by Luxe, Eva
“Yes,” Marilyn says to Ruby. “I’ve heard about how well you’ve done since you’ve been here for only a short amount of time and I think you’d be a great candidate for the promotion.”
“I tend to agree,” says Paul, who always needs to throw his two cents into everything. “And looking at your resume and high school transcript, it’s clear that you are intelligent and received excellent grades. Normally I would think the responsibilities are above someone with your experience but it’s obvious that you’re a fast learner and will easily catch on. Therefore, I see no reason why we shouldn’t advance you to this position right now, to be frank.”
“Well, it depends on what Ron thinks,” Madilyn says.
“Very true,” Paul agrees.
“But let’s not put him on the spot,” she continues. “Let’s give him time to think it over. Ruby, I think you’re a perfect candidate as well but we have some others interviewing and we’ll let you know shortly what we think.”
“Of course,” Ruby says. I can see that she looks rather relieved. And I have to admit that I do too.
I know I want her. I know that’s the whole reason I came here to this interview. But I also know it’s not the wisest decision to make. Because I want her in every way possible.
“Well hello,” Asher says, popping his head in the same door to the conference room that I just did. “What’s going on in here?”
Madilyn smiles as if he’s fucking Santa Clause. And he winks at her mischievously.
These two. It would be obvious that they’re fucking from a mile away. And it’s even obvious that it’s more serious than that. They barely even try to hide it.
I guess I shouldn’t feel so bad about wanting to fuck Ruby. Apparently, that’s acceptable for Asher so why shouldn’t it be for me as well.
“We’re just doing the interviews for Ron’s new assistant,” Madilyn says.
She’s about to say “honey” at the end of that sentence, I just know it. But she stops herself.
“Cool,” Asher says. “Oh, Ron, since I’ve got you here, I wanted to talk to you about that toy company account. That business owned by the potential client Damien Hudson.”
“What about it?” I ask.
“I really don’t think it’s a good idea that we take it.”
I feel the hair on the back of my spine stand up like a lion fluffing out his mane. Who does Asher think he fucking is, telling me he doesn’t want to do something I want to do in my own firm? And in front of Ruby?
“Well, I do.”
“Ron,” he sighs, as if I’m a petulant child he has to lecture into seeing things his way. “They make toys for kids with disabilities. That has got to be the smallest market ever. They don’t have the money to pay our fees, I’m sure of it.”
“Well I didn’t take it for the money,” I inform him. “I’m doing it pro bono .”
“Yeah right,” Asher laughs. “You mean an associate’s going to do it pro bono . And we don’t have the time or resources to take away from our associates right now to divest into having them do free work.”
“Oh, you mean because they’re a little too tied up doing lots of other things?” I ask him.
His eyebrows fly up in surprise. He knows exactly what I’m alluding to: the fact that it’s so hypocritical of him to say associates like Madilyn don’t have the time to spend on my passion projects when he’s taking up all her time with, shall we say, extracurricular activities.
My allusion to his prohibited office relationship as well as my tone are meant to warn him. Back off . He seems to pick up on it a bit, throwing his hands up in the air as if he gives up.
“We’ll talk about it later then,” he says, and shrugs. “It’s obviously a touchy subject. I didn’t realize how much you wanted to help this toy company.”
“Well, I do,” I tell him.
Asher has never felt particularly bad about representing the kinds of companies we do— oil companies, insurance defense, large corporations— or about the fact that we’re always on the side of the big bad company instead of the little helpless guy. I know it’s how we afford our lavish lifestyles and I don’t blame him for not questioning it.
But there’s some stupid part of me that always feels guilty and tries to make up for it by taking pro bono projects such as this. And I had already promised the guy I met from the company that we could help him out.
Damien Hudson. I met him on the golf course. He’s a decent golfer. Then we talked about his business on the phone and he sounded damn passionate about it so I told him I’d help him out.
I didn’t say for free or even reduced fees but I’d implied it and at least in my mind it’s what I’d meant. I don’t like to go back on my word. And I don’t need Asher’s fucking permission to take a pro bono case or not.
“Let me just look at the amount of work involved and the numbers,” he says, with another shrug.
“Asher,” I warn him again. “This is my decision. I didn’t ask for your input.”
“Woah,” he says, throwing up his hands. “All right then. I’m just trying to help. For the good of the firm.”
“As am I,” I tell him.
“All right, Madilyn, everyone, good luck,” he says, nodding at all of us but keeping his eyes on Madilyn.
He’s looking at her the same way I’ve been looking at Ruby.
It’s my turn to claim what’s mine around here.
The pro bono toy case, and Ruby Mansfield.
If I’m honest with myself, neither of them are probably the best ideas I’ve ever had. But I don’t fucking care. I’m going to help the toy company and I’m also going to bang my assistant. Because it’s about time I took what I wanted at work just like I do outside of it.
And, I can’t help admitting as I look at her gorgeous face and the cleavage poking ever so slightly out of her silk blouse, because she’s fucking hot and I want her so bad I can’t say no, even though I should.
