Chapter 3

ONE YEAR LATER…

THE ASSISTANT

Jennie

Manhattan, New York

I stumbled into the glittering lobby of Manoban Publishing, balancing a small box of files in one hand and a binder of reports in the other. I was over an hour early, but I knew that wouldn't be enough for my boss.

Taking the elevator straight to the top floor, I rolled my eyes as the golden numbers lit up above the doors. Lisa Manoban insisted on having the entire top floor to herself, and only allowed me and the lowly secretaries access when we had a morning meeting like today. Or, when she was too lazy to travel down one flight of stairs, when she would call and say, "Come up to my office."

The second the doors sprung open, I headed toward the massive conference room that was right across from her office. I unlocked the doors and hit the lights, pulling down the projector screen as I made my way around the room.

I set out notepads and pens at each chair, and then I dialed the breakfast caterer.

"Fifth Avenue Catering," a woman answered on the first ring. "How may I help you this morning?"

"Hello, this is Jennie Kim with Manoban Publishing," I said. "I was wondering what time your delivery person was going to—"

"They're on the elevator right now, Miss Kim." She interrupted, a slight smile in her voice. "We know how your boss feels about time. No worries."

"Thank you." I ended the call and dialed the literary agent who was due to arrive or a separate meeting later today, letting her know that we would only have time for a twenty-minute pitch. Then I emailed each and every staff person a reminder to arrive to the boardroom at least ten minutes early.

As soon as I hit send on the message, an email from Ms. Manoban popped onto my screen.

Subject: What I Need Today.

Coffee from Dean & DeLuca. Mary Kubica's new book. Ad report. Hotel confirmations for next Saturday night, two. Q3 revenue reports. Travel itinerary for January. Files for meeting at 3 o'clock on my desk by noon.

Lisa Manoban,

CEO, Manoban Publishing

There was never any point in responding to her first email of the day. One hundred percent rhetorical and two hundred percent rude, she always sent them at exactly seven o'clock and they were always comprised of staccato-like sentences. There was never a "Hello," "Good morning," or a mere, "Hope all is well today." The asshole never even said, "Please."

And even when I completed everything on her ridiculous lists in record time, instead of saying, "Thank you," she had the audacity to say, "You're welcome."

"No, no, no." I picked up a plate of banana muffins the second the catering assistant set them down. "My boss is extremely allergic to these. Can you replace them with blueberry ones?" I quickly looked over the other things she was starting to set out, making sure nothing else was suspect.

"You sure you want me to replace them?" She smiled. "She'll die a lot a faster if I don't."

"I'm sure." I said. "I'm not trying to kill her…yet."

She laughed and took away the offending pastries, and before I could call Dean & DeLuca to order her overpriced coffee, she sent me another email.

Subject: Time.

You were two minutes late to work yesterday, and one minute late to the noon meeting.

Don't let it happen again today.

Lisa Manoban

CEO, Manoban Publishing

I started to respond with "Eff you and your obsession with time, you egotistical asshole," but I wasn't going to let her get to me today. I sent her a curt "Ok," ordered her coffee, and scrolled through my inbox, looking for correspondence from any of the countless jobs I'd recently applied to, but all I saw was spam.

Ugh…

Dialing my personal town-car driver, the best benefit that came with being her executive assistant, I begged him to retrieve the coffee for me. And then I told him to buy whatever else "looked pretty" in that café and add it to the purchase account.

"Are you sure about that, Miss Kim?" he asked.

"Absolutely." I hung up. I was only supposed to use the "CEO credit card" for Ms. Manoban's coffee and meals, but since she'd been increasingly mean to me over the past few months, I'd been using it on whatever came to mind. She could more than afford it.

The sudden sound of the elevator stopping on the floor made me look over the room one more time, made me realize that another day with her was just beginning.

"Good morning," I said as several staff members began to fill the room and take their designated seats. "Good to see you all today."

They all offered me their usual warm "Hellos" and slight looks of sympathy in return.

"Thank you all for being early," I said. "As you all know, this month is going to be extremely busy in regards to our front-list, and today you'll be asked which books you'd like to push from your departments and how much of the budget you'd like to spend on promoting each title."

Ms. Manoban suddenly entered the room as I spoke, turning the head of every woman at the table.

Her beautiful eyes met mine as I continued my short introduction, and for a split second I was reminded of how utterly gorgeous and captivating she was.

Her face was flawlessly sculpted with piercing chocolate colored eyes that pinned me to the spot any time we were alone. Her lips looked as if they were handcrafted for kissing, her jet black hair was always cut low enough for a woman to run her fingers through it, and the way her suits fit over her body consistently invaded my dreams more times than I cared to admit.

When I was finished talking, she stared at me—giving me a familiar look she gave me from time to time. One I still had yet to figure out. It was a cross between the way she looked in my fantasies when she was burying her head between my thighs, and when she was asking me to stay late after work. A look that said she may not be as horrible of a boss I often made her out to be.

"You can take your seat now, Miss Kim," she said. "Unless you'd like us to spend the rest of this two-hour meeting staring at you."

Fantasy over…

I sat down in my chair. I only halfway listened as she went around the room and condescendingly questioned the staff members one by one, requesting client novel updates, publications schedules and budgeting concerns. And as she directed her venom at the staff member next to me, I stared at her mouth of perfection. Then I discreetly pulled out my phone under the table and sent Jisoo an email.

Subject: I Wonder If She Eats Pussy…

I'm currently staring at her mouth as she's (surprise, surprise) being an utter jerk and telling the staff all the things she wants them to redo and the thought just crossed my mind. Like, her lips are beyond incredible and if she could keep them shut she'd be A LOT sexier, but I wonder if she ever puts them to use behind closed doors…

Your bestie,

Jennie

PS—If she tells me I was "one minute" or a mere "two minutes" late one more time…

Her response was immediate.

Subject: Re: I Wonder If She Eats Pussy…

Probably not. If she's anything like you say, she'd probably more of a taker in the bedroom. I mean, I'm sure she's a good taker, but I can't see a hot-shot like her using her tongue for anything other than sarcasm.

Your bestie,

Jisoo

PS—Why haven't you poisoned her breakfast yet?

"Miss Kim?" Ms. Manoban's voice made me look up from my phone.

"Yes?"

"The morning meeting is over now. Feel free to leave my boardroom with everyone else."

I bit my tongue and stood up, forcing a smile as I headed toward the door.

"Oh and Miss Kim?" She walked over to me before I stepped into the hallway.

"Yes?"

"You were about to leave without your files for our Friday meeting. I'm pretty sure you'll need them if you plan on doing your assigned work between now and then." She handed me my massive binder. "You're welcome."