The Assistant(26)

I pressed my lips into a straight line before pursing them and glaring up at him. “I understand, Mr. Kingston,” I said as evenly as I could, trying to mask my fury.

He smirked. “Good. Now tie my tie so we can go set up the meeting room for the billboard ad.”

He bended his knees until his face was level with mine, and the satisfied smirk never left his lips as my hand reached out and tied the tie around his neck. I pulled it a bit tighter than what was suitable to show my anger. He just chuckled and pecked my nose before grabbing his coffee and the files he had placed on his desk before walking out of his office, expecting me to follow.

Chapter Six

The rest of the week had gone by at an agonizingly slow pace – even while I was running around like a mad woman who had just lost one of her cats due to Adrian’s constant indecisive behaviour towards the project we were working on. Suzie had given me sympathetic looks most of the time, and even offered to pick up some of the slack I had piled on my plate; but I declined, not wanting to overwork her either.

Adrian had also decided that it was a completely appropriate time to let his army of Barbie dolls saunter into his office to do god knows what, leaving me to take all of his crucial calls and basically managing and overseeing the final outcomes for the billboard design. There was hardly any interaction between us after the small argument we had on Monday morning.

By the time my work ended on Friday, I was relieved and eager to get home. I just wanted to change into my pajamas and watch the newest episode of The Vampire Diaries. I decided to skip Allen’s dinner offer for the time being – only because this episode would explain to me the whole idea behind Stefan being Silus’ doppelganger – but offered to reschedule it with him on another day. I collected all the paperwork I needed to take home with me and headed to the elevator. I pressed the button to go down, but Suzie called out my name before the lovely ‘ding’ signaling my escape could sound.

“Mr. Kingston was just asking about you, dear,” she said as she walked up to me. She too, had a bag slung over her left shoulder and her blackberry in her hand, apparently ready to leave. “He wants to see you in his office.”

“You’re kidding,” I sighed. I slumped my shoulders and pouted.

She laughed, waving goodbye as I made my way down the hall towards Adrian’s office. I tried balancing the thick piles of paper in the fold of my arm as my bag slipped off my shoulder once I reached out to knock on the door. I heard Adrian’s muffled ‘come in’ before I straightened myself out and opened the door.

“You wanted to see me?” I asked, unable to keep a slightly impatient tone from coming out.

A corner of Adrian’s lip curled up at the sight of my awkward stance. “We have to work on my planner,” he stated simply.

I gave him an incredulous look before I straightened up in frustration. “Seriously? You were serious about that? Come on,” I whined, “it’s Friday night. Don’t you have a girl to sleep with or a party to go to? You’re Adrian Kingston!”


“Did you have any plans, Ms. Johnson?” he asked, raising an eyebrow as if to challenge me.

“As a matter of fact, I do.” I put emphasis on the ‘do,’ showing that I wasn’t planning on cancelling them anytime soon. Well, sitting on my couch in my pajamas while eating Chinese takeout and watching a television program wasn’t exactly what most 24-year-olds considered to be a plan, but it most definitely was to me.

“With who?” he asked, his expression darkening.

I hesitated before answering. “Just a few friends,” I stated calmly. Okay, so maybe Elena Gilbert and Damon Salvatore weren’t exactly my friends, but I was hoping the lie would convince him to let me go because he’d feel guilty about making me cancel my ‘plans.’

“I can guarantee you that I will have your planner fully prepared by Saturday night and delivered to your doorstep Sunday morning, Mr. Kingston,” I added, hoping it’d help the circumstance.

“With who?” he repeated, and this time, it didn’t sound like a friendly question.

I gave him an uneasy glance before slumping in defeat. “Fine. You know I’m lying to you. Please, it’s really important that I watch this though! I’ve been waiting for it since March! It’s been way too long! I promise I’ll finish your planner by tomorrow night, to the best standard! But if I don’t go-”

“What the hell are you going on about?” he asked, his dark expression suddenly becoming confused as he witnessed my groveling. “Don’t you have a date tonight with Allen that I told you you’re not allowed to attend?”

I stopped groveling and turned confused myself. “What? I’m talking about going home to watch the season premiere of The Vampire Diaries!”

“Alone?” he asked, giving me a cautious look.

“Um… yes?”

Adrian studied my expression for a long moment, as if looking for any evidence that I was lying. Apparently satisfied with whatever it was he found on my face, he leaned back into his chair and smiled at me, wryly.

“If that’s the case,” his cheeky grin grew wider as he spoke, “you’re not needed anymore. Have a good weekend, and I expect you to be at my doorstep on Sunday morning with my planner.”

“Are you serious?” I asked him in disbelief, all confusion gone now. “You were keeping me here with you, just so I didn’t hang out with anybody? Wait a minute – you thought the dinner with Allen was on tonight, that’s why you called me in, isn’t it?!”