Chapter 19
STEPHANIE
“Pass.” I pushed the floral print maxi dress in front of me to the side. Sighing, I tightened the towel knotted around my chest and moved on to the next outfit hanging in my closet. “Pass.”
The bohemian skirt I wouldn’t have blinked an eye to wear to the bookstore got shoved to the side too, no longer work-appropriate. I doubted people who worked in buildings as tall as Williams Tower, on that side of town, for men worth more money than I knew how many zeroes to add to the number wore floral or bohemian outfits.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have much in the way of business clothes that would qualify as appropriate to wear to my new job. I’d already been in twice, so my two best “professional looks” were off the table. I didn’t expect either Jeremiah or Neil to remember what a lowly potential secretary was wearing for her interviews, but I would know I wore them last week and I couldn’t do it.
Outside my windows, the city was waking up, and the sounds were shifting from early, lazy, to the usual weekday rush. Blaring horns were becoming more regular, louder. The low beeps of a truck backing up somewhere close by reminded me there were people already working.
I glanced at the clock on my nightstand. It was still early, but I really did need to get a move on. After passing on several more outfits, I grabbed a black dress and decided it would have to do. It was soft from too many washes, but I knew it looked good.
It was long enough and had a high enough neckline to be deemed professionally acceptable. Paired with the right shoes and accessories, I didn’t think anyone would notice I got it for promoting top shelf scotch at an Uptown event one night.
Over the last year, Tiana and I had been trying to make extra money to be able to afford a girls’ spa weekend. We picked up every after-hours gig we could, including promotional stuff for a company that let us keep the dresses afterward.
The dress fit me well, I decided once I completed a couple of turns in the mirror. Settling for wearing it, I found a pair of red heels and shoved those in my purse, to be swapped out for the plain black pumps I wore now once I got to work.
I added a couple of bracelets and a long silver chain around my neck, then nodded at my reflection. It wasn’t going to get any better than that until I could afford some new stuff.
Proud of myself for managing to make something work, I headed for the kitchen to brew a cup of coffee. If I didn’t have at least a few hits of caffeine before I left, I would be a zombie when I got there.
Tiana was still fast asleep, as I would’ve been if my new boss hadn’t decided to be an early riser. I had pulled myself out of bed by five thirty so I could make it to the office on time looking semi-decent.
I enjoyed the quiet, breathing in the fresh smell of the coffee as it brewed and absently staring out of our kitchen window at the other early-birds already out on the sidewalk. It was warm in the kitchen, the early morning sunlight warm and bright.
Startled when the coffee brewed, I jumped slightly and got out a cup and a thermos to transfer the coffee to later. A quick look at my watch told me I had just about enough time to gulp down a few sips before I had to leave.
When I was done, I transferred the rest of my coffee to the thermos, but then I left it behind. I knew my luck. If I took it with me, I would end up spilling it all over myself on the way there. Arriving late—again—or with coffee stains on my dress would look incredibly unprofessional.
I gave the thermos a last, yearning glance on my way out the door, then turned my focus to my commute to my new office. This time, I was determined to arrive at Williams Tower with heels and clothes intact.
I avoided stepping on any cracks, being crashed into by messengers and joined my fellow city dwellers in a busy but uneventful commute to work. The smell of street vendors making breakfast made me realize I had no nourishment to sustain me for the morning, but I was going to have to live without food. I was too nervous to eat.
Surely I had enough reserves for my body to feed off of until lunchtime. See, that was why I kept the extra pounds on. I smiled to myself. I knew they would come in handy sometime.
The coffee shops and trucks were harder to ignore than the food—until I remembered how awful things ended for me the last time I thought there was enough time for me to grab a coffee on the way to this particular building.
I arrived at Williams Towers in the midst of a swarm of other employees, all of whom had key cards to swipe themselves into the imposing building. I entered using the same revolving doors I used for my interviews and then waited for a security guard to clear me for the executive floors.
Thankfully, I’d left myself plenty of time for this process, and I was still ten minutes early by the time I stepped off the elevator on the fortieth floor. I smoothed my dress when the digital ding announced my arrival at my destination, prepared to face yet another snooty receptionist before being allowed back into the inner-sanctum where I knew Jeremiah’s office was.
To my surprise, it wasn’t a snooty receptionist waiting for me when I turned the corner. It was Jeremiah Williams himself.
“Wonders never cease,” I muttered to myself under my breath, pausing to take a deep breath before I went to him.
He hadn’t seen me yet, standing with his back to the hallway while looking out of a huge window off the reception area. His feet were planted apart, his hands in his pockets. I could see the material of his jacket stretch in the hollow between his broad shoulders.
His posture was open, confident, relaxed. A king in his castle surveying his kingdom. Which I suppose in a way, he was.
Well, not King yet. But certainly, a prince. Not even a prince, but the prince now. The Williams family was as close to royalty as it got in this city.
When he turned around, the corners of his lips were pulled up into a slight smile. For just a fraction of a second, he almost looked mischievous. Like the twenty-something he was. Then it was gone as he started striding toward me, extending his hand. Arrogant billionaire firmly back in place.
Still, I couldn’t help but notice how hot he was. It really was unfair that he could look like that, be worth an obscene amount of money and be my boss.
Some people had all the luck. Of course, I was pretty damn lucky myself. Having landed this job when I did.