Page 8 of Company Ink

Anti-socialandlikes carpets? Definitely not looking forward to meeting this man.

"Oh, David! You're back!" Kitty stops in front of a desk two over from mine. He must be another PA. "This is Cassie, she's covering for Janet while she's away."

David stands up aggressively and flings out his hand. "David Castleberg, pleased to make your acquaintance."

I stifle a laugh. This dude looks like an army cadet not a personal assistant. He has a military-style buzz cut, round face, and buggy hazel eyes. He kind of reminds me of Matt Damon's character inSaving Private Ryan, except younger and slightly chunkier.

"Nice to meet you, David." I shake his hand. As soon as his fingers wrap around my hand, a jolt of pain shoots up my arm. Holy shit, what a grip. I have to mentally force myself to stay upright and not collapse on the floor in agony. Kitty and David both need a lesson in how to shake a hand. She's like a wet fish and he's like the hand of Thanos.

"I was just about to take a quick coffee break," David says to Kitty, walking around his desk. "You in?"

"Do I ever say no to caffeine?" Kitty lets out a melodic giggle. "Cassie? You wanna join us?"

Seeing as Adrian isn't back yet I guess I have some time to kill. "I'm down, but I don't drink coffee," I state as we make our way down to the staff room. "I'll have tea though."

Kitty and David both look at me as if I just said I drown kittens. "I'm sorry, what?" Kitty asks, completely taken aback as we enter the kitchen.

"I get that reaction a lot," I laugh. "Coffee just makes me super jittery. One time, my friend and I had a venti blonde roast from Starbucks right before a final exam and I swear I almost had a heart attack in the lecture hall. I finished a two-hour long exam in forty minutes, it was crazy. I had anxiety for two full days after."

"Well, that's unfortunate. You're going to need the energy to work Pearson hours." David passes me and Kitty a mug each from the cabinet above the sink. My eyes widen. I'm used to working overtime, but David's weary tone makes me think I'll have to bring a sleeping bag to work with me. Maybe a bit of caffeine won't kill me. I riffle through the tea drawer until I find a jasmine green tea with lemongrass. I dangle it into my mug and fill it up with hot water.

"David, don't freak her out. It's only her first day," Kitty scolds, popping a pod into the high-tech Nespresso machine. "He's joking, it's not that bad. Mr. Cavallero rarely made Janet stay past five o'clock."

"Yeah, I guess that's true," David, muses, stirring some creamer into his steaming cup of coffee. "He's not as bad as Ms. Weston or Mr. Virk."

I squeeze my eyebrows together. "Who?"

"Oh, sorry! Vivian Weston is my boss, and Manpreet Virk is Kitty's. You'll see them around. They're both off-site with Mr. Cav today," David elaborates. "Nancy told me Mr. Pearson is out as well."

I blink. Why does he keep name dropping? I've only been here for two hours! How the hell am I supposed to know who Nancy is? "And Nancy is...?"

Kitty giggles. "Nancy is Mr. Pearson's PA, she doesn't sit with us. She has her own office."

"Her own office? That's cool," I hum. I suppose if you're the Managing Partner's assistant you get special treatment. I wonder where it is...maybe it was that small room just off to the side of Mr. P's office.

Kitty snorts, the gust of air from her nose causes her coffee to ebb and flow. "Yeah, this way she can cry in private and not in front of us."

"Cry? Why would she cry?" I ask. "Is Mr. Pearson a dick or something?" I probably shouldn't have used that adjective to describe my employer. Mental note: do not use the word dick at work.

"Mmm," Kitty hums, unfazed by my language.Okay, light swearing is back on the table. "I wouldn't say he's a dick, he's just very particular. Like a....my way or the highway type of guy."

"Yeah," David chimes in. "Ever since he got bumped up to MP, Mr. Pearson has changed most of our processes. His dad was way more laid back, believe it or not. You'd think a twenty-nine-year-old man would be more relaxed than a sixty-year-old." My mind is trying to retain all the information they're throwing at me.

"The, uh—MP, is only in his twenties?" I ask, trying to stop my eyebrows from shooting up in surprise. My knowledge of the American law industry is purely derived from watching countless hours of Suits and Legally Blonde, but late twenties seems young to be a Managing Partner.

"Yeah, Mr. Pearson Senior had a heart attack six months ago and had to step down, so his son Blake took over. Honestly, everyone thought Mr. Cavallero would get the job seeing as he's the best lawyer at the firm but nepotism and all," David explains with disdain in his voice.

Kitty rolls her eyes and slaps David's shoulder. "You know he can't hear you right? No need to be a brown-noser." Kitty turns to me. "David is obsessed with Mr. Cavallero. It's almost creepy."

David shuffles uncomfortably in his seat. "Can't one man look up to another man without it beingcreepy?" David shakes his head. "I'm not saying Mr. Pearson is incompetent. He's very talented but he's not Mr. Cav."

The way David is talking about my new boss is getting me quite excited to meet him. Attractive and successful? Sign me up.

"Shoot!" Kitty checks her watch. "We should head back. I need to print Mr. Virk some reports before they come back from their meeting."

I quickly add some more hot water to my tea before we exit the kitchen and walk back to our desks.

"So, about Mr. Cavallero—" I bite my tongue, unsure if I should ask my question or not. Kitty seems relatively chill and I'm just dying to know.

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