Layla
I woke up the next morning to the annoying sound of my alarm. I groaned and rolled over putting my pillow over my head. My alarm went quiet after a minute but then started right back up. Reaching blindly with my hand, I tried to slap the snooze button but my hand kept missing. I lifted my pillow up slightly and cracked open my eyes, staring at my alarm. Staring back at me was the time: 4:30 am. Why the hell did I set an alarm for that early? It took me a full good minute for yesterday’s events to come back to mind and for me to wake up. I have work today! Faster than any normal person at 4:30 in the morning, I jumped out of bed and ran to my bathroom.
Starting the shower to get it warmed up, I stripped out of my PJs and quickly jumped in. Setting the alarm to 4:30 sounded insane but since Ashton wanted me there at 6 o’clock and it was my first day, I didn’t want to be late. I took the quickest shower in history. Steam billowed around me as I dried off my body then headed back to my bedroom to get dressed. I knew this part would take me the longest because I had to find something an assistant to the big boss would wear and also be work appropriate, which turned out to be very difficult.
Fifteen minutes later I was standing there looking helplessly at my closet. Most of my clothes littered the ground and my closet looked like a war zone. I have nothing to wear! I thought hopelessly. Checking the clock, I saw it was five to five. Panic started to set in as I looked around my room trying to come up with something. An idea clicked in my head and I knew it was my only option. I had to go face my best friend/roommate at five in the morning. Saying a silent goodbye to myself, I made my way to Kacey’s room. To say Kacey isn’t a morning person is a big understatement. She doesn’t believe in waking up any time before nine. Waking her up is like signing your own death warrant, which I was about to do.
Pushing her door open, I tried to be quiet as I walked to her bed. Taking a deep breath, I said her name and shook her shoulder. At this time of the morning, Kacey was usually dead to the world.
“Kacey,” I said a little louder. When she didn’t stir, I did the worst thing you could do in this situation. I went into her bathroom and filled a cup she had in there with cold water. Coming back to her bedside, I dipped a couple of fingers into the water and proceeded to flick the water at her face, Chinese water torture. Kacey’s eyes burst open and stared at me.
“You!” Her voice was low from sleep, and dangerous. If her eyes had lasers in them, I would be burnt to a crisp by now. Maybe it was me, but her eyes seemed to glow red as she glared up at me. Uh oh, I woke the devil up! I backed away slowly.
“Kay, I am so sorry but I couldn’t wake you. I need your help,” I tried to say calmly, hoping it would help her not attack me.
“It is still dark outside,” she seethed.
“I know, but I don’t have anything to wear to work. I really need your help.”
“Layla, you already have clothes for work.” She groaned out, closing her eyes. She seemed to have calmed down slightly, which was good.
“Um, about that. I…don’t work there anymore.” Her eyes opened instantly.
“What?”
“I quit yesterday. I was going to call you but I was with Ashton and completely forgot,” I said apologetically.
“Again, I repeat, what?”
“Sorry, Kay, I don’t have time to go all in detail about it. I will tell you when I get home, I promise. I have to leave for my new job in twenty minutes so I am not late! I don’t have anything to wear and was hoping you could help.” Much to my surprise, Kacey instantly got out of bed and stood up. I stood there in shock that she was really up at five in the morning. Even when we were in college, she made sure to have her classes at eight or nine.
“What are you doing? We have to get going!” she practically yelled at me, turning on her bedroom light. She turned to her closet and started looking through it. “What kind of job is it?”
“An assistant. I am the boss’s assistant,” I said, hoping she wouldn’t ask who the boss was. I didn’t have time for her to start freaking out on me.
“I hope you know the moment you get home I will be expecting details about everything that happened yesterday.” She turned to give me a pointed look. I nodded, not expecting anything less. “Okay, here.” She threw a couple of items at me. I was grateful that I had put on a bra and panties on underneath my towel before coming to get her. Even though Kacey and I have seen each other naked, I would rather not stand there in the nude.
Seeing that she threw me a pencil skirt and come kind of blouse, I dropped the towel to slide into the black skirt while Kacey looked for shoes. I was never more grateful that we were the same size until now. I’d never worn a pencil skirt before and it felt weird hugging my butt and thighs. I slipped on the white blouse, glad I wore a white bra today.
“Here.” Kacey handed me a black waist belt and pair of Louis Vuitton heels. I wobbled a little on the heels but found my footing. This might be a long day. Looking in the mirror on the side of her wall, I almost whistled. Wow, I looked pretty good. “Now let’s do you hair and makeup.” Kacey gripped my arm and pushed me onto the seat in front of her vanity. I sat still as she did her work. Times like these I loved that my best friend was a fashion expert. Not even ten minutes later Kacey set down her hair straightener and said I was done. “You look hot if I say so myself.” She put her hands on her hips.
