Vivienne
I walk out of Mr. Crawford’s office and towards the reception.
“I can’t believe you didn’t take the money! How much more do you want?” Vivienne asked abruptly.
“How do you know Mr. Crawford offered me money?”
“I think you only want to work here so that you can seduce Jason to get more money out of him,” she accuses, ignoring my question. I can’t believe she referred to Mr. Crawford by his first name; they must be closer than I thought.
“No, that’s not why I want to work here. Why would you accuse me of that?”
“Well, it won’t happen. Jason already has enough office romance; your plan to seduce him isn’t going to work,” she says, blatantly ignoring my question again.
“I don’t plan on seducing Mr. Crawford. Please stop falsely accusing me of that,” I respond, increasingly getting annoyed by her assumptions.
“You can act innocent, but I can see through it! Don’t pretend I didn’t warn you when Jason fires you after trying to seduce him. I can’t wait for him to throw you out of here!” she says with an evil smirk plastered on her face.Content is property © NôvelDrama.Org.
“As I said before, I don’t plan on seducing him. I prefer to date guys my age; he’s too old for me,” I honestly state.
Mr. Jason might be an attractive man, but he’s over a decade older than me. It would be weird and creepy to try to seduce someone almost the same age as my uncle, a man who raised me.
“There isn’t a woman on this earth who wouldn’t want to date someone as attractive as Jason. Stop lying. I don’t believe you, and I won’t be letting my guard down around you. I am going to be watching you closely,” she says with poison.
I think Mr. Jason and Vivienne are closer than a CEO and a secretary should be. From the way she is speaking to me, it seems that Mr. Jason is her boyfriend, and she is concerned that I will steal him from her.
“As much as I would like to continue arguing with you about my true intentions, I don’t think anything I say is going to change your mind. So can we move on? Mr. Crawford said that you would fill me in on my new duties,” I say.
“That’s a good idea. At least you are smart,” she says, rolling her eyes.
“Thank you.”
“It wasn’t a compliment! But follow me; I will take you to your first assignment for the day,” she snaps as she begins walking away from Mr. Jason’s office.
I follow her without responding. We stop in front of the door to a small office. I examine the office; I can’t believe I am getting my own office.
Vivienne’s words interrupt my excitement, “This is my new office. I want you to move everything from my old desk into here.”
Feeling disappointed that the office is for Vivienne, I nod and get to work.
I move everything from Vivienne’s old desk to her new office. She didn’t have a lot of things on her desk, but it was stressful walking back and forth with her files in my hands. She even made me carry her computer, refusing to find someone to help me. However, the front desk is now clear and ready for me. I’m excited to get to work.
I spend the day answering calls and running errands for Vivienne. I feel as though I don’t do anything work-related the entire day. Vivienne asks me to do several personal errands, and Mr. Jason doesn’t speak to me throughout the entire day. I feel like they might make my time at the office very difficult.
I take the bus home after my first long day at the office. As I open the front door to the house, an incredible aroma hits me, I immediately follow it towards the kitchen.
“Uncle Jack, what are you cooking?” I ask eagerly as soon as I see him.
Uncle Jack works as an assistant chef at a fantastic restaurant. He should be promoted to head cook, but his boss thinks otherwise.
“Hello to you too. How was your day?” he says, smiling as he stirs something in the pan over the stove.
I could pass as Uncle Jack’s daughter. We both have the same blue eyes, blond hair, rounded faces, and pointed noses.
“My day was horrible, Uncle Jack,” I say, dropping my shoulders in exhaustion. I walk over to the stove and see that he is making one of my favorite dishes, creamy pasta.
“Why? Is your boss hard to work for?” he asks as he fixes me a plate.
“I wish that were my only problem,” I say and take a bite. “This tastes amazing,” I continue eating as I explain to Uncle Jack everything that happened today.
“I love you, but I can’t blame the man for doubting you a little. You were in the hospital due to his grandfather, and yet, you refused to collect a dime from him. It could seem suspicious to someone who doesn’t know you as I do.” Uncle Jack calmly said.
“Yes, but even though Mr. Crawford hit me with his car, I only sustained minor injuries. The accident was partially my fault anyway.”
