by Nikki Bopp
Giving me a nod of understanding, Eva leans forward to wrap her arms around my neck, “I love you, mommy.”
“I love you too, baby girl. Now let's hurry, we don't want you to be late for your first day!” My words cause a beaming smile to spread across her face, Eva’s earlier excitement returning with a vengeance.
Grabbing my purse, I stop to look over myself in the full-length mirror. My black skirt hits just above knee level and is paired with a plain white button-up and matching blazer. I know they're going to kill me by the end of the day, but I couldn't pass up the black patent leather pumps that bring me to the ‘Senior Executive Assistant’ level.
“You've got this, Jen,” I tell my reflection, a smile of excitement spreading with my words.
“Come on, momma!” Eva whines from beside the front door.
There's still ten minutes before I need to drop her off, but I decided it would be easier to just walk there rather than trying to find a parking space at the daycare, and then at PRI.
“Alright, I'm coming!”
Locking the door behind us, I carefully maneuver down the stairs, focused on my feet, so I don't end up tripping down them all. That's all I need on my first day.
“Miss Ray?” A male voice startles me just as I reach the bottom, my arm automatically reaching out for Eva, my protective instincts kick into gear. The man is wearing a spotless black suit, a pair of dark sunglasses perched on top of his head. There is nothing spectacular about the man, nothing that would make him stand out in a crowd. From brown hair, brown eyes and a round face, he is standing in front of a black SUV, the windows tinted so darkly that you can’t see an outline of anyone inside.
“Yes?” I reply, my heart beating a mile a minute. How does this man know me? Did Jonathan send him? How did he find me? My body takes an involuntary step backward, Eva moving with me due to the death grip I have on her backpack. The man’s eyes follow the movement, his own body taking a step back, his hands rising to show me he doesn’t mean any harm. Or that's what I assume it means.
“I apologize if I startled you,” he speaks softly, as though worried about frightening me. “My name is Wyatt. Mr. Maccini sent me to pick you up.”
“Mr. Maccini sent you? PRI is only a couple miles away, I was just planning on walking.”
“I don't ask questions, miss, I just follow orders.” Opening the back door to the SUV, he gestures to the enclosed space, his mouth curls at the edges with my hesitation. “I assure you that I'm not here to hurt you or your child. You're welcome to call him to verify it if you'd like.”
That certainly seems like overkill, but looking up and down the sidewalk outside of my building, there aren't any other people around. Keeping my eyes on Wyatt, I reach into my bag for my phone, which begins to vibrate as soon as I pull it free.
There’s a text from Edward:
Sent a driver to pick you up.
Letting out a sigh, I turn off the screen without responding and urge Eva towards the open door. “Alright, Wyatt, but if you kill me, I won't be happy about it.”
“Duly noted, miss.”
“Please don't call me that my name is Jenny. We need to drop my daughter off at daycare before heading to the office.”
“You got it, miss Jenny,” closing the door before I can respond, Wyatt climbs behind the wheel, and once Eva and I are buckled, maneuvers the vehicle into traffic with ease. “Where are we taking the little babe?”
His terminology gives me pause, but I quickly recover and give him the address to Eva’s daycare. Before I know it, we are pulling in front of the building. Wyatt jumps out of the vehicle and opens the back door for us.
“I'm not gonna cry,” I murmur to myself, too low for Eva to hear as she turns to look at the building with excitement. “Nope. I'm good.” Sliding across the seat, I help Eva unbuckle her seat belt.
“You ready?”
“Yep!” Jumping to the sidewalk just outside, she turns to look at me, her eyes shining happily. “Let’s go!”
“Alright, alright. I'm coming,” taking the hand Wyatt offers, I give him a grateful smile when I make it successfully to the ground. “Thanks. Give me just a moment.”
“Take your time,” he replies. Leaning in closer, he lowers his voice so only I can hear, “And it's okay to cry.”