I looked in the mirror and almost gasped. Kacey had done a great job. My makeup looked almost natural, she had put a little bit of blush on my cheeks, and gave my eyes an almost smoky look with black and silver making my gray eyes pop more. She had me in a light shade of pink lipstick. My brown hair was straightened with a little bit of wave at the ends. All in all, I looked very good.
“Thank you, Kay!” I got up and hugged her. She hugged me back then pulled away quickly.
“You better get going; it’s almost five thirty.”
“Shit! Thank you so much! See you when I get home,” I said as I practically ran out of her room and to mine to grab my bag. I grabbed my phone and my bag that already had the things I needed in it. I walked out the door with another bye to Kacey, but I knew she was already back in bed. I quickly made my way out of my building and to the curb for a cab.
I got a cab pretty quick. I didn’t know the address of Ashton’s work, so I just told the driver the building name.
“Wow, nice place to be working at.” He whistled as he drove in the direction we needed.
“Is it? This is my first day,” I told him.
“Well good for you.” He sent me a smile through the review mirror.
“Miller Industries is a huge building and very well known here in New York. I’ve driven plenty of people there and they all seem to like working there.”
“Thanks. That sounds good so hopefully, I will like it there too.” Checking the time on the dashboard, I saw it was only 5:35 and we looked to be almost there. “Is there a coffee place near there?” I asked. Maybe I could stop by and grab something before going in, maybe get Ashton something.
“Oh yes, there is a great little place about two buildings down on the left. Best coffee in downtown,” he said. Just then, he came to a stop in front of the building.
“I’ll have to go there. How much is it?” I asked, reaching into my bag for my wallet.
“It’s on the house, little lady,” the driver said turning in his chair to smile at me. His smile wasn’t perverted or creepy; it was sincere.
“What? Oh no, I have to pay something,” I protested.
“No need. I have a daughter your age and you remind me of her. Have a good first day.” I shot him a huge smile.
“Well thank you! I hope you have a good day too,” I said, getting out. He was super nice. I watched him drive away. Knowing I better hurry, I walked to the left like the man had said and came to a stop in front of what looked to be a cute place called Sunrise Cafe. I pushed open the door and saw the place was semi-packed already. The moment I pushed through the door, I was engulfed in the smell of fresh ground coffee. I breathed it in deeply, loving that smell. In an almost euphoric state, I walked to the front counter.
“Hello. What can I get you?” a cute guy asked, walking to the cashier. He was tall, maybe six-foot-one, and had shaggy blonde hair that hung on his forehead. He had gorgeous green eyes, and a wide white smile.
“Hi. I’ll have a hazelnut latte, and…” I looked at the menu wondering what Ashton would want. “Just a regular coffee, I think,” I said sending him a smile.
“Anything else I can get the pretty lady?” he asked. I looked at his name tag and saw his name was Jack. I blushed and shook my head. “What name to put on the cups?”
“Layla,” I said as I watched him write it down.
“Pretty name.” I couldn’t help but blush again. I thanked him quietly.
“That will be seven-fifty.” My eyebrows rose in surprise. Wow, that’s pretty cheap, I thought. I fished out a ten-dollar bill.
“Keep the change,” I said.
“Well, thank you.” He shot me a smile. I sent one back and stood off to the side as he made my drinks. A few minutes later, he handed them over to me. “Hope to see you around, Layla.” I gripped the cups in my hands.
“You too.” As I left the cafe, I looked down at my cup and saw a smiley face written next to my name. I shook my head and laughed softly as I walked through the front doors of Miller Industries. I was surprised to see there was already tons of people here and it wasn’t even six yet. Not knowing where I was supposed to go, I walked up to the reception desk. A blonde sat there typing on her computer and looked to be angrily talking to someone on her phone ear piece. As I walked up to her, I saw she was pretty but her face had way too much makeup on, and there was something about her face that screamed bitch.
“Uh, hi,” I said as soon as she ended the call she was on.
“Yes?” she asked but didn’t even look in my direction.
“I am new here and was wondering where Ash—Mr. Miller’s office is?” I said, correcting myself at the last minute.
“Sorry, but I am not allowed to give that information out. Do you have a card?” She finally turned to look at me. She stared at me with a pair of cold blue eyes.
“A card?” I asked, not knowing what she was talking about.
“See, all employees get a card or badge that lets us know you work here. You definitely don’t and you just want to see Mr. Miller. So, you can just leave now,” she said, dismissing me with a wave of her hand and going back to her computer.
Excuse me?
“I am new so I do not have a card. That is why I have to see Mr. Miller. I am his new assistant,” I said, trying hard not to sound rude. That seemed to get her attention and she turned back to me. Her ruby red lips pursed as she glared at me.
