CHAPTER 7: First Day

Monday arrived like an uninvited guest,

slipping in without warning. Penny didn’t know whether to feel happy about that… or not.

But guess who was absolutely thrilled and screaming?

Oh yes. You already know.

“PENELOPEEEEEEEE!!”

Penny sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“PENNYYYYY!”

The shriek grew louder, inching closer and closer until Penny briefly considered jumping out of her window.

Then the door banged open. A bouncing Demetria appeared.

“UP NOW! YOU HAVE WORK TO DOOO!”

Penelope slowly sat up, her expression blank and exhausted.

“Demi… it’s seven in the morning. Our neighbors are going to think we’ve adopted a wild animal.”

“Well, who cares about them? Today is a bright day!”

“Every day is bright for you,” Penelope muttered, massaging her temples.

Demetria startled her by jumping onto the bed, grinning like she had just won the lottery.

“That’s because you have me in your life and I have you!”

Penelope laughed softly.

Truly, she couldn’t imagine her life without Demetria. Her rock, her chaos, her constant.

“Alright, alright. Let’s get ready.”

“Yay!”

An hour later, Penny stood in front of the mirror, fully dressed.

She smiled at her reflection, a little surprised. Sometimes, she forgot how pretty she was.

Her wavy, shoulder-length hair was pinned at both sides, framing her oval face and drawing attention to her blue eyes.

“You know, you have very good contrasts.”

The memory rushed back in uninvited. It was her former boss.

Her lashes fluttered in confusion. “Contrast?”

“Yeah.” He had smiled sweetly, though something about it always made her uneasy. “Your raven-black hair against your porcelain skin makes you look like a painting. And then your eyes… they sparkle.”

Penelope forced a polite smile, “Thank you, sir.”

His expression softened, “No, call me Frederick.”

Weeks later, his wife fired her for “seducing” him.

Penelope exhaled, her gaze dimming as she stared at her reflection.

He had been the one making advances.

Shaking off the memory, she glanced down at her outfit. Demetria had picked it out, of course. A chic navy-blue midi pencil skirt paired with a lighter blue blouse and modest heels. At 5'8", she had never been a fan of towering shoes.

Satisfied, she grabbed her bag, blew a playful kiss at her reflection, and hurried out.

Demetria waved enthusiastically as she flagged down a cab.

“Bye! Break some sesamoid bones!”

Penny blinked, then laughed, “Bye!”

Forty minutes later, she had arrived at the grand company. Penelope felt a cold sweat prickle her hairline. She was back here…again. And would continue to be back…for a long period of time.

Sighing, she got down from the cab and approached Dawnat with nerves and pinches.

On her way, she greeted some fellow staff and they returned, smiling kindly at her. That calmed down her nerves a bit.

On reaching the office space she would be working in, shared with two other staff, she bit her lip in apprehension.

“Hello, Good morning,” she greeted them and two heads snapped up, staring at her like she was a raccoon in the room of snakes.

But the man smiled, while the woman just eyed her and went back to her work. Penelope’s brows furrowed. Rude much now?

“Good morning. You must be the new junior,” Penny's eyes went back to the man and she smiled, whilst nodding.

“Yes. I'm Penelope Adams.”

He stood up and offered her a handshake.

“Wilson Moriarty,” he said and Penny shook his hand, “Here is your seat. Welcome to Dawnat.”

Her eyes glanced at the seat beside him and she smiled, “Thank you.”

The woman at the other end didn't bother talking to her and so, she didn’t bother striking a conversation.

“Don't mind her,” she felt Wilson whisper to her as she sat down and her eyes went to him, “ She's just a bit asocial.”

Penelope nodded slowly with a stiff smile, “That's okay.”

“Her name is Diane Bell by the way.”

Penelope nodded again, facing her desktop. This was it. Welcome to Dawnat fully.

It didn't take long before a man opened the door and walked in. Penelope's eyes flicked upwards immediately and the man's eyes locked with hers.

He stared at her for a minute, before going back to what he came for.

“Boss has asked all staff to be present in his office. He's giving you all fifteen minutes.”

Wilson frowned, “Did he say why?” Penelope stared at him. She guessed meetings like that weren't very much common.

“That's all the information he relayed to me. So chop chop.”

He turned but before he left, his eyes lingered on Penelope again and when she raised a brow at him, he shook his head with a sheepish smile, walking out.

“I guess we have to start going,” he sighed, looking over to Penelope and she gave him a tight smile, not knowing what else to say.

Moments later, she stood in the back of a crowded elevator, pressed between a chatty intern and a man in a sharp charcoal suit who smelled faintly of expensive cologne. She kept her eyes glued to the floor, tracing the floor with her heels.

“Are you nervous?” She heard Wilson ask her and she looked up at him.

And then she shook her head with a smile, “No…not really.”

“You don't have to be. He's nice,” Wilson said to her like a gentleman and she nodded. Of course.

Before she could face ahead, she felt stares coming from behind her and when she turned, she caught Diane glaring at her.

She turned back immediately, blinking. O…Kay.

The elevator doors finally opened, and the group spilled into a vast, glass-walled auditorium that seemed to hang over the Birmingham skyline like a crown. The morning sun was aggressive, glinting off the polished chrome accents of the room.

"I heard he’s a total recluse," the intern whispered to the man beside him, but she heard it loud and clear, "Spent the last six years in London and Dubai. This is his first meeting with us back on American soil."

Penelope’s breath hitched. Six years. He had not been around for six fucking years?! Since she had Shirley…

Her eyes darted around. What?

She looked over to Wilson and he smiled at her, “Boss has been away on travels. But, they're just exaggerating. He sometimes comes for visits, but this is the first time in six years he's called for a total staff meeting.”

Penelope's lips pursed. It was the same thing….

A heavy silence fell over the room as the side doors opened. A phalanx of assistants and executives marched in, but they were merely the heralds. Then, he stepped through.

The air didn't just leave the room; it felt like it had been sucked out by a vacuum.

Penelope's heart did a backflip.

Seeing him from this distance, he was taller than she remembered. Or perhaps it was just the way he carried himself now – with the absolute, terrifying confidence of a man who owned the horizon.

His suit was midnight navy, tailored so perfectly it looked like armor. Her blue eyes drifted to her navy skirt and color rose to her cheeks.

His hair was shorter, styled with a ruthless precision, but that jawline, so sharp and intent, made Penelope wonder why God created some people more beautiful than others.

Calvin Dawson. The man who had totally twisted her life.

Penelope’s knees went weak. She grabbed the edge of a high-top table to keep from collapsing. The "moderate life" she had spent six years building felt like a house of cards in a hurricane. All because of this man.

"Welcome," he said. His voice was a deep, resonant baritone that vibrated in Penelope’s very marrow. She ducked her head, hiding behind the shoulder of a tall man in front of her, her heart hammering a frantic, panicked rhythm against her ribs.

Please don't look this way, she begged within her.

Wilson noticed her uneasiness and mistook it for nervousness. He immediately placed a hand on her shoulder and Penelope's heart jumped as her eyes snapped to his.

He gently smiled at her and she returned it…faintly.

She should really bolt from here.