EMMA's POV :
Today marked the first day of me, Emma Sinclair, as an official employee of New York Magazine. After the interview I had with David Haskell, I didn't hear anything for two weeks and at first I thought I didn't get the job. But one day, they called me out of the blue and told me that I was hired as the new editorial assistant to Diana Pierce, one of the senior editors in the magazine.
Diana Pierce was the new Features Editor at New York Magazine. She was in charge of coming up with ideas for and commissioning features sections of the magazine. She would then report to David Haskell, who was the editor in chief, and he would have the final say over everything.
As an editorial assistant, I would be working under Diana. My role was to act as something like a chameleon, I might have to be a personal assistant to the editor, as well as helping out the wider team with research, planning meetings, and events. Basically, I had to do everything to make sure the editorial team was doing their job smoothly.
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With a cup of coffee in my hand and my high heels on, I was feeling powerful and confident when I entered the office building of New York Magazine this morning. But after one encounter with my boss, Diana, I soon learned that my confidence was easily shattered.
I had just finished getting my ID card taken and the HR girl, Rosie, was giving me a little tour of the office and showing me my desk, when I heard someone yelled, "Where's my new assistant? Shouldn't she be here by now?"
"I think she's looking for you," Rosie smiled sheepishly and pointed to the direction of the editor's office.
Quickly, I straightened my hair and dress and walked to the office. I knocked on the door and peered inside. Diana Pierce was a highly successful editor in her late 50s, sporting a short bob haircut, and she wore six inch stiletto heels. She used to work at GQ before she got hijacked here a month ago. I was only in this building for ten minutes, but I had already heard rumors about her. Apparently, she found the editorial team here to be highly incompetent. She was always angry and yelling all the time. People nicknamed her the 'Dragon Lady', or this one guy actually called her 'Khaleesi'.
"Hi, Diana. I'm Emma Sinclair, you're new assistant," I smiled politely as I stepped into her office.
She quickly raised her hand up to shush me and pointed to the Bluetooth earphone she was wearing. She was on a call.
"Yes, David. I'll get right on it," she said with a stoic look on her face. "I'll talk to you soon, okay, bye,"
Pulling the earphone out of her ear, she looked me up and down with a look I couldn't decipher. I was wearing a simple dark navy dress and heels. I wanted to appear professional, yet stylish and confident. Ian complimented my look this morning, saying I looked fierce.
Diana didn't seem impressed, though. She had a bored look on her face as she said, "So, you must be Emily, my new assistant?"
"Actually, it's Emma-"
"First thing I need you to do, I want a caramel soy latte, decaf, and less foam. I want that every morning prepared for me before I enter my office, do you understand?" she spoke without missing a beat.
"Uh, yes..."
"Next thing, I need the copies from last week's pitch meeting on my desk ASAP,"
"Uh...?" I was completely lost. I had just started working here ten minutes ago, how was I supposed to know anything about last week's pitch meeting. I didn't even know where the bathroom was on this floor.
Rolling her eyes at me, Diana sighed dramatically and said, "Our secretary handles all the documents, get them from her and make the damn copies," she then waved her hand away as if to shoo me from her office, "Jesus Christ, it's not rocket science,"
"Yes, okay, I'll get right on it," I nodded my head and turned away. Walking out the door, I didn't know if she wants the door open or close, so I went back in and asked, "Do you want your door open or...?"
"Just get out!" she screamed. And out I went.
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That was not a great first impression to say the least. Sadly, the rest of my day in the office wasn't any better. I was working through lunch, sitting in my cubicle and answering calls as I ate my salad, when I heard Diana yelling from her office again.
"Hannah! Hannah!"
I figured Diana was calling for someone else, so I ignored her and kept working. Suddenly, the girl sitting next to my cubicle, Jane, the social media manager, threw an eraser at me to get my attention. I looked up to see her pointing at Diana's office.
"She means you," she whispered lowly.
"Where the fúck is my assistant Hannah!?" Diana roared again.
Quickly, I got up to my feet and rushed into her office.
"Sorry, are you calling me?"
"I've been calling your name for the past five minutes. Are you deaf?"
"Sorry, I was just - "
"I don't need to hear your excuses," she cut me off, glaring at me with those deadly eyes and said, "Just be here when I call you,"
"Yes, Diana,"
"Now where's the file I asked you for?"
"I'm still waiting on Suzie to email me-"
"Did I say anything about email?" she cut me off again.
"No, you wanted copies of the file. But she only had them on her computer, so I have to wait for her to send it to me," I explained.
"I need those files yesterday, Hannah!" she groaned in frustration. Pulling her drawer open, she fished out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. This woman started smoking indoors, in her office, which must be some type of fire hazard, but I kept my mouth shut.
"Jesus! Can't you do anything right around here?" she said with a puff of white smoke escaping her lips. "Just because you graduated from an Ivy League school, you got a flashy resume, and David Haskell signed off on you, doesn't mean I'm impressed,"
I wanted to cry, honestly. And I probably would in a minute, but not here. Not in front of her. I won't give her the satisfaction, or another excuse for her to keep yelling at me, so I just put my head down and stayed silent.
"Now, can you or can you not do your job, Anna?" she asked finally.
"Y-yes, I can," I stammered.
"Go," she ordered and waved her hand away. "Get me my files,"
"Yes, Diana. Right away,"
Shuffling out of her office, I raced back to my desk and let out a deep sigh. Jane saw my distraught face, and as if things couldn't get any worse, she pointed her finger to my face, and then I realized I had a scrap of lettuce stuck on the side of my cheek.
Great. What a brilliant first day.
