New proposal

Raleigh pov

“Congratulations!” Mo screamed, confetti rained in the air as I stepped into our apartment minutes past five pm on the day that should have been the best day of my life but turned out to be a complete shit show. All thanks to Mikel Summers. She must have registered the look on my face because her smile immediately died off. “Oh no, you didn’t get it. You know what, fuck that job, fuck Mr. Dunner, how could they not see how hard you’ve worked. You should totally sue them. That’d teach them to be unjust assholes.” She growled.

I laughed at her fearsome expression. She really was my biggest champion. “Whoa, whoa, put your brakes on. Yes, I didn’t get the promotion, but it has nothing to do with justice.” “You had better not be about to defend whatever made them pass you by.” “I’m not.

Can you just let me talk?” I asked in exasperation. “Well, we’re not letting my effort go to waste, that’s for sure.” She said, “Let’s gorge on chocolate cake while you tell me.” “Have I told you recently that you’re my favorite cousin?” I groaned. She snorted. “No, but I heard you telling Eli he’s your favorite three days ago. I won’t believe a word from your lying mouth.” I laughed.

“Don’t eavesdrop on my calls.” We sat around the kitchen island and I caught her up to date on what had gone down in the office. “That sneaky, evil, conniving thing.” She hissed.

“I can’t believe Mikel of all people thinks he’s better than you. Jason, I’d totally understand, but Mikel? That bottom feeder? Never.” I nodded in support, shoveling delicious chocolate cake into my mouth. “I cannot wait for you to win this thing and make him cry. Oh my God.” She threw her head back and laughed.

“It's not even a competition. I honestly feel sorry for him.” “Imayhaveagreedthatanybodywholostgottoleavethecompany.” I said in one breath, muffled by the food in my mouth. She cocked her head at me, brown eyes flashing.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but did I just hear you say that you made a deal, as in, you willingly made an agreement with Mikel Summers that the loser of this thing will have to lose the company?” She screeched.

“You just said that it’s not even a competition!” I cried out accusingly. “You can either trust me or not. There’s no in between.” “There’s an in between for girls who make moronic deals with the devil. What were you even thinking?” She asked. 

“But-“ “I know what I said.” She snapped. “I still stand on that, but this illegal upping of the stakes – wait- Dunner doesn’t know about this, does he?” “No.” “People do terrible things when they are desperate, Leigh. You of all people should know this.” She said,

“You’ve just turned this into a normal, innocent office battle to a full out bloody war. I wouldn’t be surprised if Mikel has spread word that you have Ebola so no one would want to come ten feet close to you.”I sighed. “It’s alright, I’m going to win this thing. Have some faith in me.” “I do.” She sighed.

“It's Mikel I have no trust whatsoever in.” “Well, in any case, we are getting ahead of ourselves. What company is even going to let me turn them into my little pet project?” I groaned. “I spent all day trying to find one and got about a million rejections. What the hell am I going to do?”

“If only we knew some super successful head of some company.” Mo said. There was a pause. “Wait! I do.” I looked up at her with raised brows. “You do?” “Did I ever tell you the story of the most humiliating one night stand experience of my life?” She asked. “Something about a mix up, apples and a blindfold?” I asked. “That one?” She made a face.

“Even thinking about it now, all these years later makes me cringe.”“What does your one night stand have to do with my situation?” “Well, we still kinda keep in touch.” To say I was lost was an understatement. Mo had a habit of beating around the bush, but this took the price.

“His name is Mason Law and he’s the co-owner of Sprocks.” She finally said. My mouth dropped open. Sprocks was one of the biggest if not the biggest tech companies right now. They had seemingly risen out of the dust to overthrow long standing companies by leaps and bounds.

The two owners had begun designing their first app from their high school days and finally sold it during college for millions of dollars. It had been all uphill for them since then. “You can get me into Sprocks?” I asked. If I wanted to win this thing, there was literally no other company better than that to get into. Just the name alone would grant me the impressive factor.

Since their onset into silicon valley, nobody had yet been able to get an interview with the elusive owners. Everything the general public knew about them right now was just rumors and gossip. “I can try.” She grinned.

“But Mason kinda owes me one so this is sort of a done deal.” I jumped out of my stool to fling my hands around her smaller frame with an excited scream. “You are simply amazing.” “I know, I know.” She gasped as I squeezed her tight in my arms.

On Monday morning, I walked into the twenty fifth floor of the building that was home to the Sprocks company. I was in a dark green, polka dot shirt tucked into a black form fitting skirt and three inch, black heels, Professional but relaxed.

The last thing I wanted was to give the impression of an infiltrator. I wanted to blend in to the point that everybody would kinda just forget I was here and I wouldn’t severely interrupt their process. “Good morning.” I smiled at the woman at the front desk. “I’m here to see Mason Law.” “Good morning. Hold on, please.” She picked up the desk phone. “What’s your name?”“Raleigh Maverick.” She nodded before speaking into the phone. “A miss Maverick for you… Alright.” She hung up, then smiled at me.

