Chapter 3
Chapter Three
E lisabetta
Elisabetta in the City
Hey, all,
You will not believe what just happened. I just got my first job. I know. I know. I may be too old to be getting my first job, but I ’ ve been lucky enough to lead a life where I haven ’ t had to work. I guess I never really told you about that before.
Most of you are here to read about my love life, but unfortunately, there ’ s not much going on there. However, my job is something I ’ m extremely nervous about. You see, I ’ m working for a man who does not deserve to have any living human being working for him because he ’ s an absolutely ridiculously arrogant, pompous, self-righteous know-it-all. I ’ m sure all of you know the sort of man I ’ m talking about, and because this blog is anonymous, I ’ m going to admit one thing: He ’ s absolutely gorgeous.
I know. How can a man I despise so much be someone I ’ m attracted to? I don ’ t know. I really don ’ t. He has the most captivating blue eyes, and this accent—well, he ’ s British. When I tell you a British accent does something to me, it really does something to me.
If you have any advice on things I can do or say to ensure that my working for him does not go disastrously, please leave a comment below. As always, I will update you on all things soon.
Always,
Elisabetta in the City
Comments:
LisaFranklin1962: Oh, my gosh, I love a British accent. Please update more soon.
FashionDivainBrooklyn: I am loving your blog. Tell us more about the job. Do you want to share a photo of the hotty boss? I ’ d love to see him.
Barnes&NobleisMyJam3189: Oooh, tell us more. Are you going to bang your boss? If so, please start another blog. Specifically, call it “Banging My Boss.” Hahaha!
Stuck in Des Moines: Wow! I cannot believe I didn ’ t see this last night. Have you started working for him already? Is he really tall? Is he sexy? Do you think he has a large… well, you know what? Please update more, Elisabetta. I live for your blog.
I stand up, walk to the mirror, and stare at my reflection. I look tired and like I need ten cups of coffee, stat. I didn’t sleep at all last night. I still can’t quite believe that I volunteered to work for Liam Gallagher. I had no business deciding to take on that job. All the girls have told me how absolutely horrible he is to work for, and I know from interacting with him in person that he is the sort of man who will drive me crazy.
I kind of like that. I like a challenge, and it isn’t as if I care about the job. I don’t care if he fires me. I don’t need the money, and I really want to help Skye out. She doesn’t need to waste her time working for a man like that, and even though I know her boyfriend, Kingston, would put his foot down if he knew just how rude Liam has been, I know she doesn’t want to say anything because Liam Gallagher is one of the most important clients at the law firm.
I rub my head and head into the kitchen. I open the fridge and look at the green smoothie I made the night before and groan under my breath. There is no way I want to drink a twelve-hour-old green smoothie. I can already see that it has separated, and I don’t want to get a mouthful of ginger and celery. Instead, I grab the carton of orange juice, open a cupboard, and pull out a glass, before drinking the orange juice eagerly.
“Today is going to be a good day,” I whisper to myself. Today, you are going to relax , I remind myself. I don’t have to start working for Liam until tomorrow, and I know that I’m going to need as much self-care as possible before I go to the office. My beeping phone distracts me, and I hurry over to pick it up. I smile when I see that it’s Juniper.
“Hey, what’s going on?” I immediately ask.
“Not much. I was just wondering if you have changed your mind about working for Liam.” She giggles.
“No. Why would I do such a thing?” I say quickly. “I mean, he seems like the perfect person to take my employment cherry.”
“Oh, my gosh.” She laughs. “For a moment, I thought you said something else.”
“You thought I said what?”
“I don’t know,” she says, giggling, “but when you said cherry…”
“Juniper Hardman, I know you do not think that Liam Gallagher will be close to taking any one of my cherries, ever.”
“Why? You don’t think he’s cute?”
“Really? You’re not seriously asking me that.”
“What? He is good-looking.”
“He’s okay. I’ve had better.”
“You have?” she asks.
“Really?” I almost scream. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I mean, you have dated some good-looking guys, but Liam Gallagher is in a class of his own.”
“Uh-huh. Does Remington know you think that?”
