“What?” I felt my eyes widening.
“I didn’t stutter. Human Resources is to the left. You can tell them that you’re here for position EA-122 and they’ll handle the rest.”
“Thank you, but—”
“But?” He crossed his arms.
“Yes, I have a few things to ask. I need to know everything that the job entails.”
“That’s why you’re seconds away from talking to Human Resources,” he said. “I don’t know the job description by heart, Miss Lauren.”
“I meant that I have a few questions for you.”
“Allow me to assume,” he said. “Answer number one, no. Your breakfast is not included. Answer number two, the salary is three hundred and fifty thousand dollars a year.”
My jaw dropped. “You’re kidding.”
“I’m not. Apparently, I’m a rather intense boss and I tend to stress people out whenever they’re working for me.”
“Are you saying the word ‘stress’ or ‘stretch’?”
“Whichever you prefer.” He smiled.
“Miss? Miss?” A voice down the hall forced me to look away from him. “Miss, if you’re not here for employee business at Preston International, you need to leave this floor immediately. Are you here for that?”
I turned my attention to Preston and he raised his eyebrow.
“Are you?” he asked, letting the elevator doors shut before I could answer.
“Miss? Miss?”
I pinched myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming, that I really was seconds away from landing the job of my dreams.
“I’m here for a job,” I said to the woman. “Preston Parker’s executive assistant.”
Four
Preston
Hours later, I stared outside my restaurant’s windows and watched Tara let up a black and gold umbrella under my hotel’s awning. Looking slightly confused, she walked against the flow of traffic and held her bag close. I watched until she disappeared into the crowd, noticing that every man who caught sight of her did a slow double take.
I immediately sent my Human Resources director an email.
* * *
Subject: My Executive Assistant Position
Walsh,
Did the applicant I sent downstairs this morning have the necessary qualifications?
Preston Parker
CEO & Owner of Parker International
* * *
His response was instant.
* * *
Subject: Re: My Executive Assistant Position
Mr. Parker,
I’m happy to let you know that Tara Lauren is more than qualified for your executive assistant position. I personally think she’s your best hire to date.
I’m including her “short-list” below and will be happy to answer any further questions regarding her employment which will start next Monday, pending my question below.
Tara Lauren’s Shortlist:
B.A. from Princeton University
MBA from Princeton University
J.D. from Harvard University
Miss Lauren has also studied various trades abroad in France, Australia, & Japan.
She speaks three languages (Spanish, French, & German)
She asked if she could have a nine hundred dollar advance to pay her rent. Should I approve this amount? (Also, I hate to accuse her, but I’m pretty sure she stole my umbrella …)
Best,
Walsh Jones
Human Resources Director, Parker International
* * *
Subject: Re: Re: My Executive Assistant Position
Walsh,
Approve nine thousand. (I’ll make sure she gives it back when she starts.)
Preston Parker
CEO & Owner of Parker International
* * *
I set my phone down, amused. Then I wondered where the hell she was staying in this city for nine hundred a month.
I couldn’t stop replaying the way she’d looked in my office, the way her soft words slipped from her sexy, pink lips. With one look at her coffee colored hair that fell past her breasts, her almond brown eyes that were a bit too trusting, and the way her navy-blue dress clung to her curves, I knew I shouldn’t have hired her.
I’d never been this attracted to a woman after a first encounter in my life, and I knew having her close to me again was going to be a problem.
“Sorry, I’m late.” George sat across from me and handed me a folder. “We have the first interview with a former resort director in thirty minutes, and the second interview with the legal advisor from Broadway right after that. Your international schedule for meetings starts in three weeks, so how do you want to play this?”
“I canceled those interviews an hour ago.”
“What?” He sat up in his chair. “Why?”
“Because I just hired my next executive assistant.”
“Without my input?”
“I went with my gut,” I said. “I was quite impressed with her creative means of survival.”
“Your gut, and her creative means of survival?” He looked like his head was about to explode. “Is this some type of joke, Preston?”
“Not at all.” I picked up my coffee and took a long sip, mentally rewinding thoughts of Tara walking into my office.
“What does she look like, Preston?”
She’s sexy as fuck. “I’m not sure how you expect me to answer that question, George. Does she look like she graduated from an Ivy-league school? I’m not sure how someone can ‘look’ like that, but she did indeed graduate from Princeton. She has a law and a business degree as well. She also speaks three of the same languages that I do.”
“What does she look like, Preston?” He glared at me. “As your top lawyer, I need to know what type of hire this was. One with your dick or one with your brain.”
It was both. “It was the latter, of course.”
“I’m sure.” He snatched away my folder. “Since we already know how this is going to end, do me a favor and have Cynthia schedule those other interviews for three weeks from now, so we can make sure that someone in the administration is on the international meeting trips with you.”
“You think the woman I hired is only going to last three weeks?”
“From the ‘I’m definitely attracted to her’ look on your face, I wouldn’t bet on her lasting longer than two.”
Five
Tara
I took my time getting back to Brooklyn in the rain, my mind spinning in a million different directions. I’d spoken to the HR team for over an hour, insisting that this must all be a dream, but when they gave me an official employee number and handed me the entry badge to my new office, I finally accepted that it wasn’t.
I signed every contract within seconds of them placing it in front of me, calculating the salary again and again. The executive assistant position at the Russ Stock Exchange was for one hundred and fifty thousand a year, and the others I’d interviewed for were between seventy and eighty thousand a year.