Chapter 7 – Alyssa
I’ve come up with a cozy routine these days, and it’s not too shabby if I do say so myself.
More often than not, I wake up with Julian. Sometimes I cook us a quick breakfast. Most of the time, however, he has a personal chef who has already come and prepared his seven o’clock breakfast based on whatever his nutritionist has arranged for him to eat. After my recent physical (from hell,) his nutritionist has taken over my diet as well and now arranges my breakfasts and whatever dinners I have at Julian’s place.
His driver drops me off on my campus right before my nine o’clock Economics class. I usually slip into my seat before the prof has a chance to enter the room. For the next three or four hours, I attend my classes, have lunch either by myself or with my friends, and pop into offices or the student store to grab whatever I need. At one, Julian’s driver waits for me where he dropped me off, and I ride a few blocks over. On nice days like today, I’d rather walk, but Julian says it’s a security issue now. You think I haven’t noticed the cranky, muscular women lurking around my campus with eyes for me? They ain’t looking to flirt. They’re making sure other people don’t flirt with me. Oh, and I guess if someone gets some funny ideas about messing with me to get to Julian, they’ll intervene with that too.
I roll my eyes by this point. My friends have never noticed them, and I’m not about to bring them up!
Work is from 1:30 to 5:00. Now that I’ve graduated from intern, I get to spend most of my afternoons sitting in on meetings, answering my boyfriend’s business emails, and hoping that he’ll spare me some extra attention while I type up notes and do whatever leftover work Vern doesn’t want to deal with. Then again, I’m on probation after what happened earlier this week, so I’m not doing anything too exciting.
I leave with Julian whenever he’s ready to head out of the office. Sometimes we grab dinner, sometimes we have a small business function to go to, but mostly we go back to his place and relax. Sex is always on the menu. We’ve fooled around most days. Yesterday, Thursday, was the first day all week we didn’t do anything sexual, and that’s only because Julian was up late dealing with a business matter before crashing in bed. At least it let me get caught up on my homework.
Today, when I walk into the office, I’m immediately tasked with going back downstairs and delivering memos to the interns before I even have the chance to see Julian in his office. But the person who gives me this order sounds like they have the authority to tell me what to do, so why not? Not like I’m a slave to my boyfriend… until I see him for the first time all day, anyway.
My intern position was never replaced. Not sure they’re going to replace it, either. This means my old desk is cleared off, barren, empty. It also means that the other nine interns, both women and men, have to pick up the slack for my absconded ass.
Not all of them are fans of mine.
“Well!” Cher, who I didn’t like when we worked together and I definitely don’t like now, shuffles some papers neatly together at her desk. “Look who has come down to slum with the rest of us plebs. Got tired of the caviar upstairs, Alyssa?”
What is this? Are we still young enough to bully each other? I wonder what would happen if I told Julian about her behavior… ah, nah. Think I’ll pass for now. I’ve gotta fight some of my own battles, you know? “Stopped by to drop off some of these files,” I say, depositing her copy into her lap. “Thought you might like to see them.”
“Did you type them up yourself? Not sure I wanna trust them if it’s anything like what happened earlier this week. Mr. Bradley was so mad that you screwed up like that, Alyssa. I don’t know how Mr. Marcus didn’t cast you out into the street!”
What’s funny? She didn’t used to be this bad when I was another face in the office. Don’t get me wrong. Cher has always been a total bitch from the first day we started as interns this year, but she mostly left me alone unless I actually did something to offend her. Honestly, I don’t know how she got a position here, other than because she’s conventionally attractive with long, silky black hair, a small waistline, and perfect skin. She really does look like her namesake aside from a rounder face.
So while Cher and I have never gotten along, really, it’s still easy to see that it’s pure jealousy making her bully me now. But I also know she won’t push it far enough to get herself into much trouble. Unless I feel like getting her in trouble, of course.
As I said earlier, I can still fight some of my own battles.
“I did not write that memo, no.” I snort. “I could go back and add some addendums for you, though, Cher.”
“Hmph.” She stands up with the memo in her hand. She doesn’t even look at it before letting it drop to her desk. One of the male interns glances up from his own desk and decides he doesn’t want to get involved with our drama. Maybe he’s scared of Cher. I know I usually would be right now. “So, how serious is it between you and the boss?”
I’m taken aback. “Excuse me?”
“Please. I’m not looking for gross details. It’s clear you two are up to no good.” What is that face for? “I’m asking to find out if he’s got you on a leash behind the scenes.”
