Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
L ila
Lila: Mr. Vanilla is a jerk.
Zara: What happened?
Lila: I attempted to seduce him. Well, kinda.
Zara: Already? What?
Lila: I figured why not shoot my shot right away?
Zara: I take it it didn't go well?
Lila: Let's just say I'm no longer interested. I will never flirt with that jackass again. I will make my money and then leave as soon as I can.
I slip my phone into my handbag as I walk into the large conference room feeling slightly embarrassed and a little bit nervous. I am utterly annoyed with myself and even more annoyed with Max Spector. I still can't believe what he said to me. I am mortified and feel like the biggest idiot on the planet. I shouldn’t have come on to him.
I did not feel empowered.
I did not feel sexy.
In fact, I felt like a fool. I am going to absolutely kill Zara for making me think trying to seduce Max was a good idea. It was evident to me that he was not interested in me whatsoever.
"Over here, Lila." I hear my name and I look around the crowded room. I spot Skye sitting at the back next to a girl with long, dark hair. I make my way over to them and Skye beams at me, a twinkle in her green eyes. "How's it going?"
"Just brilliantly," I say, rolling my eyes as I take a seat. "Hi." I look at the brunette. "I'm Lila."
"Nice to meet you, I'm Juniper."
"Is today your first day as well?" I ask, though suddenly I realize I've heard her name before.
"No," she says, shaking her head. "I've worked here for a couple of weeks. I work for one of the partners."
"Oh, which one?" I ask. "Actually, I think I know. I met them this afternoon, I believe. Not Kingston because he's looking for someone, but the other guy, what was his name? Remy? Remington?"
"Remington Parker," she confirms, nodding. "He's the bane of my existence."
"Oh?" I ask her as she fumbles with her thick black glasses. They are way too big for her face and kind of make her look like an owl.
"He is the sort of boss that makes you not want to work."
"Oh, so he's just as great as my boss." I start laughing, the sound filling the room a bit too loudly so I quickly stop.
"Who's your boss?" she asks, curious.
"Max. Max Spector."
"Oh." She grins with a nod. "Yeah. He's just as bad as Remington."
"So did you get a job yet, Skye?" I lick my lips nervously. I don't want to tell her about the conversation I'd overheard between Max, Remy, and Kingston.
"I have an interview with Kingston Chase in a couple of hours," she says. "He's another one of the partners. It was supposed to be before lunch, but for some reason it got pushed back, but they told me I should attend this meeting just in case I was hired."
"Oh, okay, so you think you'll get the job?"
"I don't know," she says. "But they said with my qualifications, it looked like I was a shoo-in."
"Oh?" I ask her in surprise. "I didn't realize you had great qualifications. Have you worked at a law firm before?"
She giggles slightly. "Does it look like I've worked at a law firm before?"
"I don't really know what to say. Is there a look for a law firm?"
"I think she means like me," Juniper says, with a self-deprecating smile. "Dowdy."
"No, no, no, I didn't," Skye says quickly.
"It's fine. I know I'm nerdy." Juniper lets out a deep sigh and adjusts the bun on the top of her hair. She's wearing an oversized white shirt and a long, ugly gray skirt that does nothing for her body. Her glasses are too thick for her face and her hairstyle is not doing her any favors. Add to that the fact that she's not wearing any makeup and you could almost believe she didn’t even try to get ready this morning. "I know that I'm a bit of a plain Jane," she says. “I just...I am not one of those women that ever learned how to do makeup and stuff, you know?"
"Hey, I can teach you any time of day," I say with a small smile. "I'm not an expert, but one summer I went into six different Sephoras and had them do makeovers, pretending that I was going to buy the makeup. I mean, I bought a lip gloss. Anyway, I know tricks and tips if you want me to give you a makeover someday."
"Oh, that would be really nice," she says, pushing her falling glasses up her nose again. "I've always said that I wanted to have some incredible makeover, but it's just never happened, you know? I guess I'm just too busy working here and trying to write."
"Oh, what do you write?" I ask her. "Newspaper articles?" I don't know why I imagined her as a Dear Abby columnist.
"I want to be an author," she says shyly.
"Romance books?" I ask her eagerly.
"No, no," she says, shaking her head and looking down. "Well, kind of."
"What do you mean kind of?"
"I write fantasy with a little romance. I guess they call it romantasy now." She looks up and blushes slightly as she turns her face to the side. I can tell from her profile that she's actually quite pretty. She'd be beautiful if she wanted to be.
