“Wha-”
“They broke up,” Rebecca interrupted, excitement radiating from her as she rubbed her palms together. Immediately all activity ceased and a variety of responses flooded the small room.
“Are you kidding me?”
“Damnit.”
“No, come on.”
“Yes!”
A couple of them rushed out of the breakroom. I assumed it was to inform their fellow colleagues about the results of their betting pool.
“I don’t suppose you could try to talk some sense into him to hold off on the breakup, can you?” Roger, another HR specialist, pleaded.
“No way! What’s done is done. And you have to pay up, buddy.”
“Hey, Penny,” another male coworker—Thomas, a small-time empath who had just transferred from the London branch—greeted, before swinging an arm around my shoulder, pulling me close. My cheeks ignited at the invasion of my personal space. “Ol’ buddy, ol’ pal. Help me out.”
From what I knew of him, he was harmless and I wasn’t even the right gender for him to hold any sexual interest in so he didn’t have to lose that arm just yet. “O-okay…”
“Who do you think he’s going to get with next?”
“Ah, ah, ah,” Rebecca scolded, rounding on the man, “That would be cheating. Kinda like insider trading and all that. Not allowed.”
His offending arm slipped from its place around me, thank God, and he pouted, “Fine. Whatever.”
“And besides, you shouldn’t harass women, Thom.”
“Um no harm, no foul,” I replied, waving it off. With that, he turned his attention elsewhere and I took the chance to implore with Rebecca once more since she was in high spirits. “So, about getting that replacement…”
She eyed me before huffing, “I guess I could have a word with Acquisitions about hiring someone to take over Sue’s old spot. It’s been empty for what, a month now?”
I nodded in confirmation. “Yeah, just about.”
“I’ll see what I can do. No promises.”
TWO
Swallowing my rising anger, I deliberately clenched and unclenched my fist, willing the flames that consumed my every thought to calm, before returning my attention to the woman on the phone. Thank God everything on my desk was fireproof because otherwise I would have burned it all to ash and then some by now.
"I apologize again Miss Palmer, but Mr. Abbott-Sief is extremely busy at the moment and unable to take your call. I can forward any-"
At the dead air, I placed the phone back in its cradle. Letting out a deep breath I found myself relieved to finally be off the phone. I dreaded taking these calls. I definitely didn't look forward to the upcoming weeks if he held to pattern—he had already ghosted her so next would be him being photographed around town with some other woman on his arm. It usually didn’t take him too long to find someone else.
I was definitely hoping that Rebecca was successful with Acquisions to get the assistant position filled to help field his calls because fuck this shit. I was fed up with being on the forefront of the battlefield when it came to his love life.
Thankfully it was quitting time. I was definitely going to take him up on his offer to leave early and get some much needed rest. Shutting off my desktop and forwarding any calls to the COOs secretary, I briefly knocked on Vincent’s office door, clutching my purse under my arm.
“Come on in, Penny.”
Circumnavigating around the door, I stepped inside his office and strode inside the room, coming to a standstill in front of his desk. “Sir, I’ve finished my work and if the offer is still available, I was planning on leaving for the day.”
He nodded in agreement, shaggy dark hair shifting ever so slightly with the movement, as he peered over his paperwork. “Right, right. Well, if everything is done for the day, you can go ahead and go.”
“Thank you, Sir.”
“It’s no trouble, Penny.” However, before I could reach the door, his voice called out, “Actually, wait.”
I glanced back towards him over my shoulder. Please don’t tell me he changed his mind. I was actually looking forward to the free time. “Sir?”
“I’ll walk you down since I’m just about finished here myself.”
I paled.
No, no, no.
I just wanted to get away from this man and the things he makes me feel that I, frankly, just don’t want to deal with and get home so I could stream some movies and catch up on my shows. I waved his offer off, grasping the handle of his door, “Oh, that’s not at all necessary, Sir.”
“Nonsense. It’s fine, just have a seat.”
I seriously contemplated just leaving, thinking to hell with it. But… I found myself shuffling towards his couch, following his command. Because for some reason, my heart had just decided to commandeer my body.
“Yes, sir.”
It didn’t take him long to wrap up what he had been doing and before I knew it, he was shepherding me out of his office and toward the elevator.
“So, how was your day, Penny?”
I placed as much distance between Vincent and myself as the small space allowed, but it only backfired against me when he came to stand beside me. “It was fine for the most part. Though there is a meeting on your schedule for tomorrow morning.”
“Oh?”
“Yes, it’s with Jacqueline Gomez, she’s from the accounting department.”
“Any idea what it might be about?” He mused, his arm brushing against mine with the briefest of contact as we rode down the elevator together.
I shook my head, “She just said it was important when she came by my office about an hour ago, but you were busy.”
“Ah, okay.” To be honest, I was a bit curious as to what she might need to see him for. After all, most entry level employees had very little reason to seek out the CEO of a billion dollar industry. And for her to just jump the chain of command… well, it had me concerned. Part of me wondered if it could pertain to my primary mission with the Agency and whether or not I should be a fly on the wall for the meeting.