“He doesn’t. No.”
“So you wouldn’t mind coming out clubbing with the other girls and me tonight?”
“Huh?”
“The rest of us are going out tonight after work. Drinks, dancing… meeting up at that new place Blue Sky that’s supposed to be all the rage. You should come, if Mr. Marcus lets you.”
Is this a trap? “I’d have to clear it with him first.”
“I’ll text you the details. Your number’s the same, right?”
“Yes.” Julian bought me the latest and greatest phone because, as he swore, the “slow speed” or my old one drove him crazy. “Like I said, I’d love to go with you. I simply need to clear it with Mr. Marcus first.”
“Make sure you do that.” Cher twiddles her fingers in my direction before heading for the copy room. “Bring some of those hunky bodyguards, too. We need all the man meat we can get to pregame.”
“I’ll work on it.” I’ll also head back upstairs to put my name on Julian’s list of people who want to speak with him when he has a moment.
You’d think that since I’m his girlfriend and his assistant, I’d be allowed to see him whenever I want. Yeah, right. I put my name on the list like everyone else. Vern is the only one allowed to barge in, and that’s only when there’s a legit emergency. Me asking for the night off from his libido does not count.
It’s a half hour wait. I bide my time catching up on work – and doing some homework on the side – until Vern taps me on the shoulder and says I can go in.
Julian is still on his computer when I enter. The man types faster than Vern, and that’s saying a lot. It also says a lot that Julian isn’t afraid to write most of his own emails, and this includes the parts of contracts he comes up with in tandem with his lawyers. I’m still getting used to everything going on in this office, let alone on the executive level. As an intern, I did such menial work that it’s laughable now. What was checking for typos, making copies, and doing bottom-tier research when he’s up drafting business contracts and brokering deals that will be taught in business school classes twenty, fifty years from now?
“Lyssa,” he says with a flirty growl in his voice. Even so, he doesn’t look away from his monitor. For a brief second I’m entranced. My boyfriend is so… strong and rugged that I can barely contain my youthful hormones attempting to embarrass me in front of him. Fuck. Here I am asking if we can have a night off from each other! A Friday night, no less! “To what do I owe this pleasure? It is pleasure, right?” Finally, he gives me his undivided attention. “Even business pleasure is a joy on a long afternoon before the weekend.”
I blush. “It’s a personal matter, yes.”
“Ooh, then do go on. With as much detail as possible.”
“Afraid it’s not that kind of personal matter, sir.”
“I love it when you call me that.”
When will I stop blushing? “I know. Anyway, I knew we had plans tonight, but…” Granted, we were only going out to eat and then having a movie screening with some of his billionaire buddies three months before the movie actually hits theaters, but how much do I care about some action movie, anyway? Julian only wants to stroke my thigh and see if he can get away with me sucking him off in a dark theater. “The other interns were going out tonight, and they invited me to come with them. Is it okay if I go?”
“Lyssa.” He leans back, gesturing to his lap. For once, I don’t think he wants that dark theater sucking off. He wants me to sit on his lap, and boy howdy, am I inclined! (Seriously, you’ve never sat on my boyfriend’s lap, have you? I’m not the most petite woman in the world, and it makes me feel like a tiny million dollars. I could sit here all day.) “You don’t have to ask me permission for something like that. What, do you think I control you that much?”
“Well, no…”
“Where are you going and who are you with? That’s all I need to know.”
“Cher and the other female interns. They said something about going to a club called Blue Sky. Do you know it?”
I see a flash of a frown on his face. I’m not sure how to take that. “Preston actually owns that club. I’m sure it will be more than fine. Just…” He rubs my thigh, and electric sparks fire through me at the most inappropriate time. “Don’t stay out too late, my sweet. Buzz my driver when you’re ready to leave and he’ll bring you by my place. I’ll be waiting for you.”
“But not waiting up for me, right?”
“Of course not. But I will look forward to seeing your beautiful face, Lyssa. In whatever enticing clubwear you feel like wearing tonight.” He tips my chin up, his delightful fingers tracing my throat. “I’ll find ways to keep myself occupied until we meet up again. Preston’s been bugging me about giving him some attention. You’d think he was my boyfriend, but I keep reminding him that I’m not my brother.”
Speaking of, I need to get more details of this wedding we’re going to soon, but I can ask about that later.
“I should get back to work.” I slip off his lap. “Talk to you later, Julian.”
He slaps my ass the moment I turn around. Thanks, Julian. Now I’m aroused, when I should be thinking about screaming at HR for that.
