His Secretary, Her Boss

“C’mon, girls! Another shot down our throats. We need to finish the whole bottle, and I do not take a no for an answer tonight.” Cara held her drink in the air and waited for Grace and Zoe to do the same.

That was Grace’s night every single Friday. Partying until the morning and being totally wasted. To not be able to walk on her own, just feeling free. She loved this carefree lifestyle until they kicked her out of the job that she worked at for three years. Tonight was her last night partying until she’d find another long-term job. They drank the whole shot at once and decided to go on the dancefloor.

“Grace, don’t worry, baby, I know you will find another job soon. Opportunities will come and go; just pick it somewhere where you will feel comfortable. And don’t make the same mistake you did the last time.” Her other friend Zoe assured Grace with her encouraging words.

She has been working at the office for quite some time; she never had problems with her boss or coworkers. Until one day, Grace cursed at her boss, but for a very good reason.

Her boss was strangely nice to her, and every time they had met outside the work to discuss some work stuff, he sat awfully close to her. One evening, he asked her out for a coffee, and she agreed because what could’ve happened? Just a stupid invitation for a coffee. But she was wrong, though.

When they met outside the coffee shop, she smelled alcohol miles away from his mouth. At that moment, she knew she had made a mistake. He practically threw himself at her and started to touch her inappropriately, so she named him everything under the sun so he would leave her be.

The next week at work, her boss called her into his office, and she knew she was screwed. That bastard told everyone she invited him for coffee, even though he was her boss, and said she tried to seduce him. When he rejected her, she cursed him out the whole time because she couldn’t handle a rejection. And then he added, he was married with kids.

Grace never felt more ashamed in her life. So, her boss fired her in front of everyone in the office. She instantly left afterward and came home with tears in her eyes. That is the story of it.

“I know Zoe; it’s just what if no one will hire me and somehow they will find out what happened in my old work? Ugh, let’s not talk about it now.” Grace said, and her favorite song started to play. She smiled at the girls, and they started to move their hips to the melody. Hands in the air, feeling themselves more and more.

Grace’s eyes suddenly stopped at the man in the suit sitting on the couch. Two beautiful women surrounded him, but his eyes were fixed on the floor. Whiskey, she assumed, was in his hand, looking extremely bored to even be here.

When his head lifted up, their eyes aligned. As if he could feel her wondering eyes. Grace was a bit drunk and reckless, so she beckoned him to come to her.

He studied her for some seconds and suddenly got up and slowly started to walk toward her through the crowd of people who were dancing. His eyes were piercing into hers and she lost all the confidence she had. He was only some meters away from her when he stopped walking.

He was pretty tall compared to the other men on the dancefloor. Long brown hair slicked back into a low bun. His trimmed beard looked so symmetrical and perfectly shaved. The most beautiful thing about him was his emerald eyes.

When she took a step forward to go up to him, he quickly turned around and left in a rush. Grace was looking around for him, but he was nowhere to be found.

“Found someone you like, Grace?” Cara sassed as she wrapped herself around her shoulders. Grace rolled her eyes and went back to dancing. Meeting someone in the club is not always the best choice. After some minutes, she totally forgot about him and drank even more than she promised herself to.

Around two in the morning, they decided to finally go home. Her feet were hurting from the high heels, and she needed to take them off on her way to the cab that waited for her outside the club. Cara and Zoe went home with another cab since they lived on the other side of town.

When Grace got home, she took a long bubble bath to get all the sweat off her. Made something small to eat because she honestly forgot to, and then went to her comfy king-sized bed.

“Maybe I’ll be more lucky at this hour.” She mumbled to herself and started to look for a job online. She was jobless for two weeks now, and during the day, she couldn’t find anything.

Maybe at the magical three in the morning, I will get lucky,she thought.

Of course, she fell asleep the next minute. At ten in the morning, she woke up with an extreme headache and a weird feeling in her stomach. The vodka was not a good choice. As she was ready to get more sleep, her phone started to ring and buzz.

“Where the fuck did I put it?” She sighed, her hand moving on the bed sheets, trying to find the ringing phone.

“Who?” She asked when she picked up the phone under the pillow.

“Me.”

“Who is me?” She asked again.

“Are you stupid, Grace? It’s me, Zoe.” She said in a sarcastic tone and sighed.

“Oh, I have a headache from the stupid vodka that Cara badly needed to drink. But why are you calling me this early?”

“Because I have excellent news for you!”S he exclaimed. Grace put her on speaker and got up from the bed.

“Then tell me! Don’t tease me.” She rolled her eyes.

“Stop rolling your eyes when I’m not with you.”Zoe said and then continued,“I received a secretary job offer from my good old friend, he’s a hiring manager, and since I’m in no need of a job, I told him about you, and he agreed on an interview!”

“WHAT???” She yelled at her, putting her back to her ear. “Zoe, you’re the best. I love you so much!” Grace smiled and danced around her room in excitement.