It didn’t help that the arrangement with Johanna didn’t include her son. Since she sought us out, we were still trying to rule out people of interest that might be in connection with the discrepancies that she brought up to us. While money laundering was still illegal, it didn’t quite warrant as much attention as potential exposure of our world would. Hence why the Agency only sent two agents into the foray. Though, Jasper was already on, working for the Agency, when I arrived. I was the only one that Johanna knew about.
Now, while Vincent wasn’t working for NATURALIST, Inc. at the time she came to us, we couldn’t be quite certain that he would be able to keep the investigation to himself. After all, he could let something slip to the wrong per-
“Penny! Earth to Penny?”
Vincent’s hand waved in my face, causing me to flinch back in surprise. A look of amusement etched in his face. I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks as embarrassment flooded through me.
“Sorry.”
He waved off my apology, “It’s fine. Must have been something serious for you to not even notice that we’ve made it to the lobby.”
“Oh, um…” I cleared my throat, “Yeah. I was thinking about what I was going to do with my free afternoon.”
“Well, it didn’t look pleasant from the look on your face,” he mused as we passed by the daytime security guard—Lance, a bear shifter and medium level threat.
“Well, thank you for your concern, Sir,” I replied, brushing past Vincent as he held the door open for me.
He heaved a sigh as he followed me out, “I really wish you’d stop calling me that, Penny.”
Ah, this again. It had been some time since he brought up my formal title use for him. With a small smile, I replied, “Well, unfortunately Sir, I feel that it would be rather unprofessional of me to use your first name.”
We reached my modest ‘04 Ford Focus, Vincent muttering, “Won’t you give m
e an inch, Penny?”
I snorted. “And let you take a mile? Never.”
* * *
While I was employed by the Agency, it was under the guise as an employee for NATURALIST, Inc. That meant looking the part of a secretary for a powerful CEO even if the fashion of it was unyielding and stiff. Which was a liability in a fight. Give me leggings and an oversized shirt anyday.
And while I might be curvy, that didn’t mean I didn’t take my role as an agent any less serious. I still ran four miles every other day and went to the gym five days out of the week. Of course, I didn’t use the company gym because I didn’t need that kind of attention my presence and workout routine would draw.
As soon as I was in the safety of my own apartment, I began shedding my work persona (and clothing) to change into something much more comfortable.
Myself.
I was in the midst of shimmying out of my pencil skirt and into a pair of jeans when my phone rang. Checking the caller ID, I frowned before answering immediately.
"Hello?"
"Miss Hughes?"
“Yes, this is she,” I answered, cradling the phone as I stepped out of the tight black skirt, grabbing my yoga pants off of my bed before making quick work of them, shimmying them up over my hips.
“I’m so glad to get ahold of you, I saw that you called about making a visit later this week.”
“Yes.”
“Yes, about that… I’m not so sure that would be a good idea,” my fingers stilled in the process of undoing the green blouse.
“Is she okay?” I demanded, my voice taking on a hard edge. I put in a lot of thought before choosing a nursing home for my mother. I’ll be damned if I found out there was abuse running rampant. There would be hell to pay.
“Yes, yes. She’s just having one of her bad days. Has been for a couple of days now and it doesn’t appear to be letting up.”
“I see.” Though, I really didn’t. Honestly, it felt like they weren’t wanting any visits because this wasn’t the first time I’d been warned off on coming by as much as I had. Heaving a sigh, I replied, “Well, then I’ll just stick with my normal visit date.”
“I do apologize.”
“It’s not your fault she has Alzhimers. Thanks for letting me know.” When she was finally off the phone, I plopped down on my bed, shoulders sagging. I was going to have to look into them again and see if something was up. My gut told me there was something wrong, and I couldn’t ignore it. Sighing again, I finished getting changed into my workout clothes.
Time to burn off some steam.
THREE
Vincent
Before I could open the door of my Bugatti and head home, I could hear someone rushing towards me. Being a shifter enhanced a lot of my senses, hearing and scent especially. I could tell immediately that it was Sam, my mother’s secretary, just from the scent alone.
“Mr. Abbott-Seif!” He called, across the lot as he raced for me.
Shoving my hands in my pockets, I turned and headed to meet him halfway. From the urgency in his voice, I hoped nothing went haywire since I stepped out. I mean, seriously, I just left.
“Everything okay?” I inquired with a frown as he bent over, trying to catch his breath. He was getting up in age and as such, wasn’t as he once used to be. He should have known better than to run like that.
He waved my concern off, panting, “Sorry sir, your mother was wanting to see you before you left for the day.”
“Well, she didn’t have to send you running. Why didn’t she just call me?”
He coughed, not looking me in the eye as he murmured, “Um… she did, sir.”
Frowning, I pulled my phone out of my pocket, realizing that I did indeed have several missed calls from my mother though the bulk of them came from Melanie. Ugh. Why I hadn’t already blocked her number, I didn’t know.