Shocked at his words, I stumble a bit when Eva yanks on my hand, nearly sending me to the ground. I'm positive my words were too low to hear by Eva, and she was sitting right beside me, how did Wyatt hear me all the way from the front seat? My thoughts are interrupted by Eva’s squeal of excitement upon seeing the daycare supervisor in the entrance doorway.
“Hello, Evangeline! Are you excited for your first day?” Miss Karen crouches down to Eva’s level, her hand outstretched and welcoming.
“Yes!” Eva replies, practically vibrating.
“Alright, well, why don't we head inside and meet some of your new friends?” Without further urging, Eva rushes forward, her pink backpack swinging wildly.
“She's a little excited,” I murmur, feeling as though a piece of my heart is being ripped away. Having been with Eva every single day since she was born, I knew this was going to happen, she’ll be enrolling in preschool soon, but it doesn't hurt any less. This little human being that I held for hours. Fed and bathed, and loved in the past four years has grown up. I might not see it every day, it's just my baby girl growing up, but at this moment, I wish she was a tiny little baby wrapped in my arms again.
“She’ll be fine,” Karen interrupts my downward spiral, her warm hand lying on my shoulder. “It's always hard in the beginning, but everything will be fine. If we have any issues, I will send you a message.” The genuine warmth and kindness in her voice, her smile, her very being is enough to give me the confidence that everything will be okay.
“You've got my number,” giving a little wave to Eva, I make my way back towards the car.
“Mommy!”
Eva’s scream provides me with enough warning, and when I turn to see what is wrong, I'm caught off guard by the neon bundle flying towards me. Her little arms wrap around my neck like a vice, her face burrowing into the hollow of my throat.
“I love you, mommy.”
“I love you too pumpkin,” kissing the top of her head, I give her a tight squeeze. “Go on, your friends are waiting for you.”
Without further ado, Eva whirls around and sprints back into the building. Just before the door closes, I can hear Eva telling Miss Karen about the best paw patrol pup, in her opinion.
My legs begin to scream in protest at the position, and I nearly keel over when Wyatt steps up beside me. I entirely forgot that he was still here. “You don't want to be late, Miss.”
“My name is Jennifer, please use it.” Rising from the uncomfortable position, I slide into the plush interior of the car, buckling my seatbelt. At the same time, Wyatt climbs into the driver's seat. “And you're going to want to get a car seat if you're going to be picking us up every day.”
Wyatt doesn't respond, and before I know it, we are pulling in front of the imposing PRI entrance. Opening the door, Wyatt holds out his hand to help me from the vehicle. Taking a deep breath, I take the offered hand, sliding to the ground with a definitive click.
“Thank you, Wyatt.”
“You're welcome, Miss Jenny.”
“We’re going to have a difficult time with this, aren't we?” I ask rhetorically, knowing that it's just something ingrained into him. Some people have an air of propriety, and this man is basically swimming in it.
Smoothing down my skirt, I look up at the imposing building. “You can do this, Jen,” I whisper to myself. “You are a strong and dedicated woman. You’re the perfect person for this job, and you're going to rock it. You-”
“Talk to yourself often?” A familiar voice interrupts me making me jump in surprise, which only makes Nicholas laugh harder. “I'm sorry, I was just going to come and take you up to HR to finish all the paperwork when I saw you out here.”
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Feeling my cheeks warm, I duck my head so that my hair hides my rising embarrassment. “Sorry, I was just trying to prep myself.”
“It's alright,” Nicholas waves me forward, “Let's get things going. Mr. Price wants you to scribe during his mid-morning meetings.”
The next hour is filled with all the typical paperwork everyone can expect when getting hired. W-4s, insurance papers, contracts, and contracts galore! By the time I finish signing the last document, I feel like my hand is going to cramp and just fall off right then and there. The last thing I can think of doing is more writing, but when Nicholas’ phone rings, I'm quickly ushered to the top floor for the senior manager meeting.
“This meeting is held every week so that the executives can go over any issues happening within the individual departments,” Nicholas coaches me as we make our way down the hallway, a trail of people following behind us. “Take a seat over there,” he indicates a chair sitting against a far wall, handing me a pad and pen before I can escape.
