On Friday morning, she arrived to find a latte on her desk. She had stopped going to Dunkin, because the office coffee machine worked and it saved money. Living in Boston, any neighborhood was expensive. Zach appeared looking more handsome than ever, if it was even possible. Why did the man smile so much?

He raised his cup. "Cheers to our first successful week together. Ethan signed his contract. You found a query worth requesting the full manuscript. If we decide, we want to work with the author, I want you to take first crack at the edits."

"Seriously?"

"Yup. It's the only way to learn. We make a great team. Smile Lilli, it's Friday and the sun is shining. Work doesn't have to be serious all the time." He shook his head. "If I wasn't so afraid of her, I'd give Kendall a piece of my mind."

Thankfully, Zach turned away, because Lilli had no idea what Kendall had to do with her not smiling. It had more to do with worrying how she would survive another day without doing something stupid, like touch him.

As long as she focused on her work, she was fine. As per his request, she set up a Novelpost account for purposes of scouting for new work. She had read some and knew some of the popular authors. She also followed a few of her loyal readers and checked out the other stories they read. She felt like a double agent. Meanwhile it left less time for her to work on her own account. Ainsley had taken over her social media. Another reason why she was just as glad not to be a real author. Focusing on becoming a literary agent was a much better choice. Who knew if she ever got bored, she could steal Kendall's job some day. She had to work hard to make sure she didn't become a miserable career focused tyrant like bosszilla. Similar to The Devil Wears Prada, her next book should be Bosszilla and her Bunions. The woman complained about her feet all the time.

At some point in the morning, she looked up from her reading to see Chelsea walking through her office. Lilli cleared her throat.

Chelsea waved her off. "I was just going to talk to Zach. You don't mind."

"If he doesn't." It was his call, but Lilli felt her claws pushing out when Chelsea shut Zach's door. All week, Zach liked his door open. Ann would often shut hers, and Lilli would know she was concentrating and didn't want to be distrubed. Zach didn't even shut it when he was meeting with one of his clients. Lilli liked listening to hear Zach's rapport. She was slowly getting to know his clients and the insight helped.

While Chelsea was behind closed doors, she received a phone call. She answered, but the caller cut her off before she identified herself. "This is Tina Mauer, Zach's my agent and I'd like to speak with him."

"Hello Ms. Mauer. I'm Lillian, his assistant. Let me..."

The caller cut her off again. "You know who I am?"

"Yes, I just started working for Mr. Steele this week, but I'm familiar with all his important clients, like you."

The truth was he had far more important clients, but everyone wanted to feel important.

"Well thank you, for remembering my name."

"I promise you I'll never forget you."

Chelsea left his office smiling. Zach looked at her with his eyebrows raised.

"He's available now, Ms. Mauer."

He nodded and disappeared to answer his phone. Her list of lessons for Chelsea was growing. Zach had a lunch meeting and left the building for only the second time all week. Lilli didn't understand why lunch was no longer two full hours without bosses. Chelsea complained Leo had only gone out on Tuesday with Zach and Austin. Lilli could count on her hands the number of times Ann didn't leave for lunch and they usually coincided with extreme weather.

Lilli ventured out of her office to find Chelsea leaning against the reception desk whispering. Justin was not there and with a turn of her head, she confirmed he was working. He had a good chance of becoming an agent too.

Chelsea stopped talking when she saw Lilli. Determined to be patient, she smiled. "What's going on?"

Shania said, "She was telling me about her talk with Zach..." His name came out like a sigh. "...this morning. He and Olivia were so cute together." Lilli felt her Starbucks' croissant coming back up her throat. "Since she's in New York and he's here, do you think he would come out with us? You know, to give him something to do?"

Lilli's first thought was jealousy. He was her crush, but what right did she have to claim him?

She smiled. "Isn't he too old for you? You think I'm old, but he's already thirty."

Chelsea frowned. "He can't be that old!"

"Yup, I'd say he's closer to Leo's age than yours."

"Leo? He's old. Like with kids and..." she whispered, "...problems. I bet he didn't come here because of the fog at all. I bet it was because of..."

Lilli put her hand up. "Stop. This is a small office and privacy is limited, but one of your most important responsibilities is to keep your boss's secrets. Whatever you know about Leo whether he told you or you overheard it, you keep to yourself. You never should have told us about Zach and Ann. It was private." Only Lilli knew there wasn't a Zach and Ann, why would there have been with Olivia?

She smiled and pushed her shoulders back slightly. "I'm still helping Zach. I gave him some leads this morning."

Lilli felt like a lioness in the wild, ready to protect her territory. "Is he helping you with your story?" It was something Zach would do. He was the kind of guy who helped friends move and probably picked them up at Logan Airport at midnight.

"No, do you think he would?" Her eyes grew wider.

"If you make his recommended changes, I bet he would. You know if you like him and he isn't too old, you could make your character thirty and..."

"Thirty. What do I know about being thirty?"

Lilli shrugged. "Do you want me to help you or not?"

Chelsea put her hands on her hips. "Help?"

"Yeah, to become a better assistant. Both of you actually, Shania is that your goal."

Chelsea cut her friend off. "She's writing a book too."

The beautiful girl smiled with a glow. Lilli felt the need to be fair. "If you want me to look at it..."

She blushed. "I need to make sure it's ready. It takes time."

