I barely have time to regret my choices when the door bursts open and a woman careens through wearing a large striped caftan and carrying a bouquet of pink balloons. She throws her arms out.
“Darling,” she shouts. “It’s a girl!”
She tugs on a string, and two balloons pop. Someone yelps in surprise. Confetti rains down. I squeeze the back of my neck and try to keep from shouting my frustration.
Connor appears and drags the woman out of the office. The door slams shut this time. I pinch the bridge of my nose and then I pick up the phone and dial.
“Jocelyn here.”
“When are you coming back?”
“Are you going to call me every day?”
“Only until you come back. I’m on my knees, Jocelyn.”
“Doubtful. Do you want to say hello to your nephew?”
“No.”
“Okay.”
“Wait! Yes, I do. Turn the video on.” There’s a moment of silence and then the cherubic face of my nephew, Finn, shows up. He gurgles in delight and places his tiny starfish hands against the screen. His face gets closer and blurrier until all I see is a dark spot on the video screen. The image tilts and spins and finally goes black.
“Sorry. He tried to eat the phone,” Jocelyn explains. “Anyway, Connor sent me a text saying that you’re being mean to the temp. Don’t be mean or I might never come back. It sounds like a hostile work environment.”
“It wasn’t before, but I can make it one,” I threaten.
Jocelyn laughs. “You poor child. I’ll send you a pacifier since you’re acting like a baby. I bought a package of 25 of them from Amazon the other day. No need to thank me, just be nice to the employees.” With that exhortation, she hangs up.
I drop my head in my hands. The office is in chaos, my dick’s hard, and a new temp worker has shown up to lead me to my doom.
Chapter Three Leila
For someone that doesn't care for the look of me, he seems to stare a lot. Anytime he comes out of his office, his eyes go straight to me. I try not to fidget, wanting to play it cool. I pretend that I don’t even notice, but I’m worried. I mean, who wouldn’t be?
The man tried to fire me within the first ten minutes of being in my presence. I would say of meeting me, but we hadn’t even been properly introduced and he tried to give me the boot. I was only saved because the office is so short-handed and desperate.
I’m not sure what I did to him or why he dislikes me so much. I know I have a problem keeping my mouth shut which I’ll have to work on in the future. But I hadn’t even spoken but a few words to him before he started being a jerk the first day.
He is either looking for a reason to replace me or he’s on to me. I haven't done anything for him to catch, though, so it can’t be the latter. At least not yet. I’ve been here for over a week now. I’m settling in and getting the hang of things. I never knew an office could be so busy.
Warren doesn’t even care that everyone has to work their asses off. He was ready to toss me out and pile more work onto them. It only cemented what Chris told me about him. Warren doesn't care about anything or anyone but himself. He does deal after deal, not caring what property he might be buying out from under someone. The bottom line is he is clearly his number one priority.
What the heck did he even mean when he said he didn’t like the look of me? I swear, even though I know he was being a mean jerk-face, I have to admit that hearing those words was like a punch to the gut.
I tried to mask my hurt. Why do I even care what he thinks about me? I hate that those stupid words bounce around inside of my head. I do notice that I don’t have as nice of clothes as everyone else around here with designer labels, but I’m at least put together. He’s clearly a snob who looks down his nose at me.
“Leila.” Scott calls my name. He’s another one of the assistants. “Are you coming tonight for happy hour?”
I paste a smile on my face. “Of course.” Everyone else around here has been easy to get to know. I’m still working on building trust. I haven't come across anything of real substance yet, but I hope that it’s only a matter of time. It doesn't help that Warren is watching my every move. I’ll have to be careful.
“Leila, I need you to stay late.” Warren suddenly comes out of his office. The pictures I’ve seen of him do him no justice at all. He’s even more handsome in person. I wish I could say I hate the look of him, but that would be a lie. I keep reminding myself that his insides aren’t so pretty.
“Okay,” I agree, not really having an option. He turns around to go back into his office. Out of all the people here, why does he want me to stay? I thought the man hated me. Unless he’s only doing this to torture me.
My phone vibrates on my desk.
Scott: We’ll be there for a few hours. Stop by after.
Me: I’ll try and make it!
I could actually use a drink or two after this week. Not that I’m actually going to have one. I have to keep my wits about me. I have to remain focused and on task. I can’t allow myself to waver.
The day presses on, and I mainly handle phone calls or folding brochures. I also take care of getting almost everyone’s lunches and coffee. I’m thankful that all the stuff they’ve asked me so far, I can
