Their Submissive Assistant

Where the hell is my coffee?

LEILANI

Jasmine didn’t return home.

I tried calling her, but it rang straight to voicemail. I figured she was quite busy, given she wasn’t able to answer the phone, so I let it be, sending her a text to call in when she was free.

I woke up this morning feeling stronger than ever. Just yesterday, I paid a visit to my mother, informing her of the new job and getting her blessing on it.

Although that visit consisted of me speaking to her still form lying on the hospital bed while I was assured of her living by the beep of the ventilator, it was everything I needed.

We always told each other everything. From the moment my father died and left us in this cold world alone, my mother became everything - family, friend, you name it.

We went through everything together and had the best relationship, while she did her best to cater for my well-being doing menial jobs and raising me to be the independent woman I was today.

Although we didn’t have everything, we were happy, content with the lives we had. Until three years ago, when she was hit by some reckless drivers who didn’t have the decency to stop and take responsibility for their actions.

The car was found empty a few miles afterward, and the case somehow ended up not seeing the light of day, while my mother paid the price by laying right in this hospital room, plugged to a machine that helped her breathe while I prayed for a miracle.

Countless times, people have advised me to let her go. To move on. To let her rest. But I couldn’t. I couldn’t deal with the consequence of letting her go.

I couldn’t deal with being entirely alone in this world. Which was why I was determined to work, to do everything I could to keep her body alive until a miracle happens.

There were cases of people waking up decades after an accident. And if there was a slight chance that I could have my mother back, however slim, I was taking it.

Because I’d take that chance anytime, rather than the reality of my mother being gone. I stared at the mirror as I dressed for my first day of work.

It felt surreal, working in a place that didn’t require me to be in the barest possible outfit. I blinked back the tears that threatened to spill at the thought of how happy my mother would be if she saw me now.

She’d always wanted me to get an education and a well-paying job. A life she didn’t have the luxury of living. This was her dream - our dream.

I took a look at the time, and it was a few minutes past seven. I got my schedule sent to me, which required me to be at the office at exactly eight.

I took my purse and headed out of the house, making sure to lock the place on my way out. There was no harm in arriving early on the first day, as I needed to get familiar with my line of duties.

The journey to work was flawless. I arrived with over twenty minutes to spare, which was not bad in my opinion.

“Miss Roberts!” I heard a voice call to me as I made for the elevator. It was the HR woman.

“Hi!” I greeted, feeling ashamed of myself for not remembering her name.

“Hey.” She smiled. “Mrs. Denmark,” she said, picking on my difficulty. I wore an embarrassed smile, and she was kind to let me off.

“It’s okay. I don’t think I gave you my name anyway,” she said, and we both walked into the elevator. “The boss will be here any second, and for some reason, his former assistant has refused to come in and make things easier for you, so I will have to do it myself.”

Mrs. Denmark typed on her phone for a few seconds before speaking. “I just sent you a list of things you should do as the CEO’s assistant.”

A message dinged into my phone, notifying me of a casually worded email from her. “Those are the things I can list off the top of my head,” she said, and the elevator dinged open.

We walked out of the elevator side by side. “I believe Mr. Lancleste will inform you of anything I might have skipped.”

I looked through my duties, which included getting him coffee in the morning, reading his schedule, organizing meetings, taking minutes of meetings, and other secretarial duties.

It all seemed normal, and I was fairly confident in my ability to deliver. I was a fast learner, after all. Mrs. Denmark led me to her office, where she dropped her bag before leading us to my office.

Mrs. Denmark pushed the door open, and I was introduced to the normal-sized office, which still had the name of the former secretary above the door.

A part of me felt awful at the thought of someone losing their job at my expense, but I didn’t have time to dwell on it, as the state of the office threw me off.

“What in the world?” Mrs. Denmark took the words right out of my mouth. I didn’t blame her.

The entire office looked like a tornado went through it. The tables were upturned, documents littered the floor, books thrown down from the shelves.

Everything was a big, hot mess.

Just when we thought this was the height of things, it got even worse. A little lizard crawled into the office, taking advantage of the open windows.

“This is so not happening,” Mrs. Denmark said, picking up the office phone and calling security.

One look at the time, and it was almost eight. Mrs. Denmark led me out of the office as soon as security arrived at the scene.

“The boss will be here any minute,” she said, leading me down the hallway with fire in her heels. “That is going to take a while for them to sort, so in the meanwhile-”

My steps slowed to a stop upon sighting Landon walk out of the elevator, dressed in a tailor-made suit. His slick, crystal-black hair, which stopped just below his jaw, was a perfect match with his suit.

His shoes were pristine clean, and he generally looked like he stepped out of a fashion magazine. “S-Sir!” Mrs. Denmark greeted, bowing her head and hitting me on the side to do the same.

My eyes fixed on the floor as I muttered my greetings.

Landon didn’t bother to acknowledge our greetings. Instead, he took a look at his watch and then back at me. Nothing prepared me for the cold set of words that were thrown my way.

“Where the hell is my coffee?”