"Coffee." Now is not the time to draw attention to myself. Hell there is never a time to draw attention to myself while working with Vincent, but this is an extra bad time.He nods his head in agreement and I breathe a sigh of relief.I throw away his trash after steadying the plastic fork on top of the large desk calendar and then see my way back out of his office.The rest of the afternoon is uneventful. I find my email program and check it continuously, but besides the three intro emails from human resources asking me to fill out paperwork and a short curt email from Valiant stating his lunch order—he wanted a sub from Jimmy John's, a shop downtown—nothing else comes my way. At 5 o'clock on the dot he exits his office, re-buttoning his suit jacket. The muscles in his arms flex underneath it as he wiggles his shoulders to get it over top."You can go, Ms. Marshal. I'll see you tomorrow. Be here at eight and check your email this time."I nod. "Yes, Mr. Valiant." Jerk face.
Holy shit.Ashley screams, sitting on top of the other woman, with her legs wrapped around her middle. Her head pulls to the side as the woman beneath her rips out chunks of her hair."Ashley!" I yell, running full force at her even in my heels.Her head cocks up, and she pauses for a second as if she's realized where she is when she spots me. I latch on to her shoulder as she backs off the woman and stands next to me."What are you doing? Come on, Ash." I pull her into the townhouse as the naked person in our yard continues to scream obscenities at both of us. I close the door, but it doesn't block out the sound.More than one neighbor convened on the sidewalk watching the show, so it's only a matter of time before the police come, but at least Ashley and I are safe. I leave my briefcase and small purse in the entryway and follow Ashley to the kitchen."I can't believe him," she says, slamming her fist on the cheap countertop of the kitchen island.The front door opens a
I lower the phone giving him a what-the-fuck-does-it-look-like expression as Ashley regains her advantage. Now that she's back on top, I drop the phone and grab her by the shoulders pulling her off the naked woman. Somehow, by luck or fate, I don't end up getting kicked or punched in the head.Ashley breathes heavily in my ear, trying to push past me to get back into the fight, but she's losing steam and I'm able to hold her at bay. Who knew fighting looked so ridiculous in real life? It's a live action Jerry Springer episode.The other woman stands, wrapping the bedsheet back around her body, and spits on our floor."Hey!" That's our damn floor.The door opens again, slamming against the wall and two officers jog into the townhouse. Ashley's attacker smiles as if she's won, but her expression falls as the first officer grabs her hands and twist them behind her back before leading her out to the front yard. He stops long enough to help pull the sheet around her shoulders but th
My alarm rings before I'm ready. Probably because it goes off at six in the damn morning. Even in college I tried not to schedule my classes before ten and I sought jobs with afternoon shifts. To say I'm not a morning person is an understatement. I loathe mornings as if they were put on this earth to make my life hell. In fact, nobody has ever shown me proof they weren't made to ruin my life. I mean has anyone seen a 3 a.m.? Does it exist?It shouldn't.I roll off the couch and check my phone to make sure Vincent hasn't sent me any new messages throughout the night. One day with him and I'm already working on a phobia of having my phone sit too long between message checks.Ashley sleeps soundly wrapped in my covers on my bed when I check on her. I open my squeaky closet door enough to grab a few items to wear to work. She snorts and rolls to her side as I walk out of the room.Showers should wake you up, but when you take them as hot as I do, they have the reverse effect. My ey
"I told you. Your breakfast."I follow him because as an assistant—especially one with nothing else to do—it seems the thing to do. He sits in his chair unwrapping the breakfast sandwich and taking the lid off the coffee. He sniffs it and his nose crinkles in disgust. Tapping the cover back on top he hands it across the space to me."Don't screw with me. This isn't coffee. Coffee comes black. This is sludge. I don't know what kind of man you take me for, Ms. Marshal, but I don't drink that. Everyone in this building knows how I take my coffee. You should learn too.""Okay," I say with my teeth clenched together. The secretary on the fourth floor and I need to have a chat. I can't believe somebody would deliberately lie about something as stupid as coffee.He eyes the egg sandwich and nods his head in acceptance. "This is okay. Thank you." My cheeks flush with the fact he said thank you. We're only two days into this job and already I feel like a schoolgirl waiting for her teach
Hurry up, bitch. I'm hungry.Okay, my stomach doesn't call me a bitch, but if she could talk, I'm sure she would.She gurgles and growls again, the sound loud in the otherwise quiet portion of Vincent's floor. After a turbulent afternoon as his assistant where his mood ranged from angry to angrier, I worry at one point he'll slam open his office door and yell at me for being too loud.I tear off a tiny chunk of my Snicker's bar and while hunched, partially hidden behind my desk, shove it in my mouth. Damn chocolate is amazing. I've been parceling out the king-sized bar since 2 p.m. It's now almost seven and if I don't feed my stomach something real, she is liable to revolt at any moment.Nowhere in the thirteen-page contract human resources had me sign did it mention I'd have to work until 7 p.m., but Vincent is still here, therefore so am I. At least until I pass out from hunger. I haven't had the courage to break open the bottle of Mountain Dew fearful it will be against one
Anger colors my cheeks pink. How dare he imply I have an issue with being on time. I was early for my interview. He's never given me a chance to get here on time. Screw getting fired, this man is a total asshole. "What would Davis do if I didn't leave my apartment one morning? Would he come in and get me?" I ask with my arms crossed.Vincent grunts as if it's not a terrible idea. "He'd do what he needed to get the job done.""What does that mean?"He hits the button on the elevator and the doors open. "It means don't test me, Ms. Marshal, or we'll both find out."And then he's off. Not another word out of him as the doors close and the elevator rises. For a man concerned I left a driver sitting here until seven, it doesn't go unnoticed he didn't hold the elevator for me. The building itself has three elevator shafts, but I learned only one goes as high as Vincent's office floor and the two floors he uses as a personal residence. You can only access his office side with the spec
Red and blue lights with matching sirens swarm to the parking lot and a barrage of men in uniform run at us from multiple directions. Today they show up quickly. Thank goodness.Two officers, one a man and the other a woman draw their guns. They force Davis to step away from Jonathan's body with his hands in the air. I slip on the recently watered grass and sit next to Ashley as she positions herself higher and wraps her arms around my body, holding tightly.I'm focused on Ashley when the group of police begin yelling at one another. Jonathon jerks in their arms as they try to put handcuffs on him. He yells and two cops back up, giving him room to make an escape. He takes off running and three officers peruse him. Jonathan runs at a full sprint out of the apartment parking lot. He darts to the right, heading for a higher-class neighborhood that butts up to our complex.The same officer from yesterday, Officer Allen, helps Ashley and me up off the ground."This is not how I want