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The rest of the day, I went around the office chasing after Rosie the secretary and I finally got the files Diana was asking for. But when I entered her office at 2.30 PM to give her the files, she already went out. Or home. I didn't know. Either way, she wasn't there.
I felt so lost being here. Literally and metaphorically. My next task was to get some documents signed by Mr. Burke in accounting. I spent thirty minutes trying to locate Mr. Burke's office, and when I finally did, I learned that Mr. Burke wasn't in the office the entire day. He was out sick with the flu.
Basically, I accomplished nothing on my first day. I never felt more like a failure. By the end of the day, some of my co-workers asked if I wanted to grab a drink with them, but I wasn't feeling social anymore at this point. I could barely keep it together, let alone go out for karaoke.
So, when the clock struck 5, I grabbed my stuff and I went home. I walked into this building today full of confidence and excitement, and I went home feeling like a plastic bag. I thought I was prepared for this, but those memes I saw on Tumblr was right, adulthood is like looking both ways before you cross the street and then getting hit by an airplane.
Adulting sucks.
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I walked into the apartment sluggishly, sighing aloud, and throwing my jacket lazily on the couch. Looking around the living room, I saw Ian's briefcase on the coffee table, so he must be home already. Then I heard noises coming from the second bedroom, which we turned into Ian's studio, so I stepped closer towards it. Pushing the door open, I saw Ian busily painting on a large canvas.
"Ian?"
"Hey," he beamed as soon as he saw me. "You're back,"
He put his brush down and strode over to me, planting a sweet kiss on my cheek.
"What are you working on?" I said as I sneaked a peek into his latest art piece.
"I call this one, 'The Calm Before the Storm'," he said as he stood next to me, we were both looking at the painting. "What do you think?"
Tilting my head to the side, I tried to make sense of the abstract painting in front of me. At first, it looked like streams of water, but seeing as it was pink, I tilted my head to the other side and now I was seeing something that resembled canyons.
"I love it. It's so intriguing to watch,"
I squinted my eyes and looked harder. And then I saw it. It was a painting of a woman's labia!
"Wait, Ian! Is that-?!" I gasped.
"I couldn't get you off my mind, baby girl. I just had to," he stifled a laugh.
That's me?! That's my vagina-oh my god!
"Ian!" I smacked his arm playfully and covered my face in embarrassment. "You're insane, you know that?"
"Only about you," he replied shamelessly.
I tried peering out of the cracks on my fingers to look at the painting again, but I couldn't. I cringed so hard. This was why Ian took his time last night with me!
"Don't worry, no one else is gonna see this. This one's going to my private collection," he said as if he knew what I was thinking. "I'm thinking of putting it right around... here," he pointed to the empty space on the wall.
"I can't believe you painted that," I shook my head at him.
"What can I say?" he smirked and pulled me into his arms, "You inspire me,"
Looking up at his gorgeous face, suddenly all the bad feelings that I had five minutes ago seemed so distant. I didn't feel like such a failure anymore. I felt like a winner.
Standing on my tippy toes, I linked my arms around his neck and pulled his face down towards mine. I caught his lips and I kissed him with everything I got. Smiling through the kiss, he returned my kiss with the same amount of passion and urgency.
Once we pulled away, I let out a deep sigh of relief as I looked up at him. I may not have it all together, but I know I won at life.
Narrowing his eyes at me, Ian noticed that something was off. He cupped my cheek with his hand and asked, "Hey, how was your first day?"
"I think I'm gonna quit,"
"What?" he gaped.
"My boss hates me. I don't know what I'm doing. All day long, I was just running around like a lost puppy. I'm probably gonna be fired by tomorrow," I groaned and buried my face into his chest.
"It's only your first day, baby girl," he cooed me and stroked my hair gently. "It's okay to be a little lost,"
"Not according to Diana Pierce,"
"Just give it some time," he said calmly. "Once you're adjusted to the job, everything's gonna get better. I promise,"
"What if it won't?" I asked. "What if I turn out to be a complete failure?"
"That's impossible," he stated matter-of-factly. "You're Emma Sinclair. You're the girl that turned my world upside down. You're the girl that inspired all of this," he gestured to all the paintings and sculptures all around the room.
For the past six months, Ian Hayes had become a household name in the contemporary art world. His works were exhibited in various galleries all around the country, and every time someone asked him about who inspired him, he always said, "my girl,"
"You're the furthest thing away from a failure, Emma," he stated again, tilting my face up so I could see his serious eyes.
"Oh, Ian," I linked my arms tighter around him and pressed my body into his. He wrapped me tightly right back, resting his chin on the top of my head.
"Tell you what, let's go out and get some dinner together?" he paused for a beat before continuing, "And later when we get home, you and I, we can blow off some steam?"
"Really" I peeled away from him and grinned from ear to ear. That sounded like the best thing I've heard all day. Well, the second best thing. The first one was about how I inspired him.
"Totally," he nodded his head. "You can pretend that I'm your boss and you can spank me over the desk,"
I giggled and said, "Or you can pretend that you're my boss and you can spank me over the desk?"
"Deal," he said without waiting for a beat.
Five minutes ago, I felt like lying on the bathroom floor crying, but now, just after five minutes with Ian Hayes, my whole world was turned upside down. I've decided that Diana Pierce could say whatever she wants to me and I won't let it affect me. Because the only opinion that mattered to me was his.
And thank God he likes me.
"I'll be so lost without you," I sighed and pulled him in for another kiss.
"Same here, baby girl," he murmured through the kiss. "Same here,"
- - - - - To Be Continued - - - - -