Maddie knew she should wait till the end of Marcus's speech, but the large theatre was making her feel claustrophobic. She side-stepped legs and bags, muttering apologies as she went along the row. Her action had a Mexican wave effect on those sitting further down and soon all of them were on their feet making way for her, turning her exit into somewhat of a spectacle. Maddie kept her head down, but she could almost imagine her new boss's eyes following her, his speech faltering at the disturbance.

As she neared the exit, her speed increased. When she finally pushed open the heavy door, she fell out into the sunlit foyer and immediately doubled over. It'd been a while since her last panic attack. There had been a time, shortly after the accident, when these attacks had been a daily occurrence. Recognising the symptoms, she began to count down from a hundred while taking in slow, measured breaths.

Seventy-four, seventy-three, seventy-two... She jumped as a hand touched her shoulder. She turned sharply, almost losing her balance.

"Maddie, you okay?" Henry asked. His eyes were warm with concern.

"Not really," she signed back, not trusting the stability of her own voice.

"You've gone very pale. Aren't you feeling well?"

"No, I'm fine, I'm just..." She couldn't help it. Her eyes grew wet and a small tear treacherously rolled down her cheek.

"Goodness, Maddie, whatever's wrong?"

She glanced around at nearby desks. Maddie had developed a growing audience. "Not here," she replied, hurriedly wiping her face with the back of her hand.

Henry looked behind him and the onlookers scurried back to their jobs. He turned back to her. "Let's go down to my office."

As they travelled down one floor, Maddie's eyes were fixed on her closed hand and the phone contained within. Her clenched knuckles had turned white. Making their way across another busy office floor, they walked between desks of headphone-clad staff responding to customer queries. It was only a few months ago she'd actually had to ring this office due to a banking error she had discovered. A small, nominal amount had been leaving her account on the same day, every month but had only shown up on her paper statements that she never checked, and not the app. Known for their speedy customer service, DIGIPA had apologised and the monies had been immediately replaced. The issue had never arisen again. Now here she was, an employee of the same company. However, right now, all she wanted to do was get on a plane and go home.

Henry's desk was situated in the corner of the open office. He motioned for her to take a seat and he took one opposite and waited for her to begin. Maddie looked back over the office. People were everywhere and although she imagined the room to be rather noisy, she did not want anyone else to overhear their conversation. Whoever had sent those messages could even be amongst them now, watching.

"Do you mind if we just sign, no talking?"

His eyes narrowed a little. "Okay."

Maddie slowly unclenched her hand and placed the phone on the table. She took a deep breath. "I've just received some nasty messages."

"Who from?" He sat forward in his chair.

"Val...my DPA."

"What, from the DIGIPA app?"

Maddie nodded. She pushed her phone toward Henry to take a look for himself. She couldn't bring herself to look at them again, let alone repeat their content.

Henry swiped to open the app and his finger flitted up and down the screen as he began to read. Maddie scrutinised his face. Only a look of puzzlement was forthcoming.

"Maddie, what messages are you talking about? The only messages I can see are rather mundane, but appropriate. See, this last one is about booking an appointment at a hair salon."

"What?" She spoke out loud, grabbing the phone from him. With trembling fingers she searched the inbox. None of the messages were there.

"Did you delete them?" she signed, her hands moving with an angry sharpness.

"No." He shook his head and hands. "You just watched me. All I did was scroll down. You would have seen me slide my finger to the right if I was deleting them.

He was right. He hadn't deleted them.

"What did the messages say?"

Maddie went to reply but stopped herself. She was on her first day at a new job. Without evidence of those messages, she couldn't very well sit there and accuse her new boss of murder. Maybe it was just a prank someone was playing on her, maybe by a jealous rival for her job? Maybe she'd imagined them? There were too many maybes to think of.

"Maddie, the DPA program only allows the user to delete messages. No one else has access to your inbox. Why don't you just tell me what you thought you read?"

She mentally replayed his words, "Tell me what you thought you read". At best he would laugh at her. She didn't want to think about the worst that could happen, but the lines, "You're mad, you're sacked and we will sue," sprung into her mind.

