The Assistant (20 page)

“Yes… Emily, dear. Are you oka-” Suzie’s concerned tone was cut off by a gruff clearing of the throat. Both our eyes snapped towards the doorway, where Adrian stood, and my throat instantly dried up.

“Good morning, Mr. Kingston,” Suzie said, breaking the silence. “I hope you had a pleasant weekend.” She gave him the warm smile that had worked like magic on me, but Adrian’s pissed off expression didn’t change. He frowned.

“It was fine,” he snapped as his eyes briefly flickered in my direction. With some satisfaction, I noticed he did a slight double take before he covered it up by looking back at Suzie. “You may leave now, Mrs. Brown,” he ordered, walking past us both to sit at his desk.

Suzie gave me questioning look, and I shrugged slightly to show that I didn’t know what was wrong with him – even though a small hunch sat at the bottom of my stomach. She left the office, and I replayed Amy’s advice in my head before I turned to Adrian.

“Good morning, Mr. Kingston,” I greeted him, trying to keep my voice neutral. “Mr. Harrison has accepted the deal you offered him, and Mr. Walter has said that his offer still stands if you meet his requirements. Is there anything you’d like me to do for you, sir?” I kept my stance strictly professional, just as Amy advised.

Adrian didn’t look up from his phone, and I mentally cursed my best friend for making me wear all this makeup and uncomfortable clothing.

“Cancel all my morning appointments,” he ordered in a cold tone, reaching out to take a sip from his coffee.

As the words left his mouth, an unfamiliar poisonous feeling delved its way into my bloodstream, fueling my heart into suddenly thumping against my chest more rapidly. I instantly trained my eyes to my heels to hide my expression. The last time Adrian told me to cancel his morning schedule, there was a whole parade of women lining up at his door to get their daily dose of him, and for some reason, it now bothered me. A lot.

“Of course,” I said, trying to cover the slight shake in my voice. “Anything else?”

“No,” he answered bluntly.

I inhaled deeply and made my way over to my own desk – which I now wished wasn’t in the same room as his – before beginning to call up all the scheduled appointments for the morning. Just as I settled in, the door burst open. A tall, slim red head walked into the room, and I vaguely recognised her from the day of the interview for this job.

“Hey Adrian,” she purred, closing the door behind her slowly. My eyes scanned her skimpy skirt and flimsy tank top. I put my head down, concealing my anger.

“Amanda,” he greeted. I saw his lips curl into a tight smirk as his eyes scanned her body and he rose from his seat. The red head – Amanda – giggled uncontrollably, as if Adrian had made the joke of the century. She then sauntered over to him, kissing him full on the lips. He responded instantly, pulling her slim body into his own and kissing her back.

My lungs closed off at the sight – and I felt my breath stop midway in my throat as I looked over at the pair with wide eyes. Adrian began to lead her to the glass door that he had disappeared into a few times, and just before he shut the door completely, his eyes met mine. He pulled away from her lips and gave me a cruel smirk, before he began to trail kisses down Amanda’s neck and shut the door behind him.

For some identified reason that I tried to ignore, my eyes began to well up with tears, especially when loud, high pitched moans began to erupt from behind the glass door. I jumped out of my desk and grabbed the papers in front of me, as well as my bag, and inhaled deeply. By this time I was no longer crying, but pulsing with anger. I left Adrian’s office, slamming the door shut behind me, and made my way over to Suzie’s.

She looked up at me in surprise, then with a thoughtful frown. “Emily, are you okay?” she asked. “You look a little teary eyed.”

“I’m fine. Do you mind if I stay here for a while? Adrian… Adrian’s occupied for the morning.” I had said it bitterly, and mentally cursed myself for feeling so much anger towards the situation. Suzie nodded with no hesitation, and began to drag a small table she had on the side of the room, before placing it in front of the chair I was standing beside.

“I’m sorry,” she said with a guilty look, “I don’t have anything larger.”

“It’s fine, Suzie!” I assured her, offering her a strained smile. “Thank you so much. This is more than enough.”

She gave me a knowing look, and I frowned curiously as she turned around to walk back to her desk, but didn’t question it.

***

By the time lunch time came around, my body was cramping in areas I didn’t even know were capable of cramping, and Adrian was still going at it with different girls in his office. My anger never dimmed down during the four hours it was going on; not being at my desk adding more fuel to the fire.

I decided to text Allen and take him up on the lunch offer we talked about earlier, and told him to meet me at the burger shop across from Kingston Corp. He agreed and was even at the place before I was – making me laugh once I saw him standing in front of the burger shop in a black shirt with the
Starbucks
logo printed on the left chest area.