“You can go on in. His office is at the end of the floor.” “Thank you.” I walked into the office and froze. It wasn’t what I had been expecting. Suited men and women were nowhere to be seen. Was this dress down day or what? Most people were in jeans and t-shirts, others had on sweatpants. Only very few people were properly dressed for the office.

I looked down at myself in horror. “Shit.” I muttered to myself. I couldn’t stand out more if I had actively tried. Stealing my spine, I crossed the floor. Some curious glances followed me all the way to Mason’s office. His office would have been impossible to miss.

A plague in front of the door announced his location. I knocked.“If it’s Raleigh, come on in, if it’s Mark, I never want to see you again.” He called out. Frowning, I opened the door and stepped into… Absolute chaos. It looked like a mini hurricane had happened here. Books strewn about, several computers arranged on one corner, wires streaming about.

I carefully picked my way through them till I was standing in front of Mason’s desk. He looked up at me, green eyes studying me intently. Then he stood up, rounded the table and to my surprise, wrapped me in a big, bear hug.

Mason was extremely handsome. At five feet eight plus my three inch heels, I wasn’t a small woman, but Mason towered over me with about four inches. He had long blond hair, and dark green eyes. He looked like a Viking. Well, if Vikings wore cargo shorts and T-shirts that is. “Is today costume day?” I asked when he pulled away. He threw his head back and laughed. “No. We just like to be comfortable when we work.

Plus the weather is like a million degrees.”“Oh.” “Everybody would prefer to be at home in their pajamas if they didn’t have to go out and make a living. Well, why not bring that vibe to the office, hmm?” He asked. “That honestly sounds amazing.” I admitted.

He flashed me a grin that I was sure had made hundreds of women swoon. I was proud to say that it did nothing for me. Mason wasn’t anywhere close to Mo’s type. She preferred her men to be more corporate and serious. I was the one who enjoyed the beach grunge, relaxed vibes in my men. It was a surprise then that Mason did nothing for me. I was glad about that.

I didn’t want to be attracted to my new quasi-boss. That would create complications I didn’t want at all. “C’mon, let’s go meet everyone.” He walked past me and out of the office. I followed after him.

“Everyone, this is Raleigh, she’s a journalist, the good kind. She’s here to discover our secrets including why we wear sweatpants to work. Be nice to her.” He said before leaving me standing before several pairs of curious eyes.

“H-hey.” I said nervously. “What shade of lipstick is that? I’ve been experimenting with new makeup products and I think that that color and texture is divine.” Someone said, I turned to see a brunette grinning at me. “I’ll send you the link to the website. It’s thirty dollars. Expensive as fuck but so worth it. I don’t even need to blot it after application.” I replied.

“I’m Raleigh, please, call me Leigh.” “I’m Kenzie.” She said, It was like a dam bursting open, everybody came to introduce themselves. Everyone was so nice, welcoming and cheerful. I was so glad I had gotten this opportunity and I knew these two weeks were going to be amazing. “The magic happens downstairs.” Kenzie informed me as she led me to an empty desk.

“We call them the bats. They live in perpetual darkness and I once tried to open a window and nearly died from my efforts.” I laughed as I settled into my seat. It was a little bit apart from the rest of the desks, closer to another office with one way glass walls and door. “Whose office is that? I feel weird sitting all the way out here.” Whoever was in there was just going to be staring straight at me whenever they looked up. “That’s Mr. Hunt’s office.” She said, face screwing up.

Before she could say more, Mark walked up to us with a stack of documents and dropped them in front of me. “What are those?” Kenzie asked. “Non Disclosure Agreement.” He stated. “If she’s going to be very much around, like in meetings with the boss and all, there are some things she’s going to see or hear that aren’t meant for the public. The bosses will have the final right to go through your written work and be able to remove information they think is vital and delicate. Is that okay with you?” “Of course.” I said quickly. I had expected it, obviously. It was only fair though.

I immediately signed my name on all the indicated dotted lines. When I looked up, Mark and Kenzie were staring at me in horror. “What?” “Did you just sign four pages of documents without even going through it or having your lawyer go through it?” Mark asked. “I trust you all.” I grinned. “And it’s a sign that I’m beginning this business relationship with utmost transparency as I hope you are too.”

“Mr. Hunt is going to hate her.” Mark said. “Don’t I know it.” Kenzie eyed me curiously. “Who’s that? Who’s Mr. Hunt?” Kenzie chuckled. “Oh, sweetie. There are just some things you have to find out on your own. But don’t be scared, there’s no one in there right now.” She pointed at the office.

“Welcome to Sprockets.” “Thank you.” I said. This was already turning out to be so exciting.