Chapter 2

I walk out of his office and walk over to the desk right across.

“Hello,” I say to Vivienne. 

“I can’t believe you didn’t take the money; how much more money do you want?”

“Excuse me, how do you know he offered me money?”

“I am sure you want to work here so that you can seduce Jason and get more money out of him,” she says, ignoring my question. I can’t believe she called him by his first name. They must be really close for her to call him by his first name.

“No, that is not why I want to work here. Why would you accuse me of such?”

“I want to let you know that is not going to happen. Jason already has enough office romance, and your plan of seducing him is not going to work,” she says, ignoring my question again.

“I don’t plan to seduce Mr. Crawford. Please can you stop accusing me of all these things.” I am starting to get annoyed with her accusations. 

“Honey, you can pretend all you like, but don’t worry. The day you try to seduce Jason, and he rejects you and throws you out of here. I will be smiling and telling you, ‘I told you so,’” She says with an evil smirk plastered on her face.

“As I said before, I don’t plan to seduce him and to prove to you how much I won’t. I will tell you something about me; I don’t date guys his age. He is too old for me,” I say honestly. Mr. Jason might be an attractive man, but he is more than a decade older than me. If you add a few more years, he will be the same age as my uncle. It will be weird and creepy to seduce someone so close in age with the man who raised me.

She releases a fake laugh before speaking. “No woman on this earth wouldn’t want to date someone as attractive as Jason. You can lie all you want, but I don’t believe you, and I won’t be letting my guard down around you. I will make sure to watch you closely.” 

I think Mr. Jason and Vivienne are closer than a CEO and a secretary should be. I believe so because of the way she has been talking about him. You will think Mr. Jason is her boyfriend and I am trying to 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 why don’t we just move on, and you can fill me in on the things I need to do.”

“That’s a good idea; at least you are smart,” She says, rolling her eyes

“Thank you”

“It wasn’t a compliment, and follow me. I will take you to your first assignment for the day.”

I don’t say anything and follow her. We walk a few doors away from the CEO’s office before we stop. Vivienne opens the door, and it’s a small office. I can’t believe I am getting my own office. I am actually surprised because even Vivienne does not have an office, but I get one, or so I thought. The words that spill out of Vivienne’s mouth make the smile on my face turn into a frown.

“This is my office; I want you to move everything you saw on my old desk earlier here.”

“Okay,” I say, sad that the office is for Vivienne, and I get to help her move.

I do as Vivienne asked and move everything from her old desk to her new office. It takes me like 20 minutes or so. She did not have a lot of things on her desk, but it was stressful walking back and forth with files in my hands. She even made me carry her computer and refused to find someone to help me. I am going to be working the front desk now. I am happy I am finally given a real job.

I spend the whole day running errands for Vivienne and answering calls. I didn’t do anything serious today. All the errands I ran for Vivienne were not even work-related. They were all personal errands of hers. I can see her making my time at the office very difficult, and it’s because she thinks I am after Mr. Jason. I am not after him, even though that’s what she and Mr. Jason believe. Mr. Jason did not really ask me to do anything today. He acted like I did not exist at the office today. 

I am on my way home after a long day at the office. I can’t believe the way my first day went. I arrive home after walking for a few minutes from the bus stop. I step inside the house, and the incredible aroma drifts through my nose. Uncle Jack must be cooking. I quickly walk to the kitchen to find out what he is cooking.

“Uncle Jack, what are you cooking?” I ask eagerly as soon as I step into the kitchen.

Uncle Jack works as an assistant chef at a fantastic restaurant. I believe he should be made head cook, but his boss thinks otherwise. 

“Hello to you too; how was your day?” He says, smiling while stirring something in the pan over the stove. I could pass as Uncle Jack’s daughter with how much we look alike. We have the same blue eyes and blond hair. The same round faces with a pointed nose. He is a handsome man, and of course, I believe I am also not bad myself.

“My day was horrible, uncle jack,” I say, dropping my shoulders in exhaustion. I walk over to the stove to see what he is cooking. He is making creamy pasta, one of my favourite dishes.

“Why is your boss hard to work with?” He says while fixing me a plate

“I wish,” I say and take a bite of my food. “This tastes amazing as always” I continue eating and tell Uncle Jack everything that happened in the office today.

“You know I love you, but I can’t blame the man for doubting you a little. His grandfather put you in the hospital for a week, and you refused to collect a dime from him.”

“Even though Mr. Crawford hit me with his car, I only sustained minor injuries. It was even partially my fault why I had the accident that day.”