“You don’t look too eager to have lunch with me,” I teased, smirking slightly as his cheeks began to flush a light shade of pink.

“Shut up,” he mumbled, looking down at his black Converse shoes. I laughed and opened the door to the small diner, Allen following in tow. “So what made you finally agree to have lunch with me?” he asked good-naturedly. “Have my killer good looks finally caught up with you?”

I rolled my eyes and raised my eyebrows. “Yes, Allen. How will I ever be able to survive this cruel, cruel earth without you having lunch with me?” I gushed sarcastically, putting my hand over my chest to emphasize the damsel in distress role.

He chuckled and slid into the booth we walked to in the corner of the diner before smiling up at me. “Sexy, smart, feisty,
and
funny,” he declared. “The list just keeps growing every day.”

I rolled my eyes again at his attempt at flirting, before picking up the slightly greasy laminated menu in front of me. “I’m going to go out on a limb here,” I said as I scanned it, “and say you and Adrian were the playboys of your high school.”

“And college,” Allen grinned, making me laugh.

“Figures,” I stated, biting my lip as I tried to decide between a chicken burger or a beef burger. “So, what was the deal between you and Lisa this morning? And don’t bother saying it was nothing.” I narrowed my eyes at Allen, whose eyes snapped to mine at the mention of the topic. “She began to say Adrian’s name,” I went on, “so I know it’s not ‘nothing’.”

“She was just reminding me of a deal I made with Adrian,” Allen replied. “It’s nothing big. You don’t need to worry that sexy and smart mind of yours.” He smiled slyly at my unwavering expression.

“Oh, Allen. Your words touch me. Right here.” I pointed to the middle of my chest where my heart was, before throwing another sarcastic smile in his direction.

“I know something else that can touch you there, if you like.” He smirked, winking at me.

I laughed before throwing a sugar packet at his face, blushing. “Shut up, you idiot.”

He chuckled just as a waitress made her way over to our booth. “My offer still stands,” he said, waggling his eyebrows at me.

I laughed before turning to look up at the waitress. “Can I please get the beef burger and fries?” I asked. She nodded and wrote down my order, before turning over to Allen.

“And you?” she asked, visibly checking him out.

“I’ll have her,” he replied, nodding in my direction. “She’s not on the menu, but I’m willing to pay.” It made the waitress giggle.

“You’re a cute couple,” she observed, smiling at the both of us.

I instantly spoke up. “Oh no, we’re not-”

Allen cut me off. “Why thank you, lovely lady. I’ll have the same thing as my sexy girlfriend over here.” He smiled, before looking over at me and winking. I gave him a look of disbelief as the waitress wrote down his order and walked away from my booth.

“What is with men and making me their fake girlfriend?!” I exclaimed, more to myself.

“Men? Why, cupcake, I’m crushed,” Allen said, faking hurt.

I laughed at his horrible acting skills before shaking my head. “You’re a handful,” I declared. “I don’t think I want to have lunch with you again.”

He smirked before leaning forward. “Sorry, what was that? Did you say you wanted to have lunch with me again? That’s great. Every day, 1PM. I’ll be here, in this booth, waiting for you.”

His tone had turned serious, but he still managed to keep the amused glint in his eyes, and I agreed with offer, liking the fact that Allen was an entertaining distraction from Adrian.

C
hapter Fourteen

I was one more female stumbling into
my
office away from exploding.

Two weeks have gone by – and Adrian was
still
sleeping with every woman he set his eyes on. If he was trying to prove that the kiss didn’t mean anything to him, he had succeeded on the first day when he brought in the red head that I had fought with on my first day here. To make matters worse, Adrian didn’t even want me moving my desk back into my previously assigned office, and was furious when he came stumbling out of the room with the glass door with another woman buttoning up her pale pink blouse behind him, to find me directing the guys that were moving my desk out to be careful with my things.

On top of his women stumbling into my office with sheer excitement and lust present on their expressions, asking me where Adrian’s office was every
five minutes,
Adrian had said the same five words to me in total the entire two weeks.

“Cancel my entire morning schedule.”

My veins were about to pop underneath my skin at his infuriating new persona, and I’d always leave the office with steam coming out of my ears. The only highlight of my day lately, has been the hour-long lunch breaks I got to spend with Allen. He always managed to calm me down after I’d scowl and complain about his best friend’s newly adopted agenda, and temporarily made me forget about him by cracking humorous jokes and making suggestive comments while we ate our food in the diner across the road – always sitting in the corner.

