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But no, all of the assistants had been content with doing the bare minimum, with just trying to skate by on what they thought they should have to do and that was it. They crumbled under pressure easily and couldn’t keep up with me.
My eyes slid over the woman one more time before I moved onto more pressing things. She was certainly curvier than I was used to seeing in our media-fueled business. I’d become so used to waifs and women who worked themselves down to as little fat as possible that there was almost something novel in how the woman before me was so soft and feminine.
It was when my gaze reached her face that I noticed that her shocked expression was gone and instead replaced with one of determination and confidence. Normally people held onto that scared, intimidated look a bit longer. Or I could see the ideas for gain spinning behind their eyes.
But not this girl.
My eyes flicked over her sensible shoes and I smiled. It seemed that this girl had probably done her research before she’d arrived. That was promising. But not promising enough to impress me or make me think that this time would go that much differently than the last.
Even if her conservative turtleneck and business appropriate pencil skirt only served to emphasize her figure that much more. I’d seen plenty of stacked women throughout my life, and even if the young woman in front of me was clearly top tier, I wouldn’t let that sway me.
I knew in other offices that maybe a new boss would introduce themselves, let their employee get to know them, and tell them what was expected of them. That was all just a waste of time to me.
“Have you ever been an assistant before?” I asked instead, affixing her with one of my stares. I liked to pride myself on being able to see through quite a lot of bullshit without even blinking; would she try to slip something past me like so many others?
“No.”
Huh.
No. No explanation beyond that, no assurances that she would still be good for the job. Just a factoid answer. I liked that.
I looked to her face once more to see her chin tilted ever so slightly in defiance. As if she was daring me. Well, I could certainly take a dare.
I stood to my full height, the light behind me casting my shadow across the girl. To her credit, she only blinked once before she schooled her expression into that same inscrutable calm and determination.
Huh. Maybe this would be more interesting than I thought.
“If you have no experience, why do you think I could possibly use you.”
“Mr. Fitzger-” my underling started but this new woman cut him off, her eyes flashing in a way I quite enjoyed.
“It doesn’t matter what I think.”
“Doesn’t it?” I replied, surprised by her answer.
But she just shook her head. “As I said, I have no experience. What I think about the issue is moot. But you help a tight ship here, don’t you, Mr. Fitzgerald, and I doubt you would let on anyone as a permanent employee unless you were fully confident in their skills.”
“Of course,” I answered smoothly, curious where she was going. “But you’re not a permanent employee. Not yet, at least.”
She nodded. “But whoever in HR approved my application was a permanent employee. And so did the person I spoke to on the phone for my initial interview. Jenny, I believe? Then there’s Mr. Daniels here, who handled my final interview and my welcoming tour that we just completed.” She drew a quiet breath and when her gaze found mine, I saw nothing but steel there. “So, if three of your trusted employees think I would be useful to you, I’m liable to believe what they think over my own opinion.”
I leaned forward ever so slightly, interested by this strange woman and her responses. “And what is your own opinion?”
I expected her to falter there. To lie and come up with some sort of flattery that she obviously didn’t feel. Or worse, try to couch her negative thoughts in some sort of positive buzzword salad that would make me retch. All of those were wastes of time, and time was already so damn precious.
“I’m not paid to have an opinion sir, just to assist you.”
Huh. It seemed that she wasn’t going to budge on that, but I didn’t mind. I liked this challenging woman with rebellion in her stare and fight to her stance. It was almost like having a wild animal in front of me that was presenting at civility when really it wanted nothing more than to tear me down and challenge my position on top.
“Well then, Ms.… Viello, was it?” She nodded solemnly. “I’ll need three coffees from the café down the street, all large and one with two shots of expresso. My dry cleaning needs to be picked up -one of my secretaries can give you the address and the ticket. Once you have finished that, speak to one of them and they will equip your phone and work computer with everything you need to access and organize my scheduling. You are dismissed.”
