The laws of love, lust, and lies

CHAPTER FOUR

ALICE

When the alarm goes off in the morning , I feel like I have hardly slept at all , anxiety kept me from having more than an hour at a time of sleep , and I took a long time trying to choose the right clothes for my first day of work , so that in the end I decided to wear a black pencil skirt , which goes down to just above my knees , and a white long - sleeved blouse , with a V-neckline , which is not very deep , but shows a little bit of my breasts , without being vulgar.

I have never considered myself thin, my breasts are a little larger than most , and although my waist is not as small as it seems , the fact of having slightly wide hips means that my waist is not completely lost , and although I have never been very good at sports , I try to go to Pilates at least twice a week; so I can't be considered thin , but I don't think I am overweight either , which leaves me in a weird limbo where thin girls consider me fat , and overweight girls consider me thin.

And that causes , of course , that shopping is complete torture for me , because there is not a single garment that I do not have to modify at home afterwards , there is always something that I have to fix to make them fit me , and I never know for sure what size I am , so the few times that I have gone to a clothing store that is not second hand , the salespeople tend to lose patience with me , when they take to me several sizes without any of them fitting right.

I put my hair in a high ponytail to look more professional , and I apply light makeup , just a little eyeliner and mascara on my eyes , concealer to cover the dark circles from my lack of sleep , blush , because my skin is extremely pale and I can't afford to sunbathe , because I burn instead of getting tan , and lipstick in a shade of red , but I blend it with my finger so it doesn't look so intense.

Once I am happy with my appearance , I put on the only black high - heeled shoes that I have , which are slightly peeled at the tips , and one of them has a slightly loose heel , I take the black handbag that I only use for formal occasions , and I leave my room to go to the kitchen where I meet my brother , who is having eggs and bacon for breakfast , so I sit down , pour myself some coffee in my flask , and then cut an apple into pieces to eat on the way.

George gives me a somewhat annoyed look before we get in the car , and then remains silent on the way , something not very usual for him , who always seems to have the need to give me instructions and lecture me about everything; however , he seems deep in his own thoughts as I eat the apple , wondering about my brother's strange attitude.

And when I thought he was not going to say a single word the whole way , he starts talking just when we are a couple of blocks from the office:

" Remember everything we have discussed , and remember what Dad taught us, " he tells me in a serious tone , and I feel the need to roll my eyes at him , but I hold back because I know it would not be a good idea to make him angry right at this moment.

" I know , don't worry , I will do fine, " I reply in the sweetest tone I am capable of.

" Well , I hope so, " he replies before stopping half a block before the office entrance , and I frown , but say nothing but goodbye , before getting out of the car and starting to walk.

As soon as I walk into the office , five minutes before my check - in time , I am surprised to see that my boss as of today has not yet arrived , so Kim , the receptionist , greets me and gives me a quick tour of the huge office , which occupies an entire floor of the building , and then she begins to explain to me , that due to the constant change of assistants , she is the one in charge of replacing those tasks while they hire the next person , so it is she who will give me the instructions of my job.

“ Okay , so the first thing you should know , is that even if Mr. Pemberton is late , like today , you always , always , must be here on time , because one of the things he hates the most is when people are late , he is English after all , usually he arrives before everyone else , except when he has a scheduled appointment , like today when he had to see a client in prison before coming to the office … ” she starts to tell me , and I nod while I take notes on my little notepad.

" You are going to have to manage his schedule and organize all his appointments , you must know absolutely everything , and be aware of where he is every second of the day , every day , because it is likely that you will have to locate him for an emergency , having said that , I hope you have a passport , and if you don't have one , you should get one immediately , because it is also likely that you will have to accompany him on his trips , both within the country and on his international trips ... " she says , and I can't help but get excited a little , because I have never left the country , so I write in big letters in my notes 'GET PASSPORT'.

" Do not talk back to him if he is lecturing about something , do not be late , do not make him miss appointments , do not forget to give him all the messages , do not lose the files that he gives you , do not forget to remind him about his appointments and meetings with at least two hours in advance , if he stays working late , you should stay too , of course , you will be paid overtime , and most of all: don't screw it up , or you will be out of here before you can learn your way to your desk, " she finishes telling me , and I nod as I hurriedly try to take notes so I don't forget anything.

