Chapter 4 - Personal Assistant
1104 Words
It had been days since the elevator incident. Days since I tried not to overthink every glance, every time he passed my desk, every time his door opened and closed without a word.
I kept my head down. Answered emails. Organized files. Brought coffee to Anna. Filed things on time. Smiled when spoken to. I was fine.
By the end of the week, I was exhausted, not from work, but from pretending I was okay. These past few days, Jared became too much.
I was just about to buy instant noodles for dinner last night when I saw Jared leaning against his motorbike near the parking lot.
Just waiting.
I sighed and walked toward him.
“Why are you here?” I asked, trying not to sound tired.
“You didn’t reply all day,” he said, eyes narrowing. “Too busy now, huh?”
“I was working, Jared.”
“Right. Big office. Fancy building. No time for the people who actually mattered.”
I frowned. “That’s not fair.”
He stepped forward. “No? What’s not fair, Atasha? That I’ve been here through everything and now you’re acting like you don’t even know me?”
I crossed my arms. “I’m not acting like that.”
“You are,” he snapped. “You think just because you landed a job at Emerson Global, you’re suddenly above me?”
I blinked. “What? That’s not even—”
“Oh come on,” he scoffed. “You walk around in that office blouse like you’ve made it. Talking proper. Tucking your hair all neat. Fixing your tone like you’re scared to sound ‘cheap’ or something.”
“That’s ridiculous—”
He stepped closer. “Maybe you forgot, Atasha. I was with you during your worst. When your mom was in the hospital. When you couldn’t even pay rent. I was there. Me. Not them. Not your boss. Not those people who look at you like you’re nothing.”
“I haven’t forgotten anything,” I said, trying to keep my voice calm.
“You act like it,” he said coldly. “You act like you’re too good to talk to me now. Like I embarrass you.”
“I never said that.”
“You didn’t have to say it,” he said bitterly. “I see it in your face. Every time I ask you how work is, you just change the topic. Like I don’t belong in your world anymore.”
“Because you don’t ask… B-Because you became too toxic to me!” I said, voice shaking a little. “You accuse. You assume. And then you get mad when I pull away.”
His mouth tightened. “So now it’s my fault?”
“I didn’t say that. But I’m tired, Jared. Every time we talk, it turns into this.”
He looked at me for a long second, jaw tense, breathing hard.
Then he laughed under his breath.
“Wow,” he muttered. “You’ve really changed.”
I stayed silent.
“You know what?” he added. “Go ahead. Chase that shiny career. Be someone’s secretary or assistant or whatever you think makes you important. Maybe your boss can f**k you so you could get into higher position! Just don’t come crying back when they drop you the moment you stop being useful.”
I took a shaky breath. “Is that really how little you think of me?”
“No,” he said. “That’s how little they think of people like us. You just haven’t seen it yet.”
I turned toward the store. “I’ll message you when I’m ready to talk properly. Right now… I’m not.”
He didn’t stop me this time. Didn’t call after me. Didn’t apologize.
I walked away, heart pounding. Not because of the fight.
But because I was finally starting to see the truth.
And I didn’t like it. That I now, I really wanted to break up with him.
I hadn’t replied to Jared’s messages in days.
Not because I was trying to be cruel. I just... didn’t know what to say anymore. Every time I typed something, it felt like I was explaining myself for the hundredth time — to someone who didn’t want to listen in the first place.
So I left the messages unread.
Work was the only thing I could control right now. So I kept my head down. I stayed late. I double-checked reports, memorized Mr. Emerson’s preferences from the way he liked his schedules arranged to how he hated long email chains.
Anna even noticed.
“You’ve been really focused lately,” she said as we were wrapping up a batch of documents.
I smiled faintly. “Just trying to keep busy.”
“Boyfriend problems?"
I shook my head. " Just a bad day…”
“Mmm…" She didn’t ask more.
But I could feel it, the weight of everything. It clung to my shoulders even when I forced a smile. It followed me into the elevator, into the pantry, and especially when I saw Maximus Emerson in passing.
He didn’t say much. He rarely did.
But… he watched.
It’s been like that in the next days. I worked and I saw him watching me. I don't want to assume also. It’s more of like he's trying to check if I did a good job with my work.
And maybe…because I'm too focused with my work, now that I am looking at my desktop, I had so many questions in my mind.
“Wait… what?”
SUBJECT: Executive Reassignment — Atasha Valerio
BODY: Effective tomorrow, Miss Valerio will be transferred to the executive office floor as the personal assistant to Mr. Maximus S. Emerson. This was approved by the CEO directly. Please direct all future correspondence through her updated internal extension.
I stared at the screen for a full ten seconds. I blinked once. Twice.
“What the hell…” I whispered under my breath.
Anna cleared her throat gently. “So… yeah. I got the notice, too.”
I turned to her. “This… isn’t a mistake?”
She gave me a look. “Do you think HR makes mistakes like that when the CEO himself signs it?”
Right? Right.
Of course.
“He personally requested it?” I said, still confused. “Why?”
Anna shrugged. “He didn’t tell me. Or HR. But hey, it’s not a demotion. Just… unexpected.”
Unexpected was an understatement.
I felt like my lungs weren’t working properly.
Did I do something wrong?
- Writer
