The Assistant(14)
Author: Elle Brace

“Hello sweetie, I’m Tania Harrison.” I turned to the lady who was sitting next to me and smiling.

I returned the gesture before answering. “Hi, I’m Emily Johnson. It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Harrison.” My eyes caught the gigantic wedding ring that rested on her finger.

“Oh please, call me Tania,” she laughed, waving away the formality. “So, you’re Mr. Kingston’s new assistant? You’re very beautiful.” She complimented me as I felt her eyes briefly scanning my face and body. “A figure I’d definitely like to have.” She laughed as I started to blush and look down at my lap.

“Thank you,” I murmured, looking over at her own attire. She was dressed in a simple white dress that had three-quarter sleeves and a think black belt rested just above her waist. “What are you talking about? You’re skinny!” I exclaimed, before feeling my cheeks heat up even more.

She laughed and again made a vague, waving gesture at my statement. “Skinny, yes, but you have curves in all the right places. I bet your boyfriend goes crazy over you.” She winked, and my cheeks, if possible, grew warmer.

“I- I don’t have a boyfriend.” I smiled, looking down in embarrassment.

“Adrian.” I heard Adrianna whine, making my head snap in their direction.

I found Adrian smirking at me knowingly, and it confused me until realisation set in. He must have been thinking about the day he made me come into the office early for not replying to his texts. Before I could react, the waiter who had taken my order previously returned and placed a plate in front of Adrian before doing the same with me.

“Thank you.” I looked up at the waiter and smiled. He looked like he was about to reply but glanced over at Adrian before nodding with a brief smile and leaving.

I looked over at Adrian to see him still glaring at the waiter’s back. “Adrian!” I hissed, and he slowly peeled his eyes away from the waiter. “Stop glaring at him like he murdered a child,” I scolded.

“Whatever,” he muttered, before picking up his knife and fork and digging into his meal.

I shook my head and turned back to Tania. “Sorry about that, what were we saying?” I asked as I met her gaze. She was smiling smugly and looking back and forth between Adrian and I. “What is it?” I asked in a panicked tone.

Her smile just grew as she picked up her fork and shrugged. “Nothing,” she said, before placing a piece of her chicken into her mouth elegantly. I frowned and bit my lip curiously, but didn’t push the subject.

***

“Remind me to call Jason Turner on Monday morning regarding the products he wants to have in my hotel. And remind me to email Martin Harrison in regards to-”

“Martin Harrison? Is that Tina Harrison’s husband?” I interrupted, before blushing at the annoyed glance Adrian threw in my direction. “Yes. To email him in regards to the business arrangement we made.”

I finished writing it down in my notebook and nodded. “Anything else?” I asked as I looked up to find him on his phone, frowning.

“Yes. I hope you remembered to keep a spare pair of clothing for me in your office. I may need it on Monday.” He frowned in disapproval. “You have done that already, right?”

I glared. “Yes. I have a black, a navy and a grey suit pressed and ready for you to wear and shoes and underwear and ties and socks. Is there anything else?” I repeated, annoyed. He looked surprised before shaking his head and looking back down at his phone.

After a few more minutes of silence, I cleared my throat. “Thank you… for everything today,” I muttered quietly, looking down at my lap as I fidgeted and played with my fingers.

“It was nothing,” he responded bluntly, and we fell into silence again.

“Emily.” I looked up at the mention of my name, to find Adrian smirking at me. “That dress looks beautiful on you,” he stated as his eyes scanned the fabric once more. I started to blush once his eyes met mine. Again, I could not help but notice how the green of his dominated the brown in them.

“Thank you.” I murmured, avoiding his eyes.

“Although, I think it’d look better on the floor of my bedroom.”

I looked back up to meet his eyes to find the smirk on his face growing and I frowned. “But you wouldn’t be able to see it properly on the floor?” I said in a confused state, before gasping as the realisation set in. “Adrian!” I punched his arm and blushed harder as he chuckled.

“So naïve and gullible.” He chuckled as he pulled me over to his side by wrapping an arm around my waist. “I know you want to do it.”

“No, I really don’t.”

“Yes you do. You think about it all the time. It’s obvious too. The way you react to my touch…” He trailed off as I felt a warm hand slowly travel up my thigh, making me shiver from the sudden contact with my cool skin. Adrian looked satisfied with himself, certain he had just proven his point. “You also haven’t had anything like this happen to you in a while. I will gladly change that…” I frowned at his words and stopped his hand.

“No thank you. I’ve told you countless times, Adrian, and I will say it again. I’m. Not. Interested.” I glared up at him and scooted back to my seat just as the car stopped. I looked out the window to see that we were in front of my house, so I slung my bag over my shoulder and opened the door. “I’ll see you on Monday.” I winked, before slamming the door shut.

The car drove off as soon as I started climbing the stairs of my apartment building. I checked my phone as I did so. It was almost 1AM. Thank god tomorrow was Sunday. I could sleep in after a long week of working for Adrian Kingston. I sighed as I got to my door and opened my bag to get out my keys.

Except, I couldn’t find them. I began to panic as I rummaged through the small space of the bag. I packed them. I was 100% sure of that. Could they have fallen at the event? No. the only time I had opened my bag then was when Molly had called and when I had taken my lipstick out. They were still in there.

I sighed in frustration as I kicked my door before dialing the last person I wanted to see.

“I knew you’d change your mind.” Adrian’s arrogant voice sounded from the speaker of my phone.

“No, actually. I just wanted to ask you if my house keys are in the car anywhere. I can’t get into my apartment because I seem to have misplaced them.” I heard a bit of shuffling in the background before it was quiet again. “Nope, there’s nothing here.”