When I look at her , I see that she is watching me with a kind smile , and then she hands me an iPad , which makes me frown.

" We are in 2021 , what did you expect , a leather agenda and a calendar? " she tells me , and I blush with shame , because I really did expect all of it.

" Here are all the applications you need to do your work , which are also on your desktop computer , the most important of which is , of course , the digital calendar , in which you can see detailed information on all appointments and engagements that he has , week by week , this must be updated all the time , and you must be aware of including , eliminating , or editing the information , as situations arise , understand? " She asks me.

" Yes , ma'am, " I reply immediately , and she laughs.

" Please call me Kim , if you call me ma'am I will feel old, " she tells me with an amused tone , and I smile back at her.

“ In a couple of hours one of the tech support guys will come to teach you how to use the iPad and all the other electronic gadgets you will need; for now , I think you should go buy Mr. Pemberton's coffee in the cafeteria on the corner, ” she tells me as she writes the exact order on a piece of paper and gives me the money , which I take along with the slip and leave immediately to buy the coffee.

Once I have the complete order , I go back to the office , and right at the entrance I meet the devil himself , who gives me a stern look , which he drags from my feet up to my head , stopping for a moment in my cleavage , or so it seemed , and then he looks at the coffee in my hands , frowns and says in a cold tone:

" I see that you have already started your work , but today I don't want coffee , I already had breakfast , so you can throw it away or have it yourself, " he tells me as he walks towards the elevator , and I follow him almost running , because I have to adapt my little steps to his big strides.

" Oh , I brought my own coffee , thank you very much Mr. Pemberton, " I reply with a smile , and he raises an eyebrow at me.

" I assure you that this coffee will taste much better than whatever you have brought , but if you don't want it , throw it away , I don't care, " he replies , and I blush a little , because really the smell of Coffee is so delicious that I was seriously thinking of buying one for myself , but it was too expensive.

" Okay , thank you very much, " I reply , and he remains silent.

God , what is his problem?

" I hope Kim has already explained everything about the job to you, " he tells me , and I nod immediately.

“ Well , in half an hour I have a meeting with a client , as soon as he arrives , you should announce him and guide him to my office , once there , you should ask him if he wants something to drink , ask Kim what drink options we have available , and after bringing him his drink , I don't want you to interrupt us until the meeting is over , was that clear? " he says to me , and I nod , but he doesn't seem happy with my answer , so he raises an eyebrow at me again.

" Yes sir , it was clear, " I rush to reply , and he nods.

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Forty minutes later , once Mr. Arrogance is in his meeting and I have already brought the client the drink he asked for , earning me a lewd look from him , who stared at my breasts much longer than normal , and therefore , caused that my dear boss frowned at me , like it is my fault he has disgusting clients.

The tech support guy comes to teach me how to operate the computer , the iPad , and the intercom , he seems young , but after talking to him briefly , I discover that he is my age , and he is quite kind and friendly , besides that he is funny and makes me laugh a few times with his jokes , not to mention that he is very patient while giving me instructions , and even offers to repeat everything to me in case I have misunderstood something.

" Was this function clear to you or would you prefer me to repeat it again? " he asks me with a smile , but before I can answer him , a rather annoyed voice is heard just a few steps from us.

" I think that is enough, " says Mr. Pemberton in a stern tone.

" Yes , of course boss , I just wanted to make sure, " the boy , named Jonathan , says a little scared , and after giving me one last shy smile , he almost runs off.

“ I see you haven't been here a day and you already managed to flirt with my client and the other employees, ” he tells me in a cold tone , and I frown.

" No , of course not , I have not tried to flirt with anyone, " I reply immediately.

" Yeah , well , those clothes you are wearing don't help at all, " he tells me , and I blush as I look down and examine my outfit.

" It is the only thing I had , but as soon as I get my first payment , I will buy myself something more appropriate, " I reply , looking at my fingers.

" Nonsense , take your bag and follow me, " he tells me.

" Where are we going? " I ask him as I basically run after him.

" To buy you appropriate clothes for the office, " he says when I catch up with him in the elevator , then he looks at my shoes and adds: " And some shoes too , I don't want you to twist an ankle in those death traps and then sue me,"

" I would never do that, " I reply , but he simply remains silent , thus ending the conversation.

Oh god , this is so awkward , I never thought I would go shopping with my new boss on the first day of work.