Chapter 3: Chapter 2

LILLIAN

Miss Coleman’s voice was a hiss, her words sharp as she slammed her fist on the table.

“How dare you!”

Lillian did her best to keep her cool, even as her boss continued to rant. She didn’t regret her actions, not one bit, and she had anticipated this reaction.

Still, it was a pain in the ass to endure her boss’s tirade. But she wouldn’t let it show. She put on her best poker face and listened without so much as a blink.

“Undermine my authority… Email Asher Ryder! About… about…”

“About my vacation, yes,” Lillian finally interjected.

Miss Coleman had been going on for a good fifteen minutes. She’d made her point, and Lillian didn’t feel the need to add anything else.

“The nerve!”

“If you had been more accommodating, I wouldn’t have had to go over your head,” Lillian retorted. “At least now the issue is settled.”

“Settled! Do you realize the implications of your actions? How you’ve made me look?”

~Like a control freak~, Lillian thought, but she bit her tongue and responded with something entirely different.

“Miss Coleman, it wasn’t my intention to undermine you or make you look bad. If you had read my email to Mr. Ryder, you would know that. I was simply asserting my rights. You know as well as I do that I have the right to choose when I take my vacation.”

“As long as it fits into the schedule,” the woman spat back. “And it didn’t. So you should have accepted that.”

Lillian couldn’t help but snicker. The only reason Miss Coleman didn’t want to grant her leave was that she wanted someone to do all the grunt work.

Plus, she didn’t want to appear less competent in front of their partners by showing up without an assistant, even if said assistant looked like she’d walked off a Tim Burton movie set.

“I’m sorry, Miss Coleman, but I don’t regret reaching out to Mr. Ryder, and I won’t apologize for it. If I had just accepted your decision, I wouldn’t see my family at all this summer. With the solution Mr. Ryder provided, we both get what we want. I get to see my family, and you’ll have me present at all the important meetings.”

“All the meetings are important, Miss Astaire,” Miss Coleman retorted. “And to accommodate your request, I had to completely rearrange the schedule.”

“You only had to make two adjustments. Nothing major changed, and our clients didn’t complain.”

Lillian decided it was best not to mention that she was the one who had made the changes after contacting the clients, not Miss Coleman. But her efforts went unappreciated.

“Your audacity is astounding. I was reprimanded by the CEO because of you. I was questioned and doubted because you made your vacation a big deal.”

“It is a big deal to me. And as I said before, if you had been more willing to find a solution—which wasn’t difficult at all—I wouldn’t have had to involve the CEO. So, it’s not really my problem that he confronted you about it.”

“You should be fired,” Miss Coleman growled.

“Go ahead and fire me then, and see who will keep your notes while you’re busy trying to charm the investors,” Lillian shot back.

Miss Coleman turned a deep shade of purple, and for a moment, Lillian worried she might have a stroke. But what was said was said, and she couldn’t take it back.

That was the story of her life. She was used to it and had learned not to care too much about it.

“If it was up to me, you would already be fired,” she retorted. “I don’t know what Noah was thinking when he hired you. You should have never been allowed in the building in the first place.”

“But I am here now, and I’m good at what I do, so with all due respect, back off,” Lillian scoffed.

With that, she stormed out, but not before hearing Miss Coleman call her a freak.

She wasn’t bothered. She was used to it. Besides, her previous boss had called her that too. Only, he didn’t do it behind her back. He was as straightforward as she was, and twice as blunt.

It was something she oddly appreciated. Noah Ryder was a stickler for rules, but she respected that. She still remembered her first day at the company.

Miss Coleman had warned her that she might not even make it past the front door, given her unconventional appearance. But she had, because her name was on the interview list, and they couldn’t just throw her out.

The security guard, however, looked like he would have loved to do just that, judging by the way he glared at her. She managed to resist the urge to stick her tongue out at him, choosing instead to walk in with as much dignity as she could muster.

Internally, she felt a wave of relief wash over her. She had been certain they wouldn’t let her through. The stares and sneers that followed her as she walked past only confirmed her fears.

She felt like an outsider, like she didn’t belong.

The reason she was hired was out of spite, she realized. Her predecessor had been given extra duties, then fired and forced to interview her own replacements. It was a cruel twist of fate, but she was ready to give as good as she got.

“You’ll serve him just right,” her predecessor had said, her voice dripping with malice.

Lillian could only stare at her in shock.

The woman didn’t even bother to ask the standard interview questions. Lillian had no idea what she meant by her statement, but she decided she didn’t care enough to ask.

What mattered was that she had a job. How long it would last, she had no idea.

The next day, she showed up at her new boss’s office, having done everything she was supposed to do—sign her contract, get her badge, and set up her computer. He didn’t even look at her at first.

She stood there awkwardly while he completely ignored her. She didn’t make a sound to announce her presence. She wanted to see his reaction when he finally noticed her.

She was right to wait. She had already discovered the impact her appearance had on people.

