“Morning.” I sauntered through and then made my way to the reception desk. Shit, I really hadn’t read the email properly. I had no idea where I was going.
“Hi, good morning. Can I help you?” a bubbly blonde said as I approached the desk.
“Hi, I’m actually here for my first day.”
“Oh, you must be Abby Waldron?”
“Yeah. How did you know?”
“We were expecting you.” She beamed at me. “And not many people get to the office this early.”
“Oh, well lucky them,” I said with a laugh.
“I know,” she said, shaking her head. “But welcome.”
“Thank you.”
“My name’s Maria Anna.”
“Nice to meet you, Maria Anna.”
“You too, Abby. I hope you have a great first day.”
“I hope so as well.” I knew immediately I was going to like her. “Can you tell me where I’m meant to go? I kind of forgot what floor.”
“Oh, sure. So head down there,” she pointed towards the back of the lobby, “take the elevator on the right. It’s the only one that goes up to the 50th floor.”
“Okay. I guess I’m going to the 50th floor, then?”
“Yep.”
“And when I get out of the elevator, do I go left or right or—”
“Oh, you’ll see,” she said. “Trust me.”
“Okay, then,” I said, nodding. “Well, nice meeting you. I’m sure I’ll see you later.
“Have a great first day.”
I hurried off down the elevator. I was late, two minutes late. Normally, I wouldn’t think it was going to be a big deal. But knowing Dylan McAllister as I already did, I knew that to him it was going to be a huge deal.
I pressed the button, thankful when the elevator doors dinged open right away. I pressed 50 and stood back and waited. Each floor seemed like it was taking a decade to reach when finally, the 50th floor lit up. The doors opened and I stepped out.
Chapter 4
Abby
* * *
I looked around as I got off the elevator. It was amazing. The entire 50th floor was one big open-plan room. From the north, the south, the east, and the west, you could see the city. Even the walls next to the elevator were glass.
“You’re late,” a voice said ominously.
I looked around, but I didn’t see anyone. I took another small step forward. What the hell is going on here?
“I said you’re late.”
“Yeah, but I can’t see you …?”
“Come through to the office,” the voice said.
“Okay,” I said aloud, creeped out. I knew we were in the 21st century, but this was weird.
Now that I was paying attention, I could see a large table all the way to the left of the elevator. There was a leather chair behind a big cherry wood desk. The chair had its back to me. I hurried over. As I approached the desk, the chair turned around. A pair of blue eyes gazed at me, and the man in the chair stood up.
I stared at him, a little awed. He had to have been about six foot four with dirty blond hair and the most vibrant blue eyes I’ve ever seen in my life. He was wearing a dark gray suit that probably cost more than my yearly rent.
“Good morning, Mr. McAllister. I have your coffee and your croissant bagel,” I said quickly.
“You have my what?” he said, his eyes narrowing as I held out the cheap white coffee cup and a brown paper bag with the bagel.
“So I wasn’t actually able to get the croissant because it was all the way in the Upper West Side and that would’ve taken me—”
“But you’re already late,” he cut me off.
“Yeah, but I would’ve been even later if I would’ve gone there. I don’t really think that’s—”
“Excuse me?” he cut me off again.
“I mean, you should let me finish my sentences because that’s kind of rude.”
“Kind of rude?” His lips curled up in derision. “Is today your first day or am I mistaken?” He looked to the side. “Because if it’s your first day, that would mean you’re on probation, and that would mean you should be doing everything you can to impress your new boss. And so far, you’re off to a pretty shitty start.”
I pressed my lips together. I wanted to say more, but I realized he was right. He was the boss. “I’m so sorry, Mr. McAllister,” I said in my fakest sweet voice. “I totally messed up. I didn’t wake you up on time and I didn’t go to get your croissant. And unfortunately, I didn’t get you the latte with oat milk and turmeric.” I tried not to roll my eyes. “It’s a black coffee with no sugar, though, so hopefully it’s good. I got it from the halal cart near my apartment.”
Already, I’d just about had enough. If he fired me then and there, I wouldn’t care. Yeah, making ten grand a month would’ve been nice, but it wasn’t worth dealing with an asshole.
He took a sip of the coffee without answering me and spat it back into the cup. “Disgusting,” he said as he put it back on the table. He opened the brown bag and looked at the bagel and then looked at me. He handed me back the bag. “You can have it.”
“Well, thank you. I didn’t get to have breakfast this morning, so it will definitely make my day to have this yummy, delicious bagel.”
He stared at me for a few seconds, and I wondered what he was thinking. “You’re insolent, aren’t you?” he asked, but I don’t think he was expecting an answer.
“So, Mr. McAllister, what would you like me to do? And …” I looked around, suddenly realizing I wasn’t sure where my desk was, “where do I sit? I’m not really sure—”
“If you’d been here on time, we would’ve had time to do a walk around the building.”
“I’m only a couple of minutes late. Because I’m a couple of minutes late, we no longer have the time to do the walk around the building?” I stared at him. He stared back at me. This was a battle of epic proportions, only I was definitely in the weakest position, and it was very unlikely that I would survive past the first round.
“Miss Waldron, I think you are going to have to review the rules of the workplace one more time. Now, I could bring them up for you, but I think that it might be better if you brought them up for yourself because I would hate for you to say that you weren’t able to see them because of something I did.”
“I don’t even know what you’re talking about, Mr. McAllister. If you print out the rules for me, I will see what I have to do.”
He smiled suddenly, and the expression on his face completely changed my impression of him. I mean, I’d known he was going to be handsome. The photos I’d seen him in had told me that. And even when I’d walked in, my girly bits had tingled slightly. But now, seeing that smile on his face, well, it completely took me aback. He was probably the best-looking man I’d ever seen in my life, including in movies. Dylan McAllister was an asshole, but he was a gorgeous asshole. And from the look on his face, I could tell that he knew it.
“Maybe we should have a seat and go over the plan for the day,” he said.