Chapter seven

Kelly P. O.V.

I walked into Hawthorne Global Group on Monday morning, and the whole floor fell silent.

All of the eyes were on me.

I fixed my blazer and continued to walk towards the elevator which opened to the executive floor. A young lady behind the front desk shot up.

"Good morning Ms. Williams!"

"Good morning."

She would have had no idea who I was three weeks ago.

I walked into my new office, which was at the end of the corridor. It had glass walls, a leather chair, and a view of the whole city. I dropped my bag onto the desk.

Managing Director.

I have worked for this position for the past eight years. All the late nights, weekends, and projects that nobody wanted.

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in."

The HR director, Mrs Collins, and a girl walked in.

A very young girl. She looked to be about twenty-two. She had long black hair, big eyes, and was wearing a pale pink dress that looked way too fragile for an office. Her heels looked like she wasn’t used to them.

"This is your new intern, Ms. Williams. She has been assigned to your department this morning," Mrs Collins said.

"I didn’t ask for an intern," I said frowning.

"Orders from above."

"From above?"

Mrs Collins gave me a very polite smile. "Her name is Ava Reed."

Ava waved. "Hey! I’m Ava. I’m super excited to be here. I’ll work super hard. Please look after me!"

Mrs Collins left.

Ava stared.

I stared back.

"Okay. Let’s start from the beginning. Can you make coffee?" I asked slowly.

"Of course I can!"

She turned towards the door and walked straight into the glass wall.

"Ow!"

I rubbed my eyes. "It’s a wall."

"It was so clean! I didn't notice," she said and moved on.

After twenty minutes I realised three things about Ava.

She had never used a coffee machine.

She believed the descale button meant extra strong.

And she could somehow cause hot water to blow everywhere.

"I’m so sorry! I’ve never seen anybody do this before," Ava said, covering the mess with a cloth.

"Nobody?"

"Nope."

"You’ve never made coffee at home?"

"We have someone that..." She trailed off. "My mum usually does."

"Your mum?"

"Yes. My Mum. She is amazing at coffee."

I sighed and took the cloth off. "Sit down and I’ll show you."

She was watching me like I was doing surgery.

I showed her how to fill the water tank, insert the pod, and press the right button. She clapped when it turned on.

"Cool!"

"It’s a coffee machine."

"Cool!"

I shook my head.

By noon Ava had:

Sent an email to the whole company titled Please Ignore.

Printed forty copies of a document I only needed ten of it.

Got lost on the 3rd floor and was found in the executive washroom, apologising to a plant.

Asked what a quarterly report was.

I was ready to cry by two o’clock.

"Ava."

She looked up from her desk where she had been staring at her screen like it was going to bite her. "Yes, boss?"

"Don’t call me boss."

"Yes, Ms. Williams."

"Just call me Kelly."

"Okay."

"Have you ever worked in an office before?"

She hesitated. "Not really."

"Not really?"

"I’ve... been around offices."

"Around?"

"Yes. I’ve been to them."

I rubbed my temples. "Who recommended you?"

"A friend of my family."

"What does your family do?"

Her eyes widened and for a second she looked like a deer caught in headlights.

"They do lots of things."

"What do they do?"

"Paperwork."

I blinked.

Same word Adrian used.

Mainly paperwork.

I shook my head. Obviously half the city did paperwork.

"Okay. From tomorrow you will start from the beginning. I’ll give you a training schedule."

Her face lit up. "You’re not going to fire me?"

"Should I?"

"Please don’t! I really need this job!"

There was something in her voice that made me look at her. She wasn’t pretending. She actually looked worried.

A flash of my memory came back to when I was twenty-two, working two jobs and terrified of messing things up.

"I won’t fire you. But you will have to work hard."

Her face lit up. "I will!"

At lunch, I walked into the cafeteria with Ava trailing behind like a lost puppy.

A few members of staff glanced over and started whispering.

"That’s her."

"She got promoted overnight."

"She was just a branch manager last month."

"I heard she slept with someone high up."

"Or married."

I remained focused and acted like I couldn’t hear.

However, Ava could.

"What are they saying?" she whispered.

"Nothing."

"They said you slept your way up."

"Ava."

"No they didn’t."

"I know. You work so hard. I’ve only been here a day and I can tell," she said frowning at the group of women at the next table.

I looked at her.

It was a small thing but it was the first time anyone had said anything nice to me since I was promoted.

"Thanks," I said softly.

She smiled. However, she knocked her juice over.

"Oh no!"

I handed her some napkins. "Just eat your food."

As we ate, I noticed she was wearing a watch.

It was a small silver watch with a very thin diamond ring around the face. At first glance it looked very plain; however, I had helped Thomas shop for his boss once and recognised expensive items.

"That’s a nice watch."

Ava pulled down her sleeve. "Oh! It’s fake."

"Fake?"

"Yes. Very fake. I bought it from a street vendor. It was very cheap."

"Hmm."

"Super cheap."

"It’s okay. You don’t need to explain."

"Okay!"

She shoved her whole sandwich in her mouth to stop talking.

I looked away to hide my smile.

Later that afternoon I was standing by my glass wall looking out over the city.

My phone buzzed.

Adrian: How’s your work going today?

I smiled. "Tiring. I got an intern who can’t use a coffee machine."

Adrian: That's bad?

Me: She broke the printer, emailed the whole company, and apologised to a plant.

Adrian: Sounds like a handful.

Me: But she’s lovely. I think she means well.

Adrian: Be patient with her.

I furrowed my brows.

Me: Why does it sound like you know her?

Adrian: I don’t. I’m just saying.

I stared at the message for a while. I shrugged and put my phone down.

I turned around and saw Ava standing at the door with a pile of files that she had somehow got in the wrong order. However, my eyes drifted past her to the corridor.

At the end of the corridor by the lift stood a woman.

Tall, in a sharp-looking suit and red lips.

I recognised her from the executive floor directory. Victoria Kane, Head of Strategic Operations.

She had been working for the company for nine years and had applied for the position of Managing Director twice.

She noticed I was looking at her and didn’t look away.

She smiled.

Not a friendly smile. I could tell from her look.