Chapter One
Alora Harris sipped at the glass of champagne as she watched all her colleagues having a good time at the annual Nelson Industries Christmas party. This was the one party their boss, Adam Nelson, insisted on every year—mandatory attendance. Of course, he’d also brought a beautiful, slender model to the party. She was the belle of the ball. Every single man in the room was drooling over her, and not too discreetly. Most of the men were ignoring their own wives. She loved Christmas but hated this party so damn much.
So many people faked it. They pretended there hadn’t been a cutthroat promotion, or a competition to win so many different accounts. Most people here would walk over each other to get ahead. She didn’t know how she had done it, but for the last five years, she’d been able to stay under the radar and not piss anyone off.
Her abilities were in designing. Bringing clients’ ideas into reality. She never fought with anyone to get ahead. Her craft spoke for itself, and often times she was personally requested to head a project. She wasn’t bragging when it came to her work. Rather, she had a knack for knowing what people wanted, and that was what put her on top.
Christmas music filtered through the stereo, and she couldn’t help but smile.
They had another week of work, and then she had a glorious two weeks off. This was another element of Adam’s work ethic. He believed in giving his staff relevant time off each year as he believed it promoted a better working environment.
She couldn’t complain.
Many people here had families, loved ones to go home to. She had an empty apartment with a single tree, a few decorations she’d designed and had gotten created, and her stray black cat she’d named Burt.
Considering she came from the foster system, she had made something of herself. She had a nice place, a decent salary, and hadn’t gone hungry ever since.
“A beautiful lady shouldn’t be sitting alone,” Adam, her boss said, holding out a glass of champagne.
It was odd for him to single her out. They rarely spoke two words to each other, not since he’d apologized to her. One of the clients had asked for her to work on a current sketch advertising. The company was for some kind of pet food or something, and they had gone organic on everything. Their ethos had changed from profit to the love of the pet as part of the family rather than just an animal that needed feeding. She got the parameters and general idea of what they wanted, and she drew a sketch. Adam had seen it and told her it wouldn’t work. She always stood by what she created, and so, she argued with the boss man himself until he backed off. Fortunately, she’d been right, and he had no choice but to apologize and she kept her job.
Despite all the backstabbing and general bastardness that went on at work, she liked her job. The hypocrisy was a different matter.
She never let her guard down. She’d never stepped on anyone’s toes, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have enemies here. There were a lot of people who were not happy that she’d won accounts without lifting a finger.
“I’ve got one, thank you,” she said, holding up her champagne.
“Ah, I see.”
“Don’t you have a date needing your attention?” she asked.
Adam shrugged. “Amelia won’t be hurting for company. So, I don’t think I saw your date.”