Zach (Knight Empire #4)

Chapter 1

MAYA

“Cecil doesn’t look happy. I hope you didn’t mess up.” Katherine, my devil-in-a-corporate-suit boss snaps at me in a voice that I’m all too familiar with.

Her gaze bounces from Cecil, who is across the room from us, gaping at his laptop screen and jabbing the keyboard ferociously.

I look around, wondering where Tom is, but Katherine glares at me with her beady venomous eyes.

We cannot have Stella’s Chief Operating Officer frowning.

Stella is one of New York’s most discreet fashion houses.

It’s a global, luxury brand, best known for its handbags and leather goods, and tonight we’re hosting an exclusive event for our VIP guests—celebrities and many of the big buyers.

It’s a big night for us and the pressure is on.

Everyone is on edge. Sparks are flying, and there’s a buzz of excitement whizzing around backstage.

“Don’t just stand there. Fix it!” Katherine snaps.

“I’ll take care of it,” I say, quickly putting away the event binder and printed slide deck I brought along with me, just in case the tech fails. I always come prepared, and my desk is a chaotic jigsaw of items I might need.

Katherine looks like her head’s about to pop and fly off her tiny shoulders. I brace myself, because it feels like she’s about to lash out at me, like a snake. But she won’t. Not here, in our temporary office just behind the stage. She’s far too professional to make a scene.

She has a snow-white bob, dark, arched eyebrows, and a flawless complexion, and a gorgeous figure.

No one would think she’s about to turn fifty, but she’s acutely aware of this fact and it seems to haunt her, as far as I can tell, from the odd phone conversation I’ve overheard.

I can’t tell if she’s talking to a therapist, or a dating agency consultant.

Her Botox-smoothed expression makes her face unreadable, and I can never guess, just from looking at her, what she’s feeling or thinking.

But sixteen months of being her junior marketing assistant has given me a sixth sense.

I can often sense the riot of emotions fizzing through that sharp mind of hers.

“I was under the impression that you had checked everything.”

“I did,” I answer calmly. I checked everything numerous times.

“Hurry up!”

“I’m going.” I refuse to quake in my shoes the way others do.

I’ll go over and take a look, and fix whatever the problem might be.

I’m used to being the glue here. The person who holds all the chaos and madness together, even though I didn’t join Stella for that reason.

I joined as a Junior Marketing Assistant, working under Katherine Potts, the Global Director of Marketing she was once a housekeeper to a filthy rich family who didn’t deserve her, and since then she’s done various cleaning and service jobs, all of which are taking a toll on her health.

She refuses to give up work, boasting that she’s still young—she’s only a few years older than my boss—but she’s had an extremely hard life.

I want her to stop working and enjoy her life, for a change.

Katherine suddenly softens, and her gaze falls somewhere behind my shoulder.

Without even turning my head, I know Cecil is approaching.

He’s the only one who has that effect on her.

She sucks up big-time to him. Though he’s her boss, he’s not cut from the same cloth as Katherine.

He’s not cruel, or dismissive. On the contrary, he’s polite and thoughtful, but sometimes, I can’t help but wonder if he’s in the wrong job, the wrong environment.

The fashion world is cutthroat—which is why Katherine seems so at home here. Cecil, not so much.

He’s what I’d call an old-school gentleman.

In his late sixties, immaculately dressed, and approachable and kind, Cecil is all the things that Katherine isn’t, but I have a feeling, call it a hunch, that he hasn’t done much to elevate Stella since he joined a year ago.

I remember it clearly because my colleagues were saying that he would help take Stella to another level.

But from what I see, nothing has changed.

“He’s coming over,” Katherine says, fake smile in place.

Tonight’s event is taking place in the ballroom of the Plaza hotel. No expense has been spared. We have the best caviar and the best champagne; everything that the rich and gilded elite would expect.

And it’s about to start very soon.

“Ladies. There’s a problem with the presentation. The slides have a mind of their own. They’re moving too fast.” Cecil smiles warmly at us both, looking completely unfazed. “I can’t find Tom anywhere,” he says, voice neutral, no hint of annoyance that his IT guy is nowhere to be seen.

“Don’t worry, Cecil. Maya will have a look.” Katherine’s glacial expression has completely melted and she nods at me, straight white bob bouncing above her shoulders.

“Could you?”

The word dangles in the air. Lately, she’s suspected a hint of subordination in me.

I feel as though I’ve lost some of my sparkle and bounce, the things I had in abundance when I first joined back when I wanted to shine.

I wanted to impress, and I worked all the hours, and weekends, holding the fort when she jetted off to shows around the world.

I stayed behind even though, for many of those events, I was supposed to go with her.

Its taken a while, but I see now that I can’t impress Katherine.

“I’ll fix it.” I offer a reassuring smile to Cecil. “I wonder where Tom is?” I murmur loud enough for them both to hear. Tom is the one who should be here, doing his job. He only has one duty tonight and that’s to make sure that Cecil’s laptop is working correctly.

