8 years ago...

"That's good for him Liz, I really don't care besides, I'm loving New York and settling in fast."

"Of course you are." Liz snorted from the other end of the line.

"I am," I rolled my eyes, "we'll talk later Liz, I'm late for class."

"Okay, bye." The line went dead and I frowned. I'd lied to Liz but not about Brandon; him I was over. He was my highschool love until two months ago and that was okay. He got another girlfriend and that was okay too. 'Loving New York and settling in fast' was the lie. I had zero friends and tolerance for the crowds, noise and weather.

I hadn't lied to Liz about classes either. My NYU lecture schedule was crazy. On my way to my faculty building, I didn't expect to get nearly toppled over or have a mildy hot cup of coffee spilled all over me.

"Shit!" I cursed, trying to regain my balance.

"Shit, I'm sorry." The guy who nearly tripped me and bathed me with his coffee held out his two arms to stop me from falling.

"Great, you got coffee all over my shirt and books." I groaned as I stepped back to survey the damage.

"I'm so sorry, can I get you paper towels or something?" He asked and I looked up at him. His dark brown eyes seemed to hold a bit of amusement and I wasn't entirely sure if this was really a mistake. I glared at him and he apologised again.

"Whatever, it's fine. New York seems to be drilling me left, right and centre." I sighed.

"First year, first time in New York?" He asked and I nodded, "then it's nice to meet you, I'm William, Will for short." He smiled.

"I'm Ophelia."

***

"I'm fucked."

That was me. I wrung my fingers together and paced the front of the white double doors.

"So, so fucked." I repeated staring at the wall clock; five minutes to twelve noon it read. Friday had come but the furniture hadn't. Behind the doors, the office was clear of its former furniture and awaiting the new ones but my chosen furniture shop decided to screw me over with a flat tire and delayed goods.

Fridays were meant to be joyous and filled with anticipation for the coming weekend. They certainly weren't meant to be filled with worries of whether work was still valid on Monday or not.

My phone rang and I quickly answered it, "are you already here?"

"Yes but Mr Illston paused to talk to someone but we'll be up in a few."

"Thanks Heather," I said and cut the call then dailed the furniture shop driver again, "where are you?"

"I apologise for the inconvenience miss, we will be there in twenty minutes."

I ended the call and heaved loudly. Would I even still have this job in twenty minutes? William wouldn't be so vindictive would he? He definitely couldn't fire me over this, could he? Surfacely, I knew he would and could. About ten minutes passed before I heard footsteps. Rather than seeing both William and Heather, it was just the former.

"Good morning." I smiled brightly with effort.

"It's noon already," He walked past me, "my office is ready I believe?" He turned to ask.

"Well–" I stammered and he turned back to open the doors. He walked in and I followed closely behind.

"I love what you've done with the place." He commented dryly.

"The view is a lot better right? New York has really never looked better," I joked but my humor wasn't graciously received as one of his dark brows went up.

"Where is my furniture?"

"On its way."

"And what was our agreement?"

I sighed. "For the furniture to be ready before noon today but the truck bringing the furniture had a flat tire and their cargo ship was delayed yesterday."

"If you can't complete a task as simple as this, I doubt you can continue as my PA."

"You–"

"That was harsh bro,"

I turned around to see who just saved me from losing my tongue and really losing my job. I stared at the tall handsome, dark skinned man who was looking at me with as much curiosity but more mirth.

"Hardly," William said.

"Excuse him please. He's been pissy all week. He's usually very nice I promise." The man grinned at me. "I'm Mark Durham, your boss's VP, best friend and confidant."

"I'm Ophelia and-" my phone rang and I quickly answered the call. I released a breath as the driver said they were in the parking lot already. I instructed them on what to do then faced my boss. "-and your furniture is here." I smiled triumphantly but he still looked unimpressed.

"This conversation is not over." He warned before I left the office.

"How did it go?" Heather who was now seated behind her table asked immediately I was out.

"I think I still have my job," I grinned at her, "but I'm starving, are you?"

"No, Mr Illston had us stop at a restaurant downtown, I got a sandwich." So he could be nice? Pft.

"Oh, alright I'll see you in a few minutes then." I waved her goodbye. I called the driver again and told them to start bringing the furniture up. On my way down, the elevator stopped at the 14th floor and in walked Joanne and Isabella.

"Fancy meeting you here." Isabella winked.

"How has it been these past few days? You look a little exhausted." Joanne said. She shifted to accommodate more people that entered on the next floor.

"I feel it more than I look it honestly," I smiled, "but it's been good so far."

"Since today is Friday, Jo and I are going out to drink, dance and chill, you interested?"

"I think I'd rather sleep all this stress away this night." I yawned.

"Alright but next time, we won't accept a no, bueno?"

"Bueno." I smiled.

"Well come on you two, I'm starved, we are all going to the cafeteria yeah?" Joanne questioned as the elevator stopped on the first floor. The main office cafeteria was on this floor and I learned only yesterday that they served some mean lasagna.

