Special Assignment
1369 Words
Aria was powered by coffee, terror, and four hours of sleep by Thursday morning.
Her landlord's warning notice sat on the counter, lost amidst doodles and half-eaten toast. The words "FINAL EVICTION DATE: OCTOBER 30th" stared at her every time she glanced in its direction. She shoved it into a drawer and slammed the door on it.
Out of sight, but never out of mind.
She gathered her hair into a grimy bun, zipped on her best blazer, the one that still smelled of thrift store lavender, and ran out the door. The subway platform was crowded as usual, and every screech of metal against metal startled her. Yesterday's disasters replayed in her mind like a broken record: coffee, stain, his face.
Liam Sterling.
The man oozed money and dominated the way the sun shed light. She had met tough individuals in her life, but he was different and serene in a way that made everyone else sound like background music. Even covered in coffee, he'd looked invincible.
And she was the one who humiliated him.
Great start, Aria, she fumed. Maybe next time you can shove him down a flight of stairs and make it perfect.
By the time she arrived at Sterling Enterprises, her heart was beating fast already. The security guards nodded at her as they allowed her to pass through the glass lobby. She stepped into the elevator. Her heart skipped a beat.
The memory was too vivid: his piercing eyes, his cold tone, the subtle sting of his words.
"Accidents usually happen when people pay attention."
She could still remember it. Still feels the humiliation that had seared her throat that day.
This morning, though, she was not going to lose it. She needed this job. Even if she was going to have to swallow her pride and pretend that yesterday hadn't happened.
When she walked onto the design floor, she saw the rest of the temp crew clustered around the computers. No one bothered to look up. That worked for her. She enjoyed being incognito.
Until someone behind her spoke and forced her to freeze.
"Miss Bennett."
The deep, rich timbre is unmistakable.
Aria whirled, her heart racing.
Liam Sterling was standing in the doorway, suit so fine, unemotional face, the smallest flicker of humor in his eyes. He didn't belong here, not this level. Executives didn't come down to the design floor.
"Mr. Sterling," she stuttered, trying to be normal.
"May I have a word?"
Necks swiveled. Her coworkers promptly became far more engrossed in their screens. Aria followed him down the hallway, her nerves screaming the whole way.
He stopped by the window that overlooked the skyline and faced her.
"I wanted to discuss it. Encounter the other day."
Her throat closed. "Oh. The coffee"
He held up a hand, interrupting her mid-sentence. "Consider it forgotten."
She blinked. "Really?"
A wry smile kissed his lips. "I don't hold grudges for accidents.
Though," he said, eyes glinting, "you might consider getting a lid next time."
Aria breathed in, tension flowing from her shoulders. "Duly noted."
"Good." He remained there for a moment, weighing her face.
"How's your job working out so far?"
"It's… going," she said honestly. "I'm glad for the opportunity."
He nodded his head by a fraction. "You don't sound certain."
"I'm still just trying to understand how things are done around here."
"And how do you think things are done?"
She hesitated. "Efficient. A bit terrifying."
That earned her another almost-smile, that brief glimmer of something human under the mask he wore. "A good description of this place."
They sat for a moment in silence, not exactly uncomfortable, exactly, but heavy.
Then he addressed her, "Miss Bennett, I may have a special assignment for you. Temporary, but. significant."
She had raised her eyebrows. "A special assignment?"
He nodded once. "Your departmental manager will brief you. I expect discretion, and professionalism."
"Of course."
"Good. You'll be reporting directly to me."
Her jaw fell open before she could reseat herself. "Directly to you?"
He gazed sidelong, laughing again. "Is that a problem?
"No, I just, I thought, I mean" She caught herself talking too much and closed her mouth, face flushing. "No, sir. No problem."
"Good."
He turned to go, but paused. "One more thing, Miss Bennett. You said you were thankful for the chance."
"Yes?"
"Make sure you're sincere." His voice softened ever so slightly.
"Chances don't come twice in this town."
And with that, he was gone.
Aria stood there hours after the elevator doors closed, staring at her own face in the glass. Her heart continued to pound, her mind still catching up.
A special assignment. Employed by him.
That could not possibly be good, could it?
She learned the specifics by late afternoon. Her boss, a practical woman named Nora, informed her without so much as looking up from her tablet.
"Mr. Sterling requested a temporary project assistant. You'll be in charge of schedules, presentation layouts, travel plans, basically whatever he needs."
Aria's eyes went wide. "But I'm not, I mean, I'm just"
"Temporary, yes. Apparently, you impressed him." Nora grinned at her, which was not typical. "Don't ask. Just get it done."
Impressed him?
Was he joking? She'd nearly drowned him in coffee and screamed at him. If that was "impressive," she was doing something wrong.
However, as the email came in with his private contact details, her hands trembled a little when she opened it.
From: L.Sterling
Subject: Project Overview
Time: 6:47 PM
Miss Bennett,
My driver will pick you up tomorrow morning at 8:00. Laptop and current design portfolio. Working off-site. Dress professionally.
L.S
She read it twice, trying to make sense of it. Off-site? Dress professionally?
It was more like an interview than a project.
She texted Lila that night:
Aria: I think my boss likes me less now
Lila: Define "less"
Aria: He promoted me. Kind of.
Lila: To what, coffee spill control officer?
Aria: Ha. No, he said I'm reporting directly to him.
Lila: ARIA. THAT's HUGE
Aria: Or terrifying. Probably both.
Lila responded with a string of emojis, switching back and forth between fire and champagne glasses. Aria just sighed. If she hoped, she'd shatter, and she couldn't shatter. Not now.
She needed this job to save the bookstore of her father's bookstore, to save her own life from being in shambles completely.
And if that took working for a man who intimidated half of Manhattan… so be it.
The next morning, at 8:00 on the button, a sleek black car stopped in front of her apartment building. The driver stepped out, mask expressionless.
"Miss Bennett?"
She nodded, clutching her laptop case.
"Mr. Sterling asked me to come and get you and bring you to his residence."
His residence?
She swallowed nervously and slid into the back seat. The car moved through the city like a ghost, silent, silky, too cost-prohibitive to have anything to do with her world.
When they drove down the private drive to the Sterling penthouse building, she gasped.
Glass and steel and perfection loomed over her like a monument.
Inside, the elevator doors led into a space that might have been ripped from the pages of a design magazine: streamlined lines of furniture, floor-to-ceiling windows, and a view that stole her breath.
Liam Sterling stood at the window, pockets in his jeans, eyes far away as he looked out over the skyline.
Miss Bennett," he said without rising. "Right on time, as always."
"Good morning, Mr. Sterling."
He turned then with every sign of composure, his gray eyes scrutinizing her as one would scrutinize a contract.
"Today we're going to handle something that's outside the parameters of your usual work," he said. "But I believe you'll find it. Advantageous to both of us."
She did not enjoy the way he put it.
However, she nodded. "Of course.".
He pointed to the chair across from him, on the other side of the table. "Please. Sit."
She sat, noticing the slightest flicker of a smile upon his mouth, one that did not include his eyes.
Had Aria foreseen what he would propose, she might have run.
But destiny, as it always seemed to do, had other plans.
- Writer
