Cora still had vivid recollections of living in a room the size of a coffin with walls made entirely out of scavenged corrugated steel. When it rained, the sound would be deafening as the drops echoed across the metal. She would never forget the taste of sour cheese or stale bread. And the sounds of empty clinking beer bottles which meant her mother had spent whatever money they had scrounged on alcohol would echo in her mind forever.
Once she had saved enough money to find her way to the border, Cora had had to figure out how to deal with the guilt of leaving her mother. Although she had never been a nurturing figure, her mother was still her mother. But it was actually her mother who made the decision for her by leaving suddenly with nothing but a few pesos and a note saying that Cora was now old enough to take care of herself. And at nineteen, Cora agreed.
It hadn’t been easy crossing the border but thanks to the kind of underworld life her mother had lived, Cora had been introduced to a number of dubious characters. But dubious or not, some of them had legitimate contacts. Cora had not only crossed the border but she had been able to cross with fake papers in hand. She had a new ID and passport that helped her refresh and start anew in the country of opportunities.
Cora crossed on 58th Street and found herself staring up at an enormously impressive building. It certainly wasn’t the tallest building in New York but it was beautifully constructed with simple, clean lines that spoke of refined taste.
This was it. If she got this job, she would finally be able to take in her first true breath since arriving stateside. This job would offer her a future, a sense of stability, and opportunities for the future. This could be the moment she could truly leave that impoverished little girl from Mexico behind.
Stepping into the cool marbled lobby, she headed towards the front desk. A stylishly dressed woman looked up at her expectantly.
Cora cleared her throat before saying, “I’m here to see Mr. Julian Benedict.”
Five
It was her hair that caught his eye. It was too youthful. A spunky short mahogany bob with strands of lighter gold peeping through. It perfectly framed her heart-shaped face but it was still highly irregular of a look. Why would Trisha, the woman who had worn a Chanel scarf to work every day for the past seven years, give the okay on such a girl?
The slim little pixie took the seat across his desk. Without saying a word, Julian took his time in assessing her. His dark eyes roved across her face and body.
He usually was quite good at assessing a person from their body language alone. Knees tightly pressed together. Nervousness. That was natural. Most everyone felt nervous meeting him, especially when he spent the first minute silently assessing them.
Hands placed over each other but with relaxed fingers. So she had a cool head even when stressed. That was a plus in an assistant to a major CEO. Shoulders slightly slumped forward. Unease. Again, that was understandable. The girl looked like she was barely out of high school. She hardly looked old enough to be in the work force, let alone in the high flying field of international corporations.
But as Julian’s eyes slowly moved up, he was surprised to see the girl raise her chin a bit, lifting her eyes defiantly at him. A low boil of anger and judgment simmered in her face as she haughtily raised a brow, asking, “Seen your fill?”
Julian felt surprise and anger shoot through him, along with a hefty urge to laugh.
Why that little brat.
“Yes, of what there is to see,” he replied coolly. He saw her shrink back a little at the coldness of his voice. But her face still remained stubbornly defiant.
“Of what there is to see?” she repeated.
Julian picked up her resume. Cora Rámon.
Interesting name. “Yes,” he replied. “There isn’t much, is there?” He didn’t know why he felt such a need to needle this girl. He could see her eyebrows nearly hit her hairline at his response.
He waved the piece of paper. “You have less than five years of corporate experience. Granted, the experience you do have is quite impressive but regardless, it’s a very short work history.”
Putting the resume back down, he steepled his fingers. “How did you happen to get the assistant position for Harold Grayson? Grayson Tech is a Fortune 500 company, after all.”
Cora pulled back her shoulders. “I know it’s a Fortune 500 company, Mr. Benedict,” she said evenly. He could see she was bristling at his tone. “I was an assistant to the CEO of the company, after all.” The deliberate match in his tone and words nearly made Julian’s lips twitch.
Cora sighed quietly before continuing, “I got the job because of Mr. Grayson’s dog.”
Now it was Julian’s turn to raise his brows. “Pardon me?”
“Mr. Grayson’s dog. I rescued him,” she said, slowly enunciating each word as if speaking to a deaf-mute. Julian knew she was paying him in kind for his condescension earlier and he was not enjoying it. His eyes narrowed.
“And how did you rescue him, Miss Rámon?”
“Mr. Grayson likes to bring his dog into the office every so often. I happened to be there that day inquiring about a different position,” Cora coughed quietly. It was a janitorial position but no need to give this aloof and rude man more ammo. “His dog broke free from the leash and dashed towards the street. Luckily I was right at the edge of the block so as he passed me, I grabbed him by the collar just as a cab drove past us.” They had been so close, Cora’s nose had nearly brushed the taxi door.
Julian looked at her with an expression of disbelief. “And because of that, you became personal assistant to a Fortune 500 CEO?”