Today, however, I walked into the diner to find Allen standing patiently near a booth that was on the window. I gave him a confused look, and looked around to find school kids filling every booth – including our silently assigned one in the corner.

“These guys are leaving,” he explained after my eyes landed on his tall figure. “It’s the only free booth left.”

I shrugged. “That’s fine. I would’ve said let’s go somewhere else but I might be late for work. Sorry.” I gave him a guilty look, and he waved me off, frowning slightly.

“Stop saying that. I’m fine eating here, as long as you’re sitting across from me. Or on my lap. I don’t mind either.” He smirked, making me roll my eyes and smile in amusement at his comment.

“Sorry for taking so long!” the school girl on the booth apologised, looking up at Allen with an admiring gaze.

“Don’t sweat it,” he replied coolly, giving her a lazy, lopsided grin. The girl’s face began to turn red under his gaze, and she scurried off behind her friends, gushing to them about Allen’s appearance. Allen chuckled as he slid into the both, and I took my seat opposite him, admiring the light coming from the window seat.

“Maybe we should sit here more often,” I told him with a smile. “It’s better than your little nook and cranny corner over there.”

“I don’t need the light from the window because I already have you illuminating my world,” Allen replied, grinning back at me. I began to blush but covered it up with a glare.

“Stop being cheesy.” I tried to scowl, but my lips trembled around a helpless smile.

“I aim to please, cupcake.” He winked, just as our usual waitress came to the table, grinning once she recognised our faces.

“The usual?” she asked. We both nodded and she smiled before walking away from the table.

“Still the same?” Allen asked, silently referring to Adrian’s enraging mannerisms. I nodded as a scowl crawled its way onto my lips, and I frowned down at my lap.

“I don’t understand why he needs to continue doing that in front of me,” I said, incredulous. “I mean, I get it. California was something he was clearly trying to erase from his memory – but does it really take
that
many women to forget
one
kiss?”

“It does when the kiss affects you,” Allen said, his usually friendly expression darkening slightly.

I frowned and bit my lip in confusion as I looked at him. “I don’t understand. What- oh my- Am I a bad kisser? Is that why he’s doing what he’s doing? To try and forget how bad the kiss was? Oh my God.” I groaned, feeling my entire face pulse in heat from the embarrassment.

“No!” Allen answered, a little too loudly, before lowering his voice again. “Are you crazy? Even if you
were
a bad kisser – which you aren’t, according to an anonymous yet obvious source – your face and body make up for it, trust me on that. Plus, you’re interesting to be around, and extremely funny – although you’re not on my level yet, so don’t get too excited from the compliment.” Allen smirked, winking.

I rolled my eyes and pulled my tongue out at him childishly, just as the waitress came back with our orders. She placed them in front of us and gave us a smile before she left, and I instantly shoved a piece of fries into my mouth hungrily. I looked up to find Allen smirking at me in amusement, trying to contain a laugh.

“Are you sure you’re hungry?” he teased, chuckling. “You don’t look too eager to eat.”

“Shut up, idiot.” I glared, smiling a little as I bit off half of the food in my hand.

He chuckled and began eating from his own meal, as we lapsed into a comfortable silence. I had taken three bites of my burger and was chewing it before he spoke up again. “Hey, there’s 20 letters in the alphabet, right?” he asked, frowning slightly in confusion at me.

I raised an eyebrow at the random topic, but bit my lip in thought. “No,” I replied, “I’m pretty sure there’s 26.”

Allen’s frown deepened, before his eyes lit up slightly. “Oh. I must’ve forgotten U, R, A, Q, T!” he said with a straight face, before breaking into a cheesy grin. I almost spit the water I had taken a sip of during his reply, all over the table, before swallowing it and erupting into a fit of loud laughter, the pickup line bringing tears to my eyes.

Once my laughter died down enough for me to form a response, I threw a chip at him. “You’re such a douche!” I exclaimed, still laughing softly at the joke. He chuckled and waggled his eyebrows at me, making me laugh even more.

Once my breathing became normal again, I replayed the letters he mentioned in my mind and frowned. “Wait, you only mentioned 5 letters,” I pointed out in amusement.

“I know. I’ll give you the D later.” Allen winked, making me choke on whatever was trying to travel down my throat. I banged my hand on the table and coughed a few times before taking a large gulp of water and swallowing it; bursting into another series of loud laughs. Allen chuckled at my reaction as I began to cry tears of laughter again, and threw another chip in his direction before laughing even heavier than before.

The door of the diner suddenly burst open, banging against the yellow coloured walls before the sound of glass cracking filled the now silent diner; making my laughter instantly die down as I turned around to look over to the person who made the commotion and cracked the glass door that I pushed open every day.