When he finally looked up and saw her, he nearly fell out of his chair. His eyes bulged out of his head, cartoon-like. It was a priceless reaction, and she would have laughed if she hadn’t needed the job so badly.

“Hello, Mr. Ryder,” she greeted him politely.

“Who the hell let you in?” he barked.

He clearly wasn’t the chivalrous type, but she kept her cool.

“Security. I’m your new secretary. My name is…”

“I didn’t hire a freak like you,” he interrupted.

“No, but your former personal assistant did,” she informed him. “She said that I would serve you right. Not that I know what she meant by that.”

He muttered a curse under his breath before turning his attention back to her.

“Why do you women have to be so bitchy?” he snickered.

She shrugged, deciding to try one more time to introduce herself.

“I’m Lil…”

“I don’t c…”

“Lillian Astaire,” she said, raising her voice to drown out his.

He looked at her in surprise, clearly not used to being interrupted. Then his expression hardened.

“Well, Lillian Astaire, you’re fired,” he said flatly.

“You haven’t even let me work yet,” she retorted.

“I don’t have to.”

“Give me a chance,” she pleaded. “I already have my access card and passwords.”

“You’ll hand them back before you get the hell out.”

“Why?” she asked, refusing to back down.

“Why? Have you seen yourself?” he sneered.

“Of course!” she retorted. “How do you think I applied my makeup?”

“Do you honestly think you can pass off as my secretary?”

“Why not?”

“Are you serious? How will I present you to clients?”

She opened her mouth to respond, but he held up his hand to silence her.

“That was a rhetorical question, Miss whatever your name is. As I said, you’re fired.”

“Mr. Ryder…”

“Do I need to call security, Miss…”

“Astaire,” she said through gritted teeth. “And no. I won’t beg. I’m leaving. You just lost an excellent assistant because you’re a judgmental and superficial prick.”

Ever since she got the boot, she felt no need to bite her tongue. She’d said her piece, spun on her heel, and walked out, holding back her tears until she was safely out of the building—not giving a damn if her mascara ran.

It had all seemed too good to be true. By the time she got home, she was determined to start job hunting immediately, spending most of the night sending out resumes.

She shot off about ten emails, crossing her fingers that something would turn up soon—she was almost desperate for the cash.

The next morning, her phone’s ringtone served as her wake-up call instead of her usual alarm. She picked it up, mumbling something incoherent, too groggy to function properly—not even bothering to open her eyes. It’s not like the person on the other end could see her anyway.

“Miss Astaire?” a male voice asked. “This is Noah Ryder.”

“What the hell do you want?” she grumbled. “You fired me yesterday.”

“I did. But my current assistant, who was supposed to train her replacement, decided that since she found someone new for the job, she didn’t have to show up for work anymore.”

“She ditched you?” She chuckled, feeling the sleepiness fade as she blinked her eyes open.

The woman’s words from the day before echoed in her mind. Served him right.

“In a nutshell, yes.”

“You know, you really shouldn’t sleep with your assistant,” she blurted out before she could stop herself.

“I’m aware.” He sighed heavily. “But that’s not a concern with you.”

“Of course it’s not, because you fired me.”

“I want you back.”

“When my ex said the same thing, I gave him the finger,” she retorted, sitting up against her pillow.

He chuckled, quickly trying to disguise it with a fake cough. At least the guy had a sense of humor, even if he tried to hide it.

“I need an assistant, Miss Astaire,” he said, his tone serious.

“You called me a freak.”

“Because you are. But she left a mess behind, and if you can clean it up, the job’s yours.”

“Even with the way I look?”

“I’m in a tight spot right now and…”

“So you’re saying I’m blackmailing you?” she asked, a smug smile on her face.

“Can you be here in an hour?” he demanded.

“Do you even know where I live?”

“Yes.”

“I’m not driving,” she informed him.

“You always have to make things difficult, don’t you?” he huffed. “I’m sending my driver. Be ready in twenty minutes—he’ll be there.”

“With the traffic at this hour?”

“Be ready in twenty or you’ll be fired again—and he’ll be out of a job too.”

“You’re such an asshole,” she muttered under her breath.

“I heard that.”

“I know.”

“That’s the last time I’ll let it slide.”

“You’re the one who needs me.”

“Until I find someone better to replace you.”

Even though he’d agreed to hire her despite her unconventional appearance, he made plenty of rude comments about it. He was the kind to insult her to her face, and she always had a snappy comeback ready.

They’d established a sort of routine. Needless to say, he never tried to replace her, and he never fired her again.

She couldn’t figure out why he’d decided to keep her on, but maybe it was because he was planning to leave.

Now she was stuck dealing with the sour Miss Coleman. Noah was mostly a jerk, but he was fun to be around.

She briefly wondered where he was. Her thoughts quickly turned to her plans for summer vacation.

The thought of going home for the summer lifted her spirits, and it was the only thing that made Miss Coleman’s constant orders bearable for the rest of the day.