Ignite Me (The Annihilate Me Series) (12 page)

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When the day
did come to a close, I was not only exhausted from the sheer amount of running
around I’d done at Wenn (Blackwell had sent me to nearly every department on
every floor to deliver folders, memos, and whatnot to any number of people,
clearly in an effort to make sure that I’d paid attention to Margaret when she
gave me a tour of the building), but I also felt grateful that I’d managed to
pull it off fifteen minutes before the clock struck five.
 

Since I’d
signed up for this job knowing that working late was a given, I had to wonder
what Blackwell had in store for me next.
 
Not that I had to wait long to find out, because when I returned to the
office, she called out my name as I passed her door.

“Madison,” she
said.

I turned to
face her.
 
“Yes, Ms. Blackwell?”

“Have you finished?”

“I just
finished.
 
Everyone on that list has
been taken care of.”

“Everyone?”

“Everyone.”

“Naturally, you
know that I’ll hear if that isn’t the case.”

And so now I’m
lying to you?

“It is the
case,” I said coolly.
 
“I’ve checked
the list several times, and I’ve made certain of it.”

She looked at
her watch and then lifted her head at me, appraising me with new eyes.
 
“All right,” she said.
 
“Fair enough.
 
And good for you, Madison.
 
You obviously took Margaret’s morning
tour of the building seriously, because I sent you to places that you never
would have found if you hadn’t paid close attention.
 
Here’s what you need to know about
me—you may not be thinking so now, but I can tell you that I am always
fair.
 
Do good work, and you’ll have
no issues with me.
 
Do poor work
and—well, you already know how that will turn out.
 
Yesterday was a risible disaster for
you.
 
Today, let’s call it a mixed
bag.
 
That said, if you learn from
your mistakes and pay attention to what I have to say at all
times—especially to the subtleties I refuse to make clear to you because
I am, after all, judging your personal judgment—you might just right the
ship, which I can tell you that before lunch, I wasn’t sure whether you’d be
able to pull off.
 
Still, it appears
that you got through a list I was certain you’d never get through, so I’m
impressed.
 
And I mean that.”

Is the Devil in
Chanel kind of giving me a weird sort of compliment?
 

“I want to
apologize again about the way I carried your suits, Ms. Blackwell,” I
said.
 
“I wasn’t aware that fabric
could bruise so easily.
 
I had no
idea.”

“We’re
fine.
 
I’ve inspected each suit, and
no harm was done.
 
Lucky you.
 
But now you know what I expect, so
please handle them with extreme care in the future.
 
That’s all I ask.
 
And Madison, don’t forget that you’ve
got Zack to help you with things like that, for God’s sake.
 
If you don’t think you can carry
everything up here on your own, use him.
 
He’s yours not just to drive you around, but to help you when you need
his help.”

And you’re
telling me this now?
I wanted to scream at her.
 
But instead, I just kept my tone
neutral.

“I wasn’t aware
of that,” I said.

“Now you are.”

“It’s still
early,” I said.
 
“What would you
like me to assist you with next?”

“I’m actually
fine for now.
 
Why don’t you take
off for the day?
 
I believe you said
you were going to try out Wenn Fitness after work?”

“I’m ready to
get to it as long as you’re sure that you don’t need anything more from me.”

“I’ve already
told you I don’t.
 
Your day is over,
so take a deep breath knowing that, and enjoy your workout.
 
Go to the Wenn Fitness nearest to
us—it’s just steps away from the building and I hear that it’s the best
one Wenn owns.
 
Now, shoo!
 
I’ll see you tomorrow morning at
seven.
 
And Madison,” she said as I
turned to leave.
 
“Make sure you get
your rest, because tomorrow might just be your most trying day yet.”

“Well, that
certainly sounds like a threat,” I heard a woman say to my right.
 
I turned and recognized her at once, if
only because of all of the photographs I’d seen of her in newspapers and
magazines, not to mention on television and the Internet.
 
It was Jennifer Wenn, but what became
immediately clear to me was that those photographs didn’t do her any justice,
because she was far more beautiful in person.
 

She approached
me with a smile.

“I’m Jennifer
Wenn,” she said.
 
“You must be
Madison, Barbara’s new assistant.
 
So let me just apologize for that right now.”

“You’re a
horrible person, Jennifer,” Blackwell said from her office.

“Does Madison
know that therapy is part of Wenn’s benefits package, Barbara?” Jennifer called
out to her.
 
“Because if she’s
working for you, she probably should know that.”

“Horrible to
the core!”

Jennifer
fluttered her eyelids several times at me before she extended her hand, which I
shook.
 
There are few things worse
in the business world than a weak handshake, so I was happy to find that
Jennifer’s grip was firm.
 

“It’s a
pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Wenn.”

“Please, call
me Jennifer.
 
‘Mrs. Wenn’ sounds too
stuffy.”

“Stuffy?”
Blackwell said.
 
“Please.
 
Do you want to know the real reason she
doesn’t go by ‘Mrs. Wenn,’ Madison?
 
It’s because she can’t carry it off.
 
Beware of that one, because I’m here to
tell you that while she might look like one, she’s no lady.”

“Seriously?”
Jennifer said as she stuck her head into Blackwell’s office doorway.
 
“This from the ball-breaker of Fifth
Avenue?”

Blackwell
brightened at that.
 
“Is that what
they’re calling me now?
 
How
unexpected.
 
How spot-on.
 
How divoon.”