Maddie stood up. "I'm sorry to have bothered you, Henry. I obviously made a mistake. A silly mistake. I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention this to Marcus."

"Of course, but are you sure you are okay?"

She waved her hand dismissively. "I'm fine. Probably jet lag or first day nerves. I will see you later."

Maddie pocketed her phone as she walked quickly across the office. Once alone inside the elevator, the strength in her legs faltered. She leaned on the wall to steady herself before inserting the access key Carol had given her, and then pressed for the tenth floor.

While the rest of the building was furnished in steel and gloss white, the tenth floor had a more comfortable and distinctly masculine feel. She walked out into a foyer with large brown leather sofas. Beyond that she found a large meeting room, a personal gym, three bathrooms- one of which had a shower, and Marcus's larger office, which she didn't enter. The scent of Hugo Boss aftershave hung in the air and she very much felt as if she was invading his personal space.

Maddie took a seat at what she believed to be her own desk and placed her phone in front of her. Where were the messages? Had they ever been there in the first place? As if her phone had heard her internal question, it vibrated with an incoming message. The nausea she'd felt in the theatre returned. It was more than likely some random message from Val about her hair appointment... Her hand tentatively edged forward, but didn't quite reach the phone.

It vibrated again. Was the phone tempting or taunting her?

"Come on Mads," she whispered and then forced herself to touch the phone and open the app.

"That was quite an exit you made from the theatre!"

An icy trickle ran through her body. Whoever this was had been watching her.

"No one noticed. Honest."

The sentence was finished with a winking emoji. The phone began to vibrate for a protracted time as three more messages came through in quick succession.

"I would greatly appreciate it if you didn't try to tell anyone else about our conversations. You might come across a little...nuts, especially since messages can so easily disappear without a trace."

"Oh, and don't bother trying to screenshot these either. I've disabled that facility."

"Come on, Maddie, reply to me, you're not being very friendly are you. I thought you Brits were supposed to be all polite with your impeccable manners and your insane love to queue."

Beads of sweat formed on her forehead as finally replied. "Who are you?"

"A concerned citizen," came the reply, followed by three small emoticons. One of a tall building, one of a woman running and the last, a small face with crosses for eyes.

"That's not funny."

"No, I agree. It wasn't particularly funny for poor Jane when her head collided with the pavement."

"Just leave me alone!"

The phone buzzed again--a gif. She pressed play and watched horrified as a watermelon fell onto concrete floor- the vibrant green shell cracking open to reveal the wet, red flesh inside. The word, Splat blinked on and off.

Maddie swiped the message to delete it, but the message moved back to the center of the screen. She tried again and back it came. "Why are you doing this to me?"

"Finally she asks a reasonable question ;) As McEnroe's new assistant you have privileged access right across the building and only you can get me the evidence I need to prove his guilt."

"But if you don't have the evidence already, how do you know he is guilty?"

The reply wasn't as immediate as the others had been. But when it came, the five words made the breath catch in her throat.

"I watched him do it."

Her chest began to tighten and her heart rate was thumping in her ears. "So go to the police, tell them what you saw."

A crying with laughter emoji appeared, followed by a longer message.

"Maddie, you are too funny, but sadly very naive. You clearly have no idea who we are dealing with here. McEnroe isn't just some geek with an algorithm in a bad suit. He is one powerful SOB. The second a person downloads the DIGIPA app, they become his property. He has access to everything and everyone in their life. He controls their finances, their healthcare, even their relationships. And then, when he knows everything about you, he uses it against you, without you even knowing about it. He owns you, he owns movie stars, he owns politicians and he owns the police. Without solid, irrefutable evidence, he would get off and that's if it even made it that far in the judicial system. My word against Marcus McEnroe ain't gonna cut it, Maddie."

She exhaled the breath she'd been holding. Her creepy messenger had just gone Orwellian on her. She would have laughed had she not been so afraid. "Why should I help you? I'm new to this job, I could leave tomorrow and simply uninstall the app."

"I'm so glad you asked, and I have quite the compelling answer to that question, however your new boss just got in the elevator and is on his way up to you now. Toodle-doo as you Brits say."