"Oh, I don't know that I've read much fantasy," I say honestly. "But I love romance books. In fact…" I lower my voice and look around the room to make sure no one's listening. "I kind of told Max about it and I kind of embarrassed myself." I don't know why I’m bringing it up to these two women who I don't really know, but even though I've already told Zara, I feel like I need to talk about it again.
"You told your boss that you like to read romance?" Juniper looks surprised. "Why?"
Skye is laughing loudly and I haven't even answered.
"What's so funny?" I ask her.
"You and that Max, there's just something about the chemistry that you have that I find hilarious."
"We don't have chemistry. He thinks I'm an idiot. Trust me. I have so much to tell you two, but I don't want to say it here in the conference room, just in case they have listening devices or something. But let's just say I may or may not have come on to him and had it blow up in my face." The rejection still stings in my heart. I felt like I was slapped when he dismissed me so casually.
"No way…" Skye looks shocked. "I was just joking. So are you guys going to hook up?" She gasps suddenly. "Wait, don't tell me it's already happened." I stare at her for a few seconds and shake my head slowly. Does she really think I'm that easy?
"He's not interested," I say, blushing and looking down at the table.
"Are you kidding? Skye looks surprised. "I could see the way he was looking at you. He's totally interested."
"Well, he may have been interested when he offered me the job, but then he got to know me." I grimace. "But that's the story of my life. I'm a bit too much for most men."
"Aren't we all?" Skye says, giggling.
"I have not dated in several years," Juniper adds with a small frown. "My best friend says it's because I'm always writing and reading, but I feel like the characters in books are just so much better than real people."
"I know what you mean," I say. "But there's nothing better than real life experiences." I suddenly have an idea. "Shall we all go out for a drink after work. Are you girls down?"
"I’m down!" Skye nods eagerly. "But you knew that already."
"What about you, Juniper?" I ask the brunette.
"Um." She bites down on her lower lip. "I was going to go home and make lasagna and try to write a chapter of my book."
"Nope," I say, shaking my head. "We're going for a drink."
"Well, I mean, maybe one drink. I don't really drink that much because alcohol goes to my head and I kind of act a little bit weird and?—"
"Juniper," I say. "Do you not want to have fun?"
"I mean, yeah." She nods. "Okay, fine. I'll go with you girls. It sounds like it will be a good time."
"It will be great," I say and let out a deep sigh. "I haven’t worked here for very long and I don't even know if I'm going to have the job for very long either, but this whole experience has been worth it just to meet you two. I've been wanting more girlfriends for such a long time."
"Me too. It's so hard to make friends in The City." Skye nods.
"I know," Juniper says. "I have one really good friend, but that's about it. I've had a hard time making friends since I graduated from college."
"Yeah, I get that," I say. "My best friend, Zara, is in The City, but she just got engaged to this gorgeous guy and now they're living together and you know what that's like." I wave my hands in a goodbye and wrinkle my nose. "They spend most of their time together now and it'd be nice to hang out with some single girls." I pause. "We are all single, right?"
"I am as single as the day is long," Skye says, laughing.
"And I'm as single as Cinderella was when she went to the ball on that dark, gloomy night." Juniper's voice is sweet, and I laugh.
"You really are a writer, aren't you?"
"I hope to be. I'm just not published yet, but maybe one day," she says hopefully. "But it will never happen if Remington has anything to say about it. I will never be able to finish my book with the constant amount of work he gives me morning, noon, and night." She leans forward and lowers her voice. "Sometimes I just want to tell him to do it himself."
"So why don't you?" I ask. "If he's such a jackass, you should let him know how you feel. If Max tries to work me like a horse, I will let him know that he's the only ass I see in the office."
Both Skye and Juniper burst out laughing and I grin at them as my heart warms. I already know we're going to be great friends. The three musketeers of Chase, Parker & Spector.
"I wish, but I'm not brave like you are and I would be scared witless to let Remington know what I think. Plus, he barely knows that I exist."
"What do you mean he doesn't know that you exist?"
"I think he sees me as some kind of robot. I don't even think he sees me as a woman," she admits. "He even got me to send flowers to three different women last week," she says, shaking her head. "He's such a dog."
"He's cute though," I say, my brain racing at the slight change in her voice. Was Juniper interested in Remington? He’s definitely extremely handsome. In fact, all of the partners are. "Don't you think?"
