5: 3000 dollars never came this easy

Riley’s POV

“Ha!” Jax muttered as I passed his office by, “you’re finally here. Bet you think the world revolves around you.”

Stopping in my tracks, I opened his door and entered. "Here's your coffee,” I said through gritted teeth."The one you texted about five minutes before I walked through the damn door."

He laughed, leaning into his rolling chair. “By now you ought to know I'll need coffee if I’m coming to work. It should be default settings in your brain by now.”

I sighed lowly, not in the mood to exchange words this morning. “I’ll note that.” I said tightening my lips into a fake smile.

“Good then.”

“Alright boss.” I turned and started walking towards the door.

“There’s a lot of work here for you to do.” He called out and I back around to see him holding a pile of folders above 6 inches.

“What exactly is that?” I asked, eyeing the folders.

“It's your work for today sweetheart.” He smirked, “that’s if of course you’re now ready to work rather than spending your work hours having breakfast with random people.”

I blinked, my lashes fluttering against my cheeks. “Excuse me?”

Was he kidding me right now? He was right there when Leo had taken me out and he didn’t oppose to it. Why was he suddenly acting like a jerk now?

He looked up to meet my eyes, his expression cold. “I thought maybe I have to ask for your schedule rather than you asking for mine.”

So, we were really doing this huh?

“Alright then,” I ignored him, moving nearer to the table and picking up the files. “I’ll get them handed over to you once I’m done.”

“Not so fast sweetheart.” He smiled, “I need you to go through them first. Have a look at the work ‘cuz I'll be needing them in a few hours. I’m stepping out soon and I won’t be available for any of your questions. So, have a seat and go through them.” He gestured to the chair opposite him and I sat down.

I dropped the folders in front of me and picked up the first one, my fingers flipping through the documents. There was so much work to do from just the folder alone. I had to do press coordination, which meant I had to arrange meetings, get important journalists and bloggers on board.

I sighed and picked up the next one and it was even crazier. He wanted me to prepare a 60-day meal plan for him that was low fat, low carb with purely organic products.

I picked the next folder, the thickest of all and it was about a sponsorship deal he was about to sign. I was to read and review the contract so he didn’t sign any bad terms.

“How am I supposed to draft a proposal for this deal,  review your contracts, make a meal plan and plan a press meeting all in a few hours?”

“I don’t know how, you’re the assistant, you should know which tools will help you do your job the fastest and easiest.”

I rolled my eyes, “is this because I had breakfast with Leo Carter?” 

“So, you do know what you did wrong?” 

“You know,” I muttered, “most people are capable of talking when something doesn’t go well with them. There's absolutely no reason for you to punish me when you could’ve simply stopped me from going.”

“Stop you?” he laughed cruelly, his chest bobbing. “Have you ever sat down to read the terms of your contract?” he leaned back, eyeing me with disgust in his eyes. “Or you never read it? Because if you did surely you would’ve come across the line that said you must be working during work hours. Your work starts by 4am and ends by 4pm, so tell me why you went out when you were on work duty?”

I shook my head and stood up, tired of his nonsense. “If you had a problem with me going then you should’ve just said so.” I snapped, anger boiling hot in my veins. “You said nothing to me or Leo while we were going, but suddenly you want to act like a jerk because Leo had the audacity to buy me a croissant."

A flick of anger flashed across his eyes, he stood slowly, his eyes locked on me with a dangerous emotion. The shift in the air was immediate. He stalked toward me and I backed away until my buttocks hit his desk.

He smirked, resting his hands on both sides of me as he leaned forward. "Let’s talk about what has actually happened in the last three days, shall we?" he asked, his voice low and controlling.

Oh no.

"One: you brought me a caramel macchiato. I drink black coffee."

I opened my mouth, but he held up a finger to keep me shut.

"Two: you accidentally scheduled me for an unplanned PR disaster that I’m still cleaning up."

My cheeks burned.

"Three: you left the facility during work hours without my permission."

I looked away. Okay, maybe the first two were fair.

"You want to keep playing smart mouth with me Riley? Go ahead. But I’ll fire you so fast, you won’t even have time to book another breakfast date."

