Chapter 3
653 Words
Monday morning smelled like fresh coffee and expensive carpet. Cassie stood in the marble lobby of Cole Architecture Group in a fitted navy dress she’d found at a secondhand store. Jenna had insisted it made her look like “a woman with a plan.”
She was five minutes early. Which, judging by the way the receptionist barely looked up, wasn’t impressive here.
“Take the elevator to 42. HR will meet you.”
On 42, the doors opened to a hum of activity. Sleek desks lined the open floor, each manned by someone who looked like they’d stepped out of an architectural digest. Glass meeting rooms glowed with screens displaying blueprints the size of entire walls.
A woman in her mid-thirties approached, tablet in hand, expression brisk.
“Cassie Hale?”
“Yes.”
“I’m Laurel, HR. Welcome, I’ll show you your desk and run through protocols.
Follow me.”
Cassie’s desk was tucked between two more seasoned assistants. To her left, a blond woman with a severe bun didn’t bother to hide her once over glance.
“New hire?” she asked Laurel.
“Cassie Hale, meet Victoria Gray. She’s Mr. Cole’s senior assistant.”
Victoria smiled without warmth.
“So you’re the junior. You’ll be handling overflow. Filing, scheduling spillover, basic errands. Don’t touch anything marked for me.”
“Got it,” Cassie said evenly.
Laurel left her to it, and within ten minutes Victoria had stacked three folders on her desk.
“These go to Records. Today.”
Cassie had barely started on them when a voice cut through the floor.
“Victoria!”
It was Adrian Cole, standing outside his glass office, phone in one hand.
“Conference room three. Now.”
Victoria shot Cassie a look like don’t screw up in front of him and hurried over.
Two hours later, Cassie was delivering files to Records when she passed the glass wall of Conference Room Three. Adrian was inside, pacing. His voice was low but clipped, the kind of tone that made people hold their breath.
She wasn’t the type to eavesdrop not usually. But the words snagged her attention.
“…not signing until I know exactly who their silent partner is. I don’t care what the projections say. Find me the name.”
A pause. Then,
“Knight Technologies ruined my father’s company. I’m not letting them into mine.”
Cassie’s stomach dropped. She stepped back before he could see her, her mind a blur. He’s talking about Dad. He knows something. He hates Knight Technologies.
Back at her desk, Victoria was waiting.
“Mr. Cole wants you to take this down to the printer on 5. Now. It’s urgent.”
Cassie took the folder and headed for the elevators. On 5, the industrial printer room hummed with machinery.
She was halfway through loading the job when the door slammed open.
A man in a gray maintenance uniform slipped inside, eyes darting.
“You’re new,” he said.
“Yes…?”
He stepped closer.
“Word of advice don’t get too comfortable. Cole burns through assistants faster than cheap toner.”
Before she could respond, he was gone.
When she returned to her desk, Adrian’s voice cut through the floor again.
“Miss Hale. My office.”
Inside, he gestured to the chair opposite his desk.
“How’s your first day?”
“Busy.”
“Good. I don’t hire people to be comfortable.” He leaned back, studying her like she was a problem he intended to solve.
“You listen well?”
“I do.”
“And you keep what you hear to yourself?”
Cassie’s pulse jumped.
“Of course.”
He nodded once.
“Then we’ll get along.”
That night, Cassie found a folded note slipped into her tote bag. No signature, no names, no introductions, just four words, written in block letters
HE KNOWS WHO YOU ARE.
- Writer
