Eleven
1807 Words
▪︎ Smarty Pants ▪︎
Alana Ford.
The second wife of Harvey Ford.
She looks elegant in a white chiffon top and high-waisted ripped jeans paired with expensive green stilettos. With her hands crossed against her chest, she stands beside the glass wall, her back facing me.
Everything about her screams class and elegance.
She flips her wild blonde hair and turns to face me. She looks younger than I thought. Probably in her late twenties. Her beauty is so striking. No wonder Harvey left his first wife for her. With a sharply pointed nose and a perfectly symmetrical face, anyone would be quick to term her 'plastic'. But it wouldn't come as a surprise that she went under the knife.
She saunters towards me and sits on top of the glass desk, crossing her legs.
"Ruby Rey, is it?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Call me Alana," she points out sharply. "I have been informed that you are the new secretary. Is that correct?"
"I am."
"Good." A brief pause. "Well, I also started as a secretary you know... Harvey met me in some stupid event and it was lust at first sight. He begged me to be his secretary. And now look at me, his second wife."
"Congratulations."
"I should be the one congratulating you, Ruby." A fake smile. "Getting a secretarial job at Ford Firm without having any significant papers... you must be a lucky girl!" Her tone is laced heavily with sarcasm.
Tense silence permeates the room as Alana scans me from head to toe.
"But I know women like you. I have been that woman before. I know you want more. That's why your red lipstick commands attention once you step into a room. That's why your make-up is popping making you look like some perfect s*x doll. That's why your wild dark hair is tumbling down your back. It's all intentional. You are intentional."
She walks in a circle, interrogating every inch of my skin. She stands behind me and whispers in my ear.
"You want to be me!" She hisses. "I know you want to be me. You want to go from secretary to wife magically in a snap of a finger! But let me tell you, doll. Many cheap sluts have tried that bullshit and I made sure they ended up jobless and homeless. Trust me, you don't want to taste the misery of being jobless and homeless!"
I force a smile.
"I'm here to work, Alana. Not to steal your husband."
She suppresses a smile.
"Sounds like we are on the same page."
The glass door swings open.
Harvey Ford scampers in, a briefcase in his hand. I'm surprised to see him in simple jeans and a beige sweater. With that casual outfit, you wouldn't pass him for the CEO of this multi-million dollar business company.
His face immediately lights up when he sees me, a grin tugging on his lips.
"I was afraid you would turn down the job offer. Happy to have you onboard!"
"Thank you, sir."
"Everyone calls me Harvey around here. 'Sir' makes me sound too old," he laughs. "I'm still a boy, don't you think?"
Alana takes a grey trenchcoat sitting on the swivel chair and hangs it on Harvey's shoulders. She kisses him lightly on the lips, playing with his beard.
Resting her hands on his chest, she says,
"We should get going, honey."
A smile of discomfort plays on his lips.
"I assume you have already met my wife, Alana. Alana meet Ruby."
"We just met." She's quick to say. "You sure have great taste in secretaries, baby."
"And horrible taste in wives," he scoffs.
As if that's a joke, Alana bursts into a loud laugh. How is that funny? I stare blankly as the couple laughs at that "joke". Maybe it's an inside joke between them.
"I should show you to your desk." He states, pulling on the trench coat. "Follow me."
Alana's plastic smile is hard to miss as she waves. "Goodbye, Ruby."
Sounds like "Good Riddance" to me.
It's a little uncomfortable when Harvey places his hand around my waist as we walk to my desk. I pretend to drop my purse to get off his grip. My desk is just outside his enormous glass office.
A young pregnant woman is sitting on the wooden desk, smiling so broadly. She stands up to greet us. I'm startled just how big her bump is, considering she's still working. So big it fills up the huge floral dress she's wearing under that black coat.
"Ruby meet Kristen," Harvey grins at her. "Kristen meet Ruby."
After shaking hands, Kristen falls back to the seat, looking exhausted.
"Kristen, you should show Ruby around. Make sure she knows how everything works around here. Just like we had discussed earlier..."
"Noted."
He digs his hands into the pockets of his jeans after a glance at his watch.
"Ladies, I have to get going. Have yourselves a splendid evening."
The minute Harvey leaves with his wife, Kristen grabs the trashcan under her desk and throws up. I watch as she vomits non-stop, concern building up.
"Can I help?"
She scoffs and glares at me.
"Yeah, sure! Can we take turns throwing up? That would be really helpful."
