Since that first date, things escalated beautifully and quickly. They continued the coffee dates, they went to the cinema, for dinner, walks in the park, and even thirty minutes together to eat ice cream was enough to keep them both overjoyed for an entire day. Often, Amanda could almost forget she was dating a billionaire woman. But then she’d remember that when they walked in the park, there was always a bodyguard or two around. Or that time they had dinner in the most luxurious of restaurants. Or the fact that for the first two weeks Mallory always appeared in a different expensive car. However, Mallory’s gestures were thoughtful and delicate. Even though she more than easily could, she wasn’t about extravagant gestures to win Amanda’s heart. She bought her flowers; maybe just one red rose, she dropped cute little letters on Amanda’s desk; she laughed loudly at Amanda’s jokes, especially when they weren’t perfect. She didn’t suspect that she owned Amanda’s heart since the very first sight.
The best part, Amanda thought, was when she’d spend the nights at Mallory’s apartment – Mallory’s huge, very impressive apartment. The place was modern and surprisingly cozy for it. Mallory was a lover of art, but she didn’t have her walls covered by famous names, instead, she enjoyed going out and looking by herself at the paintings of local artists, besides a painting or two that she had admitted of making herself but felt weird about hanging on her own home.
“So, what movie do you want to watch?” Mallory asked as she moved to the kitchen to grab them some drinks.
Of course, Mallory stumbled with one of her own chairs.
“I don’t know, I think staring at you is way more entertaining,” Amanda laughed.
“Ha, ha, hilarious,” Mallory said as she returned to the sofa, “now answer my question, movies, or do you rather watch a TV show? You’re staying the night, right?”
Still, Amanda couldn’t just answer Mallory’s question. Turns out she meant it, when she said she could just stare at the other woman and be content. It wasn’t that Mallory ever came off as cold or distant from the world in her personality, it wasn’t intentional. But when she walked the hallways of the company, with her head held high, her combed hair shinning, her expression firm and determined, wearing tailored suits that cost more than the salary of most employees, knowing she was the owner of the ground she walked, well, there was something undoubtedly intimidating about Mallory, something almost goddess-like. However, although that was pretty distracting for Amanda, what she really found most captivating was Mallory in the comfort of her own home. Mallory without the contact lenses and wearing regular glasses that constantly slipped down her nose and she had to fix. Mallory, wearing the softest sweatpants and flannel shirts with paint stains everywhere, instead of those tight suits. Mallory with her hair turned into a soft mess and her smile honest and relaxed.
“So?” she prompted, breaking Amanda off the spell.
“A movie. And yes, I’m staying tonight.”
“Well, then, kiss me, would you?”
There was no need to ask twice. Mighty billionaire or soft painter, Mallory Langdon was Amanda’s greatest weakness, and the kisses they shared she wouldn’t change for the world.
The Langdon siblings were excellent, it seemed, at keeping Amanda on her toes. On one side, there was Mallory, with her dazzling looks and charming personality, who effortlessly took up the most space in Amanda’s mind throughout the day. On the other side, however, there was Tom, in all her irritating, inconvenient glory. Amanda was getting used to the rhythm of working for x showed up to talk to her brother. Mallory smiled and winked at Amanda as she his job, generally not working too hard. There was, though, a small change that Amanda started noticing one day.
“Mr. Langdon,” she called out from the door, peaking into the massive office in which she was finally allowed to step in briefly if necessary, and “I need you to sign this report of the production department, sir.”
“What? What’s that? Come on, bring it here,” Tom signaled her forward and hastily took the report from her hand and only scanned through it for a second or two, “I don’t think so, Miss Young. This is for my sister, you know? She’s a viper. I’m not going to do a thing for her. I’ll sign this next week, maybe.”
Amanda was thrown off by the way he spoke of his own sister. Mallory, a viper? That seemed impossible! And it was even worse when, exactly a week later, Mallory herself showed up to talk to her brother. Mallory smiled and winked at Amanda as she passed her desk, as usual. But Amanda could tell, from the tense shoulder and the force of her steps that Mallory was upset and the meeting had not been a success. Her theory was further proved correct when Tom grumpily called her into his office and started passing her a small mountain of signed papers.
“Miss Young, I need you to complete the details on these for me, make a copy of each and I don’t know, archive them.”
“Daddy needs this information urgently, and he wouldn’t want to know his son disappointed him,” he said in a mocking tone, imitating a small girl, meaning to sound like Mallory.
Amanda noticed two interesting things. One, how come a man of his age was really talking like that, mocking his sister with such silliness. Two, did he know that Mallory did not sound like a five-year-old, at all? If anything, Amanda thought, Mallory inspired much more respect than this man did.
“I’m the older brother, Miss Young, did you know that? This company is mine. It’s my right! It’s mine, and she wants it! She wants to take what’s mine! My entire company!” he complained.
“She wants to ruin me!” he continued to exclaim even as Amanda was leaving the office.
It was an extraordinary interaction, and a strange relationship those two had, that was for sure. Because it wasn’t like Mallory was too far behind in talking ill of her brother.