With her hand shaking, she typed, "Do not message me again" and pressed send.

Maddie watched as the last ten or so messages were deleted remotely until her inbox returned to its harmless normality. Her eyes jumped from her phone to the opening elevator doors. She chucked the phone inside a drawer and watched as Marcus walked out onto the floor, ducking slightly so not to knock his head on the frame. He walked towards her, his face impassive. She stood up quickly.

"Good morning," she offered, trying to keep her voice level and low. Concentrate on his lips, she told herself.

"Good morning, Maddie. My office, please."

His long legs made short work of the distance. Reluctantly, she followed trying hard to keep up. At the door, he scanned his ID card on a panel and it slid back into its recess. Hovering on the opposite side of his desk, she watched as he added a coffee pod to the chrome drinks machine and selected a mug with the DIGIPA logo printed upon it. Wafts of roasted dark beans began to fight with the aroma of Hugo Boss for dominance and made her queasiness more pronounced. Finally he turned to her.

"Have a seat, Maddie."

She did as instructed, as Marcus removed his blazer, placing it on coat hanger and then a hook on the door behind. With calm, nimble dexterity, he unbuttoned his cuffs and folded them back several times before taking his seat. He positioned his mug to the right, repositioned a stray pencil several degrees, sat back and looked upon her.

Her cheeks reddened under his silent scrutiny.

Had he spoken to Henry already, she wondered. Desperate to break the tension she was feeling, she began to garble an apology. "I am so...sorry I had to leave in the mi...middle of your speech, Marcus. My phone..."

He waved her off.

"Did you leave? I hadn't noticed. Anyway, welcome to DIGIPA. I see you have found your desk already. Feel free to order any new furnishings, stationery you deem fit. I hope you've taken a quick tour of this floor already. Your ID pass will also give you access to my office although not to this room." He pointed to the door behind him upon which hung his blazer. "That is my personal area and I've installed a small bedroom for when I am working late and can't be bothered to make the journey home, which happens a lot. Other than that you have authorised access to everything on ten."

Maddie nodded.

"I trust Carol gave you all of your cloud and intranet passwords. Please log on and set your own as soon as you can. The voice recognition software was installed on your computer yesterday, so you are good to go. Any questions?"

Maddie had one rather large, burning question, but the mention of murder probably wasn't appropriate for that moment. Instead she inquired as to his diary and how he would like her to manage it.

"You are my gatekeeper, Maddie. You will keep the baying wolves from my door. I don't do media interviews unless I request one, my family knows better than to contact me at work, so you will manage my time as you see fit, unless I direct you otherwise. The business has been informed that you are working with my direct authority and therefore all of your requests shall be immediately responded to. I intend to travel to San Francisco for a meeting on Thursday, so I need you to organise flights and hotels. Please also book for yourself."

The hairs on the back of her neck rose up. She hadn't expected to be travelling with him so soon, and after the earlier emails, the thought was most uncomfortable.

"Any other questions?"

She cast her mind back to the list of questions she had written the previous night and which was now languishing at the bottom of her bag outside.

"Do you have any preference for daily food and drink, Marcus?" Her working day in the UK consisted of an early morning visit to Beantastic for a Double-shot Latte and a bacon-egg bap from Greasy Fred's café for her old boss, who claimed the success of his business was built upon caffeine and hardened arteries.

"Heavens no! You are my PA, not my servant. I am quite capable of feeding and hydrating myself, however if you are making one for yourself, I will gladly have one too."

Maddie smiled at him, feeling a little more relaxed than she had been.

"I can't make our planned lunch date I'm afraid. I have a potential investor dropping by."

"Would you like me to order your lunch for that meeting?"

"Good grief, no." He laughed and as he did so, his face revealed a much younger man. The moment passed quickly and his face returned to its usual business-like composure. "When Nial Travers puts money into this business, then he can have all the nice lunches he likes. Until he parts with some serious cash, he gets zip. Okay, I have some calls to make, so you can go now and get settled in."

Maddie made to leave.

"One last thing, Maddie."

