Mr. Always & Forever

by Ashlee Price

  She was finally ready to enter the building. She stepped forward and pushed open the big double doors. Good thing she had showed up early, her little zone out had cost her ten minutes. The lobby was busy, bustling with people. She made her way over to the reception desk and waited for the girl to be done on the phone. She could not have been very old, maybe twenty one or twenty two. She sounded like she was trying to calm someone down. Alexa stood patiently and waited. Finally the girl was done and switched her focus to Alexa.

  “What can I do for you?” She asked in a very polite voice.

  “I’m supposed to be starting my first day here. I’m Alexa Montgomery.”

  “Ah, yes. Liz is waiting for you. Go on over to the elevator and take it to the sixteenth floor. She should be waiting there for you.”

  “Thanks a lot.”

  The girl smiled warmly at Alexa and then switched focus again. She definitely had a busy job.

  Alexa crammed in to the elevator with a number of other people. All of them either talking on their cell phones or emailing on their cell phones. It made her a little bit jealous; she was hoping that would be her some day.

  The elevator stopped on almost every floor to let people out, seemed like forever before she finally reached the sixteenth floor. She could not imagine what it was like to be on the top floor. She stepped out of the elevator and looked around. The floor was full of cubicles, and all she could hear was the sound of everyone talking at once and phones ringing. She spotted a short blonde woman who she assumed was Liz. She had her back turned to Alexa so she walked up and tapped her on the shoulder.

  “Liz?” She questioned.

  “Oh!” The woman yelped, “You startled me. Yes, I’m Liz. Are you Alexa?”

  “I am.” She smiled at the woman, still holding her hand against her heart in a startled look. She was a very short woman, with curly blonde hair that had streaks of grey running through it. Her eyes were light blue and very kind, and the light crow’s feet around her eyes proved that she smiled a lot. Alexa liked her, she had already decided. She was relieved that Liz was her boss.

  “Okay, so this is the floor where all of the customer service is done. The staff room is also on this floor, let’s start there.” Liz turned and started walking.

  Alexa spent the first part of the day just getting a tour of the huge building. Liz explained what was on each floor and where she would be able to find things. Turns out, Alexa would be working on the twenty second floor with Liz. The top floor was used exclusively by Jeremy William, and he would page Liz if he needed anything at all. Alexa’s job would be to ensure that Liz had everything that she needed to be able to make sure that he had everything he needed. Her job also included paper work, phone calls and pretty much anything else that needed to be done.

  The twenty second floor was much more spaciously laid out than the cramped sixteenth floor. There were a couple of large offices; the marketing was all done on this floor, seemed like it was all very important people. That made Alexa feel a little better about the job, it wasn’t the one she wanted but at least she was on the important floor.

  Liz’s office was huge with a giant oak desk and beautiful couches and there was even a fire place. Alexa had heard that she had worked with the Williams for over 20 years, and they obviously showed their appreciation. Alexa’s office was not nearly as nice. It was a little room that was adjacent to Liz’s; it had a plain desk that was about half the size of hers and some cozy looking chairs. Alexa was happy with it, because it wasn’t her old job in her old cubicle.

  After her tour, Alexa mainly watched Liz work for the most part. She would do small errands occasionally, but mainly just watched to see what she really did. At lunch time, Jeremy paged her asking for her to get him lunch.

  “Of course, right away Mr. William.” She said to him, and to Alexa she said “let’s go, I’ll show you what Mr. William gets for lunch in case you ever need to get it for him.”

  The two women rode down on the elevator and walked to a small sandwich shop that was a couple of blocks down from the building. Liz ordered her own sandwich and the one for Mr. William. “Ham and cheese on rye, toasted, dry bread, mayo and pickle on the side please.”

  “He gets that every day?” Alexa asked Liz after she had ordered her own sandwich and they had paid.

  “Yep, it’s his favorite.” Liz smiled.

  They walked back to work and got back in the elevator. Liz hit the button for the twenty third floor, and up they went. Unlike every other time Alexa had been on the elevator, it didn’t stop at any other floors. They rode all the way up with no interruptions. Liz must have noticed Alexa’s confusion, because when they got off she explained.

  “The elevators are programmed so that if someone is going to the top floor, or coming down from the top floor it will automatically go there first. Mr. William isn’t very patient.” And then she laughed. “He always gets where he needs to go first.”

  Alexa didn’t say anything, she just thought about that quietly. She finally focused on where she was and was shocked. The whole top floor was made of all glass walls around the outside, it was gorgeous. They were standing in sort of a waiting room; there were some plants, some other decorations and a couple of cozy black couches. Then there was a big brown door. They walked through it together and she saw that it led directly in to Mr. William’s office. It was huge; all done in dark colors, and all the outer walls were again, glass. It really was breath taking.

  Alexa looked around a bit more and then realized that there was no one sitting at the giant dark wood desk. Just when she was about to ask, she heard a door open to her left and glanced over.

