The Assistant

“And then he just left me there like an idiot. I stood outside with my shoes in my hand for a whole hour before he even realized he left me there!” She exclaims. I purse my lips. “You can laugh, it was awful,” she tells me, breaking into her own smile. “He had my phone in his pocket since I didn’t have any and he left with it so I just stood there like an idiot on the lawn,” she adds.

“I want you to know I’m not laughing at you,” I say in between giggles. “But that’s so terrible I’m so sorry.” She shrugs, pulling a pack of altoids out of her pocket. She holds the open container out to me and I wordlessly take two. She does the same.

“Boys will be boys,” is all she says. “It definitely makes my top three for worst interactions with a male ever.” I shake my head. Daisy was younger than me by at least six years. She only worked four months out of the year, spending the rest of her time off at university. I didn’t know if I missed her or the tales of her seemingly disastrous love life more.

“You’ve got to branch out from frat boys. You know you can do better,” I say. She rolls her eyes.

“Yeah yeah.” She waves me off. “They’re easy. It’s fun. We’ve been over this,” she replies smoothly, a mischievous twinkle behind her eyes. “Don’t worry about me. You’re the hot mid-twenties babe with no man anyways. You have to get on that. Until you do, I don’t want to hear it.”

A man in the distance throws his finger up in our direction. “Duty calls,” she grumbles, grabbing the water pitcher from the counter beside us and weaving through the tables.

“I have a six for you,” the hostess mumbles beside me and she passes. A tall man in a suit struts behind her to choose his chair while she delicately places the menus at each place setting. He puts a hand on his tie as he takes a seat, setting his messenger back on the seat beside him.

“Hubba hubba,” Daisy remarks, wiggling her eyebrows as she sets the pitcher down. She lightly hip bumps me, typing something in on the computer. “Maybe you’re right, Mia. Frat boys fucking suck,” she smirks, printing off a check. “Actually, fuck that. He’s got a computer with him. Looks like you’re getting a table of campers. Hotness point dedication of three for Mr. Suit.”

I laugh and grab a handful of coasters, making my way over to the table. “Good morning, sir. I’m Mia and I’ll be taking care of you today. Can I get you started with something to drink?” I pass out the coasters, carefully avoiding awkward eye contact as he opens his laptop and begins typing something. He pauses and looks up at me.

His eyes are a deep brown like his hair. There’s a hint of stubble on his otherwise smooth skin but neglecting to shave didn’t seem like it would fit his personality since his suit looked freshly pressed. His eyebrows cast a soft shadow on the upper planes of his face. He looks up at me beneath them.

“Waters for everyone will be fine for now,” he says. “Thank you,” he adds as I turn around. Several men in suits brush past me as I turn around, all headed for Mr. Suit, as Daisy has so lovingly dubbed him. It seems fitting.

They all look boring. All of them standing there shaking hands and greeting one another before taking their own seats. One man sits beside Mr. Suit. The others shuffle and sit on the other side of the table, all of them squirming in their seats. The joiners look significantly younger than him, save for the one who took a confident seat beside him. A business partner of sorts.

The table falls into a generic conversation about their day at the office as I return with glasses for everyone. I keep my head down and try not to interrupt their meeting. From what I can gather Mr. Suit’s real name is Ezra Toussaint and he, with the help of the man next to him, run a very large investment firm. Daisy looked him up while I took the table’s orders and reported that his company’s net worth was estimated to be somewhere in the billions. Not that it really matters to me as long as I get my twenty percent. Ezra seems uninterested in the meeting, answering emails on his computer and keeping only one single document open with notes about the meeting that his partner was taking the lead on.

He didn’t look like a complete asshole, his eyebrows were pulled down by the stress of his day and his lips were slightly pursed in thought. He was still handsome but I could tell that he would have rather been anywhere else instead of babysitting a potential investment opportunity that his notes described as mundane, and a short term cash grab.

