Why is my life so complicated?

I stared at the phone in disbelief, I was on the cover with none other than Mr. Reid.

The article was titled;

Derick Reid had spent the majority of the night with this dazzling beauty who was rumored to be his assistant.

Rumor has it they even left together, is this another one of Derick's play toys or is she the real deal?

PLAY TOY?! PLAY TOY?! I am a dignified assistant! I signed up to be an assistant and I'm going to stay as a assistant!

"Julie, breath, you are turning red, you need to breath" Nina said, trying to calm me down.

Breath in, breath out, breath in, breath out, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale.

I exhaled once more and took out my phone.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to make a call and see if Mr. Reid has seen this stupid article and if he's going to take it down"

They all nodded and I walked to the kitchen and dialed Mr. Reid's number.

"Ms. Downs?"

"Sir"

"Ms. Downs I am driving at the moment so if you could give me a minute"

"Of course sir"

I waited until he spoke up again and I really wish he didn't.

"Ms. Downs, I need you at the office right now"

"Sir, it's Sunday today"

"I'm aware of it being Sunday Ms. Downs, remember you are hired to be at my beck and call, do you hear me? Now get to the office or you're fired!"

Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale- oh f*ck this!

I stepped out of the kitchen and into the living room where my family were confused by my sudden change of mood, I think Mr. Reid is really starting to rub off on me.

"Leo, get the car ready I need to go back to work" I sighed.

"What? why?"

"Mr. Reid has work for me to do"

"Can't he wait till tomorrow?"

"Do you need me to repeat his exact words?! He said get to the office or you're fired!"

"Well we'll have to cut this visit short, mamá, Nina" Leo groaned.

We hugged both of them and made our way to the car.

"Drive safely! And don't start singing in the car!" She shouted from the porch.

"Yes mamá!" we answered in unison.

When we were a safe distance away from the house we turned on the radio.

"Didn't she just tell you not to start singing in the car?" Leo smirked.

"I guess I'm not the model daughter after all"

We spent the rest of the drive just like the first one, when we were nearing the city a thought occurred to me.

I'm not wearing an office attire.

I'll be late if I go back and change, my hair is fine, I just need to sprint through the lobby to the elevator and straight to my office.

"You look distressed"

"Because I am, I'm not wearing the right clothes"

"Listen just go and work, that's it, you don't need to care about what people think" he said, simply.

"Did you forget the fact that I have an entire article written about me being intimate with a boss who has a fan club of both girls and guys!"

"Hide your face"

"With what? A fan?" I scoffed.

"Your hood" he said with distaste, not liking my tone.

"You are a genius!" I really am turning into the second Mr. Reid with the whole mood switch.

"No, you were just too stupid to think of it"

I looked at him and huffed.

"Thank you for your honesty"

"My pleasure" he smiled.

Before we knew it we were in front of Reid Enterprises and I had my hood and a pair of shades on.

"You look perfect no one is going to recognize you" he said sarcastically.

"I get it! I look suspicious! Leave me alone!"

"Don't you have your office ID?"

"Do you think I carry that thing around 24/7?"

He just shrugged and wished me good luck.

I breathed in when I got out of the car and tried to casually walk past the security guard without being noticed.

The only problem is, it's after lunch break so everyone is working, which means there is no crowd to blend in to.

I was trying to come up with a plan when I saw a guy walking around with a guitar.

Bingo!

I took ten bucks out of my pocket and motioned for him to come here.

"Hey! Pst! Come here!"

The guy looked confused but came over to me.

"I'll pay you ten bucks if you can distract those guards for me"

"Twenty"

"Fifteen"

"Deal!" He laughed.

I took a five dollar bill out and gave it to the guy, he happily took it and walked over to the guards.

He positioned his hands and started playing a Spanish flamenco.

I've never been so offended in my life!

I shook my head.

Focus Julie.

I tiptoe my way around the guards but made the mistake of hitting a plant.

"Where do you think you're going? Get back here!"

Oh great! Time to run!

I started running when I heard the guards chase after me and I still heard that annoying guitar playing!

I quickly pressed the elevator button.

"Come on, come on!"

The guards were way on my tail and the elevator still hadn't arrived yet so I started running around the lobby like I was something that came out of Tom and Jerry!

The ding of the elevator was like a safety call and I ran to it like my life depended on it.

Well my job and reputation depends on it.

I pressed the close button ten times until it did.

"Sayonara suckers!" I laughed.

I took off the hood and sunglasses and watched the elevator stop at number 23.

I panicked and as I was going to press the close door button I was greeted with piercing icy blue eyes.

Mr. Reid.