  She was in shock again. This time not by the beautiful room, but by the beautiful man who was standing in it. Compared to him, the room looked like a room in a shack. He was gorgeous. Tall, olive skin, flaming red hair and his eyes were so dark they looked like they could be black. He was sporting a scruffy beard, which was the exact color of his hair, a black dress shirt which was open at the top and a pair of nice black pants. Alexa wasn’t sure if she had ever seen a man so beautiful. She had heard he was good looking, but didn’t bother to find a picture of him. Maybe she should have, and then maybe she wouldn’t be standing in his office holding a sandwich with her jaw hanging open.

  “Hello Liz, who is this you have here?” He turned to Liz and smiled. His voice was just about as sexy as he was. Smooth and deep, made Alexa want to just sit and listen to him talk.

  “Hi Jeremy, this is Alexa. She is my new assistant. Today is her first day so I thought I’d better show her around. And of course show her the sandwich shop.” She smiled up at him. He was a good foot taller than her.

  “Well that’s wonderful.” He said in that silky voice. Then he looked at Alexa, she watched him run his eyes up and down her body until it finally landed on her face. He made eye contact with her and it made her want to squirm. She handed him the sandwich she was holding for him, and tried to smile.

  “It was very nice to meet you Alexa; I look forward to you working with us.” He grabbed her and before she could take it away and shook it firmly. It felt almost like a shock when he touched her, it made Alexa gasp. She got over it quickly so she could answer him.

  “Thank you Mr. William, I’m so happy to be here.”

  “Please, call me Jeremy.” He let go of her hand and winked at her.

  Alexa didn’t say anything back. Liz turned and started to walk out of the office so she did the same. They got in the elevator and headed down a floor to enjoy their own lunch.

  “Is it just me, or is he super hot?” Alexa said to Liz on the ride down.

  “He is a good looking young man isn’t he?” She smiled, seemed like she was always smiling.

  The rest of the day was spent doing more of the same. Alexa watched Liz while she worked and took a few notes. Even though she didn’t do all that much work, she was exhausted by the time she got home.

  She was super happy to see that supper was
done and ready for her. She ate, showered and went to bed. She was too tired to do anything else. Alexa woke up bright and early the next morning, ready for another day of work.

  “Good morning.” She said to Liz when she walked off of the elevator on their floor.

  “Good morning Hun.” Liz smiled back at her.

  The ladies had a busy morning, Alexa got all set up on her computer with passwords and programs and such. Then she was put to work entering in numbers. She was already familiar with the system so it was easy for her. She finished that up quickly and went back to Liz for more. She made a couple of phone calls, and asked a lot of questions.

  When she had a little free time, she went exploring. She headed down on the elevator to the front lobby. The girl that was working the day before was there again. She formally introduced herself and they chatted for a little while. Then she walked around some more, and introduced herself to more of the staff. It seemed like there were thousands of them.

  When she was satisfied with the number of people she had talked to, she headed back up to the office. There was still fifteen minutes before it was lunch time so she decided to do a little bit of web browsing before.

  She logged on and went to Google. It was probably a good idea for her to know a little more about the men she worked for. She found one good website and read through it. It said that the father, Earl, had founded the company when the boys were young. He and his wife ran it then and they were quite successful. It didn’t become as big as it is now until his wife suddenly passed away. By that time, the boys were both old enough to work and they started. Apparently they were the real reason for all of the success.

  Jeremy, the eldest is 32 and went to university for several years in business management. Clearly he is good at what he does. Then there is Marcus, the younger brother. He is 28 and a huge film producer. He is the one that gets to be on the set and in the action. Alexa felt a little bit of jealousy.

  She finished reading through it and scrolled to the bottom of the page where it showed some pictures. There was one of a beautiful red haired woman and a dark haired man. Underneath it said Molly and Darren William. That was their mother. No wonder Jeremy is so attractive; both of his parents are gorgeous.

  The next picture was one of three men. One was Darren, one was Jeremy and the other Alexa had never seen before. The caption said it was the boys and their father. She took a good look at Marcus. He was almost as good looking as his brother. He had dark brown hair instead, was clean shaven and had those same deep dark eyes. They definitely were an attractive family.

  Liz walked in to the room while Alexa was staring at the picture. She didn’t notice her come in and was startled by her voice when she spoke behind her.

  “Are you ready for lunch?” She asked.

  “Oh, yes I am.” Alexa said, a little embarrassed to be caught staring at a picture of her bosses.

  They walked to the sandwich shop again, it seemed like maybe Alexa would be doing this often. They ordered, paid, and started walking back. When they were almost to the building, Liz’s phone went off. She dug around in her purse for a minute and then answered.

  “Hi Jeremy, what can I do for you?”

  It was Jeremy, Alexa wondered what he wanted. Maybe he changed his mind about the sandwich. Liz talked to him for a couple of minutes and then hung up the phone. She continued to walk towards the building and said “Looks like Mr. William likes you, he has asked that you deliver his sandwich to him.”