"He's okay." She looks away and blushes. My eyes meet Skye's and we smile at each other. I have a feeling that Skye can also see that Juniper thinks Remington is way more than okay, but I'm not going to push her to admit that. While the three men might be gorgeous, they all seem like jerks based on the conversation I'd overheard earlier. I’m pretty confident that Juniper was correct, Remington hasn't noticed her as a woman. I have a feeling that the reason he hired her in the first place was because she didn't look like much of anything, which is crazy because even I can see that she’s beautiful. She just needs a better hairstyle, a little bit of makeup, and a better wardrobe. I know that men don't always see what’s right in front of their eyes, but come on. Juniper is a diamond in the rough and I’m determined to give her the best makeover possible. Juniper will blossom from an ugly duckling to a swan and that will make Remington take notice.
"Good Afternoon, new staffers. Welcome to Chase, Parker, and Spector, the number one law firm in New York City." The door slams shut and I look up to see a middle-aged woman with short, curly black hair standing at the front. She is dressed in a smart navy-blue suit and she reminds me of the dean at my last school. "My name is Vivian Johnson and I am in charge of HR training. As many of you may know, we've been going through a lot of turnover recently and that's not good. As a law firm, the attorneys have to focus on the cases and we are meant to make their life easier." She crosses her arms and looks around the room, her dark eyes seeming to issue a warning to everyone. "You're not here to flirt. You're not here to find a husband. You're not here to get free meals. You're here to make the attorneys’ lives easier, and I'm here to ensure that you do your job well. Please raise your hand if you feel like you are not a good candidate for a personal or legal assistant position." She pauses and walks around the room, a pursed look on her face. I can tell that Vivian Johnson takes her job very seriously.
The room is silent as we all look around and wait to see if anyone will raise their hand. There are about fifteen of us in the room and I wonder how much more experience the others have over me. I'm not surprised when nobody puts their hand up. I'm sure we all want to, but we're all too scared.
"Good," She nods and heads back to the front of the room. "Today we're going to go through the HR handbook and discuss the upcoming trainings." There's a loud knock on the door and she frowns. "Hold on, please." She heads over to the door, opens it, and steps outside. A few moments later, she comes back into the room and looks around. "Is there a Skye in the room?"
"Yeah, that's me," Skye says from beside me, looking nervous. "Is everything okay?" She stands up.
"I understand that you have not been hired as of yet. Kingston Chase has just alerted me to the fact that you have an interview right now and he would like you to make your way to his office."
"Oh wow, now? I thought it was going to be afterwards."
"He wants to see you now. Please, gather your stuff. If you get the job I will have to catch you up tomorrow morning with what we discuss this afternoon. There will be another training tomorrow afternoon if you do get the job."
"Okay, well, thank you." Skye looks at me and wrinkles her nose. "You have my number, right?" she whispers. I nod. "Text me, let me know the plan for drinks."
"Will do," I say. I look over at Juniper. "I'll get your number afterwards as well."
"Sounds good," she smiles.
Skye takes a deep breath. "Wish me luck. I hope I get the job. I hope this Kingston is nicer than Max and the Remington guy that you two were talking about."
"Me too," I say, though I really want to tell her that he seems like he's the biggest jerk of them all.
"Good luck," Juniper says, and we watch as Skye walks out of the room. I look over at Juniper and she makes a face.
"Kingston sucks, huh?"
"He kind of does," Juniper says with a little giggle and nod.
"I didn't want to say that to Skye, but he did seem like a jerk. I still hope she gets the job. It'll be cool if we all work together. We can go to lunch and stuff."
"That would be really nice." Juniper nods.
The door closes behind Skye and Vivian starts up again. "Hopefully we won't have any more interruptions. Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like you to take out a pen. We're going to start filling out some forms. I hope you all have your social security cards and a form of ID. We will also complete some tax paperwork as well and?—"
There's another knock on the door and she lets out an irritated grunt. "Do people not know I'm trying to run a meeting here?" she says in a self-important voice before opening the door. "Can I help you?" Immediately, her voice lowers. "Oh, sorry. Mr. Spector. I didn't realize it was you." I freeze. What does Max Spector want? "Yes, she must be in here. I was about to start the training, but…" She nods. "Yes, sir. Of course." She steps back into the room. "Is there a Lila Haversham?"
"That's me," I say, holding my hand up.
