She cursed under her breath as she rounded the corner, heading to her usual stop to order a coffee. One part of having a routine was that she felt compelled to stick to it. Part of that meant grabbing a coffee from her favorite coffee shop. There was no chance she was going into the meeting without an abundance of caffeine in her system beforehand. Despite that coffee was shown to heighten anxiety, she always felt as though it gave her a sense of comfort. As she ran, however, she began to hate it. The coffee was hot as it spilled over from the lid and streamed down her hand.
Her heels clicked along the sidewalk, and she felt a light drizzle coming down as her breath fogged into the air around her. This was not how she pictured her first morning at Spectrum. Actually, it was the opposite of what she’d expected when considering it the night before.
Aubrey finally reached the building and rushed in so fast she nearly slammed into the automatic sliding doors. The marble floor echoed her footsteps as she made her way through the immense lobby. Although it was morning, there were few people in the waiting room. She passed the desk at the right side of the lobby, peering over to see a map of the building. Great. Spectrum was on the top floor. Of course.
“Whoa! Watch where you’re going, miss.”
Aubrey nearly dropped her coffee and felt his muscles harden beneath her near-collision with his dress shirt. She barely grazed his face with her eyes as she passed. Her stomach was knotting as her anxiety peaked. “Sorry about that.”
She continued past him, trying to avoid eye contact. She didn’t have time to flirt with the handsome model, who was clearly there on assignment. This was the morning from hell, and she couldn’t think of anything she’d rather do less.
“That’s it?”
She rushed towards the elevator and hit the button, sipping away at the lid of the coffee so that it didn’t spill anymore. “I don’t have time to give you my number or discuss your new campaign. Just continue about your business modeling for whatever agency you’re here to help.”
He didn’t reply as the elevator dinged. She only realized after stepping into the elevator how rude she’d been. Aubrey brought the warm plastic cup to her mouth and finished the coffee in a few gulps. The starkness of the elevator caused her stomach to shift. She was late, and there was no coming back from that impression.
The red number above ticked upward slowly until it finally showed the floor for Spectrum. She inhaled deeply, pulled her tote closer to her, and fixed her skirt with the hand that held the now-empty coffee cup.
When the doors opened, she was surprised to see the layout of the office was open concept with a modern twist. She’d never seen an office quite like it. Plants were littered among the desks, which were long communal desks that sat three employees on each side. The office workers were silently typing as she entered. She saw a door at the end of the office, which likely led to the staff room and kitchen. She could also see a door to a private office at the very end of the rows of desks. It had windows all along its sides, as though it was the watchtower of the office. Clearly, that was where she’d meet the boss.
She stepped out of the elevator and threw her empty coffee cup in the bin beside the doors. Her heart was fluttering in her chest with each step. Not only was she late, but she could only see Martina outside of the office. The supervisor may have already left before Aubrey could even show up. If her tardiness on the first day was reported to Shannon, there was a good chance she’d be reprimanded with a warning, or even lose out on the CFO position. Aubrey tried to calm her nerves as she passed through the office space and towards Martina, being sure to keep her head low.
Martina brought her eyes up towards the ceiling as soon as she saw Aubrey. “Thank god! I was just about to call you.”
“I’m sorry that I’m late. Did they leave?”
“Did who leave?”
Aubrey pointed to the empty office, still trying to catch her breath. “Our supervisor? Not sure who the boss is around here, though. Shannon mentioned we’d be meeting with the owner today.”
“You didn’t look it up?” Martina asked, her eyes widening. “I thought you knew.”
“Knew what?”
“That he’s,” she said, gesturing towards the elevator, “our new supervisor.”
Aubrey turned to see who was coming towards them. Her stomach sank at seeing who it was. There was no way.
It was the model she’d berated in the lobby, ad he was walking toward them.
Chapter Three
Elijah
Elijah entered the room and sat in the leather computer chair behind his desk. The room was all but silent, save for the soft pattering rain against the massive windows behind him. He brought his eyes from the assistant to who he presumed was his new protege from Glamour Girl.
So, this was the girl they wanted to make the CFO? She dressed the part, sure, but showing up late didn’t give him much reassurance. He wanted to believe that she was right for the position. Shannon had always been a great judge of character. Despite that, he knew that looks could be deceiving. He worked in advertising; he knew how to make even the ugliest things beautiful.
He waited for her to acknowledge his presence, but she could barely make eye contact. His lips formed into a smile at the thought. She must’ve recognized him from the model comment. Not a great first impression on her end.
“Sorry for being late, ladies. I had an urgent call to attend to,” he said and leaned back in his chair. “I appreciate the patience. Now, as you may have guessed, I’m Elijah Johnson, owner of Spectrum. I will be in charge of the project for Glamour Girl while you both are here.”
The young women were silent. Each appeared as though they didn’t know where to look. Elijah couldn’t help but take in the redhead’s legs. Although she was pale, her skin had a natural glean to it that caught his attention, and he had to force himself to look away. Her skirt was far too tight.
“Did either of you bring your CVs or resumes?” he asked, breaking the silence in the room.
The redhead was the first to react. Her green eyes opened wide, and she leaned forward to grab her leather tote bag from beside her chair. She reached in and pulled out a few pages that were lying next to the laptop. She rose slightly from the chair and pushed her long red braid aside. “I brought both of ours, just in case. I’m not sure if Shannon sent them to you,” she replied, her voice low. “I can send them to your email later if you’d like.”
Elijah could see the papers shaking in her hand as she placed them on his black glass desk. The smile remained on his lips. He liked making people feel anxious in his presence. The scent of her light perfume dulled his senses as he leaned forward to grab the pages. He had to exhale quickly to get rid of the warm vanilla scent.
He dragged the two pages to the front of his desk and scanned over the names. Martina and Aubrey. He raised his eyes to the two women. “Which one of you is Aubrey?”
“I am.”
So, the redhead was Aubrey Williams. He could see her lowering her hand as he held the pages up between them. She had a decent enough resume and a good educational background with substantial interning experience. He couldn’t help but feel more encouraged about the project. It never hurt to work with a beautiful woman. It was one of his favorite things to do, actually. He turned his attention to the other young woman, who he assumed was the assistant. She had dark hair and olive skin, and her last name was Russo. There was no doubt she was Italian. Not so bad, either, but definitely not as beautiful as Aubrey.