“Of course, girl, anything for you.” She said, making a kiss sound. “I’ll send you a text of the location. Just be there on time, please.” Zoe added, and then their conversation ended. She received a text from her right after, and Grace Googled the company to which she’d go tomorrow.

.

The alarm woke her up to a sunny morning at seven thirty-four. She looked in her closet and picked the best option, which was a classic, elegant, sleek black dress. Grace put it on and then straightened her short black hair, and did her makeup. While she was in the cab, she read some reviews about the company, and she must’ve admitted to herself that she never read more positive reviews before.

“We are here, Miss.” The driver announced, and the nerves started to kick in. She paid him and added a small tip. He thanked her, and she got out, heading to the front door. She asked the receptionist for directions, and she informed her to go on the eleventh floor. Grace got into the elevator, all sweaty.

It seemed like an hour went by till the time she got there. The elevator door opened, and ahead of her was a long hall with many huge black doors, with a secretary desk in front of them and an older woman sitting behind it. Her hair was auburn and wavy, reaching her collarbone. She had black-framed glasses resting on the bridge of her nose.

She slowly started to walk towards her, breathing slowly to calm herself down. “Good morning; I’m here for the job interview,” Grace said.

The woman slowly raised her gaze to her, and a faint smile appeared on her face. “Yes, of course, Ms. Ellington. Please, go in.” She pointed to the last door.

She nodded and took a few steps towards the black door. She knocked twice. “Come in.” A deep voice spoke from the inside. She opened the door and closed it behind her.

“Good morning. I am Grace Ellington. I’m here for the job interview.” She announced, straightening her posture to look more confident.

“Hello.” He finally said after he was lost in his thoughts. “The person who should interview you had some emergency, so someone else will take their place. I will call him; just give me a minute. Take a seat meanwhile.” He said. She sat down on the couch that he had there and patiently waited, looking around.

The walls were painted a neutral shade of grey, and the floors were covered with a plush carpet. There was a large mahogany desk in one corner, stacked with papers and documents, and a few pieces of art hung on the walls.

Thank God he is not the one who will interview me, she thought to herself.

He hung up the phone after he quietly said something and looked at her. “The door next to me is where you should go.” Grace nodded with a smile, said a small thank you, and quickly left. She got goosebumps from this man. She thanked God; he wasn’t her boss.

Grace entered the next office to find a man sitting behind a leather chair. “Sit down, please,”That was all that he said.

Not another arrogant man, she thought.

She sat in the chair opposite him, taking out the resume from her purse. She exhaled loudly as she was getting annoyed. This day was supposed to go differently. And she was glad she even brought the physical form of her resume since she only sent the digital form to the person who was supposed to interview her.

“Hard day?” He wondered.

Her eyebrows furrowed. “Could you please turn around? It’s kind of disrespectful to talk to me like this, don’t you think?” She let her anger win again and used her sharp tongue.

Grace slapped her forehead to what just came out of her mouth. “Uhm, I’m very sorry. Please, forget what I said.” She quickly said, hoping he would not make a big deal out of it.

“No, I apologize, Miss. I-”

Those emerald eyes she thought she would never see again were now right in front of her. Both of them had a shock on their faces and awkwardness creeping over them. She tried to hide her surprise, so she gave him the resume on the desk and folded her arms. He cleared his throat and immediately stopped looking at Grace. His eyes moved on the resume.

She couldn’t stop looking, though. The suit perfectly hugged his arm muscles. His long hair was once again in a lower bun, and it was difficult for her to look elsewhere. The musky smell of his cologne hit her nostrils, making her take another inhale of the aroma. He must have used an expensive cologne.

“You have already worked in an office before. That’s great, Ms. Ellington.” He said.

Why is his gaze not focused on me when he speaks?

“I have no further questions for you. You’re accepted.” He added. He didn’t even ask her one. She didn’t understand him at all. And he just accepted her right away? Don’t they have any credentials?

“Do you have any questions?” He asked, but his eyes were still stuck in her papers.

“When can I start working?” She asked, staring at him. He suddenly let go of the papers and turned around again. Grace was in complete shock. This man has the biggest audacity to do this while they’re having a conversation about her work position.

“Tomorrow. You will get all the instructions from your coworker. Have a nice day.” Those were his last words to her. He kicked her out simply with words.

Grace grabbed her resume with anger and left without saying anything back to him, shutting the door the loudest she could. She didn’t want to work there at all.

“Hey, Miss!” A voice behind her called her while she was storming down the hall.

She stopped and looked behind her. A man with a sweet smile was holding one of the papers that probably flew out of her purse. His blond short hair was slicked back, and a simple white shirt was tucked into blue slacks.

He ran up to her and waited for her to take it. “Oh, thank you; I didn’t see it,” she sighed.

He studied her face for some seconds and said, “Our boss isn’t a bad guy. He’s a little bit weird if you ask me. You just need to get used to him. I hope we will see each other again.” He said with a small smile and headed back into his office.

By our boss, he meant the guy I met in the club. Does that mean he is my boss, and I’m his secretary?

Life couldn’t get any worse.

Check out my other story SCYTHE.