by Emma Hart
“More aware than you normally are,” I retorted, grinning. “By the way, I got the job.”
His face lit up. “Great. How long until you move out?”
“Around the same time you start listening to the alarm I set you.” I blew him a kiss and ran up the stairs.
It was going to be a long, long day.
CHAPTER THREE – MALLORY
The building that housed Reid Real Estate wasn’t intimidating by any means. No, like much of the downtown area in Dansville, Colorado, where I’d grown up, it straddled the line between the affluent neighborhood and the regular area.
I didn’t want to say poor. It wasn’t poor. Working class? I wasn’t sure, but it wasn’t mansions like the other side of town was, that was for sure.
Anyway. Reid Real Estate was a simple, three-story building that had once been home to the town’s founder. It’d apparently been snapped up in an auction in the early nineteen-hundreds by Cameron Reid’s great-great-grandfather so his son could open his own business buying and selling houses, and aside from a couple of name changes to keep up with the times, nothing about it had changed.
The exposed brick façade meant it blended in with the rest of Main Street, especially the buildings at the more luxurious end of the street, but the pristine, white sign with stocky black lettering made it stand out.
I’d pulled out my best clothes for today—a fitted black dress with a high collar and sleeves that cut off at the shoulders. I’d partnered it with a cream blazer and shiny, black flats.
I didn’t need any encouragement to fall over today.
Nerves rolled in my stomach as I approached the building. I wanted—no—I needed this job. I needed to get back my independence, and the salary for this job would mean I’d have a down payment for a rental apartment within a few months. I’d probably have to use some patio furniture for a while, but we all had to make sacrifices.
I needed not to screw this up. It was a tall order, really, considering that screwing things up was what I did best.
No.
I couldn’t think like that.
I had to go into this building like I owned it, and that was exactly what I was going to do.
I opened the front door and stepped in. Unfortunately for me, there was a tiny step, around three inches in height, that I’d completely missed. I stumbled but quickly managed to right myself thanks to my flat shoes and a death grip on the door handle.
My cheeks burned as I looked up and around to make sure nobody had seen me.
I wasn’t so lucky.
Casey stood at the bottom of the staircase that lead to the top floor where Cameron Reid’s office was. She grinned.
“Well, this is off to an excellent start,” I said, letting go of the door.
Casey laughed, pushing a wisp of blonde hair from her face. “Don’t worry. You’d be surprised how many people do that. At least you’re wearing flats. The last girl we trailed had gone out to get coffee in four-inch-heels and missed the step.” She winked.
“Yeah. If you knew me, you wouldn’t be surprised if I said I’ll probably do that at some point. Without the heels, though. Flats are clearly dangerous enough.”
She laughed again, holding her hand out for me to shake. “It’s great to see you again, Mallory. The other agents mostly keep their own hours, but we have a couple of new hires who’ll show up around nine to get a head start on their portfolio. I’ll give you a quick tour before we head upstairs.”
And it was a quick tour. There wasn’t a lot to show, really. The main area where the front door was housed two desks and a receptionist’s desk that Casey explained belonged to the new agents and the secretary who ran everyone else’s business. The stairs in the hallway were surrounded by three rooms—a restroom, a small kitchen, and one private office for one of the more successful agents.
Upstairs was much the same. The hallway was set out as a waiting area with two cream, leather sofas, bushy green plants, and magazines scattered. It’d been renovated to provide three offices, one of which was currently empty. Apparently, Reid Real Estate was picky about who they hired full-time, and only one of the new hires would get a permanent place here.
Then, Casey waved me up a second flight to stairs to the top floor. It was more spacious than the others, mostly because two rooms had been knocked through to make one large office for Cameron Reid. Like downstairs, there was a small waiting area with another two spotless cream sofas just a few feet away from what was, now, my desk.
“Let me finish showing you here, and then we’ll get stuck into the desk.” Casey lead me over to a swinging door that lead to a smaller hallway with two doors. “Down here is Mr. Reid’s private bathroom and kitchen. They are for the use of him and yourself only. The only exception made to this bathroom is pregnant ladies.” She winked. “Otherwise, this area is off limits to both employees and clients.”
“Why can I use it then?”
“Do you want to carry coffee up two flights of stairs?”
“I can’t think of a worse idea, actually.” Knowing my luck, it’d be more like six by the time I was done spilling it.
Casey smiled. “Now, the bathroom.” She opened the door to a large, white bathroom with turquoise accents. There was a walk-in shower in the corner, plus a sink, mirror, and toilet. “The cleaners come every night at seven, but it’s your job to ensure they’ve done theirs correctly. All you have to do is check the towels are clean and that there is adequate toilet paper.”
“Sounds easy enough,” I replied. “What about the kitchen?”
“Again, the cleaning staff will take care of it.” She held the door open for me. “It’s nothing fancy, but this is your responsibility. You have to make sure the coffee beans are always stocked, that the milk is fresh, and that you always buy the right sweetener.”
“Sweetener?”