“Did you know he’s basically alive because of his assistants?” Mallory asked Amanda one day as they lounged in one of her sofas. “He can’t do anything by himself. It’s a miracle our father hasn’t noticed that Tom’s a puppet in his charge.”
“Well, he’s an ugly puppy, that’s for sure,” Amanda commented, as she took a sip of her drink and with her other hand she rubbed her temples, “and one that knows how to give me a headache.”
“Oh, another bad day?” Mallory asked, suddenly softened by the sight of Amanda in pain. “Babe, I can’t stand you having a hard time because of him. Have you ever considered quitting, if it becomes too much?”
“Mallory, you know I can’t do that. This job is precious for me.”
“He doesn’t deserve you,” Mallory sentenced. Her hand continued to rub Amanda’s back, and she started showering Amanda’s face with tender kissed to make her feel better.
What Amanda didn’t ever expect, however, was being dragged into the personal and professional issues of the siblings.
Chapter 5
It was a Friday, the end of a week and the end of another month at Langdon Inc. Now, that was a huge company, well, it was run by billionaires, to say the least. To stay on top of the entire world market and to keep employees on their toes, everyone, from the newly contracted janitor to the two directors and most important people of the company, there was an extreme sense of competitiveness. There were rows and rows of employees of the month, prizes and awards, recognition for divisions and branches of the company, and, the most awaited announcement each month, which department was the best, sales or production. Despite the clear advantage of the department lead by the capable Mallory Langdon, turns out that her brother had a very competent team on his side and he wasn’t that bad at choosing who should do his job for him. So, even if the production department was used to winning, it wasn’t a completely given result.
That’s why it wasn’t completely unbelieve that that month, the department sales won the competition. All the employees clapped politely, the executives of the department brought out champagne, Tom acted like he had won the presidency, and everyone congratulated Amanda, kind of knowing it was mostly thanks to her. The only problem with h
er victory was that standing in front of her was Mallory, defeated and reacting immensely graceful about it. No one but Amanda was able to notice the tension on her shoulders and the tightness of her smile. But there was nothing she could have done then, Amanda smiled, shook hands and received the glass of champagne offered by her boss on the first day he had been genuinely pleasant.
As it had become part of their routine, Mallory and Amanda left the office together, and Mallory would drive Amanda home. Often, on the weekends, they’d spent their night together, but this time Mallory hadn’t asked, and Amanda didn’t know why but she didn’t find the courage to ask. The tension hadn’t lifted from Mallory’s entire body, though that didn’t stop her from praising Amanda’s job as earnestly as usual.
“I’m proud of you, you know?” she said, her left hand effortlessly working on the steering wheel and her right hand interlocked with Amanda’s. “This has to be the best performance of the sales department.”
“Thank you,” Amanda whispered as she blushed.
“Oh don’t be shy!” Mallory laughed fondly, “You know this is all yours. It’s certainly not Tom’s achievement.”
“You know what? This is almost the perfect job.” Amanda said, “If it wasn’t for Tom, this would all be perfect.”
“Is he still bothering you too much?”
“No, not much. Sometimes he makes me want to set the building on fire, or him, or me.”
Amanda laughed, but unknowingly, her answer only worsened Mallory’s state.
“I hate the idea of him making your life miserable.”
“My life’s fine. He just makes me hate the world a ninety percent of the time,” Amanda continued to laugh, bubbly with all the champagne.
“You don’t even notice, do you?” Mallory said, she didn’t raise her voice at all, but the change in her was rather obvious. “He’s always been like that. He thrives on making his employees suffer. He takes the best out of each of them, and as soon as they’re useless for him or if they start getting too much recognition, he just throws them away.”
This time Amanda laugh was nervous, “what are you talking about?” she inquired.
“Amanda, you’re on shaky grounds. Tom is… awful. He plays dirty games. He’s possessive with the company and with his power. He doesn’t stand threats, and he’s like a dog pissing everywhere just to claim what’s his.”
“Now you’re not making any sense, Mallory.”
Amanda had started to frown, and she had crossed her arms defensively on her chest, leaving Mallory’s hand hanging between them.
“He’s my brother, Amanda, I know him. Just – take my advice, okay? Two tips. One, if he starts acting too nice, be worried.” Despite Mallory’s genuinely warning tone, Amanda scoffed, she thought the other woman was acting over dramatic.
“Two,” Mallory continued, “Don’t let him be the one to hurt you. You should quit before he…”
“Oh? Quit? I should quit? Do you really think that, Mallory?” Amanda asked, suddenly losing her patience and taking Mallory by surprise, “should I quit for you or for me?”
“What?”
“You heard me! Are you jealous because Tom and I are successfully working together?”
“Together?” Mallory scoffed. “You’re not working with him. He’s making you work for him, do his work for him.”
“Whatever. I think you’re trying to use me against me.”
“What? Amanda, you are so completely wrong.”
At that moment, Amanda finally realized they had been parked in front of her house for a while, “I’m leaving.”
“If you ever need me, call me,” Mallory called out.
