Page 32 of Company Ink

"Mon, something uh—happened last night at Mamba…" I pause. "But please don't freak out, okay? I—um..." I can already hear her scolding me. "Well, the thing is..." I bite my tongue. You know? Maybe she doesn't need to know.

"Cassie...what did you do?" Monique narrows her eyes. I shift my gaze to our area rug, my lips pressing into a thin, regretful line. "Cassie..."

I crane my neck toward my roommate. Damn! "So... turns out that um…Adrian…you know my boss Adrian, tall handsome man?"

"Yes...?"

"Well, I accidentally...um—" I take a deep breath and brace for verbal impact. "Kissed him last night?"

"Cass—"

"Wait, wait, wait! Actually,hekissedme!" I look side to side, clearly losing my mind. "Does…does that help?"

Monique stares at me, without blinking, for what feels like an eternity. I'm not blinking either. Hell, I might not even be breathing.

"He...kissedyou?" Monique finally says. "Like on the lips"

"Where else would he kiss me? My chin? Of course, it was my lips!" If I was talking to Axel right now, I'd make some dirty-ass joke, but I know Monique wasn't implying any sort of innuendo.

"Okay...so—" Monique nods her head slowly, her chestnut brown eyes scanning my uneasy expression. "How was it?"

I blink. "What? You're asking me if Iliked it?" I lean in closer to Monique and examine her tightened features. "Who are you? And what have you done to my best friend?"

Monique rolls her eyes, placing a hand on my forehead and pushing me away while laughing. "Cassie, I'm not your mom. I'm your friend. You already know how I feel about this situation so I'm not going to waste my breath trying to convince you that it's wrong. Instead, I'm going to put on my Axel hat and ask you, once again,how was it?"

"Oh my God, I've broken you!" I leap across the couch and wrap my arms around Monique, completely thrown off by her attitude. "I'm so sorry! Please scold me! I'm ready! I've prepared myself all morning!"

Monique's chest vibrates from laughter. "No, I'm done, Cass! I'm tapping out. It's your life sweetie, do with it as you please."

I pull back and frown at my best friend. "Well, that's the thing. I don't really know what to do. I re-read the HR policy this morning and apparently relationships are allowed but not with your superior, which means...I might get fired."

"Okay, so tell him that you've changed your mind and that you'd like your relationship to remain purely professional."

"For some reason, I don't think that will bode well with Adrian," I mumble to myself, nor do I actually want us to bejustcolleagues. I grunt, throwing my head back. "This is so unfair! Why couldn't I have just met him at a coffee shop? Or a bar? Life would be so much easier!"

Monique shrugs. "Guess you have some thinking to do before tomorrow."

"Fuck!" I exclaim, standing up. "I need to go shopping." I storm to the island and grab my keys off the counter.

"A new shirt isn't going to solve any of your problems!" Monique sings as I head to the front door.

I scowl at her. "No, but a new pair of shoes might!"

I tap my pen nervously against my desk, staring at the closed blinds of Adrian's office. It's 9:30 am and I haven't had a chance to talk with him yet. After countless hours of shoe shopping, I came to the conclusion that with everything going on with Monique, and the fact that in two months I will be without a roommate, I really can't risk being jobless. So, when Adrian finishes with whatever meeting he is in, I'm going to march into his office, close my eyes and say 'I'm sorry but we can't'. Yes, that's right. That's exactly what I'm going to say. I just pray he's not wearing his maroon Hugo Boss suit that hugs all the right places today; otherwise, I might break.

My computer pings from an email notification from Nadine.Emergency meeting in my office. Come straight away. All the color washes from my face. Oh, shit, I've been caught! This is it. My life as I know it is over. Goodbye Bird Scooter. Farewell new Michael Kors strappy sandals. Sayonara my favorite Chanel lip gloss that makes me look like I have lip injections. I sniffle as I re-read the email. Oh... the message was also sent to Kitty and David. Okay, maybe this isn't Adrian related.

This is a sign! I definitely need to end things before they get even more muddled. Message received, chastity gods, loud and clear!

"Let's go!" David says, tossing a rolled-up piece of paper at my head. "Nadine said 'straight away'. Does that mean something else where you're from?"

I roll my eyes and sneer at David. Little brown-nosing dipshit.

I grab my notebook and we hustle down the hallway to Nadine's office, spewing theories of what this meeting could possibly be about. Apparently, Nadine's never asked to meet all the PAs at once before, so we're stumped.

David knocks on the HR manager's door and she sternly tells us to come inside. The three of us are about to take a seat when Nadine clears her throat.

"No need to sit. This will be fast," Nadine states calmly, shifting her gaze between us. "As of today, Nancy Kenning is on personal leave which means Mr. Pearson is without a PA. I need one of you to volunteer to take over Nancy's duties until she returns."

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