My blood froze in my veins.

“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING TOGETHER?” Adrian’s deep voice roared as he angrily made his way towards our booth with his fists clenched to his sides. I couldn’t move. I just stared up at his angry expression as he towered over Allen and me, looking like he was about to explode.

“Adrian-” Allen began, but was rudely cut off.

“Don’t fucking ‘Adrian’ me, mate,” he snapped, “What the fuck are you doing with her?!” He glared furiously at Allen before his eyes briefly flickered towards my still frozen state.

“We’re just having lunch,” Allen tried again, “It’s nothing-”

“NOTHING?” Adrian’s voice boomed, growing louder and angrier by the second. “YOU’RE PRACTICALLY HAVING EYE SEX IN FRONT OF THE ENTIRE STREET!” He grabbed a fistful of Adrian’s black
Starbucks
shirt, and roughly pulled him out of his seat, bringing them both face to face. “Why are you with her, Allen?” he asked in a low, deadly growl.

I watched as Allen’s jaw clenched before he pushed Adrian’s hand away.

“Because,” he replied calmly, glaring right back at his best friend, “certain
assholes
were treating her like fucking shit and wouldn’t get over their little bitch fit.”

My eyes widened in shock before they briefly flickered around the busy diner. Every single pair of eyes was on us – even the chef had stopped cooking in the small window and was peering over the tight space to observe what was going on.

“I don’t give a fuck,” Adrian snapped back, making my gaze land on his furious expression once again.

Allen rolled his eyes before resuming his seat on the red diner chair and plopping a piece of fries into his mouth while shrugging. “Anyway, where were we, Emily? Oh that’s right, I was going to give you the D.” Allen spoke up, and I watched as he tried to keep his expression neutral.

“WHAT THE FUCK?!” Adrian roared again, making Allen burst into a fit of laughter.

I looked back and forth between Adrian’s furious expression and Allen’s laughing fit rapidly, growing even more confused at Allen’s behaviour. Adrian, on the other hand, didn’t just watch his best friend laugh. He punched him square in the jaw.

I let out a surprised gasp as I heard something in Allen’s face crack sickeningly. Allen stopped laughing and groaned in pain as the palm of his hand flew up to this jaw to cradle it soothingly. Neither of us had any time to react before Adrian turned over to me and lifted me out of the tight booth by my waist before throwing me over his shoulder.

“We’re leaving,” he growled as I squealed in mortification, still aware that we had everyone’s attention on us.

I looked over at Allen with an alarmed and apologetic look before slumping in defeat in Adrian’s firm grasp as he crossed the busy road and took me all the way back up into his office. My face was tomato red – both from anger and embarrassment – by the time we arrived into his office, and he carelessly threw me onto the navy sofa before his tall figure loomed over my awkwardly sprawled one furiously. “Care to explain yourself?” He scowled, glaring indignantly.

“Explain
myself
?” I repeated incredulously. “Who the hell was the one who just broke a diner door, punched his
best friend,
and dragged their assistant all the way back up into their office during her lunch break after speaking the same 5 words to her for the past two weeks?!”

“We have a meeting in 20 minutes in the conference room down hall,” he snapped, completely ignoring my indignant reply. “Be ready.”

My jaw fell open in shock, before I quickly recomposed myself. “Hey, I’m not done talking with you!” I demanded while scrambling out of my sprawled position on the sofa.

Adrian shot me a flat look before taking his seat behind his desk. “I’m done talking with you. So get out.” He turned his attention to the large computer screen in front of him.

“Adrian,” I began, clenching my fists in annoyance, “What the hell did I do to you for you to be acting like this towards me? Not only me, Allen as well!”

“17 minutes,” he replied, still focusing solely on the computer screen.

I let out a frustrated groan before stomping out of his office angrily, fed up with his immaturity. I opened the door to my office and came to an abrupt stop when I found Suzie sitting in the chair I had in front of my desk. Once she heard my door open, she turned around with the usual warm smile on her face.

“Hello, Emily, I’m so sorry Mr. Kingston cut your lunch short. He got… very angry once I told him you were with Allen. It was a bit frightening to tell you the truth…” She trailed off, frowning. “Anyway, that’s not what I’m here for! I have all the files you’re going to need for the meeting. I was originally supposed to go but Adrian insisted you go once I told him you were with Allen…” She trailed off once again and gave me a guilty look, and I frowned at the newly received information.

“Thank you, Suzie.” I smiled before pulling her into a hug in an attempt to comfort her. “It’s not your fault. Stop blaming it on yourself.”