*sigh* I swear I wasn't lying when I said I wasn't going to be posting this daily, but it came to me so easily, I couldn't help myself. Thank you to everyone who added this onto your alerts! A bigger thank you to those who reviewed! You guys are great. My mistakes are my own, enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. I do own Fella though (you'll see).
My hands trembled with excitement and anticipation on my trek back to my desk with Jasper. He'd walked with me over to the floor human resources was on and introduced me to Janet, some kind of supervisor type secretary who handled all the new employees. After filling out so much paperwork that rivaled the amount signed when buying a new car or house, Janet explained to me that my insurance coverage would start at the beginning of the month and welcomed me officially to the company.
I think she meant well, but it was kind of insulting. Just a tiny bit. Like I hadn't been working here for the past year.
"I'm excited for you, Bella," Jasper said quietly as we approached my desk.
Looking up at him, I smiled and nodded, distracted momentarily by the azure color of his eyes. "Me too, I'm just nervous." I lowered my voice, "What if I mess up?"
"You probably will," he chuckled, immediately making my stomach plummet. I wanted to ask him what the hell? But he beat me to it. "Don't stress out about it, though. No one expects you to be perfect," he winced at his word choice and I caught his expression before he backtracked. "You can do it, don't worry."
Jasper patted my back, veering off towards his office, leaving me on my route towards my cubicle. I wondered for a second why he'd made a face after saying that no one expected me to be perfect, but I shrugged it off. When I passed Lauren's desk, I caught her head snapping around to watch me and while I half expected her head to keep twisting like the girl in The Exorcism, it didn't. Taking in my small part of the department floor, I realized that I didn't keep very many things in my little workstation, maybe unconsciously because of the monthly uncertainty of my position. I grabbed the stash of granola bars I had in my drawer, the picture of my parents I'd propped up against the wall of my desk, and a glass jar of change I kept for vending machine runs.
While I felt unbelievably relieved that I now held a steady job for the first time in my life, the sudden weight of my decision came down on me. I was going to freaking work with the CFO of the company. The CFO. This wasn't easygoing Jasper who put his hair in a ponytail and blasted out Twisted Sister from his office on the mornings he had meetings in order to pump himself up. This was the CF-freaking O. You can do this, I reminded myself. Jasper thought I could do it, and if he thought so, then it was possible. Steeling my nerves as best as I could, I finished shoving my granola bars deeper into my purse so that they wouldn't fall out and then unlocked my computer so I could completely log out.
"Where do you think you're going?" Nasal voice asked while I was typing in my password.
I didn't bother turning around to see where her voice was coming from. I mean, this would be the seventh time in twelve months that she'd directly spoken to me, so why would I try to let her add another number to the tally? Maybe I was being a little childish, but I frankly didn't give half a shit.
A gasp from behind tore me away from my thoughts. Lauren was standing not three feet behind me, holding her hand to her mouth with her eyes wide. "Oh my god! You're finally getting the ax?"
I rolled my eyes and stood up, picking up my purse at the same time. "Technically," I said, smirking.
The little bitch started hopping for a second before she stopped abruptly, her wide eyes significantly enlarging. "Wait, if you're leaving then who's going to do your half of the work now?"
"Don't know, don't care," I kind of chuckled. I realized Lauren was going to be screwed until they found someone else to come in and cover the position I was leaving. Jasper had assured me on the walk back from HR that it was fine for me to leave and that Lauren could take care of whatever work I didn't finish. My inner bitch may have cackled in glee. "See ya," I I smiled at her, this smug looking face, one last time before walking past her and heading towards the exit door.
The walk from the doors, to the elevator, and finally down to the contract employee parking floor seemed to take forever. What had seemed like a close walk the other 272 days I'd done it, now seemed like a half marathon. As soon as I had gotten into my car, I pulled out my old Samsung flip phone and speed dialed my best friend, well actually my only real friend: Angela.
"What do you want, Fella?" She answered, whispering. Ignoring her nickname for me, I knew she was at work and that her boss was almost as big of a bitch as Lauren was, so I couldn't ask her to speak up.
"Ang, I got a real job!"
She gasped so quietly I thought she could have used a mouse in her place. "No way! Where?"
I almost giggled at the way she tried to hide her excitement at my news. "MSM, they're hiring me full time as an executive assistant to the freaking CFO," I pretty much screeched into the receiver.
Angela squealed into her phone, which sounded like a distorted pig noise because I was sure she was pressing her mouth directly into the receiver. "Fancy pants! Not even just a regular assistant but an executive. I'd whoop but Meryl Streep has her office door open." Ever since I'd forced her to watch The Devil Wears Prada, she'd been calling her boss Meryl Streep, which was so fitting for the boss who was never pleased.
"Thanks! They let me leave-"
"Shit! She's getting out of her chair. I'll call you back!" Angela hissed before disconnecting the call a half second later.
Tossing my phone back into my purse, I shrugged off the abrupt call because it was pretty typical of a workplace conversation between Ang and I. Even though Jasper didn't seem to care if I talked on my phone or not, I really tried to keep it to a minimum. That was, unless Lauren decided to wear a g-string under her tight ass skirt and I caught a glimpse of a couple of butt dimples. That definitely required an emergency call.
On my drive home, I couldn't help but think that all of this happening almost seemed like fate. It was already the end of the month as well as the week, and first thing Monday morning, the first day of the new month, I'd be starting as an executive assistant to the CFO. The more I said it in my head, the snobbier it sounded. Maybe I'd just call myself a secretary. I'd rather sound like I worked for a normal person instead of the head of one of the most successful, privately owned super markets in the south.
I'd have the whole weekend to get into the right mindset to go in on Monday and learn as much as I could from the current assistant before she left. The feeling of overwhelming dread filled the cavity of my stomach one more time, and I couldn't help but wonder if I'd gotten in over my head.
