Page 1 of Like a Boss

“Bay, would you please stop fidgeting?”

“I can’t help it,” I gripe, shuffling in my seat and attempting to sit tall. “It’s your fault for making me wear this damn torture device. How the hell am I supposed to breathe in this thing?”

“You’re not.” My best friend, Hannah Glenn, chuckles. “Besides, you look beautiful.” She playfully tugs at a loose brunette curl that has slipped free from my jeweled hairclip.

“I most certainly will not look beautiful when I pass out from lack of oxygen.” I rearrange my position, hoping the movement will liberate my lungs, but it only makes me wheeze like a ninety-year-old, emphysemic old man.

The taxi driver looks at me through the rearview mirror, attempting to hide his smile—good to know I look as ridiculous as I feel.

“This was a bad idea. Please remind me why I’m not running back to the safety of your apartment.”

“Because,” Hannah states, peering into her compact as she adjusts her side chignon. “You need a night out. Not to mention,you need a night out of your sweatpants. It’s been three months, Baylee.” Snapping her compact shut, she holds up three fingers to emphasize her point. “I hate to sound like a broken record, but you need to move on. And by move on, I mean you need to have wild, hot sex with a random stranger,” she concludes, her mouth filter totally nonexistent, just like always.

“You know I’m not into one-night stands, Han,” I affirm with conviction.

“Well, you should be. You’re young, hot, and single. Go out there and grab a tiger by the balls.”

“No, thank you. I’m steering clear of all tigers… and their balls.” I know she’s trying to help, but she’s not.

Sighing, I gaze out the window, bracing my forehead against the cool glass. I would rather get lost in the bright city lights than have to deal with the mess that is my life.

Three months ago, the love of my life broke my heart into a million teeny tiny pieces. I never believed in the cheesy cliché until it actually happened to me. Goes without saying, it destroyed my world.

Scott was my high school sweetheart, and up until three months ago, I believed he was my happily ever after. Turns out Scott’s happily ever after differed from mine dramatically, as his HEA was between the legs of my ex-boss—the soulless succubus.

Sadly for me, I walked in on them in a very compromising position at a work function. At first, I wanted to believe he was just helping her find her shoes. But unless her shoes were wedged in her vagina, then what I saw was indeed the disgusting truth.

I packed up my belongings and left our apartment because no matter how much I loved him, I loved myself more. There was no way I was going to waste my future on someone who didn’t want me. And I most certainly wasn’t going to waste my future on someone who had no qualms screwing my boss.

The first few days, anger fueled my every thought.

“I was better off.”

“I didn’t need him.”

“A leopard doesn’t change its spots,”and so on.

All these affirmations were my driving force to survive. However, when one week passed, and I missed him more than life itself, I realized that surviving this wasn’t going to be as easy as I thought.

Hannah, however, was my voice of reason, reminding me in my moments of weakness that Scott was a lying, cheating asshole. She also reminded me of the fact that Scott had ruined everything I’d worked so hard for. Not only had he ruined my life, but he had also ruined my career, because after seeing my boss’s lady parts, there was no way I could stomach looking at her in the same way ever again.

I really admired Audrey Denis. She was a thirty-five-year-old, smart, successful businesswoman who was attractive, in good shape and reeked of success—success she had worked hard for. She was someone I looked up to—someone I wanted to become. She was married but kept her private life just that. Too bad her private life included screwing my boyfriend.

So I am now not only homeless but jobless, as well. And that’s what has me tugging on the tight bodice of my blue silk gown.

Hannah works at Fox Technologies, and luck was finally on my side when the boss of all bosses, Mr. Dylan Fox, was in the market for a new personal assistant. I’m a NYU business graduate, but we all have to start somewhere. And besides, I was hoping Mr. Fox would see my potential and I could work my way up the corporate ladder.

So I applied online, not expecting anything, but was pleasantly surprised when I got a call back two days later informing me that I was hired. I was ecstatic, hopeful my badluck had finally changed, but Hannah then confessed she had left out the minor detail that my boss was a renowned asshole. To date, he’s had fifteen personal assistants, all of which have quit, unable to deal with his controlling, overbearing ways.

This fact indeed killed my high, but desperate times call for desperate measures. I was sick of using Hannah’s couch as my bed, and my savings was slowly dwindling to nothing but pennies. I had to put on my big girl panties and suck it up because I was desperate to get my life back on track.

“So, who’s going to be here?” I ask, finally snapping out of my funk and turning to look at my best friend.

“Everyone will be,” she replies with a smile.

“Is everyone including my boss?”

Hannah nods, a small frown tugging at her lips. “I do find it strange he hired you without even meeting you. I mean, he is a control freak and all.”

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