  “Um, okay.” Alexa said. That must be a good sign she thought, maybe she could tell him that she was really hoping for a job on production instead of just a secretarial position.

  They got back to work and they headed for the elevator. They went all the way up and Alexa got out.

  “See you after lunch.” Liz said to her.

  Alexa didn’t respond; she just headed towards the door to the office. She knocked and she heard Jeremy yell to just come in.

  She pushed open the door and walked in. She looked around at the room again, it really was beautiful. She got closer to the desk and saw that Jeremy was on the phone with someone, the giant chair he sat in was facing the windows.

  He said some goodbyes and then turned around to hang up the phone. Alexa took a deep breath, she realized then how much the picture online didn’t do him justice. She could not help but stare at him.

  Today he was wearing a purple dress shirt, and another pair of expensive looking pants. Seeing how great he looked made her realize how crappy she probably looked. She hated that she had put on weight.

  “How are you today Alexa?” He asked her in that voice of his. Hearing her name roll off of his tongue made her feel giddy. She had a brief thought about her husband, but then brushed it off. She was sure every woman he encountered felt the same way about him. Who wouldn’t?

  “I’m great. I am really enjoying the new job.” She held out her hand and said, “Here is your sandwich, I hope you enjoy it.”

  “Thanks a lot Alexa,” there was her name again, “why don’t you eat with me today? It gets kind of lonely up here at times.”

  She didn’t know for sure what to do, she loved that he was asking her to eat with him, but she felt like she would be too self conscious to eat in front of him. Gosh, she felt like she was in high school again. She could not say no to him though, he was her boss after all.

  “Sure, that would be great. I would love to keep you company.” She said shyly to him.

  Turns out that she actually wasn’t self conscious around him at all, he was super easy to talk to and he was funny. He asked her all about herself, where she was from, where she worked before, about her schooling and about her family. He seemed especially interested in her husband, and what he did for a living.

  She answered all of his questions, having a nice time getting to know him. He told her a bit about himself, some she already knew from the page she had read, and some she didn’t. She learned that they were starting to expand the business, not just producing, but building a chain of hotels and restaurants. They obviously had enough money for it. The first of the hotels was under construction at the moment. No one knew about it because they were keeping it on the down low until the grand opening. He told her that there were plans for it to open next month.

  When they were done lunch, and it was time for her to go back to work, he surprised her with what he said.

  “I like you Alexa; I think you’re very smart.” He paused for a moment, pondering something. “I feel like I can trust you, and so I have a very special project for you to do. I was going to ask Liz, but I know she is already busy with all of the other things I ask her to do. Seems like a perfect job to give to you as her assistant.”

  Alexa didn’t know what to say. It was only her second day and she was already being asked to do a special project. She swelled up with pride and smiled the biggest smile she had. “I would love to Mr. William, anything you need.”

  He just looked at her for a moment, and then said “Please Alexa, call me Jeremy. I am glad you want to take this on. It’s very important. I need the grand opening of the hotel to be planned. It will take place on site; I want it to be huge, a spectacular red carpet gala. We will need entertainment, food, invites, decorations and all the little details. Do you think you can do it?”

  Alexa was ecstatic. This would be awesome. Still not the job she wanted, but it gave her a chance to prove herself to him. “I can do it.” She said simply.

  “Excellent.” Jeremy said with a smile. “All of the information you need for contacts and such are in Liz’s office. I have already discussed this with her and she will help you with everything that you need. I too will be able to help you and I want to be kept in the loop throughout all stages. I thought perhaps it would be a good idea if we could discuss the plans at lunch time every day. I am always free for lunch.”

  “That sounds great!” Alexa was trying not to show too much excitement, but she just could not help it.

  Clearly he co
uld see her excitement and he laughed. “Good, I will see you tomorrow for lunch. Don’t forget the sandwiches.”

  She laughed and got out of her seat. “I won’t.”

  Just before she got to the door, he called back to her, “I won’t forget what you said Alexa: that you would do anything I need.” He winked.

  She opened the door and pressed the button for the elevator. She wondered on her way down what he meant by that.

  ~

  For the next three weeks Alexa worked on planning the gala. She organized entertainment with the approval of Jeremy, booked caterers and set them up to come at lunch one day for her and Jeremy to try the food, and she found the perfect theme to decorate the hotel in. Jeremy showed her the blue prints and described to her what I would look like.

  She was having a great time, getting to know him and organizing the gala at the same time. She was getting very excited for the day to come to show off all of her hard work. She showed everything she had planned to Liz, and she seemed like she was impressed.

  Alexa was really enjoying the new job. She spent a lot of time walking around the building thinking of new ideas for the gala. She went and chatted with Kelly, the girl in the lobby and she would go and get the sandwiched every day. She started to get the same one Jeremy got, it really was delicious.

  She found the perfect invitations to send out to people, and it was amazing seeing the names on the guest list; celebrities that she had only ever dreamed of meeting. She was actually addressing an invitation to them in her own hand writing. She sent them out two weeks before the gala, and within a couple of days she had already received several RSVPs.