IN BED WITH THE BOSS

“Us?” Vivian repeated, and Betty nodded.

“Yeah. Just me and some other staff. There’s Linda, George, and Michael. Come on, I’ll introduce you to everyone.”

“Okay, but what if Mr McCall needs me?”

“Then he’ll call you” Betty replied, “but I doubt he will. He knows you should be having lunch right now.”

Vivian smiled and stood up. “Well, in that case let’s go. I’m starving.”

____________

Vivian had never worked in a place so big before, and she couldn’t help looking around. The cafeteria was big enough to contain the large number of staff members and Vivian followed Betty as she pointed out some places and people.

After they got their lunch, they moved to a table with three people already sitting in it. The lady among them simply stared at her while the young men smiled at Vivian.

“Oh, who’s the newbie?” the lady asked.

“The new assistant I told you about yesterday, duh” Betty replied as she took a seat. “Don’t tell me you have forgotten so early. What the hell do you do with that brain of yours?”

The lady rolled her eyes. “Huh… work” she said.

“Please sit down and don’t mind her.” Betty said to Vivian. After she sat, Betty continued, “Vivian, I’d like you to meet my friends. The talkative here who forgets everything is Linda. This is George, and this is Michael. Everyone, this is Vivian Sanchez.”

“Hello” Vivian smiled and said, “It’s really nice to meet you guys.”

“It’s nice to meet you too,” Michael said and smiled back at her. “Welcome.”

“Thank you.”

He was a handsome man, Vivian thought. His hair was cut really short and he wore a black shirt and pants. He was tall too and looked like someone who joked a lot. The other guy, George, was also good looking and had red hair. He sat next to Betty, and by the way he looked at Betty, Vivian guessed they might be in some sort of relationship, but she didn’t say anything. The other lady, Linda narrowed her eyes as she stared at her.

“So you’re Mr McCall’s new assistant,” she said and curled her lips. “How lucky are you”

Vivian smiled. “Yeah, I guess I am. I’m still surprised that I got hired.” she said.

Betty burst into laughter, much to Vivian’s amazement.

“I don’t understand. What’s funny?” Vivian asked.

“She doesn’t mean lucky the way you think” Betty explained. “She just has a crush on Mr McCall and she thinks anyone who gets to be close to him, even as an assistant, is a lucky person.”

Vivian blinked, not knowing what to do with that information. “Oh” she said.

Linda smacked Betty lightly on her shoulder. “I do not have a crush on him.” she insisted. “I just noticed that he’s a tall, handsome man, with amazing hair and a beard… who is single by the way. I just noticed, that’s all. It’s not my fault that he’s attractive, smells good and doesn’t seem to notice anyone no matter how hard they try.”

Everyone burst into the laughter, and even Vivian couldn’t help but smile. She couldn’t blame Linda because even she had noticed. How could she not? Yes, Scott McCall was a handsome man, but she didn’t have a crush on him and she hoped that it never got to that. It was the last thing she wanted.

“Sounds like a crush to me,” Michael said

“Shut up, Mike,” Linda said. “Anyways, Welcome Vivian. If you need anything, please feel free to ask us”

“You can come ask me first and I will be able to assist you…. With anything” Michael chipped in again and winked at Vivian. Betty pinched his arm.

“Ow. What was that for?” Michael grumbled.

“It’s her first day here” Betty replied, “At least give her some time before you start to hit on her.”

Micheal grinned. “There’s nothing wrong in winking at people, is there?” he directed the question at Vivian.

Vivian gave him a small smile. “I guess not,” she replied.

Michael scowled at Betty. Just that minute, the lady who had been rude to Vivian that morning walked by, carrying a tray with her food in it. Betty hissed.

“That witch,” she murmured.

“Now take it easy there,” George said to her. “You’re fixating”

Betty shook her head. “No I’m not,” she replied. “I’m just… silently hating.”

She turned to Vivian. “Beware of that woman. If you are not careful, she could become your worst nightmare. Always looking for ways to ruin people’s day…”

“I already met her this morning,” Vivian said, “She seemed very upset about something when I spoke to her.”

There was a brief silence for a second, then they all laughed. Betty took Vivian’s hand.

“Trust me, honey,” she said. “No one upset her. That’s Jessi, and she is just used to being a cranky bitch for no reason. I’d advise you to stay away from her.”

Vivian said nothing. She had already made a mental note to stay away from Jessi, but she also didn’t want to make enemies, especially now she was still new.

The rest of their lunch was spent talking about work, some office gossip and some personal stuff were also talked about. Vivian didn’t say much. To her, she didn’t have much to say so she just listened most of the time and spoke when a question was directed at her. Soon it was time to go back to work and Vivian and Betty hurried back to their floor.

When it was finally 5pm and work was over, Vivian was exhausted, but she knew that she still had to go to the cheesecake shop for her evening shift.

She had no idea if she should just leave, or inform Scott that she was leaving. She decided to do the latter…just to make sure that he didn’t need her to do any other thing for him.

His office door was slightly open when she got there, but she knocked anyway.

“Come in,” Scott’s voice came from within and Vivian pushed the door open.

Scott stood behind the massive walnut desk in the center of the room, his suit jacket was discarded and his tie lay in a heap atop stacks of paper. Black chest hair escaped the loosened shirt and Vivian literally had to force herself to look away from it.Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

He looked up at her, large hands gripping the back of the desk chair, but he didn’t say anything. When she didn’t speak either, he raised an eyebrow.