My throat tightened, and I nodded stiffly. "Understood."

He walked back to his desk, grabbing his phone. He gestured for me to get out and I did.

My fists clenched beside me as I walked out of his office. Everything was annoying, the way he talked, the things he said. Fuck, I just wanted to quit this job and get it over with, but then vanessa and I really needed this money. 

I stared at the mountain of folders on my desk like they were plotting against me. Actually, they were. At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if one of them suddenly grew legs and kicked me in my groin.

I had exactly six hours to finish coordinating a press roundtable, outline a sixty-day meal plan that didn’t involve carbs, gluten, dairy, or JOY and review a contract so thick it could double as a murder weapon. Meanwhile, Jax had waltzed out like he didn’t just dump a week's worth of work in my lap because I had dared to eat breakfast without massaging his ego.

I took a deep breath and flipped open the first folder. Press coordination. Easy… right?

An hour in, I’d only managed to reach three people. One of them was on vacation, another refused to work with Jax again (“He ghosted me mid-interview,” she’d said), and the third spent twenty minutes telling me about her dog’s gluten allergy.

I slammed the phone down and buried my face in my arms.

"One month, Riley. You just have to survive one month," I muttered into the table.

The meal plan came next. That was fun. According to the notes Jax had scribbled in the margins, he wanted “lean,” “clean,” and “zero flavor.” I googled “meals for emotionally unavailable tennis players,” but G****e failed me. Cowards.

Eventually, I settled on something boring and repetitive—grilled salmon, quinoa, and steamed vegetables. Every day. Forever. HE DESERVED IT.

By the time the office clock struck 3 p.m., I’d barely made a dent in the contract review. The legalese alone made my head hurt. There were entire paragraphs I read five times and still didn’t understand. Why was this man signing away the rights to use his “likeness” in perpetuity? What even was a likeness? His face? His left elbow?

At 5PM, I packed up what I could carry, shoved the rest of the documents into a tote bag, and dragged myself home like a zombie with a mortgage. The moment I stepped into my apartment, I kicked off my shoes and collapsed onto the floor, staring at the ceiling.

Why was I doing this again?

Oh, right. Rent. Groceries. Bills. Vanessa’s impulsive Bali trip that left me stuck in this hellhole job.

The tote bag stared at me from the coffee table like judgmental little demons. I groaned, rolled over, and dragged them onto my lap.

Two hours later, I was still working. My laptop was on 7%, my eyes were burning, and my dinner was an expired granola bar I found in the bottom of my purse.

Vanessa would’ve quit by now. No, scratch that—Vanessa would’ve faked a fainting spell, uploaded it to I*******m, and gotten a sponsored IV drip out of it.

I was halfway through trying to compare protein powder brands when my phone buzzed with a new message from Satan himself.

JAX: You finished that contract?

I stared at the message, my eyelid twitching.

ME: Almost.

JAX: Good. Because I need it first thing in the morning. Also, dinner. Black tie. Be ready by 8.

ME: I’m off the clock.

JAX: $2,000 if you show up looking decent.

I stared at the screen.

ME: Not interested.

JAX: 3000 dollars. Last offer.

ME: So, I’m your paid arm candy now?

His reply came instantly.

JAX: Is that a yes?

ME: yes

JAX: So, you do have a price.

I rolled my eyes and just threw the phone to my counter. 

By the time 8PM rolled around, I stood in front of the mirror in a sleek, borrowed black dress that Vanessa had hidden in the back of her closet. If I was going to be earning 3000 dollars by being his hand candy, then I must look good while doing it.

My doorbell rang by 7:40 pm and I knew it was him. I walked up to the door, my waist and muscles killing me and begging for rest. I knew I needed sleep, but this ‘3000 dollars’ was too easy to pass up.

When I opened the door, his eyes roamed over me. His eyes lit up in surprise, his brows shooting upwards.

"You clean up good," he said. But it didn’t come out as a compliment, just from the shock of seeing that I had a life outside of being his assistant.

I met his gaze, my voice filled with mockery. "So do you." I said, eyeing him in annoyance.

He smirked. "Ready to earn that three grand?"

I stepped out and shut the door behind me, “yes.”