I adjusted my skirt and my hair before knocking.“Come in.” It was faint but it still commanded authority. I took a brief look around the office before settling on him. He looked larger than his desk and it almost made me laugh.“Good morning sir.” I smiled nervously. He gestured to the seat in front of him and I sat in it.“How are you?” His smile was so disarming that I felt myself loosen up.“Good sir. You wanted to see me?” He nodded and pulled out a manila envelope. I was confused but I collected it from him and pulled out its contents.It was a new contract that had been signed between Elise Industries and Marque and Co. I’d heard of Elise Industries somewhere before but I couldn’t remember when or how I’d heard of them.“Why are you showing me this?” Even if I didn’t remember Elise, contracts only existed between big shots here and I would be stupid to take such documents lightly, which was why I was surprised I was being shown the documents in the first place.It was supposed

For three days, I worked with Judy. My hair was thinly close to coming out of my scalp and it was all because of her. She barely let me breathe. I was working morning till night, going over financial records of Elise Industries from decades ago, decades when everything was filed analogically. I didn’t even bother wearing heels to work. They had my toes and back of my heels blistering. Judy would sit at the table and wait for me to bring all the files and watch me go through each one, record by record. It was amazing how quickly she spun in her chair to pretend to help me out whenever she heard the CEO was coming around. I of course remained mute. I had agreed to working out with her instead of making a formal report about unjust work conditions and it was my punishment. “How far have you gone with the records?” I looked up to find Ryan looking directly at me, as though he knew I was the one doing all the work but I looked at Judy instead. She had the habit of talking over me so thi

“I didn’t grow up rich.” He held his spoon and I couldn’t help but feel the disdain in his voice. Anyone who grew up poor and got rich could feel possible resentment for the past. I wasn’t ashamed of mine but I wasn’t too happy about it. It was the cause of many problems that I had, especially with my parents so I guess I could relate to him. “But you’re rich now.” I said, staring at half his melted strawberry ice cream. I almost laughed when he ordered it. He just didn’t seem like the kind of person you’d imagine having that as their favorite dessert. “Yeah.” His face quickly morphed into that of happiness and he sighed. “I am.” He wasn’t humble about his wealth. Did he have to be though if he struggled for it? Rising to the top of the ladder at such a young age and coming from nothing, I guess he had every right to not be. “How about you?” My spoon was halfway in my mouth. I had become relaxed after eating my strawberry cheesecake. It tasted nothing like Jared’s but I welcome

I stopped crying at some point and picked up my system. I couldn’t go to bed when Jared needed rest and I didn’t want to disturb him either. Instead, I decided to work on the files. My eyes were puffy and definitely bloodshot but I had to push through. There was too much work and I knew I wasn’t getting any sleep soon. At some point around 3:30am, I stretched my back and a crack sounded. I’d been hunched over for so long that sitting straight didn’t seem natural. I clicked on send and yawned. I actually did it. Hundreds of files and I actually did it. I should’ve felt proud of myself but I couldn’t, not when I felt this guilt within me. “Why aren’t you in bed?” My head snapped up to find Jared standing in the door way. His hair was a bird’s nest and he was bare-chested. His pants hanging low on his hips was almost a distraction if I didn’t remember that he was mad at me. “I… uh… I had work to do and you needed to rest. I didn’t want to disturb your sleep.” I closed the lid of my la

I frowned. I’d probably misheard them. I pushed the door open and I went in. “Here it is.” I tried to look at them as I opened my system for use. Judy scowled at me while Ryan seemed to not have any expression on his face. I turned my focus to finding the email I’d sent. I’d definitely misheard them. Coffee with a muddled up brain was not the best combination, surely. Surprisingly enough, the email had remained unsent in my draft. Had I been so distracted last night that I assumed I sent what I didn’t? “Oh… I’m sorry sir. I had no idea it wasn’t sent.” I massaged the bridge of my nose, feeling slightly sorry. “Are you okay?” He looked at me with concern and I gave him a tight smile. ”Yes sir.” I didn’t need a pity party. He looked at me for the longest time before finally looking away and taking a look at the file before him. After a couple minutes, he nodded his head in approval. “This is good.” He smiled at me but I didn’t need his compliments. My lips remained flat and itc