The Assistant(59)

It’s the push up bra, I mentally answered him, and a shorter and tighter pencil skirt, not to mention the extra and very unnecessary makeup my best friend made me wear today.

“Allen, stop it,” Lisa said, frowning slightly at her older brother. “It’s rude, and you know what Adria-”

“OKAY EMILY! I think your order is ready. Here you go!” Allen said in a sudden cheerful tone as he shot a warning look in Lisa’s direction. His sister backed down immediately.

“Yep! Definitely done!” Lisa exclaimed, her voice coming off higher-pitched than usual. “Oh! Would you look at the time! You better be going! You’ll be late!”

I looked suspiciously at one sibling, then the other, as I handed over the money. “What’s going on that I don’t know about…?” I asked as they both handed me the coffee cups.

“What? Nothing!” Lisa squeaked, before her face began to transform into the colour of a tomato.

“It’s nothing,” Allen claimed, giving Lisa another warning look before turning a smile on for me. “So, if I recall correctly, you still owe me a dinner.” He changed the subject with a smirk, reminding me of someone.

“I don’t owe you anything,” I said wryly, offering him a small smile. “I’ll think about having lunch with you sometime.” I did not believe their earlier claims about nothing going on, but I had no time to dwell on it. I said my goodbyes and rapidly made my way over to Kingston Corp.

Once I stepped off the elevator, Suzie instantly greeted me with her motherly hug. “You look absolutely incredible!” she said. The warm smile on her face instantly brightened my mood. “How was the trip, honey?”

I smiled back at her as we began walking down to Adrian – and my – office. “Thank you. It was very nice,” I told her, “California has lovely weather.”

Her smile widened. “And Adrian’s beach house? I’ve never actually been there, but from the photo I once saw on his father’s desktop background, it looks incredible.”

I nodded. “It was very nice. Maybe we can manage to convince him to let you and Richard stay there for one weekend.” I winked, causing her to laugh and blush at my statement, before she pushed the office door open for me. I placed my cup on my desk before walking over to Adrian’s and placing his coffee on the polished marble surface.


“Is there anything important on today?” I asked as I dug into my bag and pulled out my notebook to jot down any crucial information. “Did I miss much from Saturday and yesterday?”

Suzie frowned in thought for a moment, the movement making her fragile skin wrinkle at the base of her eyebrows, before replying. “Yes, there’s a conference call this Friday with the head office of New Zealand again. They’ve put the ideas you brought up into the advertisement and need to confirm everything with Adrian.” She paused and waited for me to finish writing the sentence before continuing. “Also, Mr. Harrison said he agrees on the deal that Mr. Kingston offered, and Mr. Walter said his offer to accept still stands, as long as Mr. Kingston meets the requirements he laid out. I don’t understand the last one, but make sure Mr. Kingston is informed anyway.” She smiled, and I went rigid from David Walter’s name being mentioned.

“David Walter?” I asked in small voice, looking over at her in fear.

“Yes… Emily, dear. Are you oka-” Suzie’s concerned tone was cut off by a gruff clearing of the throat. Both our eyes snapped towards the doorway, where Adrian stood, and my throat instantly dried up.

“Good morning, Mr. Kingston,” Suzie said, breaking the silence. “I hope you had a pleasant weekend.” She gave him the warm smile that had worked like magic on me, but Adrian’s pissed off expression didn’t change. He frowned.

“It was fine,” he snapped as his eyes briefly flickered in my direction. With some satisfaction, I noticed he did a slight double take before he covered it up by looking back at Suzie. “You may leave now, Mrs. Brown,” he ordered, walking past us both to sit at his desk.

Suzie gave me questioning look, and I shrugged slightly to show that I didn’t know what was wrong with him – even though a small hunch sat at the bottom of my stomach. She left the office, and I replayed Amy’s advice in my head before I turned to Adrian.

“Good morning, Mr. Kingston,” I greeted him, trying to keep my voice neutral. “Mr. Harrison has accepted the deal you offered him, and Mr. Walter has said that his offer still stands if you meet his requirements. Is there anything you’d like me to do for you, sir?” I kept my stance strictly professional, just as Amy advised.

Adrian didn’t look up from his phone, and I mentally cursed my best friend for making me wear all this makeup and uncomfortable clothing.

“Cancel all my morning appointments,” he ordered in a cold tone, reaching out to take a sip from his coffee.

As the words left his mouth, an unfamiliar poisonous feeling delved its way into my bloodstream, fueling my heart into suddenly thumping against my chest more rapidly. I instantly trained my eyes to my heels to hide my expression. The last time Adrian told me to cancel his morning schedule, there was a whole parade of women lining up at his door to get their daily dose of him, and for some reason, it now bothered me. A lot.

“Of course,” I said, trying to cover the slight shake in my voice. “Anything else?”