Page 463 of Manhattan Bossholes

“I bet you made his day,” she crowed. “Alone with his gorgeous half-dressed employee… He’s probably jacking off thinking about you right now!”

“Would you stop writing fanfic about my boss already?” I shouted at her, only half kidding. Secretly, a part of me liked the idea of me invading James’s brain. “He’s a dick too. They all are. But they won’t get the best of me. I’ll show them.”

“Yup, I know you will.” Stephanie flowed into pushup position and started knocking them out like she could do a hundred. “You always do.”

She was right, but I had a feeling that the big boss was going to make me work very hard to make it happen.

5

NATALIE

It was my turn to pick the music so of course Beyonce was cranking, but the upbeat dance music did nothing to lighten the mood in the creative department.

I glanced around at my new colleagues, hoping to connect with someone, anyone, but each head was bent over their drafting tables hard at work. The space had seemed deceptively cheerful the first time I walked in, with a double-height ceiling, gigantic windows, and music pumping through hidden speakers, but I’d noticed right away that no one was talking. I’d thought it might have been everyone needing to get used to the newbie, and I’d hoped that once I got through the awkwardness of the first day, people would relax and open up, but it felt like the entire creative floor was a minefield, and I had no idea at any given time what was going to cause an explosion.

Or, more specifically, what might cause Clint to explode.

“Natalie,” the sing-song voice echoed down from his loft office.

I gritted my teeth and glanced up to where Clint was standing, overlooking the design floor. We had intercoms; it would’ve been easier for him to page me that way. But Clint seemed to like the spectacle of calling me out so that the entire floor could listen in. I saw a few heads bob up, but no one glanced directly at me. They knew what was coming.

“Yes?”

“I need you to grab me a coffee from the kitchen,” he ordered. “I’m right in the middle of something and I can’t be interrupted.”

I bit my tongue and refrained from saying that he’d already interrupted himself with his stupid request.

It was the third time in a week he’d treated me like his personal gofer, and I needed to put a stop to it if I expected to be treated with respect. I mean, I was hired to be a designer, not an assistant, but Clint clearly didn’t get the message. I took a deep breath and did my best to keep the fury out of my voice. “Clint, I’m also in the middle of a task. I’m sorry, but now’s not a good time for me to take a break.”

The entire room seemed to freeze. I guess saying no to Clint wasn’t a thing?

“And what is it that’s so important that you can’t follow a direct request from your boss?”

I stood straight up and unfurled my shoulders, staring up at him like he was a demented Juliet. “If you’ll recall from the email you sent this morning, you took me off of the fabric sourcing project and switched me to the trench coat competitive analysis, which is due by the end of the day. I still have quite a bit to get through, given the tight turnaround.”

Calling it “tight” was generous, but I wasn’t about to come right out and accuse Clint of trying to sabotage me.

“Oh, that’s right.” He seemed delighted by the reminder of my insane workload. “You do have a lot to accomplish.”

I was shocked that he actually copped to it. I was about to lob another passive aggressive comment back at him when a voice piped up behind me.

“I’ll go. I’ll get your coffee, Clint.”

I glanced over and saw my colleague Rhea gathering her purse, and I wanted to run over and hug her. I’d adored the woman since the first time we shook hands. Her buzzed gray hair and oversized colorful earrings made her seem like an eclectic auntie. She was one of the older employees who had been around long enough that she was immune to personnel shifts, and she navigated Clint’s temper tantrums like a bored kindergarten teacher. She was basically untouchable, and I was happy that she seemed to be on my side.

“Rhea,” Clint chided. “That’s probably not a good idea. Don’t you also have something due to me by the end of today?”

She nodded as she walked towards the hallway. “Yup, a Q3 manufacturing plan. I could do it in my sleep. Don’t worry, you’ll have it before four.”

She threw up a peace sign and waddled away before he could respond.

I stifled a laugh as I sat back down and refocused on my laptop. I needed to get cracking if I expected to finish in time—which, truth be told, I didn’t think was possible. But I was going to die trying.

“Hey,” a low voice said behind me. “How’s it going?”

I turned around and found Lavonte pretending to examine a nearby swatch board. I hadn’t talked to him much, but based on the way he dressed, he seemed like a fun guy. He managed to get every color of the rainbow on his body, from the bright wraps in his hair to the pom-poms on his sneakers.

“I’m making it happen.” I sighed and flicked my eyes up to make sure that Clint wasn’t watching. “I’m about halfway done.”