Chapter 4 Ella #2
But I must say, Matthew is the best shopping partner I’ve ever had.
He was the perfect combination of hype man, but he was also sweetly but brutally honest. Everything we purchased looks perfect on me because there is no way he would allow anything less.
He even insisted we stop at the makeup counter on the way out, and he purchased a whole new line of makeup for me while the sales girl did my makeup for the afternoon.
I feel like an ugly duckling turned swan, all thanks to Matthew.
And now I’m ready to kick ass at this new position.
The afternoon flies by now that I’m not uncomfortable, and I’m stupidly thankful, if still embarrassed, that Matthew forced me to go shopping. He was right, it’s much easier to do my job when I’m not constantly focused on what I’m wearing.
Just before we leave for the day, the team has a last-minute meeting to go over some final points on the final two candidates.
“Lillian Luceria and Caroline Augustine,” Emily says, holding up their photos.
“Rumor has it, Asher briefly dated Lillian years ago, so that may give her an advantage or possibly a disadvantage; I’ll text Matthew about it later.
But since we are on a tight schedule, I’ll need you all to pull in some extra hours tonight.
We haven’t found anything too incriminating about either of them, but that doesn’t mean someone else won’t.
We need to be extra thorough. I want you all to keep at it.
Scour the depths of the internet tonight.
Find every last detail you can about these two women.
We need to know everything we can about their pasts, but I also want to know about a variety of other things like their hobbies, their friends, the charities they support.
I even want to know what they do and don’t like to eat.
No detail is superfluous. The more we know, the more we can narrow down who would be most compatible with Mr. Langford. ”
“I have a strange question,” I say. “Once the candidate is decided upon, how do we go about this? Does someone just call her up and invite her to a girlfriend interview? What if Asher doesn’t like her? Or what if she doesn’t like him?”
Emily shrugs and lets out a sigh, as flummoxed as I am.
“This is uncharted territory. I’ll let Mr. Langford decide the details of how to proposition the woman we decide on.
But again, compatibility is highly important.
If we’re going to fool the masses, there can be no flaws between Mr. Langford and the candidate.
Matthew has composed a short list of Mr. Langford’s likes and dislikes which I’ve emailed to all of you.
Try to keep them in mind as you’re researching tonight.
Good luck, and I’ll see you all bright and early. ”
We file out after what can be classified as the weirdest work day ever, and an hour later, I set my shopping bags down when I enter Zahra’s empty apartment.
She’s at work, and probably busy as hell in the midst of the dinner rush, and Alec works nights as well, so while it’s lonely, I’ll have a quiet space as I work.
I’m feeling extra keen to do my job well after the less than stellar first impression I made with Mr. Langford, but I can’t think about work until I’ve eaten.
I’m starving after an afternoon of shopping and meetings.
I search the fridge and let out an enthusiastic, “yes!” when I find homemade lasagna.
Zahra almost always cooks a delicious lunch for herself and makes enough to feed me for dinner, which is a godsend, because I can’t cook for shit.
She really is spoiling me and one day I hope to repay her and more.
After I stuff my face and have several food-gasms, I put my new clothes into the small plastic storage tower in the corner of the sitting area.
Then I hang all the hanging clothes in the coat closet.
The tiny closet is now full to bursting, and for a moment I feel a wave of claustrophobia.
The apartment is tiny, meant for two people maximum.
And here I am, taking up every last inch of space.
I hate feeling like a burden, and worse, I hate feeling frustrated by the lack of space and the uncomfortable pressure of living in such confined quarters when I am the burden causing it.
And that’s not going to change anytime in the near future.
It’s going to be at least another two to three months here.
Not only is apartment hunting rough at best, but I’ll need first and last month’s rent, plus a sizable deposit for any apartment. That’s going to take time to save up.
I let out a long breath and try to push my anxious thoughts from my mind. There’s nothing I can do about it tonight, so I might as well focus on work. At least that will keep my thoughts occupied.
I scroll through my email until I find the one Emily had mentioned. It’s short and to the point, and doesn’t even say Mr. Langford’s name. It’s just two short, plain lists.
LIKES:
Travel
Sports: football, basketball, and polo are his favorites.
Exercise
Cars
Hiking
Scuba diving
Piloting small aircrafts
Interesting.
DISLIKES:
Extreme sports, e.g., skydiving, bungee jumping
Outdoorsy activities like camping (hiking is his limit)
Hunting (except he likes to shoot clay pigeons for sport)
Overly crowded places, e.g., amusement parks
I scan the list again, fixating on the last dislike.
Amusement parks. Who doesn’t like amusement parks?
That seems like a red flag. Maybe he’s a secret serial killer.
That’s the only plausible explanation. Or does he just not like them because they’re crowded?
Food for thought. Then I wonder if it’s bothersome for Mr. Langford to have such personal knowledge sent out to his employees in a Monday evening email like it’s nothing.
What’s it like to have so much power and yet much less autonomy over your own life than most people?
The paradox is so strange to me, and I can’t help but feel a twinge of sympathy for him.
