Chapter 9
9
ELLA
A s soon as I step into the office that Linda told me to go to, I feel out of my element.
The nerves that were flowing through my body when I walked up to the building almost two hours ago were complete child’s play compared to the ones that are swarming me at this moment.
Not only do I feel like throwing up in the nearest trash bin that I can find, I also feel like I’m swimming in sweat and I’m going to find the nearest department store so that I can find a replacement for not only my blouse but also my pants.
This is not the reaction that I thought I would be having when Linda directed me to Bennett’s office. I met the guy already, we even joked around a bit and he gave me advice. I have no reason to be freaking out about being his assistant, yet I am.
It’s just first day jitters.
I truly want to believe those words but given the amount if sweat that is building up under my boobs, this feels a lot more than first day jitters.
If I had to guess, it has to do with the fact that Bennett Lane looks a lot more intimidating in this small space than he did down stares.
As he finish up his call, he puts off his this cold energy that terrifies me in a way. Like if I say, or do the wrong thing, I will be fired without a second thought.
Maybe who I met down stairs was just a mask and the person sitting a few feet away from me is his true form. Or are they both masks and I have yet to see the real person? Will I ever see the real person?
Well I guess only time will tell, since I’m now going to be spending a lot of time with Mr. Lane. Something I didn’t even think was going to be a possibility when I applied for this job.
A throat clearing takes me out of my thoughts and brings me back to the present.
It takes me a second to put together that I’ve been standing in the doorway for longer than needed just starting at my new boss.
I’m just full of great first impressions this morning, aren’t I?
Before I say anything to my new boss, I shake my head a bit to center myself as best as I can and not let the nerves win. It takes me a few throat clears, but eventually I’m able to find my voice and speak.
“Hi.” The word leaves my mouth as I finally step away from the office doorway. “Linda said to report to you, Mr. Lane. All my paperwork is taken care of and she said I’m ready to start my first day.”
Bennett doesn’t say anything. He just twirls his phone in his hand and looks at me as if he is trying to figure me out. He probably thinkings that I’m an odd one and at this moment, I would agree with him.
After a few more seconds of him just looking over at me, his eyes never leaving mine, the phone twirling stops and he looks away.
He waves toward the chair in front of his desk. “Take a seat, Ms. Vincent.”
Why do I feel like I just walked into the principal’s office?
I follow orders and take a seat, clutching my bag as tightly as possible waiting for the worse to come my way.
He’s going to fire me, I just now it. Not even two hours into my first day and I already lost it.
The thought has tears forming in my eyes. Something that doesn’t go unnoticed.
Concern coats Bennett’s eyes and voice. “Are you okay?”
“Please don’t fire me.”
“What?”
I take a deep breath to get a better control of myself, but no matter how many deep breaths I take, I still end up rambling. “I know I have no experience being someone’s assistant, and that I might have come off as a bit weird downstairs, but I promise that I will amazing at this job. I will do everything that you ask and be the best assistant that you’ve ever had. Just please don’t fire me.”
My rambling left Bennett speechless, because he opens and closes his mouth a few times but nothing comes out. Eventually he is able to get out of the shock that I put him in.
“Is there are a reason why you think I’m firing you? You haven’t even started.”
A blush creeps up my face in embarrassment. “A gut feeling and well, you didn’t look all that happy when you saw me in the door way.”
A sigh rolls through the room. “I’m not going to fire you.”
“You’re not?”
He gives me a head shake. “I have no reason to.”
The words ‘not yet’ hang in the air at the end of his statement. He doesn’t have a reason to fire me right now, but that doesn’t mean that that could change.
Either way, my shoulders relax a tiny bit. There is still nerves rolling through my body, but that doesn’t stop me from releasing the biggest sigh of relief.
My job is safe. For now.
Bennett throws a small smile in my direction, and like earlier, my body likes is a little bit too much.
“You were really that worried?”
I give him a nod and return the small smile. “I really need this job.”
For a solid minute, a pensive look comes across Bennett’s face, like he is trying to wrap his head around those five little words.
Eventually he lets out a sigh and leans back in his chair. “Before we get into the nitty gritty of your job duties and what I expect of you, can I ask you a question?”
“Um, sure. Ask away.”
“You said you have no experience being someone’s assistant. So why apply for the position?”
I think about how to answer that question. Even though Bennett was friendly enough to me downstairs, I don’t know if I want to give him my completely life story and give him the real reason why I applied for this job. If I hadn’t read about him when I first submitted my application, I wouldn’t take much for me to know that the person sitting a few feet away from me comes from money.
He doesn’t know what it’s like to hold four jobs. He doesn’t know what it’s like to not have enough money to keep the fridge stocked. To wish you can give your little sister everything in the world with only five dollars in your bank account. A person like Bennett Lane will never understand what a job like this would do for a person like me.
I doubt this man want to hear my sorry life story, so I give him just had the truth.
“I have my little sister living with me, and she just recently got into a really good private school that I can’t really afford waiting tables. So I decided to but my business degree to good use and get a well paying job to help pay for her tuition.”
My new boss gives me a nod as if he understands. “What school did she get into?”
A part of my lights up at the fact that he asked me a personal question. Which is completely stupid. He’s not asking that question to get to know me. He’s asking it to make conversation.
