Chapter 7

Mandy woke up to the shrill ringing of her alarm. She got up in a daze and walked across the room to where she had stashed it in a plastic cup to amplify the sound. After switching it off, she looked around at her boxes to find the one she had marked with an “X” for her work clothes. She found it and was almost finished with her hair when her phone rang. She answered it quickly. “Hello?”

“I need you to bring two medium coffees, one black, one with three cream two sugars to the office. Don’t be late.” The line went dead before she could respond.

Mandy finished getting ready in a hurry, waiting for the GPS app on the phone to load so she could find the nearest coffee shop. She pulled her hair into a tight bun and grabbed her purse, hoping she hadn’t gotten the buttons on her blouse wrong in her hurry.

She walked into the office, juggling opening the door and holding the coffee tray with three coffees. The secretary, Gina Campbell, got up and took the tray from her. “I’ll show you to your desk real quick,” she said. “You got here just in time.”

Mandy’s desk was in a small office beside Carl’s. There was a connecting door between the two offices, as well as a door into the main area. “Mr. Salvo’s planner is in the top right-hand drawer. He’ll want you to sync your phone with his so you’ll know where he is and where you need to be at all times. I can show you around later, but right now you should go and deliver the coffees. He doesn’t like them to get cold.”

“Oh, isn’t one of them for you?” Mandy still hadn’t met any of the employees here, but since Gina worked the front office, she had assumed the coffee was for her.

Gina shook her head. “Girlfriend,” she whispered.

“Oh.” Mandy nodded. “Thanks.”

“They’re in his office now. Knock first.”

Mandy nodded. “Thanks!” She knocked on the connecting door as Gina went back to her desk outside.

“Come in,” Carl said quietly.

She opened the door and stepped inside. Carl sat at his desk while a very beautiful woman sat on top of his desk. She couldn’t have been bigger than a size four. She had perfect red curls spiralling down her back without any hint of fringe. She smiled cordially at Mandy, but Mandy could see the arrogance and general expression of distaste in the rest of her face.

Carl cleared his throat and she turned to look at him, her cheeks warm. “Coffee, sir.”

“The black one is mine,” he said. “The one with cream and sugar is Annette’s. Who’s the third one for?”

“That’s mine... Mr. Salvo.” Mandy handed him the black coffee and gave Annette the other. Next time she’d make sure to leave her coffee on her desk. It looked like she was trying to join them.

“You definitely asked for three cream and two sugars, right?” Annette asked. “It tastes disgusting with any other combination.”

“Yes,” Mandy said, smiling sweetly. She could be Claudia’s best friend.

Annette took a sip and wrinkled her nose. “It’ll do,” she said. “I’d prefer the coffee from Starbucks. Not Java crappy Joes.”

“That’s my fault,” Carl said. “I never specified.” He nodded at Mandy. “Thank you, Ms. Connors. Please put down a lunch meeting at Sinclair’s today at one and tea at The Grind at two fifteen. And remind me when I get back from tea to call Madison Bank to follow up on their offer. Not any earlier, though, because I’ll forget. Oh, and schedule a board meeting for tomorrow at five. Thank you.”

“Did you get all of that?” Annette asked, clearly sarcastic.

Mandy reviewed what Carl had said in her mind and then nodded. “Yes, thank you. Enjoy your coffee.” She turned and hurried to her desk. Enjoy your coffee? Weird? Lame? Unprofessional? It was hard for her to tell. There was always an air of professionalism in the places she had worked before but it wasn’t as formal as it was here. Then again, she had been the receptionist for a small town lawyer in a Midwest town of three hundred people while paying for college, and then worked for a three-star hotel before working as the secretary of Stephen’s father in a small advertising company for local businesses. Even the advertising company had been very laid-back because they were working with small business owners that didn’t need to be impressed.

This was an entirely different atmosphere. And I don’t even know what exactly they do here! She was sure that either Carl owned the company, or his family did. It was called Salvo enterprises after all. She glanced down at her flower-printed blouse and black slacks. She needed to go shopping. Carl’s girlfriend was a rail, Gina was a tall rake... What is it with skinny people? Mandy pushed the thought aside. She had a job to do and no way was she going to lose that amazing apartment.

Mandy sat down at the desk to write everything into his planner and made a mental note to always have the voice memo app on her cell phone running whenever he asked something of her.

Gina knocked on her opened door and stepped in. “I can give you the tour now, if you have a moment.”

“I think I do,” Mandy said.

Gina smiled. “It may seem scary at first, but Mr. Salvo will go easy on you for the first few days while you’re settling in.”

Easy? Great. She wasn’t sure she wanted to see him when he was tough. “Just out of curiosity, what did his last personal assistant have trouble with? I just want to be a little more prepared when the kid gloves go off.”

Gina looked surprised. “You didn’t know? He’s never had a personal assistant before. He’s always managed everything himself.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I think he’s only noticing the strain of it now. To be honest, I don’t think he’s realized his business has tripled within the last three years, and he doesn’t see why he can’t handle everything by himself anymore.”

So Carl definitely owned the business. And ruled it with an iron fist, apparently.

Mandy’s cell phone began ringing on her desk where she’d set it. The sound of the music from the wicked witch of the west began playing in the room. It was Claudia.

“Go ahead, take it,” Gina said. “Just this once, though. Usually Mr. Salvo prohibits all personal calls.”

“So sorry. It won’t happen again.” Mandy grabbed her phone and pressed it against her ear. “Hello?”

“Hey, Mandy, where did you put the catering menu?” Claudia asked.

“You never gave me the catering menu. You said you and Stephen wanted to work it out yourself.” Because you didn’t want me to get hungry and binge-eat after seeing all of the gourmet foods on the menu.

“Oh, that’s right. What about the honeymoon brochures?”

“I’m at work. Can I call you back?”

“It’ll take you two seconds to answer. Less if you stop arguing.”

Mandy sighed and stared up at the high ceiling. “Bedroom desk, left drawer. I have to go.”

“You got a job?” Claudia’s voice rose an octave “What the h—”