She turned back. Her stomach flipped over.

"I should just remind you that when you agreed to work for DIGIPA, you signed a non-disclosure agreement. Anything and everything you see or hear on this floor is confidential." He took a sip of his coffee and gently placed the mug down onto its coaster. "I see great times ahead for you here, Maddie. Just don't let me down, okay?"

"Yes, of course, Marcus. I won't...let you down."

"Good to hear it." He smiled again, briefly revealing his other side.

***

Maddie spent the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon, acting on a raft of emails Marcus had already sent her. Thankfully she only saw him a couple of times and that was when she'd escorted Nial Travers to and from Marcus's office. Nial Travers was a portly man with a ruddy complexion, dressed too young for his age and sporting too much gold jewellery.

"So you're the new Jane then?"

Travers' meeting with Marcus had been over quickly. She couldn't help but notice the look of irritation on her boss's face when she'd been called to show the visitor out. Marcus and Travers had shaken hands as they parted, but it hadn't looked remotely friendly.

"Took him long enough to find her replacement. Such a terrible thing to happen. She was a lovely woman. Always gave me a real warm welcome when I popped by." His eyes looked Maddie up and down. "You'll do, I guess."

"Have a good day, Mr Travers," she replied firmly as she led him to the elevator car.

"I will now," he said with a wink that made her flesh crawl.

A couple of hours later, Marcus came out of his office wearing his jacket, saying he was leaving early for an urgent meeting off-site and that his phone would be off. People were to email should they need anything. As she watched him leave, relief flooded her body. Like a rubber band that had been stretched to almost breaking and then let go, she felt almost dizzy as the tension left her body. In the short time she'd spent with him he'd been nothing but professional and pleasant, yet the content of the earlier messages was always at the forefront of her mind. Over the last couple of hours she had come to the conclusion that the messages were all part of some cruel hoax.

Maddie walked over to the window of the foyer on the tenth floor and watched as Marcus walked out of the building and climbed into a black Tesla. From that distance she couldn't see who was driving, but did catch a glimpse of a shock of red hair. The car pulled away and sped off onto the main road. Maddie returned to her desk and kicked off her shoes. First thing tomorrow she would tell him everything that had happened. Her loyalty was to Marcus, not some unknown person with a cruel sense of humour. Marcus had given Maddie a huge opportunity, and she wasn't going to waste a second.

The late autumn sky darkened as she sent her last email of the day. She turned off her screen and was about to leave for the night when her phone buzzed again. It didn't make her jump as it had earlier. Val had sent her several messages throughout the afternoon, all of them perfectly innocent. A message about potential rental properties in the city, another from her mother's DPA and a bank statement had all come through and she'd opened each with a sense of dread, but she hadn't needed to.

Maddie picked up her phone and swiped open the app.

"No doubt you have decided that you will be telling your new boss all about our little conversations in the morning. He can be quite charming when he wants to be. So, maybe a little inducement is needed."

She waited.

Buzz

Her finger swiped to reveal a picture of a car. A car wrapped around a concrete post on an underpass. The driver's side of the car was damaged, but not as badly as the passenger side, which had concertinaed in on itself. From the grainy picture it was not possible to make out the brand of the car, such was the damage to the front end. But Maddie knew that it was a green Ford Fusion with a 2007 plate. She knew because she had been sitting in the front passenger seat when her family had been run off the road. She knew because that had been the car in which she'd had a head injury so traumatic, she'd spent months in recovery, and for her hearing never to return.

"The driver of the other vehicle was never found, was he, Maddie? No one was ever brought to justice for the accident, were they?"

Maddie let out a sob.

Buzz.

"Have you ever wondered how and why you ended up with your shiny, new job, Maddie? Ever wondered how a young slip of a girl with limited experience could wind up working as the PA to a tech mogul?"

Buzz.

"Boy have I got news for you!"

Buzz.

"Eleven years ago, Marcus McEnroe, while high as a kite, totalled your car, Maddie. He then drove off like it never happened. Is that a compelling enough reason for you to help me?"

Maddie grabbed for the waste paper basket and emptied the contents of her stomach.