But what I didn't promise was that I would be okay, that I would thrive, that I would find myself again.
That wasn’t why I was here, that wasn’t why I’d come to this place.
I’d come here to forget.
Eric watched me glumly, the other half of his steak left uneaten. The man had always been so sage with advice, but this time he had nothing to offer.
I was hopeless, I would always be hopeless.
I was damaged, I was hollow, I was nothing.
Chapter Four
“Welcome to your first day.” Jake Roma said boredly as he glanced towards me. He wasn’t usually the one in charge of showing new hires around, there must have been some sort of oversight in the scheduling.
I shifted my feet uncomfortably, glancing at the woman behind the desk.
Her black, perfectly curled hair swung over her shoulder as she tossed it elegantly, big blue eyes shifting back towards the billionaire boss in front of her.
“This is the girl?” She asked, unimpressed. Her glossy pink lips twitched into an unhappy frown.
“Yes.” Jake replied, shrugging, “Show her the ropes. Be nice.”
“I’m always nice, darling.” She added, her voice dropping to a seductive whisper that me even more increasingly uncomfortable.
He chuckled, one tawny eyebrow arching as he straightened and ran his fingers down his ebony tie, “Well then. That’ll be all.” He murmured before striding away from the woman’s desk.
“Tessa Rogers.” She announced without looking at me, inspecting her perfectly manicured fingernails.
“Caroline.” I offered with a shrug, “What can I do to get started?”
“You can take these papers and organize them into the file cabinet.” She replied coolly, standing up as she carefully placed a stack of papers almost as tall as I am onto the edge of her desk.
She gazed at me through long, false lashes, only my height because of her shimmery black heels. Even so, I was intimidated.
“Of course.” I demurred, heaving the papers into my arms as she gestured me towards the tiny office behind her.
“You’ll have to sit on the floor.” The secretary added, bitterness dripping from each syllable that passed her perfect lips, “Sorry.”
Her tone told me she was not at all sorry.
“That’s fine.” I returned politely as I settled down onto the floor, not at all bothered by the firmness of the tile beneath me. My Goodwill skirt wasn’t going to be damaged by a little dust.
Whether or not I could fit a chair into the small office aside, I could see why she said not to bother. There was barely enough room to move around as it was.
For the rest of the morning, I didn’t move an inch from that cold spot on the office floor. I was sure I had a papercut or two on my fingers, but I was so relieved to be utterly absorbed in the personnel files that I couldn’t even bring myself to care.
The names and files were endless. I felt as though I had made only the smallest ounces of progress in my war against the filing cabinet, but I felt better and better with each successful placement of a folder. I felt useful, even if it was for something as trivial as grunt work. For now, I was a bottom feeder, grasping at the crumbs of success.
For now, that distraction was plenty.
“Catherine.” I heard Tessa call, glancing over my shoulder to find her staring at me, her hands placed on her hips.
“My name’s-” I started to correct her, only to watch her blue eyes roll and her shoulders huff.
“Listen, it’s time for your lunch break.” She said, glancing towards her watch, “Can’t you be more mindful of your own time? I shouldn’t have to nanny you.”
She glared at me, fingers tapping on her arms as I glanced at my watch.
Was it already past noon? I was supposed to meet Eric for lunch half an hour ago.
“I’m sorry.” I said uncertainly, unaware that we had designated lunch times, “I’ll go now.”
Frowning, I shook my head and scurried past her, heading for the lobby cafeteria. At least I knew where that was, I could follow the scent of fresh coffee and bread.
Why hadn’t anyone told me that there was a designated lunch time?
Or perhaps I’d missed someone explaining that. Oh well, at this point there wasn’t anything I could do. I’d have to remember not to make such a silly mistake again though. I was only given this job because of Eric’s advice to the CEO, I was sure that decision could be rescinded at any provocation.
I stood in the corner of the cafeteria, gaze carefully sorting through the people eating their lunches. The company was huge and their cafeteria big enough for everyone, Eric’s face no doubt vanished among the sea of people. I frowned, shifting towards the line.