Chapter 6
Amelia
Ispend the rest of the morning on edge, wondering if at any second Crawford will call me in for round two.
My body is burning at the memory of his dick, and I keep running to the bathroom to make sure nothing is going on down there.
But after a couple of hours, I relax and try to focus on the other aspects of my work. Beatrice, Kaitlin, and Julia have all dropped me an email, either to briefly welcome me or to send me something to do.
A lot of my job appears to be printing out documents for Crawford. A very to-the-point email from Beatrice explains that he always has hard copies of everything, even emails.
There’s a printer hub behind my desk on the other side of the partition, and I spend the morning learning the ins and outs of the high-tech equipment inside.
Every time someone walks past me, I jump, expecting it to be Crawford. I still haven’t fully processed what happened between us.
I’ve had sex for the first time in my life. With a guy I don’t even know.
I pull the copies I’ve made out of the tray and stack them in date order. I collate them, stapling each one at the corner, and place them into the folders that Beatrice indicated.
At 11 a.m., I call Annabelle from my work phone. She picks up on the second ring.
“Hello?”
“Hey Annie, it’s me. I was just calling to check on you. Everything ok?”
“All fine. I’m just watching Beauty and the Beast for the eightieth time. How’s it been at the job so far? Are people being nice to you?”
I swallow. “Yeah, everything’s good. Have you taken your pills?”
“Yes,” she says wearily.
“Any dizzy spells?”
“No. I’m fine, Mia.”
“Okay, good.”
“Dad’s here.”
My chest tightens. “Why isn’t he at work?”
“I don’t know. I really hope he hasn’t been fired again. He came back about an hour ago and went to his room. He hasn’t said much, but I don’t want to be around him. I borrowed your laptop so I can be in my room. I hope that’s ok?”
“Of course it is. Just stay out of his way, alright?”
I glance up as I hear a bang from Crawford’s office before footsteps approach the door.
“I gotta go, I’ll call you later.”
“Okay.”
I hang up just as Crawford storms out of his office. He has his phone against his ear and three folders under his arm as he walks up to my desk. A giant hand stretches out toward me in a silent request I don’t understand.
After he’s been there for five seconds, he pulls the phone away, glowering at me.
“The Hipkiss paperwork,” he barks, and I grab the relevant folder and hand it to him.
Thank God I figured out the printer before he needed that.
He stalks away, snapping at someone on the phone as I see Beatrice run over to him. She scurries in his wake as he talks simultaneously into the phone and then to her as she scribbles down notes.
Beatrice seems permanently stressed. I wonder if her cold demeanor is just a mask she shows to the world to cope with her job.
My gut clenches painfully. Crawford hasn’t asked for anything I can’t supply so far, but what if he wants a blow job? What if he requests something I can’t or won’t do?
My lack of experience is giving me anxiety, and I don’t know how to fix it.
I check Crawford's schedule, feeling a pulse of relief that he’s out until five and won’t be back today. At least that gives me some breathing space to get the hang of the other work I’m involved in.
By the end of the morning, I’ve done everything I’ve been asked to do and am feeling as if the admin side of the job is going to be a breeze.
Kaitlin appears and comes to stand in front of my desk.
“How’s it going?” she asks.
“Good. I’m all set.”
Her eyes run over the folders on my desk, and she raises her eyebrows. “You did everything?”
“Yeah. He has the Hipkiss file, and then the packs for tomorrow are all organized like you asked. Can I help with anything else?”
Kaitlin’s dark brown eyes move to mine as she smiles. “Careful, Amelia, I might just take you up on that.”
“I don’t mind.”
She shifts her bag on her shoulder. She has beautiful hot pink nails and perfectly manicured, slender fingers. I hide my own chipped and battered nails beneath the desk. I’m really not classy enough for this job.
“You want to come to lunch with us? Beatrice has too much work to do, but Julia and I are gonna go to the pasta place down the street. It’s good. Portions are huge.”
I clear my throat. “Thanks, but I probably need to eat at my desk and figure out what Mr. Crawford is going to need from me next.”
I don’t want to spend any money on lunch if I can help it. I have exactly fifteen bucks left in my bank account until my next paycheck.
“Oh,” Kaitlin looks a little crestfallen. “Well, if you change your mind, you know where we are.”
“Thanks.”
She moves to leave and then twists around as I reach into my bag for a banana. “You know, it’s a welcome lunch. So it’s on the company, if that helps?”
I hesitate, wondering if she’s clocked my terrible clothes and figured out I’m as poor as I look.
“I know Beatrice can be a bit abrupt, but me and Jules are solid and we’re excellent company,” she says with a mischievous grin, and I laugh.
“So it’s free?”
“Oh yeah, you can even order two entrees if you want.”
And bring one home for Annabelle to try.
“Thanks, I’d love to.”
Gianelli’s is a small Italian restaurant located about a five-minute walk from the office. I have worked in this area before, and my mom even waitresses nearby, but I haven’t ever noticed the place.
It’s like an old-style 1950s diner, and it’s packed, which is always a good sign. The food smells amazing. Kaitlin and I grab a table by the window, while Julia hovers, looking at me.
“What do you want?”
I stare at the board behind the counter as staff bustle past in all directions. The scent of melting cheese is heavy in the air, and my stomach growls loudly.
“Order whatever you’d recommend,” I say, overwhelmed by all the choices. “I literally eat everything.”
Julia saunters off as Kaitlin and I take a seat. “We come here as often as we can,” Kaitlin says, heaving a big sigh. “It’s cheap and great food. And, by the way, you don’t look like you eat anything.”