“Rescuing his dog gave me the opportunity to speak with him,” Cora said, stifling an irritable sigh. Why did this man make her feel so defensive? “And he must’ve seen how determined I was because he gave me the opportunity to take over for one of his assistants who was leaving for maternity leave. I was supposed to be there for eight weeks but I ended up staying for over four years.”
Cora took a deep breath, trying to remember why she was here. “I’ve learned a lot during my time at Grayson Tech. I’ve gained innumerable skills that I think could serve JB Enterprises well.”
“It sounds like you were quite well-established at Grayson. Why are you leaving then?” Julian asked. Although it seemed like a stroke of luck for this girl to land such a high profile job, it was obviously her shrewd intelligence and motivation that kept her there for four years.
Cora looked down at her hands. “Mr. Grayson, although extremely kind, is very old fashioned. He doesn’t like personal change and so keeps his employees in the same position for years. He had two other assistants and they have been working for him for over fifteen years. They know that they have reached their career ceiling with Grayson Tech and Mr. Grayson himself.” Cora tucked back a loose strand of hair. “But that’s not what I want. I want to work for an employer who values internal growth.”
“And you think I’m such a person?”
“I think JB Enterprises is such an employer,” Cora said, markedly making a point on separating Julian from JB Enterprises. Damn if this girl didn’t infuriate and amuse him at the same time.
“And what are you founding this opinion on?”
“Archie Morgan was an assistant in accounting for JB Enterprises. When he created a new program to streamline multiple revenue sources into one cloud-based reporting site, JB Enterprises funded his program, promoted him, and even created a software division based on his accounting programs. JB Enterprises seems like they value good employees,” Cora finished conclusively.
And the girl knows to research. Julian couldn’t help but feel the reluctant bloom of admiration for her. But still. Grayson Tech was a Fortune 500 company. JB Enterprises is a Fortune 100 company. A Fortune 5, really, if they ever made such a list. It might not seem like it to her, but the two companies and their associated workloads were worlds apart.
“You say Mr. Grayson had two other assistants along with you. So three total,” he said, ra
ising a brow for confirmation. Cora nodded hesitantly, unsure where the conversation was going. “JB Enterprises brings in about a hundred fifty times more in profit than Grayson Tech and as CEO, I prefer having only one assistant. You can imagine then the kind of work this assistant would be doing.”
Cora swallowed. She nodded. She remembered Trisha explaining this during her first round of interviews. She couldn’t believe such a man as Julian Benedict would only use one assistant. Even with three, Mr. Grayson’s office ran at a frenetic pace. Trisha hardly looked ruffled.
Julian casually waved a hand. “Have you flown overseas with Mr. Grayson? Managed international conferences? Have you created and dismantled pop-up committees and teams, for research or otherwise? Handled the closings of accounts or deals at the executive level?”
Cora’s head nearly spun at rapid fire of questions. “Err…no, not exactly, sir. But I have run small teams for Mr. Grayson, organizing and handling media relations and—”
Julian raised a hand, stopping her. “It is without a doubt that you are a talented and hardworking individual, Miss Rámon. Your short but very impressive resume says it all. But this is a very serious job that requires years and years of experience. It is not something that can be learned in a few weeks.” Julian stood up. He didn’t know why his chest felt so tight, why his throat burned with regret. “I thank you for coming and am confident you will be successful in whatever you do. But unfortunately, I don’t feel you are the right fit for JB Enterprises.” He extended a hand.
It was a shame. He had felt a kind of spark from her that seemed reminiscent and fun. But regardless of his own feelings, he couldn’t let his business or work life fall apart. That was the one thing that needed to be a constant while he tried to figure out the rest of his life.
Cora stood up. She could see in his granite face that arguing her case would have no effect on him. Feeling bitter disappointment rising in her throat, she took his hand. His warm grasp nearly swallowed her own delicate hand but almost immediately he let go as he sat back down. A dismissal.
Cora turned around and walked out of the office that held the shattered remains of her hopes and future.
Six
“I’ll send over the necessary information tonight by courier. Once you have that, make sure you keep in regular communication with me. I want to know about any clue or trail you find, regardless of how small it is,” Julian said as he roughly pulled at his tie, loosening its hold on his throat.
“You got it, chief. Karen Judson or possibly Denton. Mother, Gloria. Although for them to have been gone this long, they might be using a totally different name by now,” Paulson, Julian’s newest private detective, said.
Julian nodded. Keeping the phone tucked against his shoulder, Julian shrugged one arm out of his suit jacket. Then switching the phone to the other shoulder, shrugged his other arm free. It had been a long day. And having three interviews added to his agenda had been draining.
“I realize that but so far all we have are the names she had prior to going missing. So use those till you find something new.” Julian felt the tense knot between his shoulders growing harder.