The table chats for a while as I busy myself taking lunch orders for everyone at the table. Everyone orders a sandwich or a salad besides Ezra and his friend, both order steaks without any hesitation. I’m entering food into the computer when Daisy comes up to me, a full tray in her hand.

“Hey Mia, I just got a complaint that there’s no paper towel in the mens room,” Daisy says. “I have to run food to my table. Would you mind?” she asks, shoving the roll into my hands. She blows me a kiss. “You’re the best,” she calls as she runs back to the kitchen. I love Daisy but she can be a little scatterbrained at times. Especially during a rush.

I knock on the door to the bathroom. Softly the first time then louder the second time. “Housekeeping!” I call. No reply. I swing open the door slowly and walk in, tossing the roll between my hands and humming softly to myself.

“Excuse me,” a voice calls from my left. I freeze and turn slowly. There he is. One of the most attractive guys I have ever seen. Standing in front of the urinal. With his dick held in his hand. “I believe this is the mens room,” he says. I feel my face heat up.

“I knocked!” I stammer. “Twice! And I yelled when I came in!” I try to keep eye contact with him but I can’t help the way my eyes nervously dart around the small bathroom. He doesn’t even seem bothered that I’ve just walked in on him holding his cock. If anything, he seems amused. Out of the corner of my eye I think I see it twitch in his hand.

“Is this how you make your twenty percent?” he asks lazily, tucking himself back into his pants. “By accosting your customers in the bathroom? Were you here to offer me a sexual favor as a trade off for a higher gratuity?” I can feel my eyes bugging out of my head at his accusations.

“Of course not! I am only here to change the paper towel.” I hold up the roll as if it was going to make this entire situation go away. “I did attempt to notify you that I was coming in,” I remind him.

“So you keep saying,” he muses. He takes a few steps towards me and I take a few steps back in the opposite direction. “Well,” he says, nodding his head towards the paper towel dispenser. “I can’t dry my hands on my pants. This is a very expensive pair of Valentino’s.” Of course they are.

I open the dispenser without another word, making quick work of emptying the empty roll and replacing it with the full one. All while he studies me. He steps forward, his hand brushing away a stray hair from my cheek. “You’re blushing,” he murmurs, as if I couldn’t feel my face practically overheating. I jerk my face away from his hand.

“I apologize for my intrusion, sir.” I tell him curtly. There’s a hint of a smirk on his face.

“That’s alright, Mia,” I cringe at his use of my name. “No real harm done.” I nod and practically trip over my own feet scrambling out of the bathroom as fast as I can manage. As I back out of the open doorway Daisy passes and I grab her arm, pulling her towards me.

“Fuck girl, you could have knocked me over,” she jokes with a smile. I grab her forearms to steady myself. “Did you take care of the paper towel issue? My guy was a real ass about it. I didn’t even think that men washed their hands after they pissed. I guess it’s a good thing though. I wouldn’t want to touch my food after I held my dick either.”

“Daisy,” I whisper, certain my eyes are bugging out of my head. Her eyebrows furrow. “You’ll never fucking believe what just happened to me.” She waits patiently. “I just walked in on someone.” I stage whisper. The hostess looks up from her book for a moment, craning her neck in my direction. I pull Daisy over to the wall.

“On a man?” she asks, her nose wrinkling. “Fucking gross. Didn’t you knock?” I nod.

“I did. Twice. Then I yelled when I walked in.” She shrugs.

“Sounds like it was his fault,” she scoffs. “Is it one of yours or one of mine?” I open my mouth to reply just as the man in question emerges from the bathroom. He offers a polite smile to the two of us as he struts away to his table. He turns back for a second and winks at me as he turns the corner.

I open my mouth and mime a scream to Daisy, whose mouth has fallen open and has not closed since he emerged from the washroom. “Holy fucking shit.” She says slowly. “Tell me there was someone else in there and you didn’t walk in on him.” I pull my bottom lip between my teeth. “You could do a lot worse,” she says. “I bet he has a nice cock.” The hostess slams her book shut. Daisy rolls her eyes.