“Nice try. If you’re his assistant, then the world has come to an end,” she said in one of the snottiest voices I had ever heard. I had to hold myself back from hitting her. She talked down to me as if I were some low-class person.
“I—” Before I could get something out, another voice came from beside me. I turned my head and saw a pretty blonde girl next to me. Her hair was cut in a cute bob style and she was pretty short, standing at five-three maybe. She looked to be about my age.
“Cecilia, don’t be rude. I believe her,” the girl said, coming to my defense. So, Cecilia, that’s her name. No wonder she’s a bitch. “Hi, I am Neena Brown.” She held out her hand for me to shake and sent me a smile. I instantly liked this girl.
“Hi, I am Layla Kingston.” I shook her hand.
“Nice to meet you. I will show you to Mr. Miller’s office.” She lightly grabbed my elbow and pulled me away from Cecilia and to the elevators across the room.
“Ignore Cecilia. She’s a bitch and thinks she owns the place,” Neena said with a roll of her eyes. I stopped, a giggle from escaping my lips. Yep, I liked this girl. We were able to squeeze into an elevator before it closed.
“I work at the front desk as well, so if you ever need anything just ask for me,” Neena continued. “Mr. Miller’s office is on the thirtieth floor. There aren’t many people on the level; it’s mostly just for him and his receptionist. Practically all the levels are different sections of the company. You have the tech people on floor twenty, where they take care of anything with technology. You have marketing on the twenty-fifth floor, and so on and so forth. I don’t want to waste a lot of time going over those floors because you probably won’t need to go there.” Slowly the elevator started to empty, until it was only me and Neena and we had three more floors to go.
“Can I ask you a question?” I asked Neena, hoping she would say yes.
“Of course. Shoot.”
“Do you know anything about Mr. Miller?” I figured this was a good opportunity to find out more about Ashton and how he runs his business. I’d never seen this side of him and wanted a little heads up before going in blind.
“Well, he is very successful. His family built this company from the ground up. It was mainly Mr. Miller who made the company what it is today. Don’t get me wrong, his father was great but Mr. Miller has made the company larger than anyone else’s and has brought on twice as many beneficiaries as his father. He is a great businessman but can be very ruthless when he wants to be. But I am warning you, he is quite the charmer,” Neena said. Oh, I already know that. No need to tell Neena that I’d already seen his charming side.
“I wish I could tell you he is a sweet guy but in reality, he isn’t. He uses women for sex then leaves them. But sadly, the women here still fall to his feet whenever he walks by.” The way she was talking about him wasn’t at all how I have come to know Ashton. “Oops, sorry, I probably shouldn’t have said that to his new assistant,” Neena said, shooting me an apologetic smile. I guess things aren’t always what they seem. The elevator doors chimed open and we stepped out. Now I was starting to become nervous as I followed Neena. We passed a lot of cubicles that already had people in them working on stuff. She clearly knew how this place worked.
“How do you know these things?” I asked.
“Oh, everyone around here gossips. I’ve worked here for four years now and know the ins and outs. Being usually quiet, I pick up on what everyone is saying.” She shrugged. “Okay, here you go. This is Mr. Miller’s receptionist, Judy. She will take you from here. If you need anything, just call downstairs for me. It was great meeting you. Hopefully, we can talk again soon.” With that, she left and headed back to the elevators.
“Hello, you must be Ms. Kingston I assume?” Judy asked, standing up from her desk. She was an older woman with white hair starting to show through the brown. She had a kind smile and pretty light brown eyes. Just by looking at her, I knew I would like her. I was just surprised that Ashton had someone like her as his receptionist instead of some hot young girl or even someone like Cecilia from downstairs.
“Hi, yes I am,” I said kindly, shaking her hand.
“Ashton told me this morning when he walked in that we should be expecting you.” Judy said his name as if she were talking about her son. I could tell Judy loved Ashton. “I hope he doesn’t scare you off like his other assistants. They didn’t last a day, but of course, those girls were bimbos. I was actually surprised to hear he hired someone new.” I couldn’t help but let out a laugh as she called Ashton’s last assistants bimbos.
“Hopefully I will be sticking around longer than them,” I said once I had stopped laughing. She sent me a smile.
“You can go in; he’s been expecting you.” She gestured to the door a few feet behind her desk. “When you’re done, I’ll show you to your new office and explain what you’ll be doing. That boy doesn’t know how to give instructions slowly or in depth.” She shook her head but then nodded at me. Sending her a smile, I walked over to the door. My hands shook slightly with the coffee in them. Do I knock then go in? Or should I just walk in? I decided to knock then go in. Balancing the coffees in one hand, I tapped on the wood door and grabbed the handle. It’s now or never. Hearing Ashton’s deep voice saying “Come in,” I opened the door with shaky legs.