“I mean, Remington wouldn’t care because he’s the hottest man in the world,” she says, and I burst out laughing. She has a point. Her boyfriend, Remington, is extremely good-looking, but I certainly don’t think he’s the hottest man in the world.
“Are you ready for tomorrow? Do you want me to prep you? Do you?—”
“Today, I’m just going to relax.” I cut her off. “I might go shopping, get a couple of outfits appropriate for working in a law firm and then try and figure out exactly what I’m going to be doing.”
“Oh, it’ll probably just be typing out notes and reviewing files. I mean, to be fair, Liam is an odd one. He has you doing different things every day, which is kind of fun if you’re looking for a change but kind of frustrating because you never know what he’s going to do, what he’s going to want you to do, and sometimes, it is stuff above our pay level.”
“I mean, the entire job is above my pay level,” I say with a laugh.
“I was going to ask you this yesterday, but we didn’t get a chance to talk.”
“Yeah?” I ask her softly, wondering what she’s going to say. “Oh, my gosh, Juniper.”
“Yeah?”
“You’re not pregnant, are you?”
“No! Why would you say that?”
“I don’t know. You said there was something you wanted to tell me.”
“No. I said there was something I wanted to ask you.”
“Oh, yeah, my bad. I mean, if you did get pregnant, I wouldn’t judge, I mean, even though it’s so quick.”
“Girl, we’ve got one pregnant girl in the group. I don’t think we need another right now.”
“True. How’s Marie doing, by the way?”
“I think she’s doing okay. From what I heard, she’s going to be working for Gabe.”
“I’ve been hearing that for ages. Has is actually happened yet?”
“I don’t know, but I think she’s going to be starting next week.”
“Sweet, maybe she and I will grab lunch. I really like her, even though she’s slightly younger than us.”
“Yeah, she’s about to be nineteen soon.”
“Whoa! She’s so old. She makes me feel like a grandma.” I burst out laughing.
“Very funny, Elisabetta.” Juniper giggles. “Anyway, I was going to ask you about your dad and this party. What’s going on? Are you still going through with it? Do you want to be set up? Do you still want a husband?”
“Oh, my gosh, I feel like I’m in an interrogation room, and you’re a member of the FBI.” I giggle. “Sorry, but to answer your question…” I take a deep breath and close my eyes. “I don’t even know if I want to go through with this anymore. I just feel so conflicted. I mean, I always knew that my father was going to throw me this party because it’s been talked about for so many years, and I knew there would be a lot of eligible men, and perhaps one of them would become my husband. Yet, I think I thought that Dad would actually tell me more about his job and more about his world before this happened. I thought...” I pause, not wanting to start crying.
“Hey, what is it?” Juniper asks.
“I guess I just thought that Dad and I would have more of a relationship. When I was younger, I just assumed, well, I’m a kid. I’m a teenager, and he doesn’t want to burden me with his life. Maybe he thought I was too young to understand. Now I’m a woman. I’m twenty-five, and I still don’t know what my father does for a living. I don’t know anything about his world. I barely see him, and my aunts, Lucia, Gabriella, and Evalina, don’t tell me anything. I tried to speak to Romeo last weekend. He’s oblivious to the world, and I don’t even think he wants to know.”
“Do you really want to know, though, Elisabetta?”
“What do you mean, do I really want to know?”
“I mean, if you found out that your dad was a member of the mafia, like Tony Soprano or something, would you want to know?”
“Yes, I’d want to know.”
“Even if you found out he was killing people?”
“I mean, I don’t know if I’d want to know that,” I said.
“Girl, if that’s actually the world he’s in, those are the things he would be doing.”
“How do you know so much about the things he’d be doing?” I ask her. “Are you also in the mafia?”
“Uh, no, and you know that.” She laughs. “I’m just saying that sometimes, when we don’t know things, it’s actually better for us. Sometimes you learn things about people you wish you didn’t know.”
“I guess so,” I say. “Why are you so wise, Juniper?”
“I don’t know. Maybe I used to be an owl in another life. I have the glasses to prove it.”
“Haha, very funny. You barely wear your glasses anymore. I’m so happy you found contacts that you actually like.”
“I mean, I still love my glasses, and Remington loves them on me, too. He says that he loves being with a beautiful nerdy girl.”
