The walls were a deep, rich maroon color with beautiful crown molding throughout. The classically styled chairs were upholstered with a light pinstriped fabric that complimented the décor perfectly. Behind a huge mahogany desk sat a smiling woman with long, blond hair and hazel eyes.
She appeared to be only a few years older than Lexi.
“Good morning. Welcome to Hunter Advertising. Can I help you?” She folded her hands on her desk and smiled politely.
“Good morning, I’m Lexi—er—Alexandra White from downstairs? I was told to come up—”
“Miss White, yes, good morning.” The woman jumped to her feet and came around the desk to shake Lexi’s hand. “I heard you were going to be working up here now. My name’s Leigh. It’s so nice to meet you. Can I get you something to drink? A cup of coffee or a bottle of water?”
“No, no, thank you.” Lexi blushed at the offer, feeling like she should be the one asking Leigh if she wanted coffee. “And please, call me Lexi.”
“Okay, Lexi, let me show you where you’ll be working.” Leigh took her by the elbow and gently directed her down the main hallway. After two quick
rights, Leigh held her arm out indicating that they had reached their destination. “Here we are.”
Lexi found herself at a modest desk with two arm chairs that matched the ones in the lobby sitting in front of it. On top of the desk sat a sleek, black
flatscreen monitor with the Hunter Advertising screen saver swirling. Beside the monitor was a phone that looked like it could possibly launch the space shuttle with all the buttons on the thing. To the right of the desk was a huge wall of framed ads that Lexi presumed were Hunter designs and an ornate office door with a dark brown knob. Taking her purse off her arm, Lexi sat down in one of the armchairs and patiently waited.
Leigh chuckled behind her. “Lexi, what in the world are you doing?”
Blood flooded Lexi’s cheeks. “I was just waiting for someone to come out of that office and tell me what I’m supposed to do up here. Why? Oh gosh, am I not supposed to sit in these chairs?” Lexi flew to her feet and ran away from the chair like it had been covered in tacks.
As Lexi fidgeted nervously beside her, Leigh laughed. “No, I just meant you were sitting on the wrong side of the desk.” Lexi gave her an even more confused look. “It’s your desk.” Leigh spoke very slowly to make sure Lexi understood.
“Get out.” Lexi sighed as she ran her fingers gently over the shiny desktop. She turned to Leigh. “Seriously?”
“Yep. Now, put your bag down so I can finish the tour. The bottom drawer locks; key’s in the top one.” Leigh sat down in one of the armchairs as Lexi tentatively lowered herself into the plush, black leather chair behind the desk.
Lexi locked her purse away and slipped the key deep into the pocket of her dress before following Leigh down the hall to resume the tour. The break room, copy room, and supply room were all pointed out to her in detail, since she would be spending a great deal of time in those areas.
There were also a few introductions to the other assistants as she passed them in the hall, but many were gone since there was a big meeting that had all the executives out of the office for the day. After about half an hour, Leigh returned Lexi to her desk, and again took her place in one of the armchairs as Lexi sat timidly behind her new desk.
“So, what do you think?” Leigh’s eyes twinkled.
“This is all so amazing and overwhelming.” Lexi fidgeted with a pen that was sitting on the desk.
“You’ll do fine. Basically, all you have to do is follow directions, and you seem like a very sharp person, so you should be fine. I hope.” Leigh mumbled the last part under her breath.
“When do I meet my new boss?” Lexi asked, glancing at the office door and wondering who was sitting on the other side.
“Not for about a week. He’s on vacation right now, but he usually checks in daily. I’m sure you’ll have some contact with him tomorrow.” She leaned forward in her seat and spoke in a lower voice. “I should let you in on a few things about him. His family owns the company, and he’s a bit …
difficult.”
“Difficult?” Lexi’s heart raced in her chest. Maybe this was a bad idea. They couldn’t have filled my position downstairs already, could they? “How difficult? Define difficult.”
“You’re the fifth assistant in as many months. How’s that for an explanation?”
Lexi searched Leigh’s eyes for some indication that she was kidding, but found none. Her shoulders hunched over in disappointment and fear.
“That’s pretty clear. Thanks.”
I knew it was too good to be true, Lexi chastised herself for getting her hopes up.
Leigh smiled. “I think you’ll be fine. Just don’t let him get to you. The yelling and grousing is a defense mechanism I think.”
“Yelling?” Lexi squeaked.
“She’s gonna kill me. Never mind, Lexi. Just take some time and get yourself settled. I’ll be back in a few minutes with all the paperwork that I need you to fill out.”
“Okay,” Lexi said as she gnawed on her fingernail, nervously eyeing the office door.
When Leigh left, Lexi threw her back against her chair and let out a huge sigh. What have you gotten yourself into, Lexi? You could have worked downstairs for years. Instead, you get moved to a job that you are destined to be fired from in a month or less.
By the time Leigh returned, Lexi’s head was resting face down on the desktop. “Chin up, you’ll be fine!” She gently swatted Lexi with the stack of papers in her hand. “Grab that pen. I need you to fill these out so I can get you your BlackBerry, corporate credit card, laptop, and flash drives.”
At the word BlackBerry, Lexi’s head snapped up. She found Leigh grinning at her, a shiny onyx colored PDA in her hand. “Get out!”
Laughing, Leigh set it on the desk in front of her with Lexi’s new phone number on a small sticky note. “This is your lifeline. This must be on you twenty-four seven from this day forward, and I encourage you to find a ringtone you like, because that damn thing can ring nonstop on days when we’re getting ready for a big presentation around here.” She slid a stack of forms toward Lexi. The places she needed to sign or fill out were clearly marked with a red X.
“I’ll give you some time to work on these. I’ll be back.”
Once Leigh was out of sight, Lexi picked up her new phone and began flipping it over, examining every button. She was so engrossed that she didn’t even notice that Leigh had returned until a large black case landed on her desk with a thud.