Chapter 4 DID YOU MISS ME?

DID YOU MISS ME?

ATHENA’S POV

“Are you seriously going to work right now, Athena?”

I tried my best to ignore Miranda’s badgering as I got ready to resume my duties at Meridian. She had been going off about how ridiculous I was being not agreeing to meet my father’s terms and how silly it was for an heiress to be working as assistant to a low-level VP at a consumer goods company.

“Let me ask you something, Athena. Why are you going to work?”

“Uh, to not get fired? I heard they were restructuring because of the new CEO and people are panicking right now cause of the rumors of people being fired. My boss maybe a low-level VP but working for her still gets me a paycheck that I’ll need if I want to make my share of the rent this month.”

“Exactly! You’re working to make rent. But you don’t have to cause a house in Beverly Hills or even Bel Air is waiting for you if you go for one stupid dinner this weekend.”

“I also have to become COO and eventually CEO.” I grabbed my jacket off the rack in my bedroom and put it on.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing. Right now, your boss Karen is a real tool and you work way more than you get paid to do. with RID, you don’t have to take nonsense from anybody. You’ll be your own boss. Your own boss that owns a private jet and a yacht and would no longer have to be mindful of the little crumbs of cornflakes that fall off your bowl while pouring it in every morning. And breakfast can be something delicious and healthy, not scraped and hidden and heated to an unnatural degree to kill off microbes that may have appeared due to it passing its expiration date.”

“Bye Miranda.” I grabbed my bag and hurried out of the house before she could start on our bathroom situation.

It may seem like I was being ridiculous not accepting the offer, but it was more than that. If my father thought that he could get over five years of ghosting me and treating me like an outcast by offering me stuff, then he had it all wrong. If he really wanted me to be his heiress, he wouldn’t have just sat back all those years ago when my step-sister and her viper of a mother cooked all of that scandal up to kick me out.

The office was worse than I expected it to be when I arrived. People were scampering about, phone lines were going off and some were even crying in a corner. I knew the new CEO was going to go about restructuring and cleaning up the mess of Sebastian, but I didn’t think it’d be this intense.

I picked up the pace. I wasn’t exactly late, but given the circumstances I wasn’t early either and Karen was going to have my neck for making her deal with all this stress of getting a new boss all on her own.

I got to the executive assistants’ office where all the assistants to the low level VPs and Directors stayed and before I could even drop my bag, I was accosted by Ellen and Lydia, EAs to the VP of Regional Sales. I don’t know why Charles Whitmore had two EAs but he did and they were my closest friends at the office.

“We saw the news last night,” Ellen said, her blue eyes shinning brightly. “Is it true? Are you really Richard Rosswell’s daughter and did you get married in Vegas?”

My heart started beating uncontrollably. I had completely forgotten that the people at work were part of the general population that also had social media access and read the news available online. I stared blankly at Lydia and Ellen who both had eager looks.

“What?” I tried to brush it off as casually as I could. “Of course not.” Their faces fell.

“But it was on the news. Richard Rosswell’s daughter, Athena Rosswell, got married to her childhood friend in Vegas over the weekend. Didn’t you say you were engaged?” I cursed silently at that. I had told them the moment Patrick popped the question. Though they weren’t invited to the engagement party due to Patrick insisting on making it family only—which I was eternally grateful for—they did still think I was engaged and it made sense that they thought I had married as well.

“How could an heiress be working for a witch like Karen?” Lydia asked in disbelief.

“Exactly. If I was truly an heiress, would I be working in this place as a maid to Karen Monty? I’m Athena Ross, not Rosswell. You guys can’t even get that right.” I was so glad that I had decided to change my last name a little bit when I started working here. It wasn’t exactly lying if all I did was crop out the ‘well’ at the end of my last name.

Ellen still looked doubtful. “But the girl in the photo looked like you though.”

