Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 79963 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79963 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
Chapter 1
Lillian
“Idon’t understand why he won’t just pop the damn question,” Maggie complained in a frustrated voice. “I mean, I’m not fussy. I don’t need anything fancy. Hell, he could ask me to marry him on a freaking bus and I’d happily say yes.”
Maggie and I have been friends forever, okay, not forever, but since we met in third grade so I knew her well enough to know that assertion was an outright lie. She’d be totally horrified if her boyfriend actually proposed to her on a bus. I almost laughed at that impossible image popping into my mind, but I made a great effort not to.
Maggie’s pain was real.
I covered her beautifully manicured hand with mine. “He’s probably just taking his time. Aren’t you the one who is always complaining about him rushing into decisions?”
It was the wrong thing to say. Her features became pinched. “Rushing into decisions? We’ve known each other for seven years!”
“Maybe he has a plan,” I soothed. “Maybe… he just wants it to be perfect. Why not relax and enjoy the ride?”
“Easy for you to say,” she grumbled.
“If you feel that strongly, why don’t you propose to him?”
“I can’t do that. I’ll look desperate.”
“You are desperate,” I pointed out.
“I’m not,” she denied vehemently, then spoiled it by draining half her cocktail in a single gulp.
I sighed. “Come on, Maggie. It’s me you’re talking to. Be honest. You can’t wait to start your own home and have a family, can you?”
If I was honest, that had been my dream too, once upon a time. But life had flipped things around for me, and now I was just focused on surviving day to day. There was no time for dreams, not when real life was so tough and demanding.
Maggie nodded. “Fine, I’ll give you that, but there’s just no way I’m ever proposing to a man. Anyway, enough about me.” She leaned forward, her eyes shining. “Tell me what’s going on with you.”
Maggie had a talent for flipping her mood around in an instant. She could be down and out one moment and the next, she could be laughing uproariously as if she didn’t have a care in the world.
“Well…” I started and paused. “Where to start with the mess my life is in?”
“Start with the job hunt. How’s that going?” she prompted.
“It’s not going,” I admitted and sipped my chardonnay.
“Why is that then?”
“I don’t know. I’ve sent several resumés, but so far… nothing. Sometimes it feels as if I’m sending them into the ether to languish forever.”
Maggie frowned. “That’s strange. You’re good at your job, and you have excellent references.”
“Actually, I’m getting a little worried,” I confessed. “I have savings, of course, but my monthly expenses are high, and could eat through them in no time. I need a job sooner rather than later.”
“Hmmm… let me think if I’ve got anything that I could hook you up with.” She frowned. “I have an opening at the agency that pays really well.”
I brightened. “You have?”
She thought for an instant, then made an apologetic face while shaking her head. “Nah, cancel that. What am I thinking of? That job’s not for you. Forget it.”
“Hang on. How about letting me decide what’s for me?”
“Trust me, the job is more trouble than it’s worth.”
“Let me decide,” I insisted.
“Well, I suppose, it is a very well-paid job with awesome bonuses, and if you’re really, really desperate…”
“I’m really, really desperate,” I said quickly.
She sighed. “Alright. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“Yeah, yeah, get on with it.”
“You’ll be the PA of a ghastly man called Maximus Frost who owns Frost Investments.”
“Okay. Tell me more about this ghastly man,” I invited.
“He comes from a ridiculously wealthy family, but decided to build his own multi-billion-dollar company from scratch. His investment company is one of the leading investment firms in the country. Which is why his attitude puzzles me. He behaves like a spoiled brat which he can’t be, not if you consider how hard he must have worked to get to where he is.”
“How much does the job pay?”
She quoted a figure and I gasped.
“Yeah,” she said, nodding sagely. “That’s how much no one wants to work for him. It’s more of a bribe than a salary. The man is a terrible tyrant. An absolute monster. I swear he’s been through more secretaries than any CEO in the past 100 years. I keep sending my girls to him and he keeps sending them back in tears.”
I sat back and stared at her. “Wow.”
“Yeah, he has a reputation of being a complete asshole. The phrase, ‘boss from hell’ was invented to describe him. No PA has lasted a full month.”
Now, I was intrigued. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” she stated emphatically.
“Maybe I would.”
She stared back at me. “Maybe, but I wouldn’t bet on it. We’ve sent him our best talent and every single one has left in the first or second week.”