Nessa stared at Knox Marsden, her mouth agape. He leaned back against his leather chair and smirked.

"Fired?" she croaked.

Knox knew what came next.

Tears.

Fat crocodile tears. Women always cried after he fired them. They clearly had no idea he was immune to the cries of any female in a precarious situation.

"You're firing me because of a napkin? Not because I spilled coffee on you, or shredded important documents, or broke the copier...but because of a napkin?" Nessa pointed to the small square cloth in question.

She gasped, clutching her chest. "Am I the only person in history to get fired over a napkin? Is that something that goes in the Guinness World Records? Do I get a cash prize for that?"

"You can leave now." Knox turned to the fancy laptop on his desk.

Nessa grabbed the napkin and tore it in half. "Problem solved! I'll get back to work now."

Knox's blue eyes widened in surprise. Where were the tears?

"I clearly must be losing my mind," he muttered. "Perhaps you didn't hear me when I said you were fired?"

"Oh, I heard you." Nessa nodded. "I'm just refusing to receive your order. Instead, I'll give you the opportunity of having a second chance."

"A second chance?"

"Yes. A second chance to not be an idiotic jerk."

"D-did you just call me an idiotic jerk?" Knox sputtered. He tugged at his ears as if they were playing tricks on him.

Instead of sobbing crocodile tears, she was showing him her crocodile teeth by hurling insults at him.

"No, I said I'm giving you the second chance to not be one. You see, you just fired me because of a napkin. A napkin! It's ridiculous but you did. Anyway, the napkin has been destroyed so doesn't that mean the problem has been cleared up? Yes, I do think that's the case which clearly means the firing you did doesn't count. It becomes void like a bad check or a second marriage for a bigamist who's been caught."

"What?" His forehead wrinkled in frustration as he stared at the petite brunette with big chestnut brown eyes. Clearly, crazy came in all sizes.

"What the hell are you talking about bigamists for?" Knox bellowed.

She tilted her head to one side as if he was the crazy one.

"Weren't you listening? I said you fired me because of a napkin. A napkin which I destroyed, so-"

"Enough!" Knox stood and raised a hand in the air. "You weren't fired because of a napkin. You were fired because you're clearly in cahoots with someone I despise and that is why you need to leave."

"Cahoots?" Nessa repeated as if she were trying out the word for the first time. "That sounds like something a bad guy would say in an old movie. You know...the kind who have a thin mustache, wear black capes, and tie women to railroad tracks. Cahoots. I like it. Wait, are you some kind of weirdo who likes to put on a fake mustache, dress up in a black cape, and tie women up?"

"Are you insane?" Knox's face contorted in confusion.

Nessa continued, "I mean I'm not saying no to it. You're good looking and rich. I'm just saying you'd have to buy me dinner first. Maybe a lot of wine so I'll get tipsy. Mustaches aren't attractive to me. Also, we'll have to keep this a secret. I wouldn't want the other secretaries to get jealous."

"What?"

"I've never had a secret office romance before. This will be fun!" Nessa smiled.

She had to be messing with him. It was the only explanation Knox could think of for her strange behavior. That or she escaped from an insane asylum.

He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

"Please leave before I call security," Knox said softly.

"Security? What for? I thought we solved the napkin problem."

"Listen, I want you gone. You can tell Jessica I never want to hear from her again."

"Jessica?" Nessa asked, her pink lips puckering into confusion. "I don't know a Jessica. You can't possibly mean your ex, right? Not that Jessica."

"Of course I mean that Jessica!" He slammed his hands against his desk. "How else would you have known what to write on the napkin unless she told you what to write? Does she have a spy besides you planted here? Let her know I'll clean house before I let her have a say in what I do with my hotels. The last one she stayed at caught on fire."

Nessa's eyes widened. "I remember that fire being on the news. Are you saying your ex caused it?"

Knox found himself panting in anger. He took a moment to smooth down his tie. "Why am I having this conversation with a crazy woman?"

"I'm not crazy!" Nessa snapped. "Listen, there's something you should understand. I really wanted to keep this to myself. My friend-- her name is Candi. She told me not to tell anyone but I have to because this is a matter of cardboard boxes."

"Cardboard boxes?" Knox repeated, feeling himself being dragged down her rabbit hole.

"Yes, cardboard boxes. If I don't keep this job for two weeks, I won't be able to pay my rent and my landlord will kick me out faster than you can say crackerjack. Then I'll have to live in a cardboard box and I don't want that. Nobody wants that. Not even the homeless people want that. They told me I'm no longer welcome and--"

"You've been homeless before?"

"Only for a week and that's not the point. The point is that even the homeless people don't want me around. They said something about me making too much noise and--"

"Enough!" Knox could understand why she wasn't welcome by anyone. She was nuts.

"I'm only talking too much because I'm nervous."

"Get out."

"You didn't let me finish," she protested. "The truth is I don't know Jessica. I hate to share this and I hope you don't totally freak out or think I'm some sort of crazy woman."

"Too late."

"But I talk to dead people," Nessa whispered, her hands curled around her mouth like a megaphone.

"Is that so?" Knox nodded, reaching for his phone.

"Yes, that's so." Nessa beamed. "I'm a medium."

Knox pressed a button. "Hello, security?"

Nessa leaped forward and pressed her fingers on the disconnect button. "I'm being serious!"

"Listen, I don't care if you can see dead people-"

"I don't see them," she corrected. "I hear them. They tell me things and one of them told me to write you that message. It usually starts with a headache and then I get a message."

Knox made a scoffing sound. "Alright. If that's true, tell your spirit friends to tell you how many fingers I'm holding up behind my back."

He placed one of his hands behind his back.

"It doesn't work that way," Nessa grumbled. "I can't control when they talk to me. It just sort of happens."

Knox cursed under his breath and reached for the phone. Nessa placed her hands over his and pleaded, "I really need this job. Please, I won't write you anymore notes no matter what the Ghosties ask of me. Just let me finish my two weeks. You said this message was from your ex, but that's impossible. I've only ever heard voices from the deceased."

"There's nothing you can say to convince me that you and Jessica aren't plotting against me. It's the only explanation I can think of."

"No," Nessa disagreed. "There's one more explanation."

"And what's that?"

"She's dead."

Jason Nevell, Knox's assistant, and Patrick, Knox's brother, were talking outside the boardroom while Gloria came from the elevator pushing a cart carrying coffees and donuts. Neither of them paid too much attention to the older secretary as they watched the petite ball of fire storming away from the general direction of Knox's office.

She stopped, turned, held up a fist and shouted a profanity before turning back towards the area Jason and Patrick were standing.

"Nessa, don't tell me he fired you," Gloria groaned when Nessa came close enough to hear her.

"He's a total jerk," Nessa muttered. "He wouldn't listen to anything I said and he said if I didn't leave, he'd have security drag me out. I may be desperate but I have some pride."

Gloria frowned. "It's a shame, dear. Most people don't last long with his temper."

Nessa grabbed a donut from Gloria's cart. "I better go. Thanks for everything."

She pressed the button to call the elevator. Gloria shook her head. "Nessa, these are for the board meeting. You just can't take one."

Nessa sighed and stomped back towards Gloria before licking the entire perimeter of the donut and placing it back on the tray. Gloria gasped in disgust while the elevator arrived with a ding.

Nessa frowned at the two men watching her and she defiantly grabbed two different donuts before dashing back towards the elevator, the men's laughter trailing behind her.