“You don’t have long. Ten minutes.” Katherine’s smile is unrecognizable because I see it so rarely, but she’s playing the kind, considerate and helpful boss in front of her boss.

I rush away. It helps that I’m still in my sneakers, and dark skirt and blouse. I brought a change of clothes, and a nice pair of heels to change into later when everyone starts mingling.

The VIP event marks the debut of Stella’s newest line, the star of which is the Stella Rose, Stella’s new flagship handbag—a rose gold colored small handbag that can be carried on the arm, or over the shoulder.

It’s subtly shimmering leather is both eye-catching and stylish, and it costs an eye-watering, mind-boggling $25,000.

We’re not just launching one product; we have a small and tightly curated group of related designs that we hope customers will also buy; accessories such as leather belts, purses, wallets, laptop sleeves, charging pouches and desk accessories.

All priced at equally ridiculous amounts.

We’re expecting a lot of buyers, and celebrities, here; important and influential people who will generate buzz around the new launch. But it’s the buyers I want to approach, because maybe, just maybe, if I get talking to them, I can find out what other opportunities exist out there.

I’m not sure I can survive another year at Stella.

I rush over to the other end of the room, nearest the stage entrance where Cecil’s laptop is, and from where he’ll be running the presentation deck I created.

I spent weeks on it, and I’ll be hiding behind the scenes, in the shadows, should anything go wrong.

Tom is also supposed to be here, but I haven’t seen him for a while.

I run through the presentation deck and immediately see what the problem is.

It didn’t do this when Cecil asked me to look at it an hour ago, when the final slide needed updating.

This is something Tom must have done. It looks like he left a wireless clicker connected earlier, and it’s buried in his pocket somewhere.

I quickly disable the auto-advance setting, and reset it to manual control.

I then test it three times. The deck settles, and obeys perfectly.

I relax, feeling proud of this presentation into which I poured my heart and soul.

I know it off by heart. Cecil will talk about the new product line, as well as give a brief history of how Stella started, decades ago, and where the company is headed now.

My roommate, Fleur, also knows the presentation off by heart. I wanted her input, as someone who doesn’t know much about company. I was curious to see if found it interesting. I made her watch it twelve times and by the end of it, even Fleur said she wanted the Stella Rose.

Cecil comes over. “Everything okay?”

I stand up straight. “It is now.”

“Maya to the rescue again.” His kind eyes twinkle, but my entire body is on alert for Katherine hovering around.

I smile, because, what can I say to that? “Thank you. I’ll be just off stage, and nearby, if you need anything.”

Cecil doesn’t appear to be the slightest bit perturbed, given that he’s about to make an important presentation. He doesn’t have the vicious and vitriolic personality that Katherine does. He’s too easy-going while she’s the complete opposite. Always wound up so tightly.

“Are you okay with all the slides?” I ask.

“I think so. I only received the deck this morning, but I’ve gone through it twice and I’m sure it will be fine. “

What did he just say? This morning? “You received it this morning?” I echo, in disbelief. I sent Katherine a copy of this, the final version tweaked to excellence, four days ago.

“Katherine sent it earlier today.”

“B-but ... I sent it to her ...” I stop myself.

“I’m glad you like it,” I say. No point in ratting out my boss, but my heartbeat thuds inside my chest. He’s acting like we’re having a coffee and I’m freaking out because he’s got less than three minutes to go until he walks out onto the stage.

The air turns electric. Everything is coiled and ready to break loose.

I feel the heat from the spotlights. Hear the chatter of guests being seated.

Katherine snakes up alongside me just then. To my horror Cecil challenges her. “Maya says you had the deck a few days ago.”

Her face hardens and she throws her usual death stare at me. I’m so going to pay for this later. And it’s not even my fault.

“A few days ago? What are you talking about, Maya?” She makes it sound like it’s my fault. This woman has no shame, holding her head high, defiant and completely nonplussed.

I don’t answer. I glance at my watch.

One minute to go.

Sweat trickles down my back. I’m so hot here under the lights, and I’m also feeling a little anxious.

The technical glitch was a minor hiccup but the news that Cecil hasn’t had long to go through the presentation worries me.

I’m anxious because if anything goes wrong, even if it’s Cecil’s fault, I’ll bear the brunt of Katherine’s razor-sharp tongue.

“It’s time,” Cecil announces.

“Yes, Cecil. It’s time.” Katherine’s glossy glazed lips curl up into a smile. “Go out and break a leg.

“You’ll need this, uh, Cecil.” I hand him the slide remote and wish him good luck. I called him ‘sir’ once and he cheerfully admonished me. Told me to call him Cecil.

“The show is about to begin,” Katherine whispers, her tone heavy and dramatic as she follows him towards the stage, and remains behind the scenes.

I hover around the temporary desk. With the presentation about to start, there’s now no time for me to get changed. I glance around. There’s also still no sign of the IT guy.