I had an accident a few weeks ago, and Mr. Crawford was the one who hit me. We became good friends after I recovered. I was so stressed and depressed about not finding a good job that day so, while I was crossing the street, I walked a little slower than average. The lights had already turned green, and Mr. Crawford did not see me coming and hit me with his car. It was a minor hit because he caught the brake quickly. I stayed in the hospital for a week, but I had no severe injuries. I refused to collect settlement money since I was the one at fault, but Mr. Crawford refused to let it go and got me a job at his company that his grandson runs for him.  

“I know that, but these are rich people; they don’t believe they are good people out there who are not out to get their money.”

“I am not out to get him for his money, and hopefully, he will see that.”

“Don’t worry, he will,” He says, giving me an assuring smile.

Uncle Jack is the closest family member I have. After my mom died from an o*******, I lived with him since I was six years old. He was very young when he had to take in his cousin’s daughter and raise her. He was only 25 when he had to take me in. Men that age might only be thinking of marriage, but he already had a six-year-old kid he had to take care of. I am so grateful to him that he agreed to raise me. My mother’s parents are alive, but I am not very close with them, but I see them once in a while. My father is also dead; he died while drinking and driving. I am his daughter, but I was not surprised when I heard the news. The man drank every time, so I was not surprised it killed him. Uncle Jack was married once, but the marriage didn’t last long because his wife cheated on him, my poor uncle. 

After eating dinner, I walk inside my room to shower and get ready to go and visit Amber at her workplace. Amber has been my best friend since high school. We are polar opposite, and I can’t help and wonder sometimes how I am friends with her. Once I am done showering, I walk over to my tiny closet to find what to wear. Since I am only going to the club because Amber works there, I put on black denim jeans and a green silk tank top. After I am done with my makeup, I find a taxi to take me to her workplace.

After a few minutes in the taxi, I arrive at Devil’s share; the club Amber works at. I walk inside without having to wait in line since the bouncer knows me because I come here all the time to visit Amber. I see Amber by the bar serving drinks; I walk over and take my seat on one of the bar stools.

“I would like a glass of sparkling water, please,” I say, ordering a drink. Amber turned her back before I got to the bar, so she doesn't know it’s me who just ordered.

“Who orders water in a bar,” Amber says as she turns around and places a cup of water in front of me. “I should have known; how are you doing,” She asks; Amber is a beautiful black-haired lady with piercing blue eyes. 

“I am doing okay; how about you?”

“I am doing fine, and how was your first day at work? Do I need to poison your boss’s drink any time I see him at the club, or always give him a discount?” 

“I wish it were the latter, but you will need to poison him if you see him.”

“Really, your boss is an asshole. I was hoping you will get a good boss this time around.”

“Me too,” I say, feeling sad that Mr. Jason hates me and will make things difficult for me. I have had horrible bosses all my life. While I worked part-time jobs in college, the bosses I had were not the best. I was really looking forward to a nice boss this time around, but maybe I am just not lucky. Sometimes I wonder if I was a horrible boss in my past life, and karma is catching up to me now. 

“Don’t worry, I know you, and you are unlikeable; he will come around.”

“I hope so too.”

Amber and I engage in other topics; I also order a real drink and stay with her for a while. While talking, a stranger walks up to me and starts talking to me.

“Do you want to dance?” The sketchy-looking man asks while whispering into my ears as his horrible breath fans my neck.

“Thank you, but no, I don’t want to dance” I refuse politely 

“Come on, baby girl, it will be fun,” He says, tugging on my hands, trying to pull me to the dance floor. Before I can pry him off nicely, Amber does it her way. She roughly removes his hand off me and uses her body to shield me. I don’t even know when she crossed over and came to this side

“She said she doesn't want to dance, so beat it,” She says, crossing her arms over her chest while making sure to show off her tattoos. Amber can be very scary, and the fact that she is tall helps her. Amber should be around 5’7, while I am 5’5. I am not tall, but I believe I am of average height. 

He puts his hands up in surrender. “Calm down, lady, no need to get aggressive, I will leave,” He says and walks away.

“Thank you,” I tell Amber 

“Anytime, cupcake,” She says, smiling.

This is what I am talking about when I say Amber and I are polar opposite. The way she sent the man away is something I can never do. I have a degree, but Amber refused to go to college even though she is more intelligent than me. I will never let anything touch my skin, but Amber’s body is decorated with many tattoos. Regardless of all these differences between us, there is nobody on this earth after my uncle who understands me the way she does. I think that’s why she is my best friend. I spend a little more time with her before leaving. I have to leave early so that I can get some sleep before work tomorrow.