Is she a b***h in real life or is it the pregnancy?
She slides the trashcan under the desk again and struggles to stand up from the seat. When I try to help her, she pushes me away angrily.
"I'm pregnant! Not sick!"
Okay, she's a b***h.
She heaves a sigh of relief when she manages to stand on her two feet. She takes off her wedges and puts on a pair of flats. Her feet are so swollen up they look like they are going to burst any minute from now.
She scowls at me.
"What are you staring at?"
"Your feet."
"Are you saying my feet are fat?"
"Ummm... you just said that yourself, Kristen."
"You are talking back at me? You have been assigned to me. That technically makes me your boss. That technically means I can get you fired in a flip of my hair."
She flips her brown curly hair.
"Kristen, I'm not here to fight. I'm here to work. With all due respect, let me do that."
"Smarty Pants," she says scornfully. "You must think you are so smart... let's see how long your smart ass stays here..."
She scans me from head to toe and snickers.
"Sit on the desk."
The moment I take a seat, she dumps a pile of files on top of the desk. She assigns me a load of work without giving me any direction on how to get it done.
She plasters a smile.
"That's all for today."
She grabs a huge handbag sitting on top of the desk and stomps away.
"Stop staring at my fat ass!"
God! Does she have eyes on her back too? How did she see me staring at her swinging ass?
She looks at me over her shoulder, a sly grin drawing on her face.
"Nice to meet you, Smarty Pants."
"Ruby."
"Nice name, Smarty Pants."
|| || || || ||
I pull up in the parking lot a few minutes past midnight.
I lie on the steering wheel, sighing in exhaustion.
That was a long day!
I dash to the kitchen where I get a rude reminder of Erik when I open the fridge. The pancakes that he made are still sitting there. I get pissed thinking of him and toss them in the bin.
I grab a bottle of wine in the pantry and gulp down a whole glass. I pour myself another glass of wine and plonk on the couch.
I dial Alex's number.
Strangely, he picks on the second ring.
His voice is a croak.
"You didn't have to wake me up, dude."
"Since when do you sleep this early? You've always been a night owl..."
"I've been feeling like s**t the whole day," he groans. "Guess I'm tired because of school and everything going on..."
"You're such a lazy chicken." I tease. "I did a presentation infront of my class. Submitted multiple assignments to my stupid lecturer. Missed a class to check up on my best friend. And still, reported to work for the first day. Met my boss's insecure wife. Met some pregnant grumpy lady who dumped all the work on me! That's what I call tired."
He sneezes.
"Fine. You are the most tired, breathing being. Take the trophy."
We share a couple of laughs before we delve right into a much more serious topic.
"You have to figure out a way to access Harvey's secret files and passwords. Now that you are working for him, that will be a little easier." He says.
I sigh.
"I thought so too but the building is crowded with surveillance cameras. Cctv cameras are fixed in every corner. I have to figure out a way to do that without raising any suspicion..."
His yawn is so loud I can hear it on my end.
"Bro, that's my queue to go back to sleep. Don't forget to take your meds before bed. Okay, princess?"
"Do you want to hang up on me?"
"Even on the brink of death, don't call me," he warns. "I will plan your funeral in the morning. Just not tonight."
"Are you seriously sleeping this early?"
"I need my beauty sleep." He chuckles before hanging up.
He's a f*****g asshole.
A f*****g asshole that I can't live without.
|| || || || ||
Miles is still being dramatic about the flu.
He also missed school today.
That means I have to sit in the cafeteria alone and watch other people laugh with their group of friends. I munch on the creamy muffins and sip my hot coffee as I chat with Alex on text.
"Can I sit with you?"
A girl with a sweet voice asks as she stands in front of me. She doesn't even wait for me to respond before she falls on the seat directly opposite from me.
Her face is familiar.
She hangs out with Erik most of the time. She's the only girl in the band I guess. She's a short, petite girl with pink cropped hair. A pair of deep dark eyes and pierced long nose sits on her small oval face. She's too cute to miss.
She winks at me, scooping some chocolate ice cream.
"Reed here."
"Ruby."
"Ruby Rey. Of course, I know you."
She takes a deep breath, looking a little nervous and restless.
"There is something I need to tell you," she pauses. "But first, I need you to promise that you won't throw coffee in my face."
"Why would I do that?"
"I slashed the tyres of your car!"
|| || || || ||
- Writer
