Chapter Two

Waking up to the sound of your alarm really is a terrible thing. Waking up to the sound of someone else's alarm as they stand at the end of your bed calling for you to get up and get a job is much worse.

I throw the covers off and jump out of bed, chasing Alex into the kitchen. When I get there, he is standing there, holding out a hot cup of tea. I take it and sit down, being sure to throw him an angry glance. He finishes getting ready for work around me while I enjoy the tea, letting it wake me up.

"Gen, I’ve arranged a job interview for you today”.

I pause what I am doing to face him.

"You have? Where is it for”.

He smiles, while moving closer to the counter to fill up his travel mug with coffee.

"It’s for Brower’s tech "

My jaw drops. Other than Maddox INC, Brower’s is up there within the list of places I would love to work.

"Don’t get too excited Gen, a buddy of mine works there. He's looking for a new assistant. It won’t be anything spectacular, but it’s good money”.

I nod at him and smile. "Thank you, Alex, what time is it and where do I go?"

He hands me a piece of paper with all the details on it before heading to the door and throwing his coat on to leave.

"Just meet me at my office after that. It's only around the corner”.

As soon as the door shuts, I finish my tea and head to my room, feeling more nervous than when I woke up at the possibility of getting a job on day one. I stare absent-mindedly at the outfit I picked out, put it back in the wardrobe, and pull out another in its place.

Once I have showered, I put on some light makeup and twist my hair up into an elegant but serious bun, trying hard to smooth down the fuzziness.

Pulling on the black skirt over my tights, I stand and wonder if this teal shirt is a little too much. However, I do like the way in contrasts with my dark skin, and it brings out the colour in my eyes.

Choosing to stick with it, I pull on the blazer and some heels and grab my bag while heading for the door. New York in the winter is not something I am used to. The icy pavements and bitterly cold winds make the London rain seem like a breeze. Before I leave, I grab my more professional looking coat and a scarf, longingly staring at the giant puffer jacket Alex bought me a while ago.

As soon as the air hits my face, I am ice-cold to the core. I rush to the tube station, trying to get out of the cold. I travel around the city, dropping resumes to any stores or restaurants with a help wanted sign. By the time it reaches 12, I am exhausted, and my interview is in 30 minutes at Brower’s Tech.

I heard that way, hoping to find a cheap coffee shop close by where I can sit and wait.

As soon as I am there, I realise Alex was right when he said this building was close to his own. I can see it on the corner and in between is a small independent coffee place. I step inside, hoping they have proper tea.

Service is slow and by the time my order is ready I have 10 minutes to get to Brower’s hoping to arrive early. Rushing out of the shop, I fail to notice the man stood in front of me in the middle of the pavement. As my tea goes flying, and my folder drops to the floor, letting every copy of my resume start blowing away.

I bend down and begin to scoop them up as my hot coffee freezes on the New York sidewalk. I mutter to myself just how fucking fabulous this is, and what irks me more is the guy who got in my way does not even offer to help. He just stands on the spot while I pick up the contents of my bag that surround his feet.

When I am done, I stand up throwing a quick glance in his direction, noticing some of my resumes are now getting wet from the rain that just decided to ruin my day further. I mutter to the guy a quick thanks a lot jackass and rush down to Brower’s Tech, hoping that I’m not late.

Once inside, I rushed to the reception to let them know who I am and why I am here. She is an older woman who seemly looks me up and down disapprovingly and ushers me to take a seat in the corner. As soon as I sit down, the eyes of the four other women turn to me, all of whom are giving me dirty looks. To be honest, I do not blame them because they are all pristine looking as if someone just plucked them from a magazine and sat them on the chairs beside me.

I start putting all my paperwork back into a folder when I notice a large tear in my tights, and my dark skin is breaking through the ladders. I look around the lobby and spot a toilet on the other side. I am about halfway across when I hear my name being called.

Spinning on my heel, I am faced with a smaller, well build man in a poorly fitted suit. I smile his way. "That’s me "

I extend my hand to shake his, but he does not return the gesture, merely stating his name and looking my up and down like he has X-ray vision.