Mr. Crawford had hit me with his car a little while ago. I felt depressed about not finding a good job and was walking very slowly and not paying attention to my surroundings. I crossed the street without noticing that the lights had already turned green. Mr. Crawford did not see me coming and hit me with his car. He slammed on the brakes as soon as he noticed me, so it was not a serious accident, and I had no severe injuries, but I stayed in the hospital for a week. I refused to collect any settlement money as I was partially at fault. Mr. Crawford refused to let the incident go and insisted that I take a job at the company that his grandson runs for him as some form of compensation.
“I know, but these people are rich; they probably haven’t encountered many good people who aren’t using them for their money.”
“Hopefully, they will realize that I’m not interested in their money,” I sigh.
“Don’t worry, I’m sure they will, maybe just give it some time,” Uncle Jack replies, giving me an assuring smile.
Uncle Jack is the closest family member I have. I have lived with him since my mom died of an overdose when I was six years old. He was only twenty-five when he took me in. Men that age might just be starting to think of marriage as a possibility, but Jack was already raising a six-year-old child. I’m very grateful for him and his sacrifices to ensure I had somewhere to call my home. My father died driving while drunk. He was a very heavy drinker, so while I was sad to hear of his death, I was not particularly surprised. I am not very close with my mother’s parents and only see them infrequently. Uncle Jack was once married; it quickly ended after his wife revealed that she had been cheating on him. Our small family of two is the only real family we still have.
After dinner, I shower and get ready to visit Amber at the club she works at. Amber has been my best friend since high school. We are polar opposites, and I can’t help but wonder how we are such close friends. I dress casually in black demi jeans and a green silk tank top. Once I finish my makeup, I call a taxi and leave.
After a short trip, I arrive at the club Amber works at, The Devils Share. I walk inside without waiting in line; the bouncer knows me as I often come to visit Amber. I spot Amber by the bar serving drinks. I walk over and take a seat on a bar stool.
“I will take a glass of sparkling water, please,” I say to the back of Amber’s head.
“Who orders water in a bar?” Amber asks as she turns around. “I should have known it was you; how are you doing,” she laughs as she places a glass of water in front of me. Amber is a beautiful lady with black hair and piercing blue eyes.
“I’m okay; how about you?” I respond.
“I’m fine. How was your first day at work? Do I need to poison your boss’s drink or give him a discount the next time I see him here?” she asks with a smile.
“You’re going to need to poison him if you see him here,” I groan.
“Your boss is an asshole? I was hoping you would get a good boss this time around!”
“Me too,” I say sadly. I have had horrible bosses my entire professional life. I was looking forward to getting along with my boss this time, but maybe I’m just not lucky. Sometimes I wonder if I was an awful boss in my past life, and my karma is catching up to me now.
“Don’t worry. It’s impossible not to like you; I’m sure he will come around.”
“I hope so.”
Amber and I chat; I order a real drink and watch her serving drinks. While we are talking, a sketchy-looking man approaches me.
“Do you want to dance?” he whispers into my ear, his horrible breath fans my neck.
“Thank you, but I don’t want to dance.” I politely refuse.
“Come on, baby girl. It will be fun,” he says, tugging on my hands, trying to pull me towards the dance floor. Before I can shake him off nicely, Amber intervenes. She roughly removes his hands from me and uses her body to shield me. I don’t know when she crossed over to this side of the bar.
“She said she does not want to dance, so beat it,” she says, crossing her arms over her chest and showing off her tattoos. Amber can be very scary when she wants to be. Her height of 5’7 makes her a force to be reckoned with
He puts his hands up in surrender before saying, “Calm down, lady. No need to get aggressive. I will leave!”
“Thank you,” I say to Amber as I watch him walk away.
“Anytime, cupcake,” she says, smiling.
Amber and I are polar opposite. The way she sent the man away is something I would never have the courage to do. Amber is more intelligent than me but refused to come to college with me. I will never let anything touch my skin, but Amber’s body is decorated with tattoos. Regardless of all the differences between us, nobody on this earth besides my uncle understands me the way she does. That is why I consider her my best friend.
I spend a little more time with her before leaving. I need to get some sleep before work tomorrow.