Almost numbly, I make my way over to the chair, dropping slowly into the soft leather. The morning has been such a whirlwind of activity and thinking that I already feel exhausted and the day has only just begun.
“Take your seats, everyone,” Daniel Price’s voice rings through the room, immediately quieting the chatter. His dark eyes move over me, pausing for what feels like an eternity, but is actually a millisecond before he begins the meeting. I'm not sure how many notes I’m supposed to be taking, or what I'm supposed to be taking notes of. So, I write down everything I can while trying to keep up with all the managers finding that they have a bigger problem than the last person.
“Did you get that, Jennifer?” Mr. Maccini speaks up, causing all heads in the room to turn in my direction, a few of them with confusion and even more with annoyance at the interruption.
“I'm sorry?” I ask dumbly having heard, but not paid attention to what he was actually asking me about. Looking down at my notes, I quickly read over the last couple of sentences before answering Edward’s question. “Yes sir, I will make sure to get your flight booked in time for the conference.”
My answer is rewarded with one of his beaming smiles, “You're the best.” His words cause another flush of embarrassment to spread across my cheeks, especially when several of the women present turn towards me with death evident in their eyes.
“Yes, well…” Daniel takes back control of the meeting, his eyes flickering over me briefly. Before I know it, Daniel, Edward, and Patrick end the meeting, all three of them standing up and leaving the room en masse.
While the rest of the room starts to chat, I try to subtly sneak out without anyone noticing, but fail when Nicholas stops me with a hand on my arm. “There you are. I just wanted to say that I thought you handled that very well in there.”
“Handled it well?” What is that supposed to mean? Was I supposed to quiver under their scrutiny?
“He was testing you to see if you were actually paying attention, that you were doing your job.”
Speechless, I can only stare at him in confusion. I was hired to do a job and do it well. Why would I slack off on the very first day? “Well, I guess I showed him,” I murmur, pulling my arm from his grasp. “I've got to get these notes transcribed, please excuse me.”
Making my way out of the conference room, I'm easily able to find my way back to the front lobby. Ingrid is behind her desk, typing away madly at her computer. She looks up when I approach her desk.
“Ms. Ray, how can I help you?” Her voice is kind and welcoming, entirely different from the woman I met yesterday. It’s almost disconcerting.
“Ingrid, I'm just trying to find my way to my desk.”
“Absolutely!” Hopping up from her desk, she comes around points towards the hallway I just came from. “As you know, down that hallway, you will find all the conference and meeting rooms as well as some empty offices.” Pointing the opposite direction, there is an identical hallway with a large black desk sitting opposite of the Executive offices. A desk that most assuredly was not there yesterday. “Oh, I don't remember that…,” I trail off confused about how I could miss such a large piece of furniture.
“Mr. Price had it put in this morning,” Ingrid informs me with a dramatic eye roll. "Typically, you would be stationed at my desk, but because there's so much to be caught up, I'll be staying up here for another week or two until you're up to speed."
“You don't normally work on this floor?”
“Oh, heavens no,” Ingrid titters, waving her hand as though banishing the thought entirely. “I normally work down in accounting, but Mr. Price asked me to assist when Angie put in her two-week notice. He knows I can be a ball-buster when it comes to paperwork.”
Surprised at her words, I can't help the laughter that bursts out of me. Ingrid stops, her brows rising in surprise, lips twitching with mirth. She waits patiently for me to get myself under control.
“I'm sorry, I just-,” more laughter bubbles out, halting my words. “I can see why Mr. Price would choose you to handle the assistant position until someone else was hired. He certainly seems like a ballbuster.”
“Well, I wouldn't say our first meeting set the best impression,” a male voice interjects from behind me, making my eyes go wide with panic. Ingrid takes a step backward, her attention focused on the person behind me. “But Ingrid was the best person to handle the position, you're right about that.” Daniel Price’s words are full of praise, directed towards Ingrid, who blushes so profoundly, I worry she may drop dead right in front of us.