Paulson confirmed a few more details before hanging up. Julian held the phone in his hands as he tried to relax his body. He couldn’t shake the creeping feeling of something being…off. A bombardment of memories had attacked him all day. Normally, he was able to keep most of it at bay.
But today, he kept hearing the echoes of Karen’s cheeks being slapped. He kept seeing the flashes of purple and green bruises. With a mother like Gloria as her kidnapper, who could know what hell Karen had been enduring these past fifteen years?
He knew the hell his father had endured after Gloria had left. How he had crumbled and fallen apart. Patrick Denton had been a brilliant mechanical engineer with a bright career ahead of him. But once he had fallen for the volatile and violent Gloria, nothing mattered to him except her. He could find no fault in the woman, even when she would abuse her own daughter. Julian knew his father, upon falling in love, had renounced all loyalties to anyone (including his son) except Gloria.
It had disgusted Julian to see how completely blinded his father had become by his so-called love. Love had made him complicit in violence and abuse. Love had made him forget his duties as a father and protector. And for that he and especially Karen had suffered.
Julian had tried his best. He remembered the countless times he had tried to barricade Karen behind him as Gloria let loose her hailstorm of slaps and kicks.
So many times he had carried a battered Karen to bed, sitting next to her till she had relaxed and felt safe enough to go to sleep. “I’ll always be here, Kar,” he had whispered to her. “I’ll always be here for you. Don’t be afraid.”
Julian’s throat tightened as he remembered the promise he had constantly made but had never been able to keep.
Once Gloria had disappeared, Patrick had lost all will to move forward. He left his job, gave up engineering, and became obsessed with finding his wife. So obsessed had he become, he would often forget to pay the electric bill or buy food for the two of them.
Patrick’s first wife, Julian’s mother, had died when Julian was only two. Julian had no recollections of his mother but he was certain his father had not fallen apart then as he had for Gloria.
Julian had never been more bitterly disappointed or angry with someone as he had been with his father. And it was thanks to his father that Julian got his first lesson on love: it was dangerous.
Left uncontrolled and it could destroy a man. And Julian had worked hard to leave behind everything that his father had ruined to build up a new life set on the grounds of distance, control, and power. He would never make the mistakes his father made.
He would only try and fix them.
Well, fix one of them.
Feeling a surge of sudden anger, Julian turned around and slammed the phone back into its receiver. Goddamn the man.
If his father had had just even a moment of clarity that hadn’t been blurred by his love for Gloria, he would’ve seen how desperately a little girl needed rescuing and protection. But instead he had let her slip through the cracks and away from Julian.
At his sudden slamming, a small mountain of folders spilled from his desk. Cursing, he looked down at the sea of scattered papers. On top of the pile rested a single neatly typed resume.
Cora Rámon.
Throughout the day, he had fought and wrestled with his personal demons. He had tried to hold back his anger and regret as he closed mergers and signed contracts. But it was only during that small sliver of an interview that he had felt any freedom from his burdens.
He had been surprised with how much the girl had gotten him to feel in such a short amount of time—anger, delight, laughter, admiration. He could hardly remember the other two candidates he had interviewed that day.
A soft knock echoed through his office before Trisha gently opened the door. She must’ve heard him slam the phone.
“Do you need anything else for tonight?” she asked, making no mention to the scattered folders or his disheveled appearance.
Evening had fallen and the work day was over. Julian wanted nothing more than to go home and stand under a hot shower. “No, Trish, I’m good for today,” he said, looking down at the scattered papers.
A decision came to him. It was impulsive and maybe a bit reckless but he was in need of some kind of respite from himself. And there seemed to be only one person who could give it.
“Trish,” he called out, “cancel the rest of the interviews. I want to hire Cora Rámon.”
Seven
“Try and really learn the first time if you can,” Trisha said in her soft but authoritative voice. “I’ll be leaving the state within a few weeks so I won’t be around as a resource for you.”
Cora nodded as she watched Trisha move quickly but efficiently around. Trisha motioned for her to scoot her chair over to her computer. She reviewed first the emails that the CEO recei
ved and how to prioritize them.
Just from the few dozen that she watched Trisha answer, Cora could see how well entrenched the woman was in the CEO’s affairs. She was suddenly beginning to understand the scope of her responsibilities as the personal assistant to Julian Benedict.
Cora still couldn’t believe she had gotten the job. She had gone home after the interview with a cheap bottle of wine, ready to drown her sorrows. How could she have blown such an important interview? All of her dreams and hopes had been dashed within thirty minutes.
But it was while she was deep into her third glass of wine that Trisha had called, offering the covetous job. Cora had nearly done a comical spit take upon hearing Trisha’s softly spoken words. She couldn’t believe it. “Are you sure? He really meant for you to call me?” she had asked, needing verification.
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