Million Dollar Devil

6.

I spun around in my white leather chair, trying to pass the time until Mr Hayes would leave and I could sneak out without having to face him. It had been an hour since our last interaction and his office had been eerily quiet since. No keyboard clicks or phone calls. My chest was itchy and warm, and my shirt soaking wet, I sat there uncomfortably waiting out what felt like a prison sentence. I kept replaying Mr Hayes booming voice in my head, I could almost see the flames in his eyes for a split second. I contemplated the fact that there was a possibility tonight would be my last night at AKMO. My heart sunk at the thought.

If today isn't my last day, I will need to do a much better job flying under the radar in the future. There would be no more going out of my way to impress Mr Hayes, it clearly isn't his style. Keep quiet and do what you're told. That's my new motto. I do not need to know Mr Hayes or woo him with my personal assistant skills, I just need to get the job done and go home. I wanted a 9-5 and I got one, now I can't screw it up.

Knock! Knock!

I winced at the sound, my heartbeat sped up at the thought of having to face Mr Hayes.

"Door is open!" I said reluctantly. The door gently opened. A man in a black suit and white collared shirt stood there with a bag in his hand and an ice pack in the other.

"Ms Wright?" He looked at me with an almost goofy smile.

"Yes, that's me," I stood up, approaching him with my hand outstretched.

"Jackson," he said as he shook my hand, "Mr. Hayes asked me to drop these off with you." He placed the bag on my desk and handed me the ice pack.

"Oh," I stuttered in surprise, eager to see what was inside, "Thank you, I appreciate it." 

"Today your first day?" He asked, surprising me with his conversational friendliness and curiosity. His boyish curly hair was unruly, a stark contrast with his perfectly pressed suit. His blue eyes held more life than anyone's I'd see at AKMO. There was something childish but charming about him. He was handsome, real handsome. It seemed like everyman at AKMO was.

"Yeah," I said, shrugging my shoulders in response and looking down at my stained shirt and red blistered chest. Overwhelmed by the irony of my very horrible first day, a stifled laugh slipped out of my mouth. He laughed in response, almost melting the ball of tension that had built up in my shoulders over the last hour.

"Don't worry, we all have days like this. Only difference is, most of us don't have to deal with Leo on those days," he smirked. I pondered the depth of their relationship.

"How do you know Mr Hayes?" I asked, "That's too nice of a suit to just be his errand boy."

"Jackson Pike. CFO of AKMO and still somehow Leo's errand boy," he threw another one of what seemed to be his signature smirk. It was charming, I couldn't deny it. I thought Kyle was the AKMO ladies man, but I may have been wrong. Jackson was sure giving him a run for his money.

"Mr Hayes' overqualified errand boy and his negligent personal assist. What a pair we make, huh?" I say sarcastically.

"Don't be hard on yourself," he smiled reassuringly, "You spilt some coffee, so what? Leo just has a temper sometimes. If he didn't like you, you'd be fired by now, trust me."

His words echoed in my head. How many personal assistants had he gone through? What happened to the last one? The way Jackson put it made it seem like working for Mr Hayes was like walking on thin ice. Still, it was oddly reassuring to hear that there was a chance Mr Hayes wasn't completely unsatisfied with me. The words "like you" played in my head a few times before I forced myself to let it go.

"I appreciate your encouragement, it was just a rough way to start things off I guess," I gave him my best smile, but it didn't reach my eyes.

"Hang in there Lil, I promise Leo's not a bad guy. Ice your chest. I'll see you around," he threw me one last sparkling smile before exiting my office. I quickly placed the ice pack on my desk and opened the paper bag in front of me. Inside was a beautiful white satin top, not unlike the one I was wearing but clearly triple the price. I stood there in shock.

I will need to say thank you, but first I need to work up the courage. I poked my head outside my office, hoping to get a glimpse of Mr Hayes. The brown leather chair at his desk sat empty, he was out of sight. I checked his calendar, he wasn't in a meeting which meant he had likely already gone home.

I opened my laptop and began to draft an email:

Mr Hayes,

I apologize for the incident that occurred earlier. Thank you for the new shirt, though it is incredibly unnecessary.

See you tomorrow,
Lillian Wright

I pressed send before packing up my things and heading home to kill a few hours before a night at Lilacs.

...

"Oh my gosh! Mama, what happened to your chest?" Dominque gasped the minute I walked into the back room. The blister had enlarged and grown increasingly disgusting over the last few hours. I had rubbed ointment on them, but it wasn't seeming to bring down the inflammation. The last thing I needed was Alex seeing this, we were the merchandise he was selling and he wasn't so fond of damaged goods.

"I had my first day today, and as you can see...it was fantastic," I sighed, gesturing to my blistered chest. She looked me up and down before opening a dresser drawer and digging through a pile of clothes.

"Got it!" She exclaimed as she pulled out a black latex halter top and throwing it to me, "Put this on, it'll cover the blisters and keep Alex off your ass." I smiled at her in response, thankful for her kindness.

She eyed me curiously, "Tell me everything," she patted the chair next to her and I obliged.

"There's not much to tell. I spilt coffee on myself after Mr Hayes told me not to get him coffee and I did anyways," I sighed, "I know it doesn't seem like a big deal, but you should've seen him. He was pissed, I swore his pupils went red." I winced at the thought of his booming voice, my burning chest and utter humiliation. I had never liked being yelled at, as much as I liked to think I had tough skin, I didn't. Im a people pleaser and when people aren't pleased, I'm not either.

"So you upset Mr Sexy and now you feel bad?" She said simply. I nodded in response, feeling stupid when she put it in those simple terms.

"Did he fire you?" Dominque asked.

"No, worse. He sent some other cute guy to drop off a new shirt for me since I stained my own," I almost laughed at the words as they came out of my mouth. It was all so weird.

"Babe," she rolled her eyes with laughter, "You've already got him wrapped around your finger," she pointed at me, moving her pointer finger in a circle in my direction.

"No, that's not it," I said firmly, "He just felt bad I hurt myself trying to get his coffee."

"I can't with you right now," she waved me off with a smile, "Take your cute little ass to the stage please."