I pause in the act of pulling off my jacket as her eyes zero in on my waist.
“I promise you I do,” I say firmly. “I just have a good metabolism; I eat like a horse.”
Kaitlin snorts and orders us both a Diet Coke. “You look like you’ve settled in already. Have you worked this kind of job before?”
I nod. “Yeah. Well, I’ve worked all over the place, but EA and PA work was what I did after high school. I don’t mind it, and the money’s good.”
Kaitlin scoffs, and it suddenly occurs to me that what I make compared to her salary might be vastly different.
“Yeah,” she conceded. “I still think we’re paid like shit for the amount of crap we have to deal with. Crawford can be a slave driver when he wants to be.”
My ears prick up. If I can use this lunch to get more information on my new boss, I plan to. “You worked with him for long?” I ask.
“Three years, but Jules has been here the longest.” If you need to know how to get something done, just ask her. She knows all the internal processes, even the secret ones. She’s saved my ass too many times to count when I’ve fucked things up.”
Julia lowers into her seat and hands me a huge pot filled to the brim with pasta and cheese.
“How are you getting on?” she asks me. “Was Beatrice pissy with you?” Kaitlin gives Julia a warning glare, but she shrugs in response. “Look, she tends to blame people for sitting up front, and I don’t think it’s fair. Amelia has a different job from us, and Beatrice shouldn’t blame her for it.”
My heart drops as my suspicions that Beatrice knows exactly what I’m employed to do flare to life again. But that thought is quashed almost immediately.
“She doesn’t care about that,” Kaitlin says with an eye roll. “She’s just bitter because Crawford won’t allow her to work for Vanessa.”
I frown at her. “Is that the CFO? I think I saw an email from her this morning.”
Kaitlin nods. “Yeah. Vanessa Dickenson is a badass. We all love her, and she adores Beatrice, but B has only worked here for a year, and Crawford relies on her. It’s like a symbiotic relationship that neither of them enjoys. Beatrice is desperate to move. She wants to get into finance one day.”
“Can’t Crawford just hire someone else?” I ask.
They both glance at each other. “He can, but he expects perfection from day one. There aren’t a lot of EAs who can pull that off. I feel bad for her, but she shouldn’t take it out on you.”
“Does she want my job, or something?” I ask.
“It’s not that,” Julia says as she blows on a forkful of pasta. “She’s bitter about her salary, too. She doesn’t think he needs four EAs and keeps saying it would be fairer if he paid the three of us more and got rid of your role.””
Kaitlin clears her throat pointedly at Julia, who raises one hand defensively. “Hey, I’m not saying Amelia isn’t adding value, but I don’t really understand her job, either.”
I deliberately shove a load of pasta in my mouth, so I don’t have to answer that, but, mercifully, Kaitlin moves the conversation on.
“Amelia has done everything we asked her to do already, Jules. And she’s requested more work.”
Julia brightens instantly. “Oh my God, that is so much better than the last girl. She didn’t want to do anything.
I once walked in on her with her feet up on her desk.
No wonder she didn’t last. If you have time and you don’t mind me sending you some things this afternoon, I’ve got a bunch of meeting minutes I have to get typed up.
I would love you forever if you took that off my hands. ”
“Send them over, I type super quickly,” I say.
Kaitlin throws a hand over her heart and leans back dramatically. “Oh my God, you’re awesome.”
I snort as I finish my pasta. “I might get a second helping,” I say, resolving to get two more pots and take the rest back for Annabelle.
“Whoa, you weren’t kidding,” Kaitlin says with a smile. “You do eat like a horse.”
Julia laughs. “I knew there was a reason I liked you.”
Once I’ve been to the counter to grab some more food and get Julia another Diet Coke, I return to find them discussing Crawford.
I sit down, not speaking, absorbing as much information as I can.
“I just think he’s been super shitty lately. Even more so than usual. He’s such a perfectionist, and I make one mistake in the pitch deck and he chews me out about it for a week.”
“It’s not personal, Kaitlin,” Julia says softly.
“Maybe not, but it doesn’t mean I like getting emails with five exclamation points in them. It’s a good thing he’s hot, or I would have even less tolerance for him.”
Julia rolls her eyes, which seems to be her default expression. I laugh nervously, keeping my eyes on my food.
“I heard his engagement is over,” Julia says, and my shoulders tense up.
“Oh yeah. Megan. What a total bitch that woman was. You remember when she came to the office and asked me to make her a coffee, like I was a goddamn secretary?”
“She was horrible, but she did always look amazing,” Julia agrees, drinking half her Coke in one swallow.
“He was engaged?” I ask, trying to stop my voice from shaking.
That idea hasn’t even occurred to me until now. By the very nature of their work, Sterling House could be contributing to wealthy men cheating on their wives every single day. I suddenly realize how na?ve I am and feel guilty for not considering it sooner.
“Yeah. They were engaged for a while, but she hasn’t been around in six months or so,” Julia mutters, and a knot loosens in my chest. “He’s super private about it, so I’m not surprised we’re only just hearing the news.
I saw a post on Instagram saying he’d been photographed with some model or other. ”
“At least it isn’t yet more speculation about the size of the guy’s dick. Someone I know said he swims at the same pool as him, and it’s the length of his arm.”
“Kaitlin, I’m eating!” Julia says in a scandalized tone, and I laugh along with them, feeling my cheeks turning red.
Maybe that explains why it feels like he’s still inside me.