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34 - Preparations
"Lydia, I owe you an apology for yesterday. I'm so sorry, you warned me and I didn't listen. And then..."
What was Jia supposed to say? I'm sorry I made Atlas angry at you, I'm sorry I made him be so rude to you, I'm sorry he's such an ass and also that I don't think before I act -
Lydia held up one slender hand and shook her head to dissuade Jia from apologizing any further. "The important thing is that Mr. Grayson didn't miss his appointment. It was incredibly important, and I shouldn't have cut it so close. He was right to reprimand me for it."
How could she say that? She was the one in the right, and while Jia understood that sometimes that there was a need to pretend that the boss was always right, but surely this wasn't one of those times. They were alone in a room and there was no chance of Atlas overhearing. Jia had already extended the apology, too, knowing full well that the unfortunate incident
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In the Shadow of the CEO 36 - Stubborn
Much like a clumsy gardener happily hacking apart the backyard and accidentally puncturing the water line, it was clear that Jia had just struck a nerve. She froze, torn between immediately apologizing and pushing the envelope. She was already neck deep anyway. And it really did grate on her nerves that he called her Ms. Moon, something only customer service representatives and telemarketers called her.And hearing him call Lydia by her given name while addressing her so formally made her uncomfortable too, as if it were drawing a wider divide between the woman and herself. Jia didn't like that, especially not after what had happened yesterday. For the sake of restoring their burgeoning friendship, Jia had to push a little bit. Make it a point to prove that she and Lydia were the same, that Atlas wasn't treating them any differently.(At least not in the way the woman might suspect.)"You call your clients mister and miss such and such," said J
In the Shadow of the CEO 37 - Clumsy
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In the Shadow of the CEO 38 - Amenable
"This is ridiculous.""Ms. Munson, please -""And oh, my God, if anyone calls me that one more time, I swear to God I'll - Jia! Get over here."Jia obeyed, hurrying with a sharp series of clicks as she scuttled over on her stilettos. Amazing how quickly she had become accustomed to brisk-walking in these without breaking her ankles. Didn't mean her toes felt like they were breaking any less."Hello, Dolly," she said cheerily, forcing her voice to sound as sunny as possible. She was complete faking it, of course, but it seemed like the atmosphere could use a little positivity, artificial or otherwise. The look on the redhead's face was abominably irritated, and Jia knew well that that was not a good sign. It was almost time for lunch and Atlas was due back anytime now - it was a miracle that Dolly had lasted this long, honestly."You hear that?" the enraged woman demanded, turning around to glare at Lydia and Daniel who had followed her out of
In the Shadow of the CEO 39 - Memory
"And...Dolly? This seat's open."On the other end of the table, the redhead turned her gaze on Jia only to give her a single baleful scowl. "It is open," she agreed. "Doesn't mean I want it." With that, she turned away again and leaned back in her chair, aggressively massaging her own shoulder with an angry look on her face."Aren't you hungry?""I can eat over here."Jia pressed her lips together for a second, and then turned them up in a wide smile. "You look sore. And tired. Why don't you eat and I'll take care of that?" She beckoned her over again with a flap of the hand.Dolly stopped for a moment and threw her a suspicious stare. "Take care of what."Jia didn't miss a beat. She raised her hands to shoulder height and pantomimed giving the woman a massage with a few flicks of the wrist before speaking again. "I'm at your disposal," she said cheerfully. "...If you'd like to join us. But you don't have to if you'd rather
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"Mr. Grayson -""Yes?"The sharp response lanced through Jia like a cold knife, and she had to steady herself so that she didn't rock back from the sheer frigidity emanating from Atlas right now. And yet there was a heat in his eyes that made her wonder if perhaps he wasn't about to physically pick her up and hurl her out the nearest window."Ms. Munson hasn't shared anything compromising about you, if that's what you're concerned about, Mr. Grayson."Jia made sure to hold his stare - no matter what! - so that he could see her earnestness. As much as she wanted to keep backing up to put more space between them, that would put her directly against the wall, and she remembered only too well what had happened the last time she'd done that."Then what exactly have you two bonded over? You're not much a drinker as far as I can tell, Ms. Moon."Well - how would he know that? What if she was, in fact, a drunkard on her own time? In truth, she
In the Shadow of the CEO 41 - Boyfriends
"You must be kidding."Jia spread her arms a little in a disarming, helpless gesture. "It'll be brief," she said. "I'm just supposed to make sure you're settled in comfortably.""You're babysitting me.""No," she insisted. "Mr. Grayson just wants me to -"Dolly's hand chopped at the air between them, narrowly missing Jia's nose with a swipe. "My God, just call him Atlas. If I hear one more person call him Mr. Grayson again, I'm going to lose it -""Atlas, sorry," she amended immediately. They were alone in the elevator as they dropped down toward the parking garage in the basement level; no one else was around to hear her call her boss so familiarly. If it meant soothing Dolly's aggressive outbursts, then the small sacrifice was more than worth it."So Atlas wants you to make sure I'm not playing with matches or taking candy from strangers -"More like taking candy from babies when it came to Dolly's personality, Jia thought pri
In the Shadow of the CEO 42 - Weekend
Dolly wasn't even awake when Jia quietly slipped by, letting herself in with the pass code when she received no reply after knocking several times. She swept her eyes around the living room and found the entire place spotless - had the housekeeping team already come by to clean everything up?She tip-toed over to the bedroom and peeked around the doorway to find the woman lying tangled in her sheets and sleeping the wrong way. Well, at least she looked fine. At the very least, she was still breathing, so she hadn't managed to sneak enough alcohol to poison herself in the middle of the night.And that was that. The woman was alive, which meant Jia had the whole rest of the day to herself until the evening when she stopped by again. She checked the time on the digital clock before fleeing the penthouse, legging it back down to the bus stop and then the subway station so that she could make it back to the Bronx in time."Almost there," she panted into the pho
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