The CEO's Abused Cover Girl

Ch. 2: Crabby

Four and a half years later…

(Erin’s POV)

“So you’ll be used as a filler for a while until you get used to the day-to-day. This will be your cubby. Get settled, and I’ll be back in five to show you around.”

The sunny-dispositioned blond was a breath of fresh air, honestly. I thought I’d be stuck with some old stick-in-the-mud type until I learned the ropes, as it were. But Amanda Blake seems nice. This isn’t exactly my dream job, but it’ll do for now.

I actually think it could be good for me, though. I mean, this is a modeling agency, after all, so maybe I’ll get to see how photographers work.

That’s my passion. Photography.

Though I’m more of an ‘out in the world’ kind of photographer. I’ll sometimes just walk around with my camera and shoot whatever catches my eye. A lot of times, that’s my four-year-old daughter, Katie, who is down in the daycare right now. Which was another great bonus to a job here. In September, she’ll go to preschool. Not looking forward to that.

This is my first job since coming to New York. When my parents passed, they left me enough to live comfortably for the next ten years at least, but I grew restless, and my cousin Ryan suggested this company. O’Dell Modeling. Ryan works in their Philadelphia office. His parents are actually thinking about giving up their house in LA to move out this way to be near us. They miss us, especially Katie.

I left LA before anyone knew I was pregnant. I didn’t want Manny to know he was going to be a father. There was no way in h*ll I was letting him be in my daughter’s life. God only knows what he’d do to her. According to my Aunt Tina, he still comes around from time-to-time looking for me. He’s heard the rumors I had a baby, but he doesn’t know if they’re true or not and my Aunt and Uncle sure aren’t talking.

Sometimes he even threatens that when he finds me he’ll do awful things to me just because they won’t tell him where I am. But they just don’t budge, and it irritates the h*ll out of him. But even still, as a precaution, I am using my mother’s maiden-name for everything. Erin Flannery doesn’t have the same ring to it. But it works.

Thinking back now, I think I knew right from the start, or at least I saw signs. But he was charming and disarming, and I fell for the facade. The night Katie was conceived, I learned my mistake. The hard way.

That night was the worst night of my life. After that, Manny just sort of took over my life, but behind the scenes I was doing what I could to get out of there. Him pushing me down the stairs was my breaking point, though. I'd rather die than stay there just to gather my belongings.

Once I was out, I sold my house. Never even put up a sign, just quietly sold it out from under him. That, of course, sent Manny on the war-path. That’s when he began looking for me. Really looking for me. He was scouring the city looking for anyone who knew where I might have gone. But by then, I’d found myself a small apartment in Montana and that’s where I brought my little angel home too. That's where I began taking courses online.

About six months ago, I decided to move here, to New York.

I’m still taking courses in photography, but working here should look good on a resume. Even if it is only that I’m part of the steno-pool.

“All settled?” Amanda’s voice brought me back into the moment and I smiled as I nodded, “And ready to learn.” I told her with a bright smile as I started to get up.

“Good. Come on, I’ll show you around”. She said as we left my little cubby, and she began the tour, motioning with her hands as we walked past things to indicate where whatever she was talking about was sitting. “Of course, this is the water cooler. Anyone can use it, but they don’t like it if you stand around it for more than a few seconds… The bathrooms are down this hall. Ms. Myers' office is that glass-framed room over there. She’s a crusty old crab so be careful around her. She pinches”. I laughed a little since I wasn’t sure if she was joking or not.

“And this is Cindy. Our receptionist. Her desk is where all our work piles up for us as well. You’ll just come over here, take a few files, and go back to your desk to work on them. Be careful not to talk too much. Crabby won’t like it”. Amanda said, making Cindy laugh.

“One of these days she’s gonna hear you, mom. You’d better watch yourself”. Cindy said playfully. I arched my brow inquisitively as I looked at them. “Mom? As in for real or just a ‘work mom’ sort of thing?”

“No, this sassy biatch is my actual daughter. Don’t you feel sorry for me?” Amanda teased, making Cindy laugh again even as she offered her hand and said, “Don’t pay attention to mom. She likes to joke around. It’s okay now, but as kids it was embarrassing.”