No, that was wrong. I knew why. It was so I could make sure she wasn’t aiming her crazy at me. We’d been broken up for a couple of months now and she still couldn’t get over it. At least notifications from her were set to ignore.
I rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly, “Oh, it’s still silent from this morning's meeting. Sorry about that.”
Sam shook his head. “It’s my job sir.”
“Still. Well, I’ll head on up. Take a moment to catch your breath, Sam,” I instructed him, clasping a hand on his shoulder.
“Thank you, sir.”
“It’s no problem.” I made my way back through the lobby, Lance waving me back through without issue. I’m sure that Sam must have inquired where I was and he probably heard all about it. It didn’t take all that long for me to reach my mother's office, I even got in a hello or two as I passed by some occupied cubicles. Anyone loitering made themselves scarce as I neared, much to my amusement.
Self preservation at its finest.
I didn’t bother knocking on her heavy oak door since she was expecting me, letting myself in without issue. “Mom.”
She glanced up from her paperwork, glasses perched on her nose precariously. “Oh good, Sam caught up to you I see.”
“Yeah.” I strode over to the couch, plopping down without much care, sprawling out. She stood from behind her desk, removing the glasses from her nose as she eyeballed me, her gaze narrowing.
“What’s wrong with your phone?” She asked, treading around the desk with ease.
I shrugged nonchalantly. “It was on silent. Sorry about that. You needed me?”
She leaned back against her desk, her arms crossed. “Yes, but before we get into that, how was your meeting?”
I shrugged, muttering, “It went fine.”
“That’s good to hear.”
“I guess.” Clearing my throat and changing the subject, I asked, “So, what’s up?”
She cleared her throat delicately before starting. “So, I hear you broke up with that Melanie girl.”
I sighed, leaning forward with my hands clasped together, my arms resting on my knees. “News of my love life sure does get around here fast.”
Because of course it does.
And I knew just who to blame.
Penny.
“What did you expect? Privacy?” She laughed, her eyes crinkling with mirth. “You should know better by now.”
Honestly, she wasn’t wrong.
I knew about the betting pool that HR had on my love life. Though, they were wrong about the dates this time, but who was I to correct them?
“True, I guess.” I stood, smiling as I walked around the perimeter of the room, glancing at the knick knacks she had accumulated throughout the years. “You sure you can’t step back into the role of CEO?”
She snorted, shaking her head, “No, thank you. I had to endure it for thirty years, son. It’s your turn to take up the mantle.” Coming to stand beside me at the window, she added, “And besides, if I stayed on too much longer, the humans would have begun to talk about how ‘ageless’ I am. And we don’t need that exposure, nor the Agency knocking on our doors for the carelessness.”
I nodded in agreement. It wouldn’t do to catch the attention of the Agency. Having them breathing down our necks would be a major pain in the ass—not anything I wanted to deal with. “Yeah, you’re right.”
“Well, of course I am. I’m your mother.” She clasped my shoulder, squeezing briefly before walking back to her desk. “Now, as for why I called you here.”
“Mmm.” I watched her move through her reflection, returning to her seat at the desk.
“It’s about the Gala, tomorrow night.”
Of course it was.
I should have seen this coming. Ugh.
“What about it?”
“You’re going to need a date.” I had suspected that’s what she was going to bring up, hoped she wouldn’t but suspected all the same. Damn this meddlesome woman that birthed me. “I’m going to safely assume that Melanie is off the table.”
I frowned.
It was most definitely over, regardless of the n
umber of calls and voicemails she’d left me. I’d told that woman as much when she had the audacity to show up at my house a couple of months ago smelling of another man and sex that it was over and to never contact me again. I had no intentions of forgiving her in this lifetime or the next.
“Yeah.” Shrugging, I turned from the view of the city and replied, “Though why you think I have to have a date is beyond me.”
Hell, maybe I didn’t even want to attend now. Though, I knew not attending was completely out of the question. After all, the specs would be great for NATURALIST, Inc. and me. Not to mention, it wouldn’t do to forgo donating to charity just because of something as minor as a breakup. It also didn’t help that we were hosting the Gala in our building.
“You’re going and you’ll have a date.” The dark look she threw me said that this wasn’t up for debate or discussion. “Did you have someone else in mind?”
I resigned myself to my fate, and shook my head, “No.”
“Well, you’re going to need to find someone, and fast,” she informed me. The or else was implied.
“I could just go by myself,” I muttered.
Growling, she retorted, “Don’t push it. You know it’ll look better for the optics if you have a date.”
I threw my hands up in exasperation, “Fine. Though, how you think I’ll find someone acceptable in such a short time frame is beyond me.”
“You could just apologize to Melanie.” I froze at the suggestion. And without realizing it, began growling deep in my throat.
“That will never happen.”
At the venom dripping from my voice, she frowned, eyeing me briefly before asking, “... What happened?”
Undercover Secretary (Supernatural Society Book 1) Page 2
