Chapter 4
Chapter Four
Marley
Tuesday morning, I walk through the gleaming doors of Prescott Investment Corp and immediately feel out of place.
My borrowed skirt is too itchy and silk blouse too suffocating.
Most days, I’m in a leotard and tights that have seen better days.
This place is giving polished professionals.
While I’m giving girl-who-Youtubed-how-to-tuck-in-a-blouse ten minutes ago.
The glossy-haired receptionist gives me a pitiful look as she leads me back to the elevator, where we take a long, awkwardly silent ride to the top floor.
Stepping out onto the shiny tile floor, I glance out the floor-to-ceiling window at the impeccable view.
We’re so high that all the passersby look like tiny busy ants, bustling to their destination with no idea they’re being watched.
I’m led into a conference room, different from the one I interviewed in.
This one is double the size, surrounded by four crystal clear glass walls, top-of-the-line flat screen TVs and projectors, and a table that definitely costs more than six months of my rent.
Ashley, the judgy-looking receptionist, lets me know someone will be in shortly, and closes the door.
The quiet is deafening. So much so, that I suspect these glass walls are soundproof. Maybe this is where he offs all his new-hire victims, silencing their cries when he lays into them and lets them go.
I’m not scared, though, because I’ve spent my life surrounded by men exactly like him.
Boyfriends and bosses, company donors and landlords.
They usually talk a big game and act like they’re impenetrable.
But everyone has that one tender spot where you can cut them down at the knees.
And I intend to find Theo’s. Even if he is in charge of the entire company, it never hurts to have ammo.
On the bright side, in the corner of the room, there’s a coffee cart fully stocked with multiple sweeteners, creamer, and prepackaged fancy shortbread cookies.
The last time I ate was nearly eighteen hours ago when my best friend Emmy heard my stomach growl during rehearsal. She shoved a fistful of beef jerky and a half-crushed bag of almonds into my hands, then jété’d back onto the sprung floor before our artistic director could notice.
Half of me debates stuffing a few packets of cookies into my purse, but it would be my luck to be caught stealing twice in this building.
Instead, I settle for standing there, arms crossed, trying to act like I have self-control.
I barely have time to convince myself I don’t need the sugar when the door behind me creaks open.
Right away, I know it’s him.
Theo.
He strides in, all business, looking so insanely handsome he could easily pass for a model or actor playing the role of a CEO.
His suit is perfectly tailored to his enormous frame, muscle stacked upon muscle that fills out the fabric.
He looks as though he could simply flick me and I’d go flying out the window.
It’s kind of a turn-on, knowing he could so easily overpower me.
But I push that feeling down as he makes his way over.
No horny thoughts for my boss is a chant I will continually need to recite to myself.
He looks at me like I’m the scum of the earth, flames in his eyes, those full lips downturned in a grimace that drips with annoyance.
The feeling is fucking mutual.
“What the hell are you doing here? Need I remind you that you were caught stealing? You need to leave.”
He makes a show of pulling out his phone, fingers moving over the screen, ready to dial security.
“Hate to break it to you, but I actually work here now.” I fold my arms and lean back in my chair. “And for the record, taking a mint from a communal jar isn’t stealing. Taking one is actually its intended purpose.”
He opens his mouth to argue when the pantsuit lady from my interview walks in, catching the tail end of our conversation.
She smiles, amused, as she sits down. Looking between Theo and me, she settles into her chair and crosses her legs, like she’s about to watch an intense boxing match.
“Ah, I see you’ve already met our most recent hire.
Meet Marley James, your new executive assistant. ”
His jaw ticks. “Absolutely, one hundred percent, no. Not her.”
She doesn’t flinch. “Theo, you’ve burned through more assistants than I can count. The board decided you don’t get a say anymore. Hiring and firing? That’s our call now.”
His grip tightens around his phone. “This is my company. I can hire and fire whoever I damn well please. The person we bring in will be working directly with me every single day. Which is why I get to decide who that is.”
“One of the employees you so easily fired is threatening to go to the press about your brash behavior. As you’re aware, they’re demanding a settlement for wrongful termination.
” Lisa leans back in her chair, completely unfazed by the raging look on Theo’s face.
