The Assignment - Marlowe Industries

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After a night of getting slim to none sleep at all, it was time to get up and get ready for the day. It was 9 am, and if I lied in bed any longer, I might have gone insane… When I had woken up from my nap yesterday, Andrew had made dinner for the two of us. I almost cried again when I realized that he had made my favorite dish; Chicken Alfredo. Andrew took great care of me for the rest of the night. He knew exactly how to handle my anxiety-attacks and did it with such ease; his future girlfriend was going to be a lucky girl, just like Grace had been. Grace had never taken a liking towards me. It could be because Andrew chose to spend more of his time with me rather than her. Because of this, I completely understood her. I tried my best to include her in our hangout-sessions, but mostly she refused. 

Before taking a shower, I decided to make myself some coffee to get the day started. While the coffee was brewing, I started looking through some of the drawers in my room to try and locate my journal. It was not easy to find, but after searching for a few minutes, I finally managed to find it, hidden underneath a big stack of nonimportant documents from the day few days of college. I had been journaling ever since I moved to New York, over six years ago. Journaling was my safe space, where I could write down everything that was going on both inside and outside my mind. No one was ever going to read my journals because they were filled with my secrets that no one was ever going to know. Secrets that no one would be able to judge me for… 

‘June 10th, 2020

Yesterday was a mess… I know I promised myself never to change my appearance because of anything or anyone, but yesterday, Davy had made his way so deeply into my mind that I could not help but change my hair completely; I am now blonde. The fact that I could not recognize myself while looking into the mirror made me panic, and I spent the rest of the night having an anxiety attack. Luckily, Andrew was home the entire time, and he kept me from going insane.

…’

I almost forgot about my coffee because I was so focused on writing all my emotions down. But the sound of a door knock caused me to get out of my bubble and back into reality. Who would possibly be knocking on our door at 10 am? I wrapped my robe tightly around my body, then I went over to the front door and looked through the peephole. A deliveryman was standing right outside with a bouquet, so I opened the door and greeted him. “Good morning. Are you Ms. Emery Oakes?” he asked while looking down at his documents. “I am,” I established. The delivery man handed me a piece of paper to sign, then he handed me the bouquet and left. The bouquet was beautiful and filled with all my favorite flowers. To my luck, a card was attached one of the flowers, so I took it off and put the flowers in a vase with some water. Before reading the card, I went back into my room to place the flowers in my windowsill. “Congratulations on the new job, Emery! We’re so proud of you, honey!” the card read. I smiled at the bouquet from my parents and took in their smell. This would be a good day! 

After drinking the rest of my coffee, I went into my bathroom and took a shower. The warm water loosened all my muscles, and it felt good to stand under the water while listening to my favorite music. When I got back out of the shower, I immediately started doing my skincare-routine to get my skin ready for my makeup. Following makeup and hair was clothes. I wanted to try something different today, so I went with a black, elegant jumpsuit along with a white blazer. I usually never wore jumpsuits, but today was an exception, and it felt good to try something new, even though yesterday had gone horribly wrong. I checked myself out in the mirror multiple times to make sure I looked good, but also sophisticated and ready to conquer the world! When I was ready, it was 11.30 am, so I decided to use the remainder of my time packing my bag with my tablet and other necessary things to get me through the lunch-meeting. 

I had not seen Andrew all morning, which meant he had probably left before I even got my day started. He had told me last night that he had an important shoot today, but Andrew never told me when and where, so it had not occurred to me that he had to get up early, and now I felt bad… 

At exactly noon, there was a knock on my door, so I went over and opened. There he was; Quentin Nathaniel Marlowe in all his glory. “Hello, Ms. Oakes,” he charmingly said while smiling. I returned his smile and greeted him back. “Ready to go?” he asked while slightly looking into my apartment. “I am, I just need to grab my bag,” I told him. Quentin nodded, and I grabbed my bag, then we were out the door. “I’m glad you had the time to eat lunch with me today, oh and by the way, I like the new hair, it suits you!” he said while we walked down the 4 flights of stairs to the lobby. “And I am very thankful that you thought I was the right person for the job,” I told him with a smile. Quentin guided me outside, where the most beautiful Mercedes SUV was waiting for us. “I hope you don’t mind me driving, my chauffeur called in sick this morning” he explained, while elegantly opening the door for me and helping me inside. 

We only exchanged a few words on the ride to the restaurant, but nonetheless, the drive was quite comfortable. The entire time, I could not help but admire the way Quentin looked while driving a car; he looked powerful and herculean, not to forget magnificently enchanting. We arrived at a very exclusive restaurant that I had only dreamt of visiting. I bit down on my lip as we made our way into the classy place. Quentin had offered me his arm as we walked inside, so when he led us away from the front of the restaurant and into a back room, I was surprised. The room had only one table standing directly in the middle, nothing else… I was confused as to the weird feeling that was going through my body. This was going to be a lunch, where we were going to discuss the details about my new job, surely, we would also be talking about payment. 

Quentin showed me to my seat and pulled the chair out for me. He was definitely acting like a true gentleman, and if it was not for the countless articles, I had read about him being a player, I would have believed his act. I thanked him, nonetheless, for the kind act and sat down. Immediately as I sat down, I pulled my tablet out of my bag to prepare for the discussion we were about to have, though before I could turn it on, Quentin grabbed it out of my hands and placed it on a nearby chair. “Let’s wait with the questions till after we’ve had lunch” he implored. I gulped but decided to agree with him. A waiter came into the room to take our drink orders. “I’ll have a club soda” I politely told him. Quentin ordered a bottle of white wine and a club soda as well, then shortly after, our drinks and food arrived. “I took the liberty to order for the both of us beforehand,” he explained, which I appreciated; I do not think I could have chosen anything to eat here, it all looked so fancy. 

“Mr. Marlowe, I was wondering, where I will be working. Will I get my own office, or will I be sitting with your assistant?” I asked Quentin after taking a bite of the delicious food. “First of all, please call me Quentin. Mr. Marlowe is my father, and I will never be able to live up to his reputation. Second of all, you will have your own office right beside mine with a door connection us. I think it’s important that you’re always close by. And by doing it this way, we’ll both be able to have privacy, but there is also an opportunity for us to have the door open without getting interrupted by the rest of the office,” he explained. The way he talked so smoothly and with ease made me question his need for a Communicator, but I was not going to tell him that. 

Lunch went by quickly because Quentin was so easy to talk to. We mostly talked about business, but here and there, we also talked about ourselves and our personal lives. Apparently, Quentin knew about my father; they had never talked, but Quentin had been recommended to become a client of my father's. Of course, I could not help myself, and not long after I had set up a meeting between Quentin, my father, and me. 

Quentin wanted me to start the following week, where we would already be going on a business trip to Michigan, where we would be meeting a potential client. From what I understood, Quentin would, if they decided to be our clients, be managing their accounting records and such. I did not know much about it, but Quentin wanted me to come along to persuade the clients into choosing our company as their main financial accountant. “Our job is to understand the client’s needs and to provide personalized financial solutions. Our purpose is to help our customers and small businesses achieve their financial goals” Quentin had so simply put it when I had asked what our job would be. It sounded just like something we would be able to do together; Quentin would take care of all the financial stuff; I would take care of the communication between us and the client.