Page 1 of Sassy Love
Chapter 1
CARLIE
“For fuck’s sake.”
Acid twists in my stomach and anxiety peaks through my veins with every thunderous heartbeat. How the hell did this happen? Same old bullshit, different idiot at the wheel. My hands are creeping through my hair, my stilettos pinching my feet at the wee hour of eight a.m.
Letting my eyes fall shut, I block out my own reflection along with the city view from the foyer outside the corner office I worked years to finally inhabit. The brown eyes staring back at me may be mine, but I can’t bear the penetrating stare of my own stupidity.
Papers shuffle behind me, a tentative throat clearing. “This wasn’t your fault, love. I am sure the board will understand?” Her voice is too high. She doesn’t believe a word she said.
I have known her long enough to know her tells. The slightly elevated pitch of that saccharine statement is a dead giveaway.
Sorry, Millie.
Exhaling, I spin to face her, the heel of my stiletto grinding into the luxury carpet.
Millicent DeLuca hands me my morning coffee, as she’s done for the last seven years, and settles into the one piece of furnitureshe requested in her office that marks the barrier between the rest of the company and my own office. Her late father’s polished chair creaks with her descent, and she closes her eyes, taking the first sip.
I lean against her desk and sip my coffee. The heat scorches my tongue. Caramel latte with oat milk and a dash of cinnamon.
She never forgets.
“How did this simple account turn into such a shitstorm? I mean, how hard is it to attend a press conference and not screw it up! The one time I wasn’t there. Christ, Mills, the board is going to have a field day with this. They were unimpressed I took the week off for personal leave as it was, and then this happens—with one of our biggest clients. I am so done for.”
“You cannot be responsible for the actions of a grown man, my girl. Surely, they will see that?”
I shake my head and return my gaze to the floor-to-ceiling windows that surround both our offices.
If I lose my job, so does Millie.
I pinch the bridge of my nose and try to squash the sick feeling curling its way up my insides. Millie is here because she was living in poverty for years before anyone found out. After her husband passed, her ingrate children sold her house, and she moved to a condo.Notrent controlled.
She lived on food stamps and a government pension to pay the utilities... until that ran out, too. When we met, she was living out of a bus shelter.
At the spritely age of seventy-five, she is one hell of a secretary, taking no slack from those asshole board members. Apparently, public relations remains submissive to finance and every other department who thinks their gender gives them precedence over my agenda and priorities. But Mills hands out reality checks to each one of them daily.
And I love her for it.
The phone rings and we both jump, exchanging a wary look. Millie moves to her desk and picks up the receiver.
“Miss Lamont’s office, Millicent speaking.”
Always so formal, Mills.
“Ah, yes sir, she will be there in a few minutes.”
The phone returns to the cradle with a clunk, and her face tightens.
I run a hand through my hair. “That was Cole, wasn’t it.”
No need to panic.The head of the board summons people on a regular basis, right?I tighten my grip on the cardboard cup in my hands.
“Whatever happens, you stand your ground. If they were so worried about client behavior, they should have sent a replacement to that event for you.”
She’s right. This isn’t all on me.
I down the last of my coffee and duck into my office to grab my tablet and phone. The screen lights up. One hundred and seventy-nine emails.Urgh.I suppress the urge to toss it out the open window I don’t have, instead straightening my navy pencil skirt and checking my red silk blouse in my mirror behind the door before reapplying my lipstick.