“The board already voted that you don’t get the final say anymore.
This is better for you, for us, for the company.
So yes, she’s your new employee, whether you like it or not. ”
I watch their back-and-forth with wide eyes, caught between secondhand awkwardness and top-tier entertainment. Who knew a billion-dollar corporation could be this much of a shit show? If we played this right, we could probably turn it into the next big reality TV hit.
Lisa rises from her seat and strides over to me. I stand, shaking the hand she extends.
“Well, after that warm welcome.” She pauses to throw Theo a pointed look. “Welcome to Prescott Investment Corp. We’re happy to have you.”
Theo scoffs from his seat at the end of the table, making it painfully obvious not everyone is happy I’m here.
I paste on a charming smile, half to piss him off, half to show my gratitude. “Thank you for taking a chance on me. I promise I won’t disappoint.”
Her lips twitch, amused. “I have a good feeling about you. He needs someone with a little spunk. Someone who won’t take his crap and can tell him to knock it off when he’s being an absolute asshole.” She winks at me. “Something tells me you’ll have no problem doing that.”
“You do know I’m standing right here?” Theo remarks, voice flat.
“Oh, I’m well aware,” Lisa replies, completely unbothered. “Consider this karma for the PR nightmare you dropped in our laps.”
She turns back to me. “You’ll be assisting him, but I’ll be your supervisor. Any issues, you come to me. Understood?”
I nod. “Got it. Thanks, Lisa.”
Theo mutters something under his breath as he rakes a hand through his hair, his frustration practically radiating, before he abruptly leaves. The glass door shutting hard enough to be petty but not enough to shatter corporate decorum.
Through the glass, I watch him march into what I assume is his office and disappear inside, closing the door behind him.
Lisa follows my gaze and sighs. “Don’t worry about him. He can be a bit of a grump, but he’s got a good heart buried somewhere under all that brooding.” She hesitates, glancing at Theo’s door like she’s rethinking her own statement. “I think you two will get along fine … eventually.”
She leads me to my workspace, a massive, glossy black desk shaped like a U, positioned right near a window with a sweeping view of Brighton Bay.
Unfortunately, it also happens to be facing Theo’s office.
If I had X-ray vision, I’m pretty sure I’d see him inside, steam pouring from his ears as he repeatedly stabs a ballpoint pen into a tiny voodoo doll version of me.
The best part? He’s stuck with me whether he likes it or not.
After that little tantrum of his, nothing sounds more satisfying than torturing him the best way possible—by doing this job ridiculously well and proving him wrong.
It’s five p.m., and Theo has yet to come out of his office.
I have no idea how he hasn’t had to use the restroom or leave for food.
I’m starting to consider the possibility that he’s got a trapdoor in there that leads to a web of in-the-wall tunnels.
The only thing that’s for certain is that he’s highly dedicated to boycotting my employment.
My shift technically ends now, and I have a ballet rehearsal two subway stops away to get to.
However, leaving without checking in with him seems like it would be yet another negative toward our already rocky working relationship.
I sign out of the computer, tucking the sticky note with my login information into the top drawer of my desk, aka my new vault of corporate secrets.
The intern who helped me set it up explicitly warned me not to ever physically write down my password, something about the hoards of sensitive information stored on the system.
Let’s be real though, I barely remember what I ate yesterday, so expecting me to mentally safeguard top-level business intel feels like a massive oversight.
I look at the clock. Another ten minutes gone. If I want to make it to the studio on time, I need to leave.
After I quickly align every pen and paper on my desk, giving him zero opportunity to be disgruntled with my performance, I head for his office.
I pause, ear pressed to the hardwood door. It’s completely silent.
Did he vanish into thin air? Hurl himself out the window solely to avoid me? I know I’m not his favorite person, but even for him, that would be a tad dramatic. And that’s coming from someone who once fake-cried their way out of a parking ticket.
I knock. Silence. I knock again. More silence.
I fucking give up.
Cupping my hands around my mouth, I call out, “I’m leaving for the night. Bye, Theo.”
For all I know, he’s already halfway to the airport, changing his name and starting a new life, all as a way to get away from me.
From inside, I hear the faint squeak of his office chair.