“What the fuck do I do?” I ask Daisy, pulling on her arm when she tries to walk away. She pulls her arm back.

“Go back to your table and just act like nothing happened. It was a mistake. He seems like he didn’t mind it aways.” My cheeks burn. “Yeah I saw his cheeky little wink. I have half a mind to think he might have been quiet on purpose when you walked in,” she teases, bumping my hip with hers. “Just give them stellar service with a smile and keep going. You’ll be fine. It’s not like you’ll have to do much more with them anyways. I dropped your food while you were in the bathroom,” she says before she whisks herself away. I groan and throw my head back.

The people Ezra had been meeting with quickly ate the rest of their food and scurried out of the door while his colleague stayed around, the two of them talking about the meeting. “They’re young but they’re the future of business. This idea might seem dumb to you now but ten years down the line you’ll be glad you made the decision,” I’d heard his partner telling him.

“Is something wrong with your meal?” I leaned over and asked, realizing that Ezra’s food was untouched while all the other plates had been cleared away. His friend clapped a hand on his back and rocked him.

“That’s because someone doesn’t know how to multitask. He just doesn’t stop. It’s a miracle he has time for anything at all.” He grins but Ezra looks ready to punch him in the face.

“I’m fine. My friend here is about to head back to the office and leave me to my lunch anyways. You’ll have to excuse him. He was raised in a barn and doesn’t have a work ethic of his own so I have to pick up all of the slack. It’s why I get paid more money,” he winks at me and his friend gasps sarcastically. His friend slaps his shoulder.

“I’ll leave you to it then,” I dismiss myself with a smile.

“I’ll actually take the bill when you’re ready,” Ezra looks up from his laptop for a moment to offer me a tight lipped smile before going back to his keyboard and furiously typing.

“Of course, sir,” I say back. His friend says his goodbyes and walks in the same direction as me.

“Do me a favor,” he says to me quietly. “Just put it on this card.” He shoves a black card in my hands with a wink. “Don’t tell him, just let him work and drop off the receipt.” I nod and swipe his card, handing it back to him. “Thanks a bunch,” he says, scribbling his signature. “Give yourself twenty percent for me.” He hands the receipt back to me and waves obnoxiously to his friend.

“Your partner took care of it,” I say, dropping the pay confirmation on the table. “So you’re all set. Do you need any refills or anything else?” He rubs his neck and shakes his head.

“I’m alright. Thank you, Mia.” He smiles and gets back to his work. I blush and retreat quickly.

He sits in silence for about an hour, working diligently on his computer. He only takes small breaks to take sips of his water, which I am always quick to refill. He offers a small nod every time I do. I’m grateful for the lack of interaction. It makes it easier to forget what happened in the bathroom. I’m wiping down the computer and straightening the server station when Ezra makes his next appearance.

“Mia,” he says softly from behind me. “This is for you,” he tells me, sliding a few bills onto the counter. “Thank you.”

“The tip is already covered but I appreciate the gesture.” I slide the money back in his direction. He chuckles and puts his hand over mine, sliding the money back to me.

“Just do as you’re told,” he tells me, sending a chill down my spine. Is this what working with him was like? Was he always his commanding? Did his coworkers also think it was hot? “Have a good day.” His hand ghosts around my waist as he steps around me and heads out the front door, already talking on the phone with someone else.

I sigh and look through the bills. Two twenties and one fifty. Way more than the twenty percent even came out to. “Shit,” I mumble, looking through the bills. A post-it note falls out of the stack and flutters to the floor. I bend down to pick it up. It must just be trash that got stuck to the bottom of the stack. I flip the paper over and my eyes widen.

I hope you liked what you saw ;)

I shove the note in my apron, blushing furiously as I put the cash in my wallet, trying not to think about the moment in the bathroom. “Fuck,” I groan, grabbing my purse and walking away.