my ways towards the leather chair behind my desk.
A sigh involuntarily escaped from my lips. What? It was just way too comfortable, so comfortable that I had almost forgotten about the card in my hands. I straightened up and opened the card, curious who it could've been.
Hey beautiful,
I know I am probably the last person you would want to hear from right now but, there was an emergency and I just want you to know that if it wasn't something so urgent then I would've never left you like that.
I know that you probably don't even care, no girl would accept this, but you are not like other girls, I just hope that you would try to understand my situation and give me another chance?
Love,
Branden.
Why am I disappointed? Was I expecting someone else? Ugh, what am I even thinking!
I let the card sit near the flowers and I pushed myself out of the chair to stare out of the glass window. I realised how the thought of Jacob didn't really cross my mind. I guess, I never really had that kind of feelings for him either; I was forcing the relationship to work when in reality it had already failed long ago.
You know when you feel like someone is staring at you from behind? Yes, that's the feeling I had at that moment. I turned around to see William standing at the door.
He took long strides towards my way making me want to step back.
God. Why does he have to be so intimidating?
I stood up straight to seem more confident.
"Let's get to work, Miss Livingston."
I shouldn't have been surprised when he turned on his heals and looked over his shoulders, clearly he was expecting me to follow him. My feet made their way out of my office door while following him. He turned left and opened his office door, I pushed open the door before it closed behind him and stepped in.
He didn't even hold the door behind him. Rude.
"I expect you to be on time every day at exactly 9. You need to get me black coffee with no milk and no sugar every morning on your way here; attend meetings with me and take notes, send emails, forward important calls, and other tasks that may be set, and failure to complete the tasks will cause you to stay after work to complete it. Also, at times we might need to travel to other places for business. Any questions?" He asked after listing the do's and don'ts. Whereas I stood there not knowing what to say.
When I noticed that he had an annoyed expression on his face I finally managed to say; "No sir "
"Good"
'What the hell is wrong with him today?'
He raised a brow and questioned; "What did you just say?"
Oops! I guess I said that out loud.
"Nothing sir."
"Well, you can start off by preparing my coffee. The café is on the 3rd floor, on our right when you exit the lift." he said while looking back down at his paper. Not once did he even look up from his paper.
"Yes, sir." Without hesitation I exited the office and made my way towards the lift. I was waiting for the lift when Isabelle stood beside me.
"Hey, how's it going?"
"Meh, He appears to be moody today." I responded while impatiently waiting for the lift.
"You better get used to it. He's always moody Margaret." She chuckled. I released a little chuckle myself.
She's probably used to it by now.
We both stepped into the lift. I pressed the 3rd floor and asked her, "Where are you heading?"
"Same as you. 3rd floor. I'm going to grab something for a snack."
I felt bad for her. Clearly I thought that working for a boss like him would be hard. I wondered how I would manage to survive there.
I don't think I can survive for more than a week.
Soon, we both exited the lift and made our way towards the café. She showed me where the coffee machine was and how to use it. What? I did know how to use a coffee machine. It's just that I wasn't quite used to using expensive and complex ones. I made sure not to add any sugar or milk as he had instructed and started to make my way back up.
As I stood in front of his office door, I decided to fix my hair with my right hand while holding the coffee with my left hand. Of course, I didn't wish to be presented in front of him as a mess and unprofessional on only the first day. I bought my fist up to the door to knock three times. When I didn't hear anything from the other side of the door, I gently twisted the door handle and creaked the door open to pop my head in.
There was no one there.
I pushed the door open completely and stepped in to have a better look. His laptop was gone as well as his blazer and bag.
Strange. Where could he have gone?