"Mr. Spector needs you to do some urgent work, so I'm going to have to speak to you tomorrow morning along with Skye to go over this paperwork."
"Oh, okay," I say. I look down at Juniper and watch as she scribbles her number on a piece of paper and hands it to me. "Thank you, I will text you later." I stand up and head toward the door. "Thank you, Vivian. I?—"
"I'll see you in the morning." She sounds pissed as she shakes her head, as if I'm the one that said I had to go and not Max.
I step outside and find Max standing there looking at something on his phone. "Okay, let's go," he says, without looking up at me.
"Really?" I say, feeling pissed at myself. "That's how you're going to speak to me?"
He looks up at me slowly, his eyes boring into mine as he frowns. "Sorry, what?"
"I was just in a meeting, filling out paperwork and trying to ensure that I am set up for this job. You just pulled me out of the training that you sent me to and?—"
He just stares at me. I hate that he doesn't say anything. It unnerves me. "Are you going to keep going?" he asks. "Or are you done?"
"I just think you're so rude."
"Is this because I didn't offer you a million dollars to sleep with me, even though I know you would've slept with me for free?"
I bite down on my lip to stop from cussing him. "I wouldn't sleep with you if you were the last man on Earth. In fact, I wouldn't sleep with you if you were the last man in the universe."
"Tell me how that's different," he says, his blue eyes twinkling, and I ignore the flutter in my heart. Why does he affect me so?
"What?"
"Tell me how it's different."
"Tell you how what's different?"
"You said you wouldn't sleep with me if I was the last man on Earth."
"I wouldn't," I say, glaring at him disdainfully.
"And then you said you wouldn't sleep with me if I was the last man in the universe."
"I wouldn't." I raise my chin.
"But how is it different? How is me being the last man on Earth different from being the last man in the universe? Or do you think there are other life-sustaining planets out there or something?"
I stare at him for a couple of seconds and I can feel that my blood is about to boil over. I want to go off on him so badly. I can tell by the smirk on his face that he thinks he's so intelligent and superior. This man is getting on my last nerves, and what's worse is I'm so madly attracted to him that I want to rip the buttons off his shirt and just kiss him. Why is he doing this to me? Why am I so attracted to him?
"I was just making a point, Mr. Spector. I wanted you to clearly understand that I don't want you and I couldn't care less if you offered me a million dollars or not."
"Really? Hmm. It didn't seem that way an hour ago. In fact, I was thinking about…"
"Thinking about what?" I ask.
"I was thinking about us having a specific deal with each other."
"What do you mean?" I ask, my lips trembling slightly. Is he about to say what I think he is? Is he about to come on to me? Is he about to offer me some sort of kinky deal to be his lover? And will I take it? I’m not sure. "What is the offer?" I ask.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" He grins as he brings his mouth to my ear.
"Well, yeah, you brought it up, so..." I step back, feeling flustered.
"Come with me and you'll find out."
"Where are we going? You're not taking me to a hotel, are you? Look, I am not that type of girl."
"Lila, I was joking. There is no deal."
I cross my arms and glare at him. I don't find his joke funny whatsoever.
"Moving on. I removed you from the training because we're going to meet a client." He taps his watch.
"A client?" I raise an eyebrow. "What client?"
"His name is Jack Whittington and he needs help with a divorce."
"Okay." I press my lips together. "Let's go then."
"To the Plaza?" He winks and I gasp.
"I should quit right now."
"We both know you're not quitting, Lila. Just like we both know if I took you to the Plaza Hotel right now, your skirt and panties would be on the ground before I could say the word ground."
"Dude, you wish."
"Maybe I do," he says, his eyes looking me up and down. "And maybe I don't, but you'll never know."
"You think this is a joke, don't you?"
"Not at all," he says softly. "I just think that when I have you, it's going to be because neither of us can keep our hands off of each other, and who knows? Maybe I am the crazy one. Maybe this banter is going to drive me absolutely bonkers and maybe it's going to drive you bonkers too. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. But you can't say that you don't enjoy it."
I bite down on my lower lip. "I do not get you."
"That's understandable," he says. "You didn't know me until today. I don't get you either, but I have a feeling I will."
"What do you mean you have a feeling you will? Are you saying you have a feeling that you'll sleep with me? Because I already told you I'm not interested."
"I know what you said, Miss Haversham, but I think we both know how you feel right now. Like the ocean, right baby?"