“Um, okay. I’m not sure if I would find that a compliment, but you obviously do.”
She laughs. “I mean, I didn’t think it was the biggest compliment in the world, but it was okay. I knew it came from his heart. You got any dates planned?”
“No, though I might swipe and see if I can find someone to go out with tonight. Get my mind off of tomorrow, you know?”
My phone beeps, and I frown. It’s a number I don’t know. “Hey, can you hold on a second? I’m getting a call.”
“Sure.”
I press the button and click over. “Hello?” I ask suspiciously.
“Is this Elisabetta?” the deep, familiar British accent sounds into the phone, and I let out a loud groan.
“What do you want?” I say in response.
“Is that any way to greet your boss?”
“Future boss,” I say. “I don’t work for you yet.”
“This time tomorrow, you’ll be under me,” he says.
“Excuse me?”
He starts chuckling. “You’ll be under me on the totem pole in that I’ll be your boss and you’ll be my underling.”
“Uh-huh. I hope you don’t think that I’m going to be under you in any other way, Liam.” I stress his name, and he pauses for a moment.
“What do you mean, under me in any other way?”
“I mean, I hope you don’t think that I took this job because I want you or that I’m going to be with you or that there’s going to be any sort of sexual conversation or activities between us.”
“Now, why would I think that?”
“I mean, I don’t know if you would think that or if you would hope for that, but it’s not going to happen. I only took this job because you’re making my friends’ lives a nightmare, and I didn’t want to see that happening to them anymore.”
“Sure, that’s the only reason you took the job.”
“Yeah, it really is.”
“Not because you wanted to see my…” He pauses.
“See your what?” I say eventually.
“Nothing,” he says smoothly.
“Don’t take this the wrong way, Liam, but I have a zero interest in you. In fact, I have less than zero interest in you.”
“Is that correct?”
“Yes, it’s very, very correct.”
“If I were to ask you if you wanted to go to dinner and possibly grab a bottle of Dom Perignon and some caviar so that we could establish the rules of our working relationship, you would say no.”
“I would say I can buy my own champagne. I’m not a huge fan of caviar, and if there are rules and regulations you expect me to follow, have them in the paperwork on my desk tomorrow morning.”
“Touché,” he says. “You don’t like caviar, huh?”
“Nope.”
“You like champagne?”
“A good champagne, yes.”
“I’d bet you’d like it if I ran it down your…” He pauses. “Well, now, I shouldn’t let out all my secrets.”
“All what secrets?” I can’t stop myself from asking as my legs start tingling.
“Well, you know,” he says, “there are certainly many different things I like to drink champagne out of.”
I lick my lips. I’m not going to ask him. “What do you like to drink champagne out of?” The words come out of my mouth before I can stop them, and I want to slap myself.
“You know, the champagne flute.”
“Okay.”
“A lady’s mouth.”
“Okay.”
“Her belly button.”
“Very original.”
He chuckles. “Her vagina.”
“What?” I blush. I can’t believe he said the words.
“Would you rather me say her pussy?”
“I’m not saying anything.”
“I’m not going to lie. I can sip some champagne out of a butthole, as well.”
“You’re disgusting, Liam. You know that?”
“What? You asked me.”
“I expected you to say a champagne glass, a cup, a...”
“No, you didn’t.”
“Excuse me?”
“You love that phrase, don’t you?”
I press my lips together, and I don’t respond.
“Anyway,” he says chuckling, “we both know that this is going to be an interesting, wild ride.”
“An interesting, wild ride?” I burst out laughing then. “I don’t think so, Liam. Whatever you think you’ve got planned for this working relationship is definitely not going to happen.”
“What do you think I have planned?”
“If you think any of these wild rides are me bouncing on top of you or you pushing in and out of me, you are mistaken.”
“Oh, yeah?” he says. “What if my vision is you just bouncing up and down on my face?” He chuckles then. “Would you like that?”
“I’m going to go now, Liam. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Not if I see you first,” he says, and hangs up.
I stand there with the phone in my hand, and I can feel my entire body shaking with heat. “Fuck, what am I doing?” I say under my breath. I’m in trouble. I know that I shouldn’t go in tomorrow, but I know that I’m definitely going to.