Prep Work

It’s been a couple of weeks into my job at Ombra and I no longer feel like this was a fake position that Mr. Conti made up for me.

Jessica is useless.

To be clear, she is in no way stupid, she just isn’t here to be Mr. Conti’s assistance. She spends all her time using her control over his calendar to try and worm her way into his personal life.

I’ve taken extra care to make sure I never treat Mr. Conti with anything other than respect. I’ve tucked my attraction away in a tiny box in the back closet of my mind so that I sometimes even forget it exists.

The key is in having no eye contact so I can’t fall under the mesmerizing control of his green eyes. He doesn’t make it easy though. Every time I think I have it under control, he does something to throw me off.

He’s cold, controlling and sometimes arrogant. That part of Mr. Conti is easy to get used to and have as a boss, it’s what I expect, but sometimes he lets his human side show through. Like the times Jessica pushes him beyond his limit with her complete disregard for professionalism and he calmly dismisses her for the day when any other boss would yell or even fire her.

In the last couple of days, Jessica has started to become a bigger problem. Her only goal at work is to become Mrs. Conti, which means she expects me to do the work of two people. What's even worse is that, when Mr. Conti does a morning brief with her to go over his schedule, she spends the whole time trying to flirt and writes nothing down.

It's always a huge guessing game trying to figure out what we're supposed to be doing.

I've been here about a month now, and I've learned to read Jessica's moods. Today, she's smiling, so Mr. Conti has an event he needs to attend, and he doesn't have a date. He never takes a date.

Somehow, every time, Jessica talks herself into thinking that Mr. Conti will ask her to accompany him. She spends all week with her head in the clouds, finding the perfect dress. She is sometimes able to get a ticket to the event, and she'll come back on Monday talking all about how they connected at the event.

Once she sits down, I walk over to her desk with a notepad ready to get as much information as I can so I can piece together the rest.

"Hey, Jessica, what are we doing this week?" I ask.

"Oh, you know, the usual," she says, still daydreaming.

"Jessica, you need to write notes," I respond, exasperated. "We've gone over this. That is not enough to work with. Please tell me anything you can remember. I'm assuming he has an event this week?"

"Yes," she says excitedly. "The annual Leukemia Foundation Gala."

I nod, making a note. I'll look up the event, but I'm assuming it's black tie, so I note that his suit needs dry cleaning.

"He also mentioned making copies of a report," she says, almost like a question. It's the Bransen report. The whole office has been working on it for two weeks, making sure it was ready on time.

"Something about the jet," she says, and I can tell I'll be losing her attention soon. "Oh! And some French people are coming."

That's all I get before she leaves to go make a personal call. I check the schedule to see how many people will be attending the Bransen meeting and make a few extra copies. I also noticed the meeting runs through lunch, so I arrange lunch through our normal caterer.

The jet is a pretty easy issue as well. We have a company that charters the jet when it's not in use. I check the schedule with them and see that the 'French people' Jessica mentioned are flying in on Mr. Conti's jet and the arrangements need to be made and sent to their assistant.

Jessica returns hours later with Mr. Conti's lunch. She disappears all the time, but she never misses an opportunity to interact with Mr. Conti. The only time I've entered Mr. Conti's office since that first day was when he wasn't there.

I still make his coffee, of course, because Jessica seems to be allergic to work. She gave me his coffee order the second day and made a threat about how it had better be perfect so as not to embarrass her.

I'm able to get the contact information for the French clients coming in next week from Claire and I spend the week coordinating with their assistant. The information about what will be happening next week is mostly confidential, even to me, but I know it’s something big.

By the end of the week I'm exhausted, but I know I will have the whole weekend free since Mr. Conti will be visiting family on the weekend.

Jessica did manage to get tickets to the gala and spent all night posting to I*******m, but I have a good laugh when I get an email from the dry cleaners notifying me that the suit was never picked up, meaning Mr. Conti didn't attend the event in the end. I guess I shouldn't keep saying that Jessica has no work ethic. She is amazingly persistent when there is something she wants.

He looks at me and asks, "Are we all set?"

"Yes," I respond with confidence, "They've landed and will arrive here in an hour. Caterers will be here in 45 minutes to set up breakfast and the wife will be able to check in as early as she wants. Her room is already available."

He nods. “And Jessica?” he asks.

I shrug and say, “M.I.A.”

Mr. Conti almost never changes his stern expression, but I swear I see a look of relief touch his eyes. Like any good assistant, I’m learning my boss' moods and expressions, but this time it makes me weary.

Something keeps telling me to stay away from Mr. Conti, but I also can’t seem to keep myself from wanting to solve the puzzle of whom this man is.