coffee doesn't really solve everything but it's dang delicious.

the weekend flies by about a million times faster when you have a job than when you don't.

it's as if the universe knows that you have a job that makes you want to cry uncontrollably and doesn't understand that you need time to recover before going back for more emotional abuse.

i do see that i'm being a little melodrama but i have to get all of my emotions out before i see vivian or else i may burst into tears. plus it's kind of expected that i have some trouble adjusting to work life after being without it all my life. i'm going to experience some growing pains and i suppose it's how i handle it that really matters. with that being said, i'm well aware that i am not handling it well.

when my alarm goes off at five i slowly roll out of bed, rolling too far and landing on the floor with a thud. my eyes blink at the dark and i release a groan.

"i really need to find a place closer to the city." i mumble, pushing myself up off the floor bundled in my comforter. all i want is five more minutes of sleep but i know that if i lay back down in that bed there's no way i'm getting back up.

before i can change my mind i throw my blanket onto the bed and flip on the light switch, light flooding the room making me wince. "is this what being a vampire feels like?" i sigh.

grabbing my phone from my side table, i turn off my alarm before it can go off again and smile at a text lillian sent me last night.

lillian:
i'm sorry your first day was so rough :( i wish i was there! but don't worry, i'll see you soon enough.

i quickly respond by saying i miss her and i wish she was here with me as well.

i picked out my outfit last night so i quickly throw it on and check myself in the mirror. i haven't done my hair or makeup yet so the ensemble doesn't look quite complete but i'm happy with the way the baby blue blazer jacket and light cream colored skirt pair against my blonde hair. i flatten the white blouse underneath and pull on a pair of thin tan panty hoes to hide how pale my skin has become.

by the time i finish getting ready it's time to leave and mentally yell at myself for moving so slowly because now i can't even eat breakfast. i snatch an apple from the fridge, shoving it into my bag, before dashing outside with my coat draped over my arm.

i barely have time to get coffee and even then it takes them too long to make my own so i have no choice but to leave it and try to survive without my daily coffee.

i quickly drop vivian's coffee off at her office, dashing off to my own before she can get off the phone call she's on to speak to me.

slowly opening the ceo's office door, i peek inside to see he's not in his chair. with a sigh of relief i walk quietly into the room and place the coffee onto the coaster along with the ever so important metal straw. i turn around to leave and release a small yelp, clutching my chest, when i see mr. ward standing by the bookshelf in the corner, a book in his hand.

"good morning." i say in a small voice, "i didn't see you there, i apologize."

he looks at me lazily as if he didn't even notice i was here before glancing over at the coffee, "is that the same drink vivian always get me?"

i look at it, watching sweat drip down the side onto the coaster and i swallow nervously, "yes, it is."

"are you picking up the coffee now?" he asks me, closing the book and strolling over to me.

i nod once, "yes i suppose i am."

he presses his lips together, studying me. i take a short moment to realize that he's shorter than i expected. only about five inches dollar than me without heels. meaning that now he stands only about two inches above eye level.

"i want you to choose something else for me tomorrow. i'm tired of this." he waves to the coffee.

i blink at him, surprised that he would trust me to choose a drink for him, "of course, sir. do you have any allergies i should be aware of?"

mr. ward regards me with a curious expression before shaking his head, "no, i'm not allergic to anything. you may go."

"right." i smile, turning on my heel and walking through the open door.

it takes me until lunch time to finish calling every person on vivian's list and it had taken almost all of friday morning to find the mailroom to send all of the invitations. i've just finished leaving one last voicemail when vivian walks in, standing in the doorway with her arms crossed.

"ready for training?"

"yeah sure." i chirp, standing up from my creaky chair. i've already brought some decor to put up so the office already look ten times better than it did before but unfortunately i haven't had a chance to replace the chair.

"follow me." she sighs before turning around and beginning to walk down the hall to her office. i follow her quickly, trying not to look too idiotic in my heels.

she closes her office door behind us, "take a seat and i'll go over some rules."

"okay." i respond, sitting on the same chair i sat in during my interview. i get a weird sense of deja vu. also...this chair is way more comfortable than mine.

