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Sothat’swhat must have caused the commotion by the elevator this morning. I’d seen the same reaction from several other girls, but I wasn’t sure what all the fuss was about. What could be so amazing about one family?
Her eyes hazed over as drool spilled out of the corner of her mouth.
“Yes,” I said simply as she jumped in her four-inch white heels, her pencil skirt nearly flying up. I couldn’t help it anymore. A crack of laughter slipped from me. “I don’t see why it’s suddenly the gossip around the office.”
Lacy’s mouth dropped as she attempted to wipe the drops of drool off her chin. “Do you not know who they are? Did you not see them this morning on your way in?”
“No,” I said begrudgingly, remembering that long walk up the stairs. I must have looked like a deer in headlights becauseher eyes widened further in amazement. You would have thought she just heard me announce that I had won the lottery, the way she just stood there petrified by my response.
“I can’t believe you missed them! They’re only the richest, most attractive family known to man. It’s like they were all blessed with beauty-” She sighed as if swooning, her eyes fluttering like a butterfly.
Who were these people? My curiosity was officially spiked. I couldn’t even begin to imagine what they must have looked like. I mean, beauty is subjective, no? I doubt that Lacy and I found the same kind of men attractive.
“-Where have you been your whole life? They’ve only been the talk of everyone. I mean, come on, their faces are all over magazines and TV.” She took a second to breathe. “You’ve seriously never seen them before?”
I shook my head no.
Unlike Lacy over here, I barely ever had free time, let alone to waste it pining over celebrities or reading about them. My nose was typically half-buried in a romance novel in my rare instances of rest. Andlord,I still had so many on my list to read.
“Well, you’ll see them tomorrow.” Lacy squealed, running out to her desk like a little schoolgirl.
I snorted at the thought of every girl in the office squirming tomorrow, anticipating the arrival of the Ellisario’s. It would be the comedic highlight of my day, considering how the past few had been.
I had spent every waking moment avoiding my boss, Mr. Thomas, who also seemed to ignore my wish to alert their presence before barging into my cubicle. I suppose he was the boss, so I couldn’t fault him for theintrusion.
I tried to hide my disgust while he gazed at himself in the window’s reflection. Even the fancy new suit he had been flaunting all day wasn’t enough. I would have sooner kissed a frog before even contemplating what a kiss with him was like.
“Did you hear about the get-together we’re having tonight? At one of the clubs downtown?” Mr. Thomas finally pulled himself from his reflection, but not before giving himself a quick wink. He tilted his head, a few brown hairs flopping from one side over his bald spot and onto the other.
“You were going to come, right?” He added.
“Are you sure having everyone go out the night before our biggest clients come is a good idea? Wouldn’t we want to have a good night’s sleep? Be prepared and ready for tomorrow?” I was careful with my words. He tended to get melodramatic at the thought of someone trying to control the situation over him.
In my short months here, I had grown accustomed to the real reason they hired such a young marketer straight out of college. Granted I was Ivy League; however, I should have concluded that there was something off with this position.
And now I knew why.
Lately, I had been feeling an awkward tension between Mr. Thomas and me, as if he wanted something that I deemed vastly inappropriate- and disgusting, especially given our statuses at the company. Not to mention, helovedbelittling me.
“See, that’s your problem, Freya. You never let loose. You never have fun.”
“I just don’t find going to clubs or bars fun, but to each their own, I suppose.” I winced, feeling awkward as Mr. Thomas eyed me intently, his brows furrowing as if confused by whatI was saying. As ifIwas the absurd one.
“Oh, come on. All you kids go out these days. What? Is it notcoolto go with your boss?” He took a step closer, making my skin crawl.
When I didn’t answer, I saw him flustering, his brows twitching. “If you don’t come tonight, then…” He tried to come up with something, his mouth twisting in thought. “Then maybe we will need to reconsider your position here with us. Don’t think I didn’t notice that you were late today.”
I almost laughed. “You realize you legally can’t fire me for not wanting to go out, right?” I bit my tongue slightly as I realized how cold I sounded. After all, he was still my boss, even if he had the mental capacity of a teenage boy.
His face scrunched in anger at my words, about to speak before my phone lit up, ringing out the sound of Mr. Thomas’s voice.
I put my finger up to him and then anxiously grabbed the phone. “This is Freya Wilk,” I said with my teeth jarred as my eyes looked up at Mr. Thomas almost apologetically, even though I was in no way sorry for interrupting him.
“I’m sorry to bother you, Ms. Wilk, but you have a call on line 1, and I have that paperwork you asked me for earlier.” I heard Lacy’s voice on the other line. Ironically, it wasn’t the same voice she had when she was just by my cubicle. It was chirpier. High pitch even.
“Thank you! I’ll be over later to grab that.” Unfortunately, I let the phone fall back onto the dock and turned to my boss to continue our conversation wherever that would lead.
“I just…” he seemed frustrated now, looking anywhere but at me. “I would highly recommend you come out tonight. Be a team player. You wouldn’t want us to find someone bettersuited for this position, would you? I could think of a few good reasons to fire you that would be legal if I wanted to.” He exhaled, dragging his hand across his balding head, and walked away instantly before I could respond.