"Ms. Downs, someone has apparently slipped through security and is in the building, female, brown hair, black jacket, she was wearing men's sunglasses, you wouldn't have seen her by any chance?"

"Uhm..."

No point in hiding it now.

"How do you manage to even get in trouble in a place you work?"

"Well I didn't have my office ID! They still wouldn't have let me in!"

"Whatever let's just get to my office, we have a few things to discuss and what is with that outfit you are wearing?!"

"Sir, I wasn't planning on coming to work today" I said bitterly.

"Then what were you doing if you weren't home?"

"That is none of your business Mr. Reid"

We stayed quiet until we made it to his office.

He sat behind his desk and motioned me foreword.

"So remind me Ms. Downs, why did you call?"

"I called because of this!" I yelled, remembering why I was angry in the first place.

I shoved my phone in his face and he read the article and looked at me with questioning eyes.

"So?"

"So I want you to tell them to remove it!"

"And why should I do that?"

"Do you have any idea how people would see me?!"

"No, because you shouldn't care what people think" he replied calmly.

He got up and slowly made his way to the bookshelf looking at nothing in particular.

"Ms. Downs, I thought about what you said yesterday, you know, about temptation"

"Sir you are going off topic-"

"Don't interrupt me Ms. Downs, as I was saying, you said temptations are like traps, once you step in, you make mistakes"

He looked at me with hunger filled eyes, the eyes of a predator.

"I did say sometimes we give into temptations unexpectedly" he said quietly.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked skeptically, getting on guard.

He came closer pushing me back so my hip hit the desk.

"I mean you are just a big load of temptation"

He placed both his hands either side of me trapping me in a cage.

"Ms. Downs if I ever do anything to you it'll only be because you tempted me so just know"

He got closer so his breath was on my ear.

"I warned you"

He pulled back and walked out leaving me with a racing heart and stuttering mind.

"What did I get myself into this time?" I whispered to myself, sinking to the ground.

I felt my pocket vibrate and it was a message from Mr. Reid.

You can go home now Ms. Downs, that's all I had to say to you 😏.

I looked at the text with horror, this is not what I wanted! This is not what I need in my life right now!

I gulped and slowly picked myself off the ground and made my way to the elevator.

After hiding my identity on the elevator again, I walked out of the lobby, leaving many, many looks behind me.

I looked at the building and hailed a cab, I just want to go home.

I took out my headphones and started just shuffling through my playlist.

And Demons by Imagine Dragons start playing, way to lighten the mood, am I right?!

I sighed and looked at the gloomy weather that is really not helping with my mood.

When I got to my apartment, I paid the driver and got out of the car and into my apartment.

When I unlocked the door I heard laugher coming from the living room and there she was, Kate was sitting on the couch with a glass of red wine with Victor Norton.

What a normal occurrence.

I cleared my throat and they both jumped.

"Julie! You're back"

I raised an eyebrow.

"I can explain! We were just having a friendly chat!"

"If that was friendly I wonder what a lovers chat would look like" I said my voice monotone.

"You alright?" Her eyebrows furrowed in concern.

"I'm fine, just mentally tired"

"Okay, tell me if something's wrong"

"I always do, don't I?"

I slumped my way to my bedroom and threw myself face down on the bed.

I took my phone out and started scrolling through instagram to maybe find something interesting.

I gave up after awhile so I took out a light hearted novel I have been reading for awhile now and after an hour, I got a message.

I cautiously picked up my phone and it was a message from Mr. Reid.

Ms. Downs I'm going to pick you up, wear something casual but nice, not what you were wearing today.

I can already hear his disgusted voice, I looked at the message one more time and replied

Sorry sir, I have company.

It's not a complete lie, Vick is Kate's guest, but her home is my home.

I don't care Ms, Downs, I'm not bluffing when I say I will fire you if you refuse.

And I know he's not bluffing, I'm tired of this stupid 'I'll fire you' excuse.

Yes sir.

I got up and looked through my closet, I pulled out a black turtle neck and a brown coat with just normal jeans and brown boots.

I put a small black bow to pull my hair up and I think it looks great.

I took out my brown handbag and shifted everything from the one I had earlier to this one.

I wasn't kidding when I said I am obsessed with bags.

I'm not usually a fan of makeup but I put on some foundation, eyeliner, mascara and lip balm.

It's cold, my lips get dry.

I heard the doorbell and I couldn't have timed it better.

As I was nearing the door Vick opened it.

Oops...

Mr. Reid does not look happy, I wonder what grudge he has against Vick?

"This was your company?!" His voice boomed.

Uh oh...

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