When I step out on the twenty-fourth floor, there’s no one at reception. I’m thirty minutes early because Carter has a meeting. Not that I mind. It gives me time to look around.
Looking at all the offices, I start to get excited. I wonder where my desk is. Will I get along with my co-workers?
“Hey gorgeous,” a man says behind me.
I swing around and watch as a skinny middle-aged man with thinning brown hair and pale blue eyes walks toward me.
“I’m Stew Roberts. Are you new here?”
“Yes, it’s my first day,” I answer, hoping I don’t sound too nervous. “It’s a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Roberts.”
We shake hands but when I start to pull back, he tightens his hold on my hand. I can’t seem to keep eye contact with him, and it bothers me. I really want to make a good impression but instead an uneasy feeling skitters down my spine.
“The pleasure is all mine. Call me Stew. Welcome to the Indie Ink graphics team.”
I swallow hard on the anxious feeling swarming in my stomach and nod. Finally, he lets go of my hand, and I resist