Chapter 9 – Ruby
I take a deep breath as I walk out of the interview room. I can’t believe that went so well. Even though I should believe it because I set it all up for it to go that way. I spent the whole night preparing for this interview. And I do mean preparing.
I have to do what it takes to get anywhere thanks to my past. I have the brains but not the qualifications on paper. I’m not the type of person who does well in school. Or at life in general.
The lawyers like that I set up a filing system and a calendaring system. I’m good at solving everyone’s problems but my own. Except for now, I’m getting better at it.
When I get to the floater’s computer I see that my tasks for the day include filing. Oh, great . At least it beats babysitting Mr. Mack again.
I expect to see Katie in the filing room, but she isn’t there. A few hours later I break for lunch and see her in the cafeteria. There’s a legal pad in front of her that she’s pretending to flip through but she’s also glaring at the associates she had mentioned to me the other day.
“How goes it?” I ask her.
“Fine,” she says, while writing something on the legal pad. “I’m just reviewing notes from a meeting held earlier today.
She slides the pad over to me so I can see what she’s written.
Sucky . Temporarily assigned to the Barbies while Jim’s still in court.
“Let me write down some advice I learned about note taking,” I tell her.
That makes no sense at all, but the Barbies and the guy who is with them don’t seem to notice or care what we’re talking about.
“She just flounces around here like she owns the place just because Asher chose her to be his associate,” one of them whispers.
No wonder Katie knows so much office gossip, if she’s often assigned to have to assist these gossipers. It’s clear they’re talking about Madilyn and Asher.
Poor you , I write back. But at least you get to make up creative nicknames for them.
She scribbles some more on the pad and th
en hands it back to me.
That’s actually Madilyn’s nickname for them. The guy that follows them around with his tail between his legs, she calls their Ken. I heard her talking to Asher about it once when I was called in to help them prep for a big case. She thought I had left but I was still in the hallway. The nickname is great so it stuck with me. She’s a pretty cool chick once you get to know her .
Except she obviously doesn’t have the best taste in men , I write back.
I’m sure she would disagree with you , Katie writes.
I’m just kidding. I’d already thought that Madilyn was cool from the interview I’d had with her, and I feel a little guilty about lying about some things. I feel especially guilty that she’d passed on the misinformation to Cameron.
But a lot of that stuff came from my original application back from before I’d even known Cameron at all. And if I hadn’t used it I wouldn’t have gotten this job, let alone the chance to be promoted to his secretary.
For me, life has been a series of difficult decisions and sometimes I’ve had to choose the lesser of two evils. Not that I’ve always made the right choice, but I really have been trying lately to turn things around. It’s just hard to run from a bad past, especially when it’s always right there taunting you and threatening to catch up with you.
How’d the interview go? Katie writes.
Better than I thought , I respond.
I feel like we’re passing notes back and forth in school, before there was such a thing as texting or instant messaging. But my joy at our old school form of communication is cut short when Kate finishes her last note and stands up.
“I gotta go,” says Katie. “I have a lot of dictation to do.”
Her note says: I hate to be caught dead walking around the halls with the Barbies and Ken. I like to beat them back to the office. Plus, I need to smoke out first just to be able to spend time near them .
It’s all I can do to suppress my laughter. Katie takes the notepad and removes the piece of paper we’ve been writing on. She jams it into the paper shredder next to the trash can before she leaves the cafeteria.
I suppose it’s time to get back to the floater’s desk myself. As I walk out, I can hear one of the Barbies say, “She’s not even hot. I, like, totes don’t get it.”
I refrain from laughing yet again. I think Madilyn is way prettier than any of them are and I also think she has a better personality. So, I “like, totes get” what Asher sees in her.
And I’m glad they’re happy together, even if the match is a bit odd. Who am I to judge? I’m the one who wants to sleep with Cameron. Or let him do anything else he wants to do to me for that matter.
Chapter 10 – Ruby
When I get back to the floater’s computer, there’s an email in the inbox, asking me to report to Madilyn’s office. It’s a couple hours old, but I was in the filing room when it was sent.
I feel like running there but I force myself to slow my pace.
This is it. This is when I find out I get to work for Cameron Sanchez. Or at least I hope so.
When I get there, the door’s shut so I rap on it lightly.
“One second,” Madilyn calls out.
Her voice sounds a bit breathless.
It’s more than a second, and when she comes to the door she’s running a hand frantically through her tousled hair.
“Oh, Ruby, it’s you,” she says, looking relieved.
“Ruby.” Asher nods at me as he leaves the office, but I notice that he winks at Madilyn first. I also notice that the top button of his shirt is undone.
Katie wasn’t kidding when she said the two were getting extra cozy.
“Sorry Ruby, I didn’t know when you’d be coming up,” Madilyn says, straightening up her skirt and then taking a seat at her desk. She gestures to the chair on the other side of it— where clients usually sit— and so I sit down too.
“Sorry,” I tell her. “I was in the filing room when you sent the email.”
“Oh, I know,” Madilyn says. “And that’s what I like about you. Your work ethic. So, need to apologize.”