“Yep. Mr. Reid’s grandmother came and gave him a public lecture about his overuse of three sugars in every coffee, so he switched. But…” She took a few steps back and opened a cupboard. “If he’s having a bad day, slip a couple sugars in instead for your own sanity.”
“You make him sound like a monster.”
She laughed, shutting the cupboard. “God, no. He’s been a delight to work for, but I’d rather be at home with my baby girl.” She shrugged. “You’ll get along just fine. Now, he typically brings his lunch with him, but on occasion, he’ll ask you to go out and get some. This doesn’t cut into your break at all, but you do have to make sure all his calls go through Amanda at the main reception. She’ll take messages and give them to you on your way back in to return calls.”
“Okay.”
“You get forty-five minutes for lunch every day, plus one fifteen-minute break in the afternoon. I would advise going out for lunch, or you’ll get roped into doing something, but take your break in the kitchen.” She ushered me out of the room and back into the hall area. “Overwhelmed yet?”
“A little,” I admitted, putting my purse on the floor next to my desk.
Casey smiled sympathetically. “Don’t worry. All this is written down for you, but I’m only here until after you get back from lunch, then I have to get my daughter, so I want to get through it.”
“Okay. I’ve got this. It’s fine.”
It was not fine. How many sugars did my boss take again?
Wait, no. It wasn’t even sugar. It was sweetener. Jesus.
“Take a seat.” Casey wheeled the chair out for me.
I sat.
“The first thing you need to know is that the desk is set up to my organizational system. Please keep it that way just in case you don’t make it past the trial, but I’m fairly confident you will.” She then proceeded to show me where everything was in the desk, from paperclips to staplers to important files. “The cabinets behind you are home to current information on available listings. The cabinet on the right…” She walked over and opened each drawer. “Top drawer: houses for sale. Middle drawer: houses for let. Third dra
wer: land for sale. They are marked in case you forget.”
“Sale, let, land. Got it.”
“The second unit is for commercial properties. We don’t have a lot—maybe two right now. Don’t worry about this one so much.” She shot me a dazzling smile and hit a button on the side of the computer screen.
It blinked to life.
“Here’s your login. It’s only temporary right now, but if you get the job permanently, I’ll be here to make sure you’re settled and change it all up for you. Pop it in the box there.” She tapped one blue fingernail against the screen.
I typed, conscious of my chipping red nails. I really needed to paint them. In my lunch hour, damn it.
I logged in and froze. There were icons everywhere.
“Ugh. Excuse me.” Casey leaned forward. “This should have been sorted. I asked one of the new hires to organize all these files for you.”
A few clicks later and the screen was much more tolerable to look at, and a hell of a lot less confusing.
“Okay. Let’s start simple, and I’ll explain those to you. Phone.” She pointed at the wireless phone on a dock to my right. “Simple. If it rings, someone wants you or they want Mr. Reid.”
“Do I have to send a call through to him?”
“Sometimes. There is a list of people who go through to him if he’s here and not in a meeting or out with a client.” She slid it toward me. “It’s limited to his parents, his sister, and a few high-profile clients. But, you always put them on hold and call to see if he’s able to take the call.”
“Okay. Answer, and if they’re on the list, put them on hold, check with him, and put them through.”
“Yep.” She rounded the desk and showed me how to do it, and it was much easier than I thought it would be. “So, the computer…”
The next ten minutes consisted of Casey logging me into all the programs I needed and showing me where the files were. As well as organizing meetings and viewings and phone calls, it was also my job to send information to prospective clients. If they were looking at a specific property or types of property, I had to gather and provide all the information for them.
And, as Casey said, we always said: “by the end of the day.”
It’d been thirty minutes, and I was already overwhelmed. There was so much to take in—so much info that I didn’t think I’d remembered a damn thing.
“Okay.” Casey clapped her hands and bounced. “I’m going to stand by the window and call you and see how you do. Remember, let it ring two times before you answer.”
“Um, okay.” I had a lump in my throat the size of a small planet.
The phone rang. I let it ring two times and picked up. “Good morning, this is Cameron Reid’s office. Mallory speaking. How can I help you?”
“Oh, good morning. I’m looking for a three-bed, two-bath property in the area. Do you have anything available?”
My eyes widened.
Panic.
Did we? I didn’t know.
Casey smiled and held the phone to her chest. “Think. You don’t know off the top of your head. What do you need to do?”
I took a deep breath. “Ask if they’re renting or buying, confirm that we do, and take an email address to send information over, or arrange an appointment to come in and talk to Mr. Reid.”
She pointed a finger at me to continue.
“Do you have anything available?” Casey continued.
“Yes, ma’am. Are you looking to rent or buy?”
“To buy.”
“We do have a number of properties available for you to look at. Would you like me to email you some information on them, or would you prefer to come in and take a look yourself?”
Casey grinned. “Email would be great. Here, it’s blah blah blah,” she finished. “Will it take long?”
“I’ll have it to you by the end of the day.”
“Perfect, thank you so much.” Casey hung up. “There, you would thank them for calling Reid Real Estate and reiterate that you’ll be in touch. Good job, Mallory. I know it’s tough, but you’ll have the hang of it in a week.”
