“Really?” I asked him, surprised that he was actually letting me stay.
“Yes. You sound surprised.”
“I don’t know. I figured you’d fire an insolent person like me.”
“I have fired many, many insolent secretaries. I’m sure you probably already know that,” he said smugly. “Most people don’t last very long working for me.”
“And that’s something to be proud of?”
He ignored me. “But there’s a lot going on this week. I just got back from a business trip, and I’m going to need a lot of help. So you’re in an enviable position.”
“Who’s envying me in this position?” I said, looking around the empty room.
He just stared at me for a few seconds before continuing. “You’re in the enviable position of being lucky enough to be needed in this job right now. So I will not be firing you. Yet. I will, however, be ensuring that you get a copy of all the rules and of my schedule so that you are up to date. Tomorrow morning, I expect to receive my wake-up call at six in the morning, and I expect you to write down my appointments for the day. After that, I expect you to show up at work by 7:15 with my coffee and my croissant. Some days, I will ask you to get me a Buddha bowl.”
“A Buddha bowl for breakfast?”
“Those days I will let you know in advance.”
“Okay. So I’m your servant, is that it?”
“You are my secretary, and as such, you do for me the things that I ask.”
“Look, I hate to break it to you but I can’t get to the Upper West Side and then to the coffee shop and then to work all within an hour and 15 minutes. So something’s got to give. I take the subway, okay? I can’t afford to be taking taxis here, there, and everywhere. And—”
“You’ll have a driver.”
“I’ll have a driver? What do you mean?”
“I will have a car pick you up and take you around.”
“Okaayy … I didn’t know the job came with a driver.”
“Yes, so will that work for you, then?” There was a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
“I guess so, but I still don’t know if that’s going to give me enough time because once I call you and—”
“You don’t have to be at home to call me.”
“What?”
“You just have to have access to the internet, my calendar, and a phone. If you’re in the car, waiting outside the croissant shop when you call me, that’s up to you.”
“So what time do you expect me to wake up?”
“That’s not any of my business, is it?” He shrugged. “Whatever time you go to bed and wake up is up to you.”
“But—”
“But nothing, Miss Waldron. I think that we’ve talked enough for now. I do have a phone call, a very important phone call in about—” he looked at his watch, “ten minutes. It’s on Hong Kong time, but I have a feeling you knew nothing about that.”
“Um,” I muttered under my breath, “I guess not.”
“So why don’t I take the call and you reread the email you received yesterday with all of the attachments?”
“Yes, sir. And where should I read them? Am I going to be able to sit somewhere or—”
“Over there.” He pressed a button. And like magic, a desk swiveled around with a chair.
“Whoa, how did that happen?”
Again, he ignored me. “That’ll be your desk.”
“There’s no partition or a wall or—”
“No.” He shook his head.
“But what about privacy?”
“I don’t need privacy. And if I don’t need privacy, you don’t need privacy.”
“Okay, then.”
“Are we done, Miss Waldron?”
“Yeah. Thank you.”
I walked over to the desk and sat down, my mind pretty much blown. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing in this office, and I absolutely had no idea what I was doing with this man. My new boss wasn’t like anyone I’d ever met before, but I didn’t have time to process all that right now. I quickly opened my phone and looked for the email so that I could read the attachments.
“Open the desk on the right-hand side,” he said.
“Okay.” I opened it. There was a brand-new MacBook in unopened packaging.
“That’s for you. Set it up and read your emails on that.”
“Okay,” I said, pretty excited. I had never had a brand-new MacBook Pro before. This was pretty cool. Maybe this job was going to be okay.
“Oh, and by the way?”
“Yes, Mr. McAllister?”
“I will be monitoring everything on that computer and on your screen, so don’t think you can goof off on Facebook or Instagram or TikTok.”
“You can’t watch TikTok or be on TikTok on the computer.”
“I don’t care what you can do. Just don’t think you’ll be having any personal conversations with your friends or boyfriends.”
“Okay.”
“Good,” he said. “Now get to work.” And then he spun his chair around and had his back to me again. This was going to be a very long first day of work.
Chapter 5
Dylan
* * *
My new secretary had a mouth on her unlike any woman I’d ever met. She looked nothing like I’d imagined when I’d spoken to her on the phone. She had a sexy, husky voice when I’d woken her up this morning, and I’d half expected a blonde bombshell to walk into the office and try to seduce me. That was how it always went with the secretaries that worked for me. They all ended up hating me, but they all wanted me. But I never mixed business with pleasure, no matter how many times they dropped something on the ground and stuck their asses in the air or pressed their breasts up against me. I’d never even been slightly inclined to bend one over my desk. The office was no place for romance or, in my case, sex. I’d never even been tempted.
Abby Waldron was different from every other secretary that had worked for me in the past. She looked like someone’s idea of a frumpy librarian from the 1980s. I could barely even see what she looked like under her huge glasses. Her hair was bundled on top of her head, and her clothes looked like they’d just come from a thrift store.
She was definitely not a looker, and her personality did not befit that of a winning employee, let alone one who wanted to seduce me. It was refreshing to not have to evade sexy glances and high-pitched giggles, but I could tell that she was going to be annoying with her superior air and piercing glances.
However, I liked her spunk. I wouldn’t tell her that, of course, but I liked that she wasn’t timid and afraid of me. And I was glad she hadn’t gone all googly eyes on me when she’d seen me. She was one secretary I would not have to worry about trying to seduce me. I’d bet a million dollars that she was still a virgin. Some nerdy little virgin who had studied English in college because she loved it and now was in debt up to her ears with no real skills that could help her in the job market.
“Mr. McAllister, I’m ready for our meeting now.” Her assertive voice interrupted my thoughts.