But whenever I get to talk about Charlie, I smile.
“Saint Christopher Prep Academy. She is set to start in two weeks.”
“That’s a great high school. Is she living on campus?”
My shoulders fall a bit at his question. The whole living on campus was something I didn’t know about until after we accepted Charlie’s admission to Saint Christopher.
We where on a call with one of the administrators, talking about what Charlie could expect from attending the prestigious school when the woman on the other side of the line asked if they could expect for my sister to live on campus.
For a few second, Charlie wore one of the brightest grins I have ever seen. She was so excited about the possibility of living on campus and have independence. But then she looked over at me and that excitement she wore was gone. It broke my heart to let her down, but her living on campus wasn’t going to be possible. With my new job we were going to be able to afford her tuition, but room and board was out of the question big time. It wasn’t just about money though. There is also a safety issue that is still a main character in the back of my mind even five years later that I can’t get over.
I give Bennett a head shake. “No. We aren’t able to afford it this year.”
An expression crosses Bennett’s face, one that looks almost like compassion but it quickly disappears and its replaced by a small smile.
“How old is your sister?”
“Sixteen.”
“I have a niece and nephew around that same age at Saint Christopher. Maybe they will meet and become friends.”
He sounds optimistic.
“Maybe.”
I don’t have the balls to tell him that I doubt it will ever happen. We are talking about two kids that are related to him, they are probably just as rich as he is, they probably don’t want to hang out with a girl that lives in the Southside.
For a long minute, we leave the conversation at that. Neither one of us continues to talk about the kids in our lives or even change the subject. We just sit in our respective chairs, looking at each other as if we are both trying to figure the each other out and failing.
Without wanting to, I get lost in his blue green eyes. The sun isn’t shine directly in them like it was earlier, so they don’t sparkle as much, but the color of them is still very much breath taking. If this was anybody else, I would sit here and get lost in that color for as long as I could.
But I can’t. Because the owner of those gorgeous blue green eyes is my boss and nothing can happen between us.
My crush on Bennett may only a few hours old, but it needs to get squashed immediately. I can’t be the assistant that has a thing for her boss.
The silence is eventually broken by Bennett.
“Look, Ms. Vincent-”
“Please call me, Ella.”
He pauses for a second as if he really has to think about calling me by first name.
“Or Elizabeth is fine. Anything but Ms. Vincent.” I add quickly, not wanting to make him uncomfortable if he wants to stay professional.
A curt nod comes my way. “Elizabeth.” They was he says my name not only has butterflies forming in my stomach but also liking my name a lot more than I did when I woke up this morning. “You’re not going to get fired, but I wouldn’t blame you if there comes a time when you’d want to quit.”
“Why would I quit? You told me downstairs that the person that I will be working with may be an asshole at time but will actually make me like coming into work. Does that not apply anymore?”
A smirk forms on his lips and I have to kick myself for liking it.
“It still applies.” My eyes may be deceiving me because I swear I heard him let out a little chuckle before he composes himself. “But not every day is going to be easy. There’s going to be days that you won’t get to leave this building until well after midnight. Days where I say something and you are going to wring my neck out. Days that will make you cry. Things are going to be shifting in the next couple of weeks and I want to make sure that you are prepared for everything that is going to come and if you aren’t then like I said, I wouldn’t blame you for wanting to quit.”
Does he see me as naive? Does he think that I see this job as the easiest thing in the world and that I don’t know that there are going to be days that I don’t even want to step foot into this building?
I know it’s going to be hard.
I know there is going to a handful of days where I won’t want to talk to him or anyone else that works for this company. I know that with a company of this magnitude I’m going to be working longer days that I did waiting tables or delivering food. I know all of that and even knowing that, I will try my hardest to make this job work.
Because I need it.
For me.
For Charlie.
I need this job and not even my boss is going to keep me from at least trying.
My shoulders square themselves. “I promise you, Mr. Lane. I can handle anything that comes my way. Like I said, I need this job and I will do anything to keep it.”
Long nights. Tears. Anger.
I will take it all, as long I’m getting paid and giving Charlie the life that she deserves.
Besides that, nothing else matter.
And I try to convey that I’m here to stay to my boss as best that I can and we have yet another stare off. The only difference between this one and the one we had a few minutes ago, is that I’m not getting lost in his eyes and feeling butterflies in his stomach as his eyes take me in. This stare off is all about business and nothing else.
Like the last time, Bennett is the one to break the silence between us.
“Alright then.” The way he leans back in his chair shouldn’t be sexy, but it is. “I’ll teach you the ropes and I will mold you into the best assistant that I need. I just need one small thing from you.”
“Anything.”
“If I’m calling you Elizabeth, you will call me Bennett.”
The easy smile he give me tells me that the crush that formed for this man two hours ago isn’t going to go anywhere anytime soon. Especially if I keep witnessing smiles likes that.
I push all thoughts about his smile out of my mind as best that I can and give the man sitting in front of me a nod.
“Bennett it is when it’s just the two of us, but any other time it will be Mr. Lane.”
“I can down with that.” He stands up from his chair, shedding his suit jacket in the process. I applaud myself for not staring at him as he rolls up his shirt sleeve. “Let’s get down to business then.”