"What about John?" I asked as we entered the large cafeteria filled with working class engineers, marketers, tech geniuses and so on.

"He went for lunch across the street with his girlfriend." Joanne said. We joined the buffet line and picked our trays and plates.

"You know, his girlfriend sounds iconic." I said.

"She is." They laughed as we walked with our trays of food to the available table by the door.

"What about you though? Pretty blonde, in New York. You must be seeing someone?"

"Not right now and haven't been for a while," I shrugged in reply to Joanne, "but what about you two?"

"I'm maybe too in love with the game for a relationship right now." Joanne grinned.

"And I'm single as well." Isabella said.

"She's not, she and Rafael fought again, you'll get used to the dynamics soon enough." Joanne patted my arm. My head was filled with only good thoughts as I laughed and ate lunch with Joanne and Isabella.

***

"Maybe shift that a little to the left?" The mover moved the complementary abstract painting the furniture shop sent and I nodded in satisfaction, "great, I think it's perfect, thanks guys."

The rest of the movers nodded and quickly left the office. By the time I was done with my lunch, all the furniture had been moved up to the office.

"At 3pm she finally has my office ready."

"Better late than never." I smiled at William who just entered the newly furnished office.

"Don't play smart with me, you and I still have some issues to go over," He walked past me to the new long desk and unbuttoned his suit jacket as he sat down, "you can come closer." He gestured and I reluctantly did so.

"You aren't actually going to fire me are you, I alrea-"

"I'm not firing you," he said, "not yet at least."

"Not yet?" I scoffed.

"You get three strikes, if you lose them all, you are fired."

"Three strikes?" I laughed.

"I'm not joking."

"Why don't you just fire me then, you are clearly looking for reasons to fire me. You are the boss why not just get on with it?" I asked angrily.

"That would be unjust."

"And this is just? Giving me three strikes like I'm a child?"

"You don't like it? Then quit."

"I'm not going to quit, not yet and once again I'm sorry for the delayed furniture sir, it won't happen again." I bit out thoroughly annoyed.

He smiled and leaned back into his seat, "you can leave now."

I left his office and spent the rest of the day seething in my seat. At six, William left the office and about thirty minutes later, so did Heather and I.

"I do need a drink," I thought to myself while laying on my bed later that night. A toast to myself for surviving my first week of working for William Illston.

You go girl.

***

"Have you met with the programmers of the company's former online shopping app?"

"Yes and they complained about security firewall hacks throughout last year and more earlier this year." I placed the brown Manila file on the desk. William sighed a little as he picked it up.

"Thanks, that will be all." He said. I nodded and left. The start of my second week at work was fairly passive, until noon that is.

"Good afternoon."

I looked up from the laptop screen to see a very pale woman. Her burgundy dress almost matched the colour of her hair, which I admired as not a single strand of hair was out of her bun. Her face seemed a bit stern and she stood tall looking the definition of prim and proper.

"Good afternoon," I smiled at her, "how may I help you?"

"I'm here to see Mr Illston."

"Alright, is he expecting you?" I asked.

"He is."

My hands moved to the intercom on my desk.

"You do not have an appointment log book?" She raised a brow.

"Um, not yet. We haven't had many visitors yet." I found myself explaining to the woman. She gazed around, showing a bit of disdain on her face and finally let out a sigh.

"This won't do at all, miss who?" She queried further.

"What?" Confusion gnawed at me wondering just who this woman was. The doors to William's office opened before I could receive an answer or say more.

"Oh, Lilian you're already here."

"Good morning sir." She smiled but oddly enough, her face maintained its sternness.

"Miss Duhamels, this is my PA/secretary from Illston tech, Lilian Borough and Lilian, this is Ophelia Duhamels, one of my PAs here."

"She seems a bit incompetent sir." The woman bluntly said and I gaped at her.

"Not everybody is a top notch PA like you Lilian, now let me see those new designs." He smiled lightly then they walked into his office.

I shook my head and decided to simply ignore the blatant insult to my person and silently continue with my work. Heather's return from the restroom simultaneously coincided with the opening of William's door again, as he and his secretary came out.

"Lilian, this is Heather Jack my other PA here and Miss Jack, this is Lilian borough my resident PA/secretary at Illston tech."

"Good afternoon, nice to meet you." Heather smiled.

"Nice to meet you too." Lilian replied.

"Lilian will be here for a while, a few hours a day to teach you two more on handling all my affairs here especially whenever I'm not around," William said, "not that you two haven't done well so far but Lilian is the best in the business and you can always learn a few tricks from her." He added and heather and I nodded in unison.

"Our lessons will start tomorrow. I have to get back to Illston tech in the meantime." Lilian pasted a smile on--the nicest smile yet--then left with William.

Once they were out of sight, I leaned back into my seat. The week had just gone up five notches higher in interesting.

"Looks like we've got ourselves a tutor." Heather laughed.

***