Audrey
I couldn’t believe that I’d made it through my first week of work. “Only fifty-one more to go before the end of the year,” I said to my reflection at the end of the day on Friday. I winced. I could have gotten through fifty-one more weeks of intense rock climbing, or cave diving more easily than I could have gotten through that same amount of time as Enzo Lennox’s secretary.
It wasn’t that the work was hard, exactly. But Enzo was always watching me. He’d taken to leaving his door open and calling out for coffee or a salad throughout the day, and if I didn’t drop immediately what I was doing and go out, he’d come storming through the doorway like a bull.
I shivered. It was intimidating, that was all. I wasn’t used to that kind of work environment. Hell, I wasn’t really used to any work environment that put such a high importance on physical appearance. Working at LennoxCo definitely made me realize that I looked like an outsider.
I wasn’t a clotheshorse like a lot of the women there, but I always tried to look professional. I knew that the girls were sneering about me behind my back, but I didn’t care; I was Enzo’s employee, not theirs.
Still, it was a relief to have a day to myself. Ever since I moved to Chicago, I’d spent Saturdays volunteering at a food bank and soup kitchen downtown. It was the kind of thing that I enjoyed more than almost anything else, except for snuggling with Pepper on the couch and watching TV. After a week of walking on eggshells around Enzo, I was relieved to have someplace to go where the regulars liked me.
Carl was one of my favorites at the kitchen. He showed up every weekend without fail, sometimes with a friend or two in tow. He’d been coming for years, and I was pretty sure that he was homeless. We were close, and I’d often thought about asking him if he wanted to move in with me. But I didn’t know Carl’s story, or where he was from, and I didn’t want to offend the man.
“Audrey, it’s so nice to see you,” Carl said with a warm smile as I ladled some beef stew into his bowl. “You look tired.”
I yawned, hiding my face in my elbow. “I feel pretty tired,” I admitted. “I had kind of a rough week. I started a new job.”
“Oh, Audrey,” Carl said, his face breaking out into a wide smile. “That’s so good to hear. Tell me about it.”
I glanced down the serving line. The crowd of people waiting for food was out the door, and some of the regulars were getting cranky about having to wait. I blushed. “I’ll sit down with you when I’m done here,” I said. “Just give me about an hour, okay?”
While I finished up my shift, Carl played chess with another one of the men who showed up on the weekends. I enjoyed watching him play. Even though he was destitute, he was one of the smartest men that I’d ever met. I wondered what he’d think about Enzo, and about my new job.
“So, Audrey,” Carl said. He reached over and patted the back of my hand. “Tell me about this new gig of yours.” He smiled widely and patted his belly. “And the stew was excellent today, by the way.”
I laughed and shook my head. Carl and I had an old joke about the food at the soup kitchen—he’d always compliment me, even though I had nothing to do with making it. It was just one of the little ways that he tried to make me feel more comfortable and I really appreciated it.
“Well, I’m working for LennoxCo, if you can believe that,” I said. “I’m actually the secretary to the CEO.”
“Wow, look at you, working girl!” Carl whistled. “Just like Melanie Griffith in that movie.”
I blushed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I demurred. “But it’s a good job.” I swallowed. Talking about money around Carl always made me feel a little awkward. “It’s definitely the best thing I’ve landed since college.”
“You’re going to be very successful.” He frowned. “But I’ve heard some things about that man, Mr. Lennox.”
I nodded and bit my lip. “What kinds of things?”
Carl shrugged. “He’s just a fast man. You know, flashy cars and girls and that kind of thing. You watch yourself around him, Audrey.”
I burst out laughing. “I highly doubt this guy would pay any kind of attention to me. I mean, come on, Carl, you know I don’t care about that kind of stuff.” It was easy to brush Carl off. I hadn’t even told him about what had happened the first day, and I had a feeling he wouldn’t think that was very funny.
“I’m not joking, Audrey,” Carl warned. He leaned closer. “You really have to be careful with men like that. They only think of one thing. It doesn’t matter what you look like, you have to be careful.”
I rolled my eyes. “Carl, come on. You know a guy like him wouldn’t be interested in me. That’s like, the basic rules of attraction.” I blushed, thinking of how sexy Enzo was. “I mean, he probably likes blondes with boob jobs—the kind of girl who always wears heels. You know I’m not like that.”
Carl shook his head. “Don’t write yourself off, Audrey. You’re still pretty young, and you have a lot to learn about how people behave in the real world.”
“I’m twenty-two,” I said irritably. “I think I’ve figured it out by now.”
Carl crossed his arms in front of his chest. He sighed. “You know, when I was your age, I thought I had things figured out too. But in my case, it took a little longer. I was pretty old by the time I figured out how selfish and cruel people can be. I know I sound like a worried old father, but, Audrey, you’re better off playing this one safe. Until you know this guy, really know him, I wouldn’t turn your back.”
An eerie, unsettling feeling came over me, and I shook my head. “Carl, I’ll be fine. I promise.”
“You’re prettier than you think, Audrey,” Carl said gruffly. “I expect this guy is a seasoned pro at picking out the pretty women.”
I stood up and wiped my hands on my baggy jeans. “I’m not. And don’t worry, I don’t wish that he’d pay attention to me.” I shrugged. “I just want to do my job, and earn money, and send it home to my parents.”
I swallowed hard. Thinking of my parents was painful. They were the reason why I volunteered at places like the food bank—I’d spent a lot of time in my childhood going to those kinds of places for food. When I was a kid, I’d always felt embarrassed about it. Now I wished that I could go back in time and tell my younger self that it wasn’t worth crying over.
“Just be careful, Audrey,” Carl said. “I’m probably worried about nothing, but you know how those men can be.”
I nodded uncomfortably. I didn’t know how men—any men, aside from my father—could be. I’d ever been around men before. Enzo might as well have been an exotic species, like a lion or a giraffe.
I snorted. There was no way that he would ever want someone like me.