“Let’s hope so,” I muttered. “I feel like I’m drowning.”
“No, you’ll be fine. My number is in the book in the drawer, and my email is already in your contacts list. If you need anything, Amanda is there to help and so am I until you settle in. I promise this is an easy job. There are no surprises whatsoever.”
Heavy footsteps echoed on the stairs.
Casey brightened. “Oh, good. Mr. Reid is here early today. I was hoping to be able to introduce you.”
My hands shook under the desk. Oh, God, why was I shaking? That wasn’t going to make a good impression whatsoever.
“No, I can’t do today. Because I said so,” the voice said.
It was vaguely familiar.
“Mother, no. I’m busy all day.” The man the voice belonged to stepped into the room.
My stomach sunk.
Thick, wavy, dark hair that curled over his ears.
Bright-blue eyes.
A strong jaw dotted with dark stubble.
A light-gray suit that hugged his body better than any fabric had a right to.
It was Mr. Dreamboat.
Oh, no.
Casey opened her mouth, but he held up a finger, his jacket draped over his forearm as he carried a sleek leather briefcase in his hand. His eyes darted toward us for barely a second, something flickering in them when they landed on me.
I swallowed as his office door swung shut behind him.
Casey eyed me speculatively. “Do you know him?”
“Um.” I swung my gaze from his door to her. “Not really. We’ve had a…fleeting meeting.”
“Please don’t tell me you’ve slept with him.”
“No! Oh God, no. Nothing like that.” My cheeks flushed.
“Oh, thank God.” She pressed her hand to her chest and leaned on the desk. “What is it, then?”
I bit my lip and dragged it between my teeth. “After I left the interview, I grabbed Starbucks, and I was kind of in my own little world. I might have stepped into the road without checking it, and I might have fallen over in front of his car trying not to get run over.”
Casey’s eyes widened. “Oh. Oh. You’re the crazy girl he was muttering about yesterday morning.”
I dropped my head to the desk, the keyboard slamming as I wrote God only knew what on the screen with my forehead.
“Well, if nothing else, this will be interesting.”
The amusement in her voice told me she was looking forward to this meeting.
I was glad someone was.
CHAPTER FOUR – CAMERON
“Yes, Mom, goodbye.” I finally hung up and set my phone screen-down on my desk.
I loved the woman, but fuck me dead, she forgot I was a grown man running her business and no longer needed her to do my laundry.
I rubbed my hands down my face and blew out a long breath. I had a day full of meetings and a house viewing with one of my most difficult clients ever. I didn’t need my mother on my back about…
Shit. I had no idea what she’d even wanted. That’s how much I’d been listening. I was going to get it in the neck anyway, so at least now she had a reason.
On top of all that, my new assistant was starting today. Thanks to my mother I was sure I hadn’t put on a great first impression. There was no doubt in my mind that my hand up and quick glance had been nothing but rude.
Not that Casey would care. I didn’t care about what she thought. She was my cousin, for chrissakes. But the new girl?
The one who’d been sitting behind the desk?
She was familiar to me. Oddly so. I hadn’t gotten a long enough look at her to be able to place her, but I knew I’d seen her before. Recently, too.
Who the hell was she?
I dropped my hands and looked at my desk. There was a stack of paper draped over my keyboard, and the first sheet had a bright yellow Post-It note slapped in the middle
of the page.
Pulling them toward me, I tugged at the yellow square and read Casey’s immaculate, script handwriting.
Mallory Harper – your new assistant. Read this and pretend you care.
I grunted and balled the note up. Whatever. She wasn’t going to last long—for whatever reason, nobody did. I’d had three assistants since Casey had gone on maternity leave six months earlier.
I was about ready to steal Amanda from downstairs and find a new receptionist for the other realtors.
Still, I sighed and picked up the resume she’d left for me to read. I scanned it. She was twenty-five and had recently lost her job when her previous company folded. She had lots of experience as an admin assistant, some waitressing, and one short stint in a call center. Lots of casual jobs, but no real direction, despite having a degree in business.
The only good thing here was the admin assistant experience and the fact that, excluding the call center job, she’d lasted a long time in each of her jobs.
Waitressing had gotten her through college—which was also when she’d had her call center job—and she’d been an admin assistant ever since she’d graduated.
She had potential.
She was still familiar to me.
I put the paper down and stared at the wall. It was times like this I wish I’d put a glass panel in. Surely, if I stared at her long enough, I’d figure it out, wouldn’t I?
Not that staring at your newest employee was the way to go. Despite my recent track record with personal assistants, I did actually like to keep my employees.
Except for the last one. Answering the phone, still drunk, at ten in the morning, wasn’t the image I was hoping to portray with my family’s company.
A knock rattled my door, and I took a deep breath as I said, “Come in.”
The door creaked open to reveal Casey holding a steaming mug of coffee. “I made coffee,” she said unnecessarily, raising the cup like an offering to a deity.
“Thanks.” I waved her in. “How’s the new girl doing?”
Casey clicked the door shut behind her. “Her name is Mallory. Didn’t you read the sheet?”