He really is an enigma. He can be a completely arrogant and demanding prick, as was evident in our meeting this morning, but he also had no qualms or questions when Matthew insisted on taking me shopping for new work clothes.
I’ve always known, working for Langford Holdings, that I was working for a company owned by some of the richest people on the planet, but with this project I’m getting a much more intimate view of the dynamics of that family and the company, and it’s messing with my head.
This whole thing is crazy, and it’s just getting started.
Which reminds me of another thing I need to get to tonight—the NDA in my bag.
The mission of our team must be kept completely secret, so the Langford Holding’s legal team came down this afternoon to meet with us and to give us NDAs to sign.
We were allowed to bring them home and read through them tonight, but they are expected to be signed and turned in first thing in the morning.
I read through the document, understanding only a fraction of the legal jargon, and then I sign it, crossing my fingers that I haven’t signed my life away.
The minute I set my pen down, Zahra calls me on her break to ask about my day.
I’d left her short, cryptic texts all day, and I know it’s been driving her crazy.
“Hey, boo, how’s the restaurant tonight?” I say, answering the call.
“Too busy for a Monday, but I suppose that’s a good thing; it keeps me employed.
But I didn’t call to talk about the restaurant.
I want to know why Mr. Langford was in your meeting this morning.
That’s crazy! I know you work for his company, but the odds of you being in a meeting with him were razor thin.
You’ve never seen him in all the years you worked there, right? ”
“Right.”
“Is he as hot as he is in all the pictures?”
“Hotter.”
“No fucking way!”
“Yes, it was quite distracting, actually.”
“Oh, my god. So, what was the meeting about?”
“Just another marketing meeting, but he wants to be more closely involved with the project.” I bite my lip, feeling guilty for lying to her, but the NDA is sitting in front of me on the coffee table, practically giving me the stink eye.
“And you stumbled into the meeting late, in that outfit?” She barks out a laugh.
“I know! Don’t laugh, it’s not funny! Okay, it is funny, but at this point, my life feels like a joke.” I proceed to tell her all about the events of the day concerning Matthew, lunch, and the shopping spree, hardly believing the words as they come out of my mouth.
“No way! You’re making this up!” she says as I finish.
“It’s the truth! I guess it pays to work for one of the richest men on the planet. He didn’t even question Matthew when he told him we were going shopping on his dime.”
“It sounds like Matthew is into you.”
I snort. “Um, no. Matthew has a boyfriend. But we’re now work besties according to him.”
“You have the craziest job.”
“I don’t disagree.”
“I have to go, my break is almost over. But I want more updates tomorrow! I want chronicled details of your work exploits, especially if they involve the hot piece of ass, Asher Langford.”
“You got it. Be safe on your way home tonight, love you.”
“Love you!”
I feel much better after we hang up. Trust Zahra to get me out of a funk.
Unable to put it off any longer, I get to searching everything and anything I can on Lillian Luceria and Caroline Augustine.
I look at headline after headline and photo after photo, feeling like a weird stalker as I do—I definitely want to delete my browser history once this phase of the project is over.
I’m just about to call it a night when an old headline grabs my attention.
I’m searching up past relationships on Caroline Augustine, the bank tycoon heiress, when I find a story from ten years ago buried six pages deep on her search results.
“Augustine Heiress Sex Scandal.”
Whoa.
I click on the link, but it takes me to an error page. I copy and paste the headline into another tab and search it again. Most of the links that come up are nothing—benign articles about the Augustine family, Caroline specifically, or other non-Augustine related sex scandals.
I search and search, and finally find another web address link with a similar headline, but when I click on it, it takes me to another blank page with an error message.
No matter how hard I try, I can’t find anything on it.
But clearly, something happened ten years ago.
Was there an actual sex scandal? It’s possible.
And it’s also possible that the reporting on it was hushed before it got out too far.
If anyone has the resources to kill a story, it’s the Augustines. Hmm.
I take screenshots of the headlines and text them to Matthew and Emily. If this is even a possibility, it’s a big problem. I’m fairly certain the board would have issues with a past sex scandal since Mr. Langford’s own sex scandal is what landed him in this mess.
Matthew texts back almost immediately.
Why don’t any of the pages have the story???? I need this story!
I’m thinking it’s because she’s an Augustine. The Augustines could have killed the story and paid someone to scrub the internet.
And now I’m left unsatisfied. Damn those rich assholes who have no regard for the public
The nerve.
How are the clothes?
Too perfect. I feel like a spoiled princess. Thank you again, btw.
You are welcome. I have a feeling the two of us are going to have so much fun on this project!
Me too.
We text back and forth the rest of the night, and I keep finding myself smiling.
So many of my friends have moved around that I don’t have many people I’m close to anymore.
It’s nice to have a new work bestie. And Matthew’s right, if I am going to be part of the craziest work project I’ve ever heard of, with a very mercurial Mr. Langford, at least I have him to get through it with.
Matthew will make the next however many months bearable, and for that, I am thankful.