The hustle and bustle of the city's subway system never ended, only doubling at certain times of the day. Valerie Evans, unfortunately, was stuck in the subway during one of these doubling times.
The cold steel wall of the cramped tube pressed against the young woman's back while her knuckles turned a disturbing white from her grip on her first-ever briefcase. She closed her eyes as the subway train jostled her and everyone else around here this way and that, trying to bite back her fear of getting mugged, raped or shanked.
Focus on starting your new job, she told herself mentally, as an assistant….to one of the biggest faces in corporate America! Her fear was overtaken by her excitement for the moment. She smiled proudly, doing a small fist pump in the cramped area. She was still in shock that she managed to land such a high-end job just a year out of college, especially considering how she handled the interview. She could have sworn, and did for awhile, that she killed her chances after going on a mini rant on unfair gender treatment in the workplace. She still couldn't grasp what sparked the rant, but just thinking about it made her grimace with embarrassment. I guess my references helped me out there.
The subway train lurched forward abruptly, tossing Valerie into a tiny, middle aged woman.
"Ouch, sorry!" Valerie rubbed her injured arm. The lady ignored her completely and walked out of the newly opened doors. "Well, then." Valerie rolled her eyes and exited the subway as well. These city-folk are so amiable, she thought to herself.
Getting out of the underground system to normal ground was surprisingly more challenging than entering it. When Valerie finally made it above ground, it was seven-forty five.
"Great," She complained aloud, standing at the edge of these busy sidewalk, "Late on my first day."
She waved down a taxi cab, mentally cursing herself for her tardiness.
"Reid Enterprises. As soon as possible please," She told the driver as she climbed into the old automobile.
Five minutes later for the price of twenty dollars and at the cost of the public's safety, Valerie was inside the Reid Enterprises building and making her way to the top floor. She wasn't able to admire the beauty of the modern building as she maneuvered her way throughout it. She did however notice that she seemed to be the only person in the building NOT working. Every well-dressed person she passed seemed to be engrossed in some form of work or another. Valerie attempted not to dwell on that fact.
She entered the top floor and found her desk stationed in front of a large and, thankfully, empty glass office. She dropped her briefcase on the average-sized desk and sat down in the comfortable chair, letting out a deep and relieved breath.
"I made it," She sighed, running a hand through her slightly disheveled caramel curls.
"Albeit you are a bit late," A deep voice replied from her left.
Valerie jumped from her seat whirled to see a young man with short blond hair and his arms crossed in front of his chest.
"I am so sorry, Mr. Reid, " Valerie jumped out of the seat, " I had taken the subway and it ended up to ta-"
He raised a hand, stopping her mid-sentence. "I'll let this slide once, Ms. Evans, but I do expect my employees to be prompt."
"I really am sorry," Valerie apologized again, her rapid heart beat calming, "I won't be late again, I promise."
Jason Reid gave his assistant a stern look then started towards his office, motioning for her to follow. "I have an important schedule to keep to today. You'll be with me throughout the day. For the most part, you will either be with me during the day, running errands for me or working at your desk. That all depends on that day's schedule, however," He went to his desk and handed Valerie a thin folder, "Here is a list of my contacts, big business partners and my schedule the next two days. After that, I expect you this role to be reversed. You instead giving me my schedule. You'll also need to arrange a majority of my meetings, book my flights, and keep my files organized. Pretty simple, right?"
The assistant nodded, her eyes flipped through the folder. Wow, this guy's so organized already. Doesn't seem like he needs me.
The young billionaire pulled out a silver pocket watch. "My first appointment for today is at-"
"Is that a pocket watch?" Valerie blurted out before stopping to think. Her cheeks flushed as she bit her tongue too late.
"Yes…." He raised his eyebrows.
"Sorry, I have always loved them. It's too bad they went out of style. They are much superior to wristwatches," She stopped herself mid-speech.
"I agree," Mr. Reid responded, his green eyes glinting with amusement at his new assistant.
Valerie evaded his gaze.
"As I was saying," He continued, "my appointment is in thirty minutes so we should be going now. We have a long day and we don't want to be late, " He smirked, poking fun at her.
…
Reid ended up being right. The day was much too long, thanks to his schedule. The first appointment (at some high end suit shop) lead to a business brunch, which lead to two business lunches that was followed by a meeting with an advisory team for a new "headquarters" he was creating. By the time all of those activities were finished, Valerie's right hand was sore from all the notes she was required to take throughout the day (19 pages of notes to be exact). She flexed her hand, wincing, while she followed the quick steps of her boss. They were currently walking down a dark alley way (Well, this isn't ominous at all) near long rows of warehouses. Valerie took note of this and realized that she should be a bit worried
"Just one last meeting, Ms. Evans." Reid told her, glancing back. "And you don't need to take notes for this one."
"That's a relief," She sighed, caution still in her heart.
Reid stopped abruptly in front of one of the uniform warehouses. Valerie skidded to a stop. He turned to her, his green eyes blazing with some kind of excitement that she could see even in the early night.
"This shouldn't take too long, Ms. Evans. If you would be so kind as to wait out here for me," He didn't wait for an answer and opened the worn metallic door of the building, letting the light from inside spill out. Before she could see what or who was inside, Reid walked in with the door shutting behind him.
Well, it was supposed to shut behind him.
As the door was being closed, Valerie impulsively stuck her foot out to stop it. She bit her lip to stop from yelping at the quick pain that came as the door met her foot.
She quietly moved her foot from the door and pressed her body lightly against it, trying to hear something from inside. Something fishy has to be going on in there. Maybe a drug deal or something like that. That would be so awesome! She almost laughed from the adrenaline rush she got from the thought.
"Nice to meet you finally," That was Reid. "You are a difficult man to find, Cobb."
"Well, if you were me, would you want to be easily found?" A tired voice said.
Reid chuckled, "That does make some sense."
"Are you that famous billionaire who invented that social networking site? Jason Reid?" A different person, a young woman probably, asked.
"Ah, yes. That would be me. " A pause. "I am pressed for time so can we get down to business? I have my assistant waiting."
"Go on ahead," Another voice. A man this time.
"As you are well aware if you have read the paper, there is only one competing company with mine. Grayson Corporation. From my sources, I've learned that their technology department has discovered a new…..weapon, you could say," Another pause. "I don't trust the head of the company at all and I seriously worry this weapon is not going to be given over to….the right characters. So I need you, Cobb, and your team to-"
"Extract the information from the head's mind?" The tired voice, Cobb?, asked.
Valerie leaned further on the door. Extract? Like Steal? But that couldn't be right. I mean, he said extracting from the mind….
"Well, I heard you performed Inception for Mr. Saito…"
"Inception? That nearly cost us all our lives!" A different voice spoke up.
Valerie's heart raced. This sounds interesting. She pressed harder on the door, trying to hear a bit better.
She leaned a bit too hard, unfortunately.
The door swung open at the extra pressure, and Valerie fell forward into the warehouse and into the middle of the her boss's meeting. She regained her balance quickly and met six surprised pairs of eyes.
"Would this be the assistant?" A British accent rang through the awkward silence.
Sorry this had a long start but I wanted you all to understand Valerie and the situation. :D Plus I couldn't resist ending the chapter like this….
EDIT: I made some changes. I want these chapters to be as well written as possible.