"do not ever bother mr ward with questions or concerns that are not meant for him. he's a very busy man and doesn't need you bringing him petty problems." she begins with a harsh tone, immediately frightening me.

"got it."

"we would appreciate it if you would keep the cell phone use down to a minimum if possible unless it is work related. you may use the company phone in your office but the phones are usually checked weekly to see how much time you're spending on personal calls. it's just protocol." vivian explains. this makes sense to me so i don't question it.

"something else you should know is that this company is a well oiled machine. as long as every piece is doing what they should, everything should work out just fine. so you shouldn't worry about having too much responsibility or dealing with unsightly issues." she tells me, "however, you are one of the ceo's assistants so from time to time people may ask you for guidance or have questions for you especially during the time that we plan this event. i understand that you probably will not know the answer to every question so just write up a list of things you don't know and who asked the question and i will take care of it. okay?" clapping her hands together, she gives me a tight smirk.

"okay." i respond, feeling slightly overwhelmed. people aren't going to start hounding me with questions i can't answer, right?

"one more thing." vivian tells me seriously, "we very much discourage dating in the office so just keep that in mind."

"not a problem." i almost laugh. men never give me attention nor do i give it to them so i think all around i'm pretty safe.

vivian purses her lips slightly, studying me as if she's contemplating whether or not to fire me. funny enough, i get that feeling every time she looks at me. suddenly she breaks out into a dry laugh and waves her hand in the direction of the door, "you may go." these words remind me of this morning when i was dismissed from mr. ward's office and suddenly i feel that i can relate to a dog in this way. being summoned and then sent away.

i pause, my brows pulling together, "that's it? that's the training?"

she sighs, rolling her green eyes. "you're already doing what i need you to do and you're doing an adequate job so there's not much else to tell you. i left a list of things i need to be done by friday on your desk."

i want to ask a million questions but as i begin to open my mouth, my mind goes blank. i begin to panic because i know for certain that there will be a hundred things i don't know how to do and a hundred questions for each one.

"i said you may go." she says slower, looking at me in my seat internally panicking. without a word, i stand slowly and turn around, walking out the door and closing it behind me.

i silently pray as i rush to my desk that the list of things that need to be done by the end of the week are doable at my skill level. yet somehow i know it's just a pipe dream.

picking up the manila envelope on my desk, my eyes widen and my mouth falls open at the impossibly long and detailed list on several sheet of paper stapled together. "i don't even know what half of this means!" i whisper in frustration, dropping the folder down on the desk before placing my fingers on my temples, "you know what?" i say aloud, "i can do this. i've dealt with my mother for twenty one years so i think i can deal with this." this actually does make a lot of sense so i immediately calm down significantly.

all i need to do is start on the first thing and just work my way down. all it takes is one task at a time and, before i know it, i will have done everything. simple.

the phone suddenly begins ringing and i jump slightly, staring at it as if it's a wild animal, my eyes wide. it keeps ringing and i'm almost frozen in place.

"answer the — phone!" vivian's voice is muffled on the intercom but also loud and clear.

reaching slowly towards the phone, i pick it up and place it to my ear, taking a seat in my creaking chair. "hello?" whoops that's definitely not what i was supposed to say.

"bonjour, this is nous mangeons, the restaurant here on forty fifth street and i'm calling to inquire as to if we will be catering the gala your company throws each year? we catered last year and everyone seemed very satisfied so i thought i'd call and offer our services." a man speaks on the other end of the line. i can practically hear his nose turn up when i don't reply right away.

"um..." i hum, opening the folder and using my pointer to locate anything about catering. my finger lands on item number five on the list and almost chuckle with it reads "find a caterer. NOT NOUS MANGEONS."

"actually, sir, i apologize but i believe we're going to take a new route this year. thanks for the call though we really appreciate you reaching out." i do my best to say "no" as nicely as possible.

"i see." he mumbles, "d'accord, salut."