“Ellen, I was sick on Friday, remember?” I was ‘sick’ because I called in sick after my horrible breakup. I couldn’t bear to come to work the next day so I took a day off which didn’t stop Miranda from dragging me all the way to Sin City with her on Friday. Karen was pissed about it, talking about how I made myself sick on purpose just to make her suffer, but I couldn’t be bothered with her tantrums then. “Could I really have had the strength to go all the way to Vegas just to get married? Besides, Patrick isn’t my childhood friend. We met last year at that New Year’s party I told you about.”

This seemed to have convinced them and I sighed in relief.

It was too late to rush over to Karen’s office now. Whether I took my time or I ran like The Flash, she was going to yell at me. Better to just take my time in getting my punishment.

“Oh my God!” We all turned to see Sabrina, the only one among us EAs whose boss was a high-level VP but had to stay in the EAs office due to unknown reasons, running towards us with a frantic look on her face. “I’ve been looking every where for you, Athena. I have bad news for you.”

My stomach knotted. Sabrina wasn’t the type of person to exaggerate when she said she had bad news. Ellen’s idea of bad news was that the fifth-floor janitor and the cafeteria lady were not dating as she thought. Sabrina’s bad news was always what she claimed it to be.

“What? What is it?”

“Karen got booted.” I wanted to celebrate at this news. Karen getting fired was good news if I’ve ever heard any, and I was about to say that to Sabrina, but the anxious look on her face told me that wasn’t all.

“You weren’t here on Friday so you wouldn’t know this, but a memo was posted about the removal of some executives and VPs and that the fate of their assistants rested on whether those VPs would stay or go. A list of all the staff on the Executive Support Team who got to stay was pinned early this morning.” She paused, maybe for dramatic effect, and then said, “Your name is not on that list Athena.”

It was as if I had just been involved in a nasty crash and I was slowly being pulled from the wreckage. Every nerve in my body was on fire and my brain was indecisive about whether to shut down or put in extra work.

Thoughts, many of them, flooded my mind instantly but I couldn’t focus on just one.

I wasn’t going to make rent. It’s not like Jonas and Mirand would kick me out or anything, but between Jonas’s job as a part time bar tender and Miranda’s reckless spending habits, we would not last if I was suddenly jobless. This couldn’t be happening. Not right now. Not when I just spent my savings on an engagement party that blew up in my face and I haven’t been able to recover it yet.

“W-what?” I stuttered. I pushed past Ellen and Lydia and Sabrina without waiting for a response from the latter and I rushed over to where a bunch of people were gathered by the e-bulletin. Where the list that decided that my fate was.

No matter how many times I looked through that list, I couldn’t find my name anywhere.

I was shaking all over.

First, it was my horrible breakup with Patrick, then it was going to Vegas and getting married to my best friend. A scandal broke out which I’m certain was causing much more problems for my father than I thought which would explain his sudden interest in me returning home. And now this. This joblessness that was now my portion. After working for Meridian Consumer Brands for almost four years now, this is how I get ousted. Of course, it doesn’t compare to working for them for ten years and getting booted. Heck, I heard that the former CEO was even family to the owner but he got kicked out. Compared to them, a four-year employee was nothing.

“Athena!” Ellen and Lydia had made their way towards me now. They were looking sad and worried and I didn’t want them to feel even worse so I put on a fake smile.

“You know, for a really long time I’ve been thinking about quitting. Karen was a real bitch and I hated working for her and I couldn’t properly enjoy my relationship because of all the work she made me do for her. I’ll just consider this a much needed vacation.”

“This is not fair,” Ellen whined. “You worked your ass off for that woman and now you’re being kicked out just because you were associated with her. It’s not like you chose to be her assistant. You don’t deserve this.”

I didn’t have a chance to say anything else as Maureen, the head of HR came to where we were all gathered.

“There’ll be a meeting with the new CEO in thirty minutes so every one of you should get ready.” Murmurs started then and soon the whole place was buzzing with anxiety.

