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“Sure thing, boss.” Mary walked towards Isobel with a friendly smile.
“I’ll see you later, Isobel. Good luck.” With that, Tyler walked back through the door that led into his private office, leaving Isobel at the mercy of the women.
She looked around the room, smiling in a way that she hoped would show the women that she wasn’t there to make enemies, but to work. Mary caught the way everyone was glaring and seemed to take pity on her, placing her hand on Isobel’s arm and giving it a friendly pat. “Just ignore this bunch of cronies, hon.” Her voice was quiet, but not a whisper. “They’re just bloody jealous because you get to work up close and personal with the big man.” She winked and then frowned at the other ladies. “Don’t you lot have any work to do?”
Isobel watched everyone scurry off to their relevant work areas and then she followed Mary to a cubicle that was set apart from the others. “This is where you’ll be working. That’s when you’re not off running errands for Mr. James, of course.” There was a desk with a top of the line computer set up on it, a telephone that looked as though there were a hundred different buttons and a myriad of paper trays and filing cabinets, all of which looked full to the brim.
Isobel gulped as she took it all in, she’d never be able to figure any of this stuff out. She was doomed before she began, it seemed. Mary laughed at her expression and then hurried to reassure her. “Don’t panic sweetness. It’s not as hard as it looks, and if you need any help you just give me a holler. Okay?”
Giving a slow nod of agreement, Isobel looked at the piece of paper that Tyler had given her. “Is that your ‘to do’ list?” Mary asked.
“Yeah. And I have no clue where to even start.” Isobel’s voice gave her away with regards to just how nervous she was feeling. “I mean, he wants me to take his suit to the dry cleaners, but I don’t know where the suit is or which one he even uses.” Her voice had risen as she talked, and she took a deep, calming breath to calm herself down.
“It’s not as bad as it seems, hon. I’ll let you in on a little secret, shall I?” Mary was being so nice that Isobel could have hugged her, but she settled for just giving her a nod. “Okay, Jenny was always running late or disappearing when she should have been working, but she always expected us to cover for her so she left a list in her drawer of relevant information.” While she was talking, Mary had been rummaging through the desk, and she pulled out an A4 piece of paper with a triumphant flourish. “Ha! Here you go sweetie. This has contacts, Boss Man’s preferences and anything else you might need to know on it.”
She handed Isobel the paper and told her to let her know if there was anything else she could help with, and then she walked away to her own work station. Isobel took a seat at her own desk and then looked at the two pieces of paper she held, making a mental plan of attack. She figured that the first thing she should do was to get Tyler’s suit to the dry cleaners, so she found the address on the list made by her predecessor and then collected the suit that was hanging on a cabinet door, rightly assuming by its size and the fact that he was the only male that she’d seen working up here, that it belonged to Tyler.
Forty minutes later she was back at the office building, walking through the main doors as though she had been working there for years and not just started that morning under false pretenses. As she passed by the front desk, the receptionist called out to her. “Excuse me, Ms. Cairns?” Isobel changed course and walked towards her. “I just need you to sign some paperwork for us. It’s nothing major, just your pertinent information and bank details for your salary. It will also give you authorization to sign for any deliveries that may arrive for Mr. James.”
Isobel’s mind had gone blank at the word salary. She had only ever worked an hourly job before, and never had a salary in her life. Hell, she didn’t even know how much she would be getting paid if she was lucky enough to actually keep this job.