She smiles.
“In fact,” she says, “the reason I asked you to come see me is because I wanted to personally let you know that the job is yours if you want it.”
“The job?”
“Yes,” she says, blinking patiently at me as if I’m hard of hearing. “The job as Mr. Sanchez’s legal assistant.”
I can’t believe it. I was hoping this is what she was going to tell me but I still can’t believe it.
Nothing good ever happens to me. Then I got this job, and now this promotion and I get to be up close and personal with the hottest guy I’ve ever seen. It’s all I can do to keep from clapping.
“Thank you, Madilyn,” I tell her, doing my best to restrain myself.
I return her smile but I’m sure mine is a mixture of excitement and nervousness.
Don’t fuck this up like you fuck up everything else , I tell myself.
“When do I start?” I ask her.
“I believe that Shirley is available to start training you this afternoon,” she says. “So, you might want to go check with her and Mr. Sanchez now.”
“Thank you, Madilyn,” I say again, because I can’t even think of anything better to say and I’m actually very grateful.
“You’re welcome,” she says, with a little laugh.
I wonder if she knows how I feel. I wonder if this is how she felt the first time she was able to work near Asher.
My feet refrain from skipping on my way to Cameron’s office. But my heart doesn’t. I pass the filing room and peek in on Katie, who is actually showing one of the Barbies something in a file, instead of smoking her vape pen for once.
She gives me a hesitant thumbs up sign, as if asking a question, and I respond with a big thumbs up of my own. She smiles, obviously happy for me. I guess I’ve made a friend in stoner girl Katie. That’s something else I’ve never had: a real friend.
When I get to Cameron’s office, his secretary looks a lot happier to see me than he does.
“Welcome, Ruby,” she says, a big smile spreading across her face.
I’m sure she’s happy they found a replacement so soon, so she can train me and be on her way to Florida.
“Come right in.”
“Hello Mr. Sanchez,” I say, nodding my head to Cameron.
“Hello Ruby.”
His spine is stiff and he is barely even looking at me.
“Welcome aboard. I’m happy to have you as my new assistant. Ruby will be training you for the rest of the afternoon.”
He’s saying all the right words but his tone sounds like a robot. What happened to the flirtatious guy from before? He looks like someone has programmed him to talk like this.
“Great,” I say, even though I don’t think it’s great at all.
Thus begins an afternoon nearly as boring as all my other ones in the filing room or in Mr. Mack’s office. Shirley painstakingly shows me how Cameron likes his files organized and his pleadings formatted: all things I could find out myself just by looking at his computer or his files.
At first, Cameron works at his desk while Shirley and I move from her cubicle in the hallway— which will soon become my cubicle in the hallway— in and out of his office as she shows me things.
At times, I’m so close to him that I can smell his expensive perfume. It smells like cedar mixed with a touch of spring breeze. I can sense the chemistry between us and I can tell he’s watching my every mood, at least out of the corner of his eye if not sometimes straight on.
But he never makes direct eye contact with me and he doesn’t say any anything designed to catch my attention like it seemed he was doing yesterday.
Damn it.
I guess he’s being good now that he’s my boss. Perhaps I shouldn’t have gotten this job. It’s having the exact opposite effect that I wanted. It’s enough to drive me crazy.
At some point, Cameron excuses hims
elf and says he has a meeting. And then he doesn’t come back.
An hour passes. And then another.
This is worse torture than being close to him yet not able to really talk to him. All I want is for him to come back.
I feel like some desperate woman, possessed by him, obsessed with him. I’ve never felt anything like this in my life.
At five o’clock, Shirley says, “Well, that’s it for me for today. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Have a good evening,” I tell her, but I don’t want to leave.
I’m left alone in Cameron’s office. I sit down in his desk chair and imagine what it must be like to be him. The power. The money. The masculinity.
I half expect him to come back and find me here like this. Maybe I want him to yell at me for being in his office when I’m not supposed to be. Maybe I want him to spank me.
But he doesn’t come back. I wait until 5:30 and then I just feel even more pathetic.
I head to the file room to see if for some reason Katie’s still here. Maybe she dozed off while hitting her vape pen again. I could sure use a listening ear right now and perhaps some advice.
She’s not here, of course. There’s no reason for her to be. All the normal assistants have gone home. It’s only me left, with this ridiculous crush on my new boss.
I notice that she left a book in the corner, where she always sits. A collection of Pablo Neruda’s poetry.
I sit down and begin reading it. The last thing I want to do is go home right now. Talk about being bored and lonely. I just want to sit here with my thoughts and with this sensual poetry.
I want to do to you what spring does to the cherry trees , I read.
That’s funny, I think. Because I want Cameron to do that to me. Too bad it’s not going to happen.
And then as if on cue, I feel a presence at the door. I look up and there he is. Cameron Sanchez. My new boss. And the guy I want to take my virginity.
Chapter 11 – Cameron
There she is. Ruby Mansfield.
My new secretary. And the woman I want to claim as my own.