"bye?" i smile, hanging up the phone. as soon as the line is dead i release a light laugh. maybe this won't be as hard as i thought?

an hour later i'm still stuck on number one on the endless list which is to confirm the location and that we have it for the correct date and time. i have been put on hold five times, transferred four times, and now i've been waiting for the customer service lady to finish searching the records for our reservation. i'm about to panic when she finally picks up the line and says, "yes, ma'am, the date and times you have given do match our records."

i'm so happy i almost forget that she's kept me waiting for fifteen minutes, "thank you so much." i breathe, hanging up abruptly, "okay now for number two." i sigh.

next up on the list is to pick a theme. to be completely honest, i would have never expected a large company like this to want a theme for its parties. it seems a little...middle school to want a theme for your party. then again, i've attended some of my mother's parties which had themes and they turned out to be pretty classy. all i have to do is use what i know and do my best to think of a setting in which uptight upper class clients can enjoy themselves.

"not that they ever enjoy themselves." i mumble, taking my pen and jotting down random ideas that come to mind.

i have to take a break from the party planning when the phone rings and i'm summoned to mr. ward's office. standing up nervously, i run my hands over my skirt and make my way there swiftly.

knuckles knocking lightly against the door, i wince when i hear him grumble a "come in."

"you wanted me, sir?" i ask him, standing with my hands folded in front of me as he sits on his desk, a stack of files in front of him.

looking up at me blankly he nods once, "uh, yes, i believe i did. i need you to take these files over there and sort them alphabetically and by the color stamps at the top. i'm too busy to attend to it at the moment and they need to be done within the hour."

"of course, sir." i cringe, remembering how vivian tells me i say 'sir' way too many times. stepping forward, i take a large sum of them over to the smaller desk in the corner beside the column of filing cabinets. walking back over, i grab the rest of them and place them with the rest.

i try not to feel like his eyes are burning in the back of my head because i'm almost positive that he's already forgotten i'm here so it's all in my head but i can't shake the feeling that i'm being harshly judged. stealing a quick glance backwards, i causally pretend to look at the door to see him still staring down at what he was doing, an angry scowl on his face. i swiftly turn around and continue the task at hand.

a half hour goes by and i already want to shoot myself in the foot. i now understand just why lillian would complain so much about filing and organizing. at first it was kind of fun matching the colors the sorting them by letter order but after a while there's only so many you can do before you want to scream.

i finish just before the hour is up, checking my watch to see i'm almost a full ten minutes ahead of schedule. pride wells up in my chest but is immediately extinguished when i spot his eyes on me, staring with an annoyed expression.

"have you finished?"

i want to make a smart remark about it being extremely obvious that i'm finished but of course this is real life and i could legitimately be fired so i say, "yes, sir."

"well then you can go." he sighs, looking down at his work.

i walk back to my office with a frown, wincing as my feet cry out in pain from these these. as soon as i make it inside and the door is closed i tug the heels off and lean against the door, rubbing my arches with my thumb and releasing a long sigh.

"three hours to go." i tell myself, praying that four o'clock comes soon.

practically limping over to my desk, i take a seat and check my list of potential themes as if they may have changed or gotten better since i've been away. spoiler alert, they haven't.

when vivian bursts through the door i have narrowed it down to three different options that i'm pretty happy with.

"have you confirmed the date and time with the venue?" she asks me, standing tall as she looks down her nose at me. i subtly hide my feet behind the desk, not wanting her to see that i've taken the heels off.

i nod, "yes, i did. everything is correct."

vivian purses her full lips, "and have you chosen a theme?"

"no."

"good, you don't get the final decision anyway so that's fine." she tells me with a fake smile as if it's wonderful news that my opinion doesn't matter anyone, "what are the options?"

biting my lower lips slightly out of nervousness, i hand her the sheet of paper with crossed out ideas the the best ones circled at the bottom. for a moment she rolls her eyes at the scribbles until she gets to the actual list and suddenly her face relaxes.

"i suppose these aren't terrible." she finally shrugs, "i'll keep them with me and let you know if i have decided to use one."

"okay." i say in a small voice, ready for her to be gone.

she fixes her jacket and turns on her heel, her long dark hair brushing against her back as she walks.

i have never met a more terrifying woman in all my life.

☆★☆

yes, it's a filler chapter. SUE ME.

actually don't do that i can't afford the hit to my spotless reputation.