“Thank you, Mr. Price,” Ingrid murmurs, ducking her head in embarrassment. “I must be getting back to my desk now.” She quickly tucks tail and walk-runs back to her desk, making me wish I could go with her.
We might not have started off on a right foot, but insulting my employer in any capacity is never a good thing. Attempting to calm my racing heart, I turn to meet Mr. Price’s glare.
“Mr. Price, I apologize for my words. They were spoken with the highest esteem. Only someone of absolute control would be able to amass such a successful and prosperous company.”
A dark brow rises, disbelief plain on his face. “Yes, well, I certainly do break the balls of those who aren't able to perform at the expected level,” spinning on his heel, he shoves his hands in his pockets and strolls back to his office. “Oh, I expect the transcript of the meeting on my desk within the hour.”
Glaring at his back, I curse myself internally but can't help admiring the view as he walks away. He must have immediately removed his jacket after the meeting, the white sleeves of his shirt rolled up to emphasize his muscled forearms. Not to mention the pants that seem to hug in all the right places.
This is going to be harder than I thought.
Chapter 9
Weekend Wiles
The rest of the week goes by relatively uneventful if packed full of more work than I’ve done since becoming a mother, and that's certainly saying something. I am definitely ready for the weekend to arrive. Between the back to back meetings, more paperwork than I care to track, and a particular HR representative who feels he must stop by multiple times throughout the day, I’m pretty much done with this week. Feeling adventurous, I ask Wyatt to stop at Starbucks on the way to work. Jonathan is a fanatic when it comes to caffeine. Still, it never really appealed to me until I could hardly pull myself out of bed this morning.
“Do you know what kind of coffee Mr. Price and the others drink?” I ask Wyatt before stepping out of the car. I've seen them carrying the cups around the office, but they've surprisingly never asked me to get them any. It's probably a good thing because I would likely mess it up.
“Mr. Maccini takes his coffee black, Mr. Roswell likes the green tea, and Mr. Price likes the white chocolate one,” Wyatt replies, his eyes glued on the sidewalk outside. I've gotten used to his standoff behavior, but it's unnerving when he’s so vigilant, as though someone is going to jump out and try to attack us. As far as I'm
aware, he's just a driver, not a bodyguard.
“Got it!” Repeating the names over in my head, I rush into the fragrant shop, just barely stopping short of ramming into the end of the line, which reaches all the way to the door. At the rate it’s moving, I’m going to be surprised if I’m not late. My eyes stay glued to the clock over the barista’s head, wincing when it hits exactly fifteen minutes till I'm supposed to be at my desk.
“Can I help whoever is next?” The girl behind the counter calls, making me realize that the rest of the line has disappeared.
“Oh!” I rush towards the counter, wracking my brain for the names of the drinks Wyatt gave me. “Um, I'd like something sweet with just a little bit of coffee in it if possible.” The girl stares at me, dumbfounded. “I'm sorry, I’ve never been here before, I don't know what's good.”
“Well,” she sighs and looks down at the screen in front of her. “I would probably recommend a hot chocolate if you're not a fan of coffee. There's a white chocolate mocha that's pretty good.”
“That's it!” I exclaim, recognizing Daniel’s drink of choice. “I'll take two of those, a green tea and a black coffee.”
“What size would you like?”
“Large?” I ask not really sure how much each of the sizes is but willing to live dangerously. When the total comes, I try not to act surprised but holy hell, who spends that much money on coffee? And every single day?
Quicker than I thought possible, I’m handed a drink carrier stacked with four large cups, cute little green things sticking out of the opening. I sprint out of the shop with a thank you thrown over my shoulder. Seeing me coming, Wyatt jumps out and holds open the door.
“Thanks, Wyatt! That took longer than I expected.”
“Next time you want some, let me know, and we can order it ahead of time.”
“I didn't even know you could do that, thanks!” Wyatt doesn't respond, although I’m not all that surprised. I'm not sure if I annoy him or if he's just a quiet type of person.