Once Upon A Time(70)

“Alpha opens in a couple of days.” He smirked. “All we have to do is keep it quiet until the opening night. I’ll cancel my contract with Blue Stone PR after the event. And damn it, if you say we’re just sleeping together one more time, I’ll tie you to that bed and show you just what we are.”

“And what is that exactly?” I asked, a little breathless.

“A god damn fairy tale.” He growled.

Right then, I knew. Gabriel Black was, in fact, my Prince Charming and this was, most definitely, my once upon a time.

I smiled for a moment before remembering the time once more.

“Okay, Prince Charming. Do you think you and your trusted steed can get me to my apartment with enough time to shower and dress for my nine o’clock meeting with my boss?”

“Anything for you, princess.” He winked, smacking my ass as he left the room beautifully naked and stepped into the shower.

“Damn it.” I chuckled.

I missed my prince already.

By eight-thirty I was in the office, staring at my ogre-like boss as she sipped her tea from her exaggerated tea cup.

“On your desk is some paperwork I need you to photocopy three times. You need to sign them where appropriate, and find the files of each individual client and put them in order,” she said with a wave of her hand. “It’s standard paperwork most account managers have to deal with on a day to day basis, and because you’ve seemed to do so well with the Black Enterprises account, I thought you might be able to take on a heavier work load.”

What in the hell was happening? Only a couple of months ago, I was wondering when my career would start, if I would start moving up the ladder or be forever working as a coffee fetcher and a calendar organizer the rest of my working life. Now I’d been given the opportunity to take on tasks that account managers deal with. I was shocked.

“Okay,” I said. “Thank you for this, Kate. I really appreciate it.”

I stood from my chair and she nodded in dismissal. But, before I could leave her office, she hit me with something I wasn’t expecting. Like always, there was a catch.

“Oh, there’s around three hundred clients in that paperwork. I’m afraid you’ll have to miss the opening night of Alpha to get it finished.”

I closed my eyes tight as I held on to the door handle for dear life, trying my best not to turn around and smack her over the head with her stupid tea cup.

“Of course, Kate,” I said, opening the door and making a beeline for my office.

The moment I closed my office door, there stood the two women I’d love to shove in the paper copier. Clarissa and Katrina were, once again, lingering in my office.

“Make it quick,” I snapped, bored of the mind games they’d been inflicting since I started working at Blue Stone PR. “I have work to be getting on with.”

Clarissa chuckled.

“Ah yes. The three hundred client paperwork which needs copying and filing.” She chuckled, pointing to the high three piles of paperwork sitting in the middle of my desk. “I hope you have fun filing my and Katrina’s clients.”

There it was. These weren’t Kate’s clients or any of the other nice account manager's clients. They were theirs. It was clear why I had to do the paperwork. One, because Clarissa and Katrina didn’t have a brain cell between them, and two, because I knew there was some reason why they wanted me away from Alpha. I had no doubt they suggested I clear up their paperwork in order to have me inundated with so much paper I’d have to miss the opening night.

“I’m sure I will. After all, I’m sure intelligent women like yourselves understand the importance of paperwork and contracts.” I rolled my eyes. I’d had enough of their bullshit and I really couldn’t have cared what they did or what kind of tales they told. They were the definition of a fairy tale villains.

“Of course.” Clarissa smiled, turning to her twin and nodding.

With that, Katrina moved to my desk and with one large swoop of her arm, knocked every single piece of paper from my desk. The paper fell to the floor just like leaves in autumn, only they wouldn’t disappear over time and I’d have to pick up every single one of them with care.

With that, the pair left my office, cackling like teenagers as they slammed my office door. Shaking my head, I got down on my knees and decided I’d work until my hands were covered in paper cuts and sweat poured down my back to get this paperwork done in order with enough time to make it to Alpha's opening. Even if it killed me.

As I was pulling together the paperwork, trying to find all the documents for a particular client, in walked Kylie. I didn’t need to look up to see the shocked expression on her face; the gasp that left her lips was enough to tell me she knew what had happened.