Chapter Three
1198 Words
Nahla
The elevator rides up to the twelfth floor as I try to adjust my hair clip. I look like someone who's about to get fired on sight and my fingers are clutching the strap of my bag so tightly they are completely numb.
I am so dead it's not even funny.
The memory of Friday night keeps replaying in my head like I can't shut it off. The freezing rain, the towering, terrifying 6'5" frame of Evan Vendel. The absolute audacity of me running out into a storm to shove a five-dollar, neon-pink umbrella into his face. And most of all, that icy, steel-grey gaze looking down at me like I am a bug he is deciding whether or not to crush beneath his bespoke leather shoes.
"Ughhhhh" I groan slapping my forehead in anger, why, just WHYYY did I have to be so stupid?
The elevator chimes, the doors sliding open to the bustling, hyper-sterile chaos of the logistics department.
The normal Monday morning noise hits me instantly, phones ringing, printers whirring, and assistants rushing around with stacks of invoices. I force my feet to move, walking down the aisle toward my cubicle like I'm trying not to trigger a tripwire.
"Hey, Nahla! Did you see the corporate broadcast?"
I violently flinch, dropping my bag onto my desk as Maya, my fellow data assistant from the adjacent cubicle, pops her head over the partition. She is holding a massive cup of iced coffee and staring at me with wide, gossip-hungry eyes.
My heart instantly drops into my throat. Oh God, He reported to me, the security footage is leaked, I'm a meme.
"W-what broadcast?" I stammer, my voice dangerously thin as I frantically log into my desktop computer, my hands shaking so badly I mistype my password twice.
"The Larks Holdings merger!" Maya gushes, completely oblivious to the internal cardiac arrest I am currently experiencing. "They signed it at midnight on Friday! Mr. Vendel handled the entire restructuring personally. There are pictures of him on the internal homepage looking like a literal dark lord. Honestly, how can a human being be that attractive and that terrifying at the same time? If he ever looked at me, I think I'd just dissolve into a puddle."
"Yeah," I whisper, a hollow, humorless laugh escaping my lips. "Dissolving is... definitely an option."
Try having him look at you like you shouldn't even exist near him, I think miserably, finally getting into my system.
The moment my inbox loads, I hold my breath, bracing myself for the termination email. I scan the subject lines, Invoices, System updates, Overtime approval, nothing from HR, nothing from the executive suite.
I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding andI sink back into my squeaky office chair, rubbing my temples, maybe he forgot.
A man who controls a multi-billion-dollar global empire doesn't have the mental space to remember a low-level assistant who stepped too close to him in the dark.
To him, I'm just a mistake he won't even remember.
My desk phone suddenly lets out a sharp, deafening ring.
I jump out of my seat, My knee hits the desk hard. "Ow!" I hiss, rubbing my kneecap as I stare at the flashing red light on the console. The caller ID isn't an internal extension, it's a direct outside line from the building's administrative hub, with a trembling hand, I lift the receiver to my ear. "Logistics department, Nahla Givenshi speaking."
"Nahla, it's Clara's primary nurse from the oncology ward."
The corporate panic vanishes instantly, replaced by a cold, cold dread hits me immediately.
I grip the phone until my knuckles turn white, completely forgetting about Evan Vendel, my job, and my impending termination.
"Nurse Sarah? What's wrong? Is my mom okay?" I ask, my voice dropping into an urgent, breathless whisper as I turn my back to Maya's cubicle.
"Your mother is stable, Nahla, please take a breath," the nurse says quickly, though her tone holds that that tone people use when bad news is coming. "But we have a major issue with the administrative clearance. The hospital's billing department just flagged her file. The authorization for her next cycle of targeted chemotherapy has been denied by the insurance provider due to the outstanding balance from last month."
My chest tightens so hard it hurts to breathe. "What? No, that's impossible. I filled out the financial hardship paperwork. I told them I would have the partial payment by Friday."
"I know, honey, and I tried to fight them on it," Nurse Sarah says softly, her voice full of genuine pity. "But the pharmacy cannot release the medication without a credit clearance or a direct deposit. It's nine thousand owed already… and twelve more for the next cycle. If we don't get the payment secured by Wednesday morning, we have to postpone her treatment."
"No, you can't postpone it," I say, my voice cracking as a tear slips down my cheek. I quickly wipe it away with the back of my hand, staring blankly at the spreadsheets on my monitor. "If she misses this cycle, the tumor... the doctor said the regression will reverse. Please, Sarah, just give me until the end of the week. I'll find a way, I'll get a loan."
"You've already taken out two personal loans, Nahla. Your debt-to-income ratio is capped," Sarah reminds me gently, her words cutting through my desperation like a cold knife. "Unless you can find twenty-one thousand dollars in the next forty-eight hours, my hands are tied. I am so sorry."
The line goes dead.
I slowly lower the receiver back onto the cradle, my mind going completely blank. Twenty-one thousand dollars, in two days.
I could sell everything I own, work twenty-four hours a day, and I wouldn't even make a fraction of that amount. I look at the small framed picture of my mom and Chloe sitting next to my keyboard.
Chloe's high school tuition is due next month too. I bury my face in my hands, the sheer, crushing weight of reality pressing down on me until I feel like I'm suffocating. I'm out of options. I don't know what to do anymore.
"Nahla?"
I snap my head up, quickly blinking away the moisture in my eyes as our department manager, Mr. Harrison, stops right in front of my cubicle. He isn't looking at his tablet like he usually does. He is looking directly at me, his expression a bizarre mix of absolute shock and deep, unsettling respect.
"Yes, Mr. Harrison?" I clear my throat, trying to sound professional.
"Pack up your things," he says, his voice unusually quiet.
My heart stops, this is it, the shoe is finally dropping. "Sir? Am I... am I being fired?"
"Fired?" Harrison lets out a nervous, high-pitched laugh, adjusting his tie. "No, Givenshi, far from it. I just received a direct order from the penthouse suite. The CEO's private secretary is on her way down right now."
I freeze.
The air in the cubicle suddenly feels ten times heavier. "The... CEO?"
"Yes," Harrison nods, looking at me like I've suddenly grown a second head. "Evan Vendel wants to see you, now."
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