Lilli nodded. She knew too well the time commitment writing took. "My piece of advice for both of you is to learn the names of all the authors. Shania, if you can make each one feel like you know who they are when they call, it goes a long way. Chelsea, I spoke with Tina Mauer today, and she was surprised I knew who she was."

"Who?"

"She's one of Zach's authors and she said you treated her like she was a telemarketer."

Chelsea whined. "Well, hacks trying to be published called him all the time."

Lili smiled a thin smile. Only two calls had come through to her all week. With Ann, she'd handle two a day. "And that's why it's important to know the names of the real clients. It's better to let one slip though than to treat a real one like a nobody."

Shania said, "How do you not remember Tina Mauer? She was so nice when she came to meet with him. She brought a box of Krispy Kremes."

Lilli laughed. To Chelsea donuts were like poison. Seriously, if she wanted to write a book people would believe in, she should get real and write a character with eating issues, because there was no way she didn't have some herself.

Lilli looked at Chelsea. "I'm going to check out the chocolate on your desk. Leo is a great guy."

The scowl on Chelsea's face gave it away. She was not as happy about the chocolate as Lilli was. When Lilli reached into the jar filled with Hershey's miniatures, she picked out a piece of the dark chocolate.

Lilli jumped at the deep voice. "Oh, I thought you were Chelsea. She's been gone awhile."

"She's with Shania. I was giving her some advice. She's still a little green."

Leo studied her. "And you're not." it was a statement.

"Do I look that old?"

The new agent smirked. "No, but there's a rumor you worked at Roche-Sumner."

"I did for three very long years."

"And you worked for Kendall?"

Lilli signed. "Why does everyone make a big deal out of it?"

"The woman has a reputation even in California. I think I remember you. I have worked with her a lot. She wants to have lunch since I'm in Boston, but I keep putting her off."

Lilli laughed. "Kendall isn't one to be ignored. She does like to publish young adult books."

Leo spoke, but it sounded like he hadn't meant to. "I wouldn't mind stealing one of her authors from my London colleague, since he's moved to New England."

Lilli smiled. She could guess who he meant, but didn't think the popular fantasy author would leave his agent. She would have asked him already. Her dream was for her friend to choose her when she became an agent.

She spoke to Leo for a few minutes. When she left his office she had three pieces of chocolate in her hand and she knew his ten-year-old daughter wasn't happy about their move, although his five-year-old son was more agreeable.

Lilli was sitting at her desk at five o'clock wondering how late Zach would stay since it was Friday. Ann always left on time on Fridays. Probably because she worked all weekend. Lilli had never been able to figure out if her quiet boss had a social life. She had learned more about Leo in one week than she knew about Ann.

Zach called her name and she stood in his doorway. He was at his desk with his sleeves rolled up, but his glasses were next to his mouse not on his beautiful face. She hoped he was packing up, but the paper on his desk looked like quitting time was a long way off.

"You have a new best friend." She shrugged, unsure of who he meant. Chelsea? Probably not. Leo? Maybe.

"Tina Mauer raved about you. Everyone you speak to loves you." Lilli blushed, but Zach kept embarrassing her. "I recently signed a new author, Nancy Gibbons. Her manuscript is promising, but..."

"It's not ready to pitch?"

"Not by a long shot. I think she will be a good client for you to shadow me to gain some more experience. I know Ann trusted you, but she never gave you any opportunities to work with her clients."

Lilli was speechless. To make her situation worse, he smiled back at her. She wished he hadn't, because her heart started to beat erratically. "As you know Chelsea came to see me."

"Now she doesn't work for you, she told me she's looking to interact with you... socially."

He let out a nervous laugh and shook his head. "She's not going to get me to change my status." Lilli let out a breath. Had she really thought he would have interest in the younger assistant? His interest was in Olivia and his status was unavailable. "The only part of working for me she enjoyed was searching Novelpost. She hated the contracts." Lilli rolled her eyes. Modifying contracts was an important part of her job description. "She found some possibilities. I'm going to check them out this weekend, but I thought you could, too."

"Okay. Yeah." She could read a little while she was doing her own work on the app.

"What's your username? I'll share the books with you."

She froze, but then she remembered he didn't mean her Rejectedwriter account. It's LillianDWLA. I didn't think I needed to hide who I am."

He shrugged. "Just read. Don't start commenting until we agree we want to pursue an author."

"Have you ever found an author and signed with them this way?"

"Yup. I have two with published novels." He tapped on his own phone. "Okay. You'll have them in your inbox. I followed you too. The names these authors come up with. My favorite is Rejectedwriter. Maybe we'll change that." He laughed, but Lilli felt like she might pass out.

What have I gotten myself into? Zach wanted to read her writing. Her writing was a story about him. He could never know she was Rejectedwriter. She would die if he ever found out. she pictured melting into the floor like the witch in The Wizard of Oz.

Stammering she asked, "Are we done? It's Friday night."

He frowned and waved. "Go, you probably have a date."

She hated for him to frown, but she couldn't stay. She might have a heart attack and she didn't want him to witness it. "Are you sure?" She managed to squeak out.

"Yeah. I'm going to go home and read. Don't feel sorry for me."

There were so many things she could say starting with, 'let's get a drink' and ending with 'take me home with you', but she stood on her rubber legs to pack up, and then she fled.

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