Chapter 2 Gossip Girls

Leah's POV

First day came fast.

The offices were exactly what I expected—modern and sleek, filled with a steady buzz of people working.

Nathan's previous PA, Sandra who was leaving for maternity leave, walks me through everything.

His schedules, protocols, filing systems, how he takes his coffee, what he means when he says "look into it" versus "handle it."

I take notes on everything, then she shows me my office.

It's a small, smart space with everything I need: a clean desk, a laptop already set up, a printer tucked neatly into the corner.

Directly across from it are the closed double doors to Nathan Harrington's office, the same place I did my interview, his name engraved on a sleek metal plate.

My cheeks flush at the thought of him. I'd be sitting just five feet away from his office every single day. It almost feels like a dream.

I settle into my chair as soon as Sandra leaves and get to work.

My personal phone buzzes once on the desk beside me. I glance at the screen—a reminder from my loan servicer, the same one that's been sitting in my notifications for three days now. I turn it face down and tell myself I'll figure it out. I always do.

By noon, I'd updated Nathan's meeting calendar for a week, gone through a backlog of emails and arranged a heap of documents on my desk when a knock came at my door.

I turn to see a woman standing in the frame with brown skin and a bright, easy smile. She was holding her phone in one hand, like she'd just been mid-conversation with someone.

"Lunch?" she says. "The group usually goes to the staff dining room. I'm Priya, by the way."

I blink, a little startled. "Leah. And yes. Sure, thank you."

I'd half-expected to eat alone. At my last job, that had simply been the default.

Harrington Group was just as big as Osei Capital, where I last worked, but things were different there. Everyone was older and mostly kept to themselves, especially during lunch breaks.

No one ever invited me to lunch, not once in three years so eventually, I stopped expecting it.

This felt different already.

The dining room was impressive, far more elegant than I expected for a staff space with soft lighting and neatly arranged tables.

A few small groups were already seated when we arrived, and Priya led me straight to a table near the window where two other women were already deep in conversation.

"Everyone," Priya announces, setting her tray down with a small flourish, "this is Leah. She's Nathan's new PA. Be nice to her, she looked slightly terrified when I knocked on her door."

"I did not," I say, which makes all of them burst out a laugh.

Introductions moved quickly around the table. Cassie, who works as the company's receptionist, was very vocal and bubbly.

Amy, PA to Vivienne Caldwell who is Nathan's ex-wife and the company's COO, had a friendliness to her.

And Priya, of course, mentioned later that she worked in Marketing and had been at Harrington Group for ten years now so naturally, she knew everyone's business.

"You're going to love it here," Cassie says, stabbing a piece of roasted chicken with her fork. "Genuinely. The work is good, the benefits are ridiculous, and…" she lowers her voice slightly, as though sharing something sacred, "working directly under Nathan?"

She presses a hand to her chest and takes a slow breath. "I'm not joking when I say half the women in this building put in transfer requests just to be on his floor."

"She's not wrong," Amy says solemnly.

"He's just…" Priya shakes her head.

"Kind," Cassie offers.

"Brilliant," Amy adds.

"Ridiculously attractive," Priya finishes, and the table dissolves into laughter.

I smile politely and focus on my salad. The mention of his name did something annoying to my pulse that I refused to acknowledge.

"Oh, speaking of—" Cassie leans forward, voice dropping. "Has anyone told you? Nathan's son is coming in tomorrow."

That gets the table's attention.

"Marcus from Legal told me," she says. "Apparently he's being brought on for some kind of partnership."

Across from me, Amy lights up like someone had just flipped a switch.

"I've seen him before," she says, completely serious. "At a Harrington event last year." She pauses for effect. "Hotter than Nathan."

That sets off a wave of disbelief, curiosity, and overlapping reactions around the table. When the noise finally settles, Cassie is the first to speak again.

"Hotter than Nathan," she repeats slowly, setting her fork down like she needs both hands free to process this. "Amy. Do you understand what you've just said? Because those are not words you throw around lightly at this table."

"I said what I said." Amy picks up her glass, unbothered.

I hadn't even thought about that. Nathan was a father. Of course he was, the man was in his forties but somehow that detail hadn't registered until right now.

Then again… he did look too good for a man in his forties. That was the honest truth. And if his son was somehow more attractive than he was, then Amy was right to issue it as a warning.

I wondered briefly whether his son looked like him. Or perhaps, he'd taken after his mother entirely, which brought my thoughts sliding, almost against my will, toward Vivienne Caldwell.

I'd read a few things about her online. She'd been married to Nathan years ago, but according to Wikipedia, they'd split over some "unforgivable circumstances."

The articles that mentioned both her and Nathan in the same breath always seemed to note how different they were—him approachable, her anything but. She was coined as the ruthless one of the pair in multiple sites.

Before I can stop myself, curiosity gets the best of me and I turn to the table.

"Vivienne Caldwell," I say, not directing it at anyone in particular. "What's she actually like? I read a few things before applying here and she comes across as…" I search for a diplomatic word. "Strict."

Amy is the one who answers. "She can be," she says, measured. "Harsh, some people would say. But I've been her PA for three years now and you sort of… adjust. You learn what she needs and how she operates, and after a while it stops feeling personal." She pauses. "She's nothing like Nathan in that sense. He's naturally warm with people. Vivienne is…a bit cold."

"Noted," I say.

Cassie smiles at me from across the table. "For what it's worth, you picked a good time to come into Harrington Group. We haven't had a proper shake-up in a while. Things are about to get interesting."

The table nods, a quiet ripple of agreement moving through it.

I smile and glance down at my watch. Lunch was almost over. I tune out the rest of the conversation, finish the last of my water, and push back my chair.

No more distractions after this, not on the first day. I have a ton of work to get back to.