“I won’t! Goodbye, Mallory,” Amanda said, as she snapped closed the door of Mallory’s car and walked away.
Chapter 6
Amanda barely slept that night. She couldn’t wrap her mind around the events of that day. She started the day on top of the world, her work was recognized, and her peers congratulated, and her boss actually smiled at her. Sure, he was taking the credit, and he was still the most unpleasant person she had ever met. But he was improving; he really was, wasn’t he? Maybe if she worked hard enough, if she managed to prove herself she could break through his shell and get the respect she deserved. Succeeding in her job had been Amanda’s priority for a while, it was all she had focused on. She wasn’t thinking about love at all when it happened, but it had happened, and she couldn’t deny it. Mallory Langdon had come and swept her off her feet with just one look and every second they spent together just further strengthened their bond and their feelings for each other. Amanda had been so sure, so confident that Mallory felt the same. Then why, Amanda asked herself, why had it had been so easy to start that fight?
That night, when she thought about the fight, Amanda couldn’t decide how she really felt about it. Part of her thought it had been absurd, she had been too aggressive and Mallory too inopportune with her comments, they had exploded and they’d surely get over it, right? But then the other side of her brain protested. She always thought of herself as not good enough for Mallory, not pretty enough, not rich enough, not important enough. Maybe Mallory couldn’t see the world from Amanda’s perspective and couldn’t understand why she cared so much about her job. Then, of course, was the personal issue between her girlfriend, if they still were, and her boss. Mallory and Tom were siblings, apparently not with a good relationship, clearly competing against each other. And to her great dismay, it seemed that Amanda had fallen right in the middle of it. What if Mallory was just using her to sabotage Tom?
All those thoughts haunted Amanda the entire night. Whenever she managed to get an hour or two of sleep, she was violently awoken by a nightmare that vanished from her memory immediately but still left her shaking in the darkness of her room. By the time the sun rose in the horizon, Amanda was just about ready to go out running and never return. She refrained to getting breakfast ready and do some nervous cleaning around the apartment as she discussed her problems with the not so helpful cat, Martin. They were in the middle of an exciting debate on the balance between working and personal relationships when Martin ran away frightened by the sound of Amanda’s phone. It was Tom.
“Hello? Good morning, Mr. Langdon. Is everything alright?” she asked, unable to keep the anxiety from her voice. Tom had never called her to her personal phone, let alone one Saturday morning.
“Everything’s perfect, darling! How are you?” he asked.
It took a few seconds for Amanda to answer, she felt at a loss there.
“Um, everything’s… great, Mr. Langdon… Is there anything I can do for you?”
“Always so efficient. My stellar collaborator…” he made a pause then. “You know that, don’t you? That you’re the best member in my team right now. Everybody’s talking about you, honey…”
His voice drifted off. Amanda shuddered. Those words of endearment that she heard in Mallory’s voice suddenly sounded awful. She tried to smile, because Tom had never been so kind, but that new attitude made him sound simply odd.
“I was thinking, darling,” he continued, “that you deserve a prize as well, don’t you think so? Do you think that you deserve a prize, Amanda? A reward for all your hard work?”
“I mean, if you say so, Mr. Langdon.”
“I say, that I’m currently at a very nice house just outside of town. There’s some pretty country, even a pool, and some colleagues are getting ready a nice dinner for us. I think your presence would be divine here. Come on; you deserve it, don’t you think so, Amanda?”
That was unexpected, Amanda thought, but a welcomed surprise. She smiled at her phone. Was it finally happening, the recognition she had dreamed of?
“Are you serious, Mr. Langdon?”
“I’m sending you the address right now.”
His last words sounded suddenly bored, but mere seconds after he ended the call the address arrived at Amanda’s phone. She was all smiles and laughs as she got ready. That was a whol
e process, deciding how casual or how formal to dress. She was going to hang out with Tom’s colleagues, her colleagues – unbelievable.
Amanda made her way to the address Tom had given her as fast as she could, and once she arrived, she had to stay a minute in her car to catch her breath. She felt as if she had arrived running. Could it seriously be possible that Tom had accepted as a collaborator instead of just one more employee who brought him his coffee? After all, she had exceeded in every task he had assigned her, maybe he finally noticed.
She walked into the house with her head held high and a polite smile on her lips. She crossed paths with a man that looked her up and down and continued on his way, and a couple that politely greeted her, until finally she spotted Tom by the kitchen. It was a strange house, too big, too white, too decorated, but even from the place where she had parked her car she could tell, it was beautiful and grand and worth a fortune. Probably everybody there was a billionaire like Tom, she was grateful to know at least him.
“Tom! There you are! Hi!” she greeted him cheerfully when she reached his side.
He smiled a tightlipped smile at her and turned to the man he had been talking to. “Could you give us a moment, please?” he said, and the man left. Amanda had expected an introduction, but maybe that would happen later on.
“Miss Young…” Tom started to say once they were alone in the massive kitchen.
“Tom! This is amazing, thank you for inviting me…”
“Miss Young,” he spoke, vehemently, immediately stopping her “You must only refer to me as Mr. Langdon…”
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