AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I took the glass elevator to the top floor—the executive floor. I wasn’t sure why Auggie had placed me there for the summer. I was only going over the protocols for the clinical research studies we conducted, as well as the safety procedures for our testing labs. I was supposed to compare them against national laws and regulations to make sure we were in compliance. If I found any discrepancies, I would report my findings to the head of research and development, Pamela Landers. She was also an executive vice president and the current chief medical officer. Someday I would fill her shoes if my father got his wish, and he always did.
It wasn’t the most thrilling of internships, but it paid well and would look good on a résumé. Not that it probably mattered in my case. Any résumé of mine would be going to Armstrong Labs.
I stepped off the elevator, and every eye looked my way. Actually, I had been getting a lot of stares since I’d walked into the building. People normally ignored me, even though I was the big boss’s daughter. That was fine with me; I’d rather be ignored than ridiculed. I’d had plenty of that growing up.
Suddenly, I was nervous and began to rub my neck. I tried to look behind me, certain my dress was in my panties or something. That would be my luck. When I didn’t see anything, I tugged on the back to make sure I wasn’t showing off my plain-Jane beige undies.
“Young lady,” Randall, my dad’s secretary, boomed. It’s what he always called me.
It jolted me out of my panicked state. I looked up to find Randall marching my way. He wasn’t what you would picture a corporate secretary to be. He was a large man and former marine. Every day, he wore a short-sleeved white button-down shirt that showed off his bulging muscles and beautiful cocoa skin covered with tattoos. Stepmother number five, who I’d christened as the Black Widow, had made Auggie hire him. Black Widow happened to be my father’s previous secretary. Hiring a man for the role had been her way of trying to stave off any competition. Randall lasted much longer than she did. In fact, Randall was the best secretary around as far as my father was concerned.
I walked toward Randall, still feeling like everyone was staring at me. Maybe people were remembering my unfortunate walk down the aisle last weekend, as most of them had been at the wedding. Though no one had seemed to be interested in me when I’d come in this morning. What was the fascination all of a sudden? I wasn’t sure, but my face was feeling all sorts of hot. Please don’t let my dress be in my panties.
When I reached Randall, he handed me the folder he was carrying. “Your father asked me to give this to you.”
I looked down at the manila folder. “What’s this?”
“Last quarter’s report.” Randall gave me a toothy grin. “Your father assumed you might delete it if I emailed it to you.”
He would have been right. I had no interest in reading the executive summaries, goals, objectives, and highlights. Not to mention all the quarterly figures that were meaningless to me. Though, I knew Auggie wanted me to be in the know, and that was the single reason I would read the report.
I grimaced. “Thanks, Sir Randall.” I was the only one who called him that. The first time we met, I’d called him sir. He’d told me to call him Randall, but my teenage brain couldn’t fathom calling the intimidating man by his first name, so I had called him Sir Randall. He’d laughed so hard, and it just stuck.
He patted my shoulder, making me falter. I think he forgot his strength sometimes. He quickly realized his mistake and gripped my arms so I didn’t fall. “Sorry,” he laughed.
“It’s fine. Thanks for the report,” I sighed.
Randall pressed his lips together and thought for a moment. “Young lady, this is your legacy. Be proud of it.”
I saluted him. “Yes, Sir Randall.” I turned to head toward my office.
“One more thing.” He tugged me back and ripped the price tag off the neckline of my dress. With a smile he handed it to me. “This doesn’t make a good accessory.”
I hung my head in shame. How did Naomi and I miss that? That was why people were staring at me. I face-palmed myself. Why must I always do embarrassing things?
“You look lovely, by the way.” He marched off double time, never one to waste a second when he didn’t have to. Auggie said he was the most efficient and proficient executive admin he’d ever had.
Huh? Lovely? No one had ever called me that.
I tried to slink back to my office while making as little eye contact with people as possible. When I got there, I closed the door and leaned against it for a moment, trying to catch my breath. Maybe the red dress was a mistake. After several deep breaths, I grabbed my laptop and hit the floor.