"This way please Miss Hudson"

He extends a hand towards the lift and waits for me to pass. I cringe, knowing full well his eyes are on my back, watching me walk. He presses the button to his floor. Once we arrive, he shows me to his office and tells me to take a seat while offering me a drink, which I decline.

He sits in his chair and scans over my resume. I can tell he is not taking any of it in before placing it back down in front of him.

"This job is fairly easy, you just have to do what I say”. He lets out a small chuckle, but then notices I did not laugh and speaks again.

"It’s mostly getting my mail, scheduling my appointments, and bringing me coffee. Does that sound within your capabilities?”.

If this dingus had just read the paper in front of him, he would know it is well within my capabilities, but I nod and smile politely. With that, he relaxes back into his chair.

"So, Alex tells me you're living with him. Are you two……you know?" He raises an eyebrow with the last word.

"Mr Tann, I’m not sure the nature of my relationship with Alex' is relevant to this interview”.

He straightens back up, looking a little flushed for a moment.

“Well, this job can get busy and as far as the dress code goes, you’ll be required to wear skirts or dresses. You know… that sort of thing”.

“You mean like I am now?”

He eyes me again before spotting two women walking past his window, both of whom are beautiful and leggy, wearing skirts that leave extraordinarily little to the imagination.

“Yes, but perhaps a bit more in their style.” His gaze is still on them as he watches them around the corner. I make a mental note to kill Alex when I meet him for setting me up an interview with a grade A perv.

The rest of the interview goes just as you would expect. He spent more time trying to work out the nature of my relationship with Alex than explaining to me what this job actually is.

When the interview is over, he stands up from behind his chair and opens the door for me, placing a hand on my back, making me want to karate chop him in the throat.

“This went really well, and I’ll be in touch”.

He winks at me and leaves me in the lift. I do not hesitate to smile, say thanks and hit the close door button multiple times.

As soon as I am out of the building, I shake off all the weird vibes that guy gave me and check the time. I still have twenty minutes till I must meet Alex, so I take a slow walk up to his building.

Once inside, I greet the secretary, letting her know I am here to see Alex. She issues me a temporary pass and then hands me a spare pair of new tights she has in her drawer, directing me to the ground floor bathroom.

"Thank you so much for this”.

"It’s really no trouble. It happens more often than you think, so I always have a some in my drawer here. Will you be okay to find Alex alone when you are done, or would you like me to call him down?”

"It’s okay, I know where his floor his”.

Once I change into the most luxuriously thick tights, I think I have ever worn, I head up the large glass stairs to find him.

I pass a few people I once met with Alex at the bar and greet them before I reach his cubical. The admin assistant for Alex area lets me know he’s in with the big boss, so I just wait for him at his desk. I wait around 10 minutes before he arrives, looking nervous.

"Alex, are you okay?” He seems shocked by my presence.

"Oh, Gen, you're here. I didn’t realise that was the time already. Let me just grab my stuff and we will get going. It’s been a rough morning since the boss got in today. He was furious and that has been the general feeling of the day so far”.

I nod at him while he disappears to get his coat. As I am sat waiting, I feel a pair of eyes on me. My head flashes up to see someone staring at me from the lift at the end of the corridor.

"So how was the interview Gen”. Alex pulls me from my seat and leads me to the stairs.

"Yeah, about that, what is with that guy Alex? He was a creep, and in fact, he was king of the creeps!"

We step back outside into the fresh air, standing beside a car with a driver in the front and blacked-out windows in the back. O One of the windows is slightly open while Alex starts laughing, making me stop right next to it.

"I had heard that Gen, but you needed a job and he offered. If I am being honest, he sent me an email pretty much as soon as you were done answering what the deal was with us. I figured that you wouldn’t want to work for him, so I told him we were dating”.

With that, I heard the window of the car roll up, showing me there was someone in there.

" He then let me know that you didn’t get the job because you were under-qualified”.

He laughed again and drops his hands after making the sarcastic air quotes at under-qualified.

"Underqualified? The jerk didn’t even read my resume. He stared at my boobs the whole time and even told me I need to dress more like the supermodels he has in his office honestly!"

Alex links his arm in mine and pulls me closer.

"Let’s forget about him Gen and find you something to wear for the party”.

"So, you didn’t get the job with the creep and you'll find something in no time”.