“Oh I see. I guess I’m just shocked that there’s no rule against family members working in the same office”. I said with all honesty. Cindy and Amanda both shrugged, but you’d never know they were related. Amanda had light hair, Cindy had dark. Amanda had brown eyes, Cindy had green. Amanda was porcelain-skinned, Cindy was more dark-skinned, like a deep rich tan. They were like night and day, even personality-wise.

“You should join us for lunch. We eat in the cafeteria most days, breaks in the break room up here. Where the gossip is usually good, and the coffee is usually bad.” We all laughed at that which brought Ms. Myers out of her office with a scowl on her face. “Amanda? Is this how we spend our days now?”

Wow. Amanda wasn’t kidding. She does pinch. She reminds me of my third grade teacher, Mrs. Beckenstall. Mom and she got into a fight once, and they had to take me out of that room and send me to the other third grade class. Which suited me just fine. The old bitty shouldn’t have told my mom I was a ‘demon spawn, incapable of learning’. My mom tore her up. Nobody talked about her daughter that way. Nobody.

“No, of course not Ms. Myers. Sorry. I was just introducing our new girl to everyone. This is Erin, Ms. Myers.” I smiled as I held my hand out for her to shake.

Instead of shaking, she let her eyes meander over me in appraisal. An appraisal that apparently came up lacking because she let out a little snort. “Hmph. Best for you if you learned to keep your pretty little head down and follow the rules before these two corrupt you. Now off with you. Get some work done!”

Ms. Myers went back into her office and closed the door. “Pinch”, Amanda whispered, and I couldn’t help but snicker a little. “See you at lunch, Cin.” Amanda said before dragging me towards the break room. “And this is where all the magic happens. That’s our new coffee pot. There’s always half-n-half in the fridge, but also a variety of single-serve milk cups and a variety of coffee pods for the other machine. Sugar is up there, vending machines are around the little bend here, and every Friday the boss has a tray of donuts brought in for us. Fridays are casual, by the way.”

That was good to know. Not that I’ll ever wear jeans and a tee to work, but it’s still good to know. “The cafeteria sells food, or you can bring your own. There’s no smoking in the building, but some people who do smoke use the fire escape a couple of times a day. If you need any help remembering where things are, just ask anyone. People around here are pretty cool.”

She gave me a minute to absorb everything before saying, “Well, I suppose there’s no time like the present to get you started on the paperwork. Come on. Let's head back out to your cubby.”

I nodded and on our way by, we stopped at Cindy’s desk again and took a few folders off the pile, then headed to my station where Amanda sat with me, teaching me the ins and outs of their system. Before lunch came around, I was inputting on my own. I was so absorbed with what I was doing I didn’t even notice Amanda’s face popping around the opening until she cheerfully asked, “Ready for lunch?”, then I dang near jumped right outta my skin.

“What? Oh. Yeah. I’m ready”. I said, closing the file and getting my things together. “The cafeteria is on the third floor and open to the entire building, so keep your purse on you at all times.”

“I will, thank you.” She just smiled as she began to chatter in a friendly way, “So is there a Mr. Flannery?”

Why is that always the first thing people wanna know? I sighed, “No. I’m single. You?” She just laughed at the question before saying, “Unapologetically single. There hasn’t been a man strong enough to handle the likes of me yet. I highly doubt there ever will be, either”.

I laughed with her, but I could see the sadness in her eyes when she said that. I wanted to ask about Cindy’s father but decided not to pry. Maybe someday when we know each other better, but for today? I’ll just accept what she wishes to share. That’s all.

“Oh there they are! Come on!” Amanda suddenly cried and all but dragged me across the room to a table full of people. “Everyone, this is Erin. She started new today. Erin, this is the gang. There’s Trish, Bobby, Ron, Mark, Betty, and my other daughter, Mindy.”

“It’s nice to meet you all”. I said, though I felt a little bit like a piece of raw meat being tossed to the wolves with the way Mark and Ron were eyeing me up.