“I’m sure they’re
calling you lots of things,” Jennifer said as she stepped into the office and
tossed a file onto Blackwell’s desk.
 
“But ‘divoon’ isn’t one of them.”

“Tell that to
the wind,” Blackwell said.
 
“Perhaps
it will care.
 
And by the way, may I
ask what the hell
you
are wearing?”

“A Dior suit I
seem to remember
you
buying for me.”

“From last
year’s collection.”

“Does it
matter?
 
I still love it.”

“You’ll never
learn, will you?
 
You wore that
today to spite me.”

“I did no such
thing.”

“The lies.”

I couldn’t believe
how Blackwell was talking to Jennifer.
 
Obviously, they were closer than I’d imagined, because if that wasn’t
the case, who would speak like that to Jennifer Wenn, of all people?
 
And then I remembered what I’d read in
the news not so long ago—Blackwell had been with Jennifer, her husband,
and a host of others when their plane crashed onto a South Pacific island.
 
Clearly, they were tight.

“I assume this
file you just hurled at me like a stone at a pauper is the report you want me
to look over?” Blackwell said.

“It is.
 
Alex and I just gave it another
once-over.
 
If you could have at it
and let us know what you think, we’ll take it from there.”

“When do you
need it?”

“Morning.”

“Morning?
 
So, who’s the ball-buster now?”

“Not me, lady.”

“Well, at least
you can call
me
a lady.”

“Just
remember,” Jennifer said when she walked around Blackwell’s desk and gave her a
kiss on the cheek, “I’ll always love you despite the fact that you’re wholly
impossible.”

With a
mortified expression on her face, Blackwell shrank away from Jennifer.
 
“And please remember that I eschew
physical intimacy of any sort.”

“Which we
should probably work on,” Jennifer said as she stood.
 
“You know, in an effort to make you
appear at least somewhat human.”

“Are you quite
finished here?
 
Madison and I were
just saying goodbye for the day.”
 
She tapped a finger on the file Jennifer had given to her.
 
“And if Alex and you expect this by
morning, it appears as if I’ll be staying here longer than I’d anticipated.”

“You’ll breeze
through that report in no time.
 
We
both know it.
 
But Madison and I
will leave you in peace.”
 
She
turned to look at me.
 
“How about if
I walk you out?”

“That would be
great,” I said, knowing that this was a prime opportunity to make a good
impression on the second most powerful person at Wenn.
 
“Just let me grab my bag and gym
clothes, and I’ll be ready to go.”

When I went to
retrieve them, I heard Blackwell say, “Madison is going to Wenn Fitness
tonight.”

“Likely because
she already knows that if she’s going to work for you, she’s going to have to
build up her strength just to get through the day.”

When Jennifer
said that, Blackwell may have said “Please,” but just hearing Jennifer acknowledge
the truth made me smile as I stuffed my gym clothes and sneakers into my
bag.
 
With a conscious effort, I
didn’t look at Brock when I swept my bag over my shoulder and walked over to
Blackwell’s door.

“By the way,”
Jennifer said, “I love your dress, Madison.”

“Thank you.”

“She got it at
Century 21,” Blackwell said dismissively.
 
“As you can imagine, I’ve had all I could do today to keep fresh air
coming into my office because of it.
 
At one point, I was so overwhelmed by the stink of the store on that
dress, I started thinking ‘toxic air,’ ‘must find oxygen—STAT.’”

“You really are
awful, you know?” Jennifer said.
 
“When I first came to New York, Century 21 was a lifesaver for me.
 
And also for Lisa.
 
You wouldn’t believe the things we found
there.
 
And I think that Madison is
a testament to that store—she looks terrific.
 
But then again, I do love the bandage
look.”

“You would.”

“Goodbye,
Barbara,” Jennifer said lightly.
 
“Madison and I are leaving now.”

“And goodbye to
both of you,” Blackwell said.
 
“May
you run away together to another country.”

When Jennifer
came out of the office, she hooked her arm around my shoulders and urged me
forward.
 
“I came down here for a
reason,” she said when we were far enough down the hall to be out of earshot.
 
“To talk with you.”

“To talk with
me?”

“Yes, because I
know how she can be.
 
What you need
to know about her, Madison, is that you can’t take much of what she says too
seriously.
 
For the most part, she’s
just a pseudo hard-ass—unless you really cross her, and if you do, then
you should probably run and hide.
 
But what I’m pretty sure you don’t know is that she’s already said
plenty of fine things about you to Alex and me.
 
And because of that, we’re happy to have
you here at Wenn.”

“She’s actually
said positive things about me?”

“She has.
 
And by your shocked expression alone, I
can already tell that she’s putting you through hell right now, isn’t she?”

I didn’t
answer.

“Look, just
know that on the sly—and in her own, um, unique way—she’s been
raving about you.”

“I hope you
understand why I find that hard to believe.”

“Oh, I get
it.
 
Still, take my advice when it
comes to that one—stay the course.
 
Keep working hard.
 
You’ll
always think that you’ve blown it with her, but that’s just part of her
M.O.
 
She’s just trying to pull the
best out of you.
 
In the end, yes,
you’ll need to pass all of her tests.
 
But when you do, you’ll eventually see that she’s only been working to
shape you into the person she knows that you can become.
 
You might not believe it now, but when
she’s fully made up her mind up about you—and from what Alex and I hear,
she’s just about there—you’ll be dealing with a completely different
woman.
 
One who respects you.
 
And one who will also go to the mat for
you.”