“A meeting with the demon boss,” I said. “I guess that’s not my problem now.”

“Athena!” Maureen called. “What are you still doing here?”

I knew I didn’t have that many friends in HR and I just got fired, but it was a little rude of her to be on my neck about getting out ASAP.

“I just found out about my dismissal, forgive me for not already having my things up in a box and out the front door.” Her face contorted into that of a confused person.

“What? What are you talking about? Didn’t Greg tell you?”

Okay, now I was confused.

“Tell me what?”

Maureen said a word that HR of all people shouldn’t say and then motioned to me to follow her.

“If I was as evil as people said I was, I’d have Greg screened and dismissed for not doing his duties properly.” She tapped her ID badge on a card reader and the elevator dinged open. Numbers 1-39 lit up. In all my years of working here, I’ve only ever had numbers 1-25 light up the moment I use my employee ID card.

“Where are we going?” I asked as we got passed the thirtieth floor. I’ve never been this high up before. My designation has always been on the twenty-fifth floor and nothing more. It was almost sacrilegious for an ordinary employee like myself to even think of going past the twenty-fifth floor.

“Karen Monty was fired this morning and so you are no longer needed as her EA. All the other EA positions have been filled except for one.” The door opened and I stepped gingerly into the carpeted hallway of the thirty-ninth floor. It was awfully quiet here, none of that panic and disorderliness going on on the other floors here. Every step I took could not be heard due to the thick, soft carpet underneath my feet.

“The former CEO’s assistant was also fired when he got kicked out so now our new CEO needs a new EA. I recommended you.”

I froze. It took Maureen only a few steps to realize I wasn’t beside her.

“You did what?”

“Why do you look like I just told you I’m going to execute you?”

“I’m working for the new CEO?” I asked in disbelief. While finding out that I wasn’t being fired was amazing news, finding out that I was working for the new CEO, the man who came in here and stirred up such a storm in such a short amount of time was somehow worse than being jobless.

“What are you waiting for? Get moving.”

I followed quietly behind her, my anxiety reaching a new high. You’d think working for Karen would have hardened my spine and made me immune to ruthless bosses.

“He’s been waiting for you for a while, Athena,” she said as we stopped in front of a large oak door. The way she sounded made a lump form in my throat. “Good luck.”

While she left, I turned the door slowly and stepped in.

It wasn’t an office, but instead a board room. I was wondering why the CEO’s office would be on the thirty-ninth floor when the fortieth floor was very well still available. I guess he wanted to meet me here first before allowing me access to his domain.

“Good morning, sir,” I said to his back that was facing the wall-length glass window. I had to admit, even though I was shaking in my heels, the view from up here was amazing. I could understand why executives preferred offices on higher floors.

“You’re late.” I was thrown off by his accent. I opened my mouth to make an excuse but no words came out. I had a feeling excuses would not be tolerated by him.

“Then again, I’m not surprised. You’ve never really been early for important events.”

I suddenly felt really pissed.

Who was he to judge me like that? Based on what grounds was he concluding that I’ve never been early to an appointment before?

The words I wanted to speak died in my throat the moment he turned around. I felt then that the universe was playing some kind of cruel prank on me. Why else would he of all people be standing there when I was going through this most difficult time in my life?

He cocked his head to the side, his stupid dazzling grin on his face with his dimple visible. I was sure I looked like someone who had seen a ghost with the way I ogled him. He found that amusing and started approaching me slowly.

“Cat got your tongue, Athena? I must say, this is the first time I’m witnessing you so lost for words. You’re usually chatty which frankly used to be very annoying.”

Kill me. Kill me now. The ground should just open up and swallow me whole.

It was only after he stopped right in front of me that I was able to produce words.

“D-Duke?”

His grin widened and his eyes twinkled devilishly. I knew instantly that he was not smiling because he was pleased to see me, but rather because he was very angry and the look indicated his desire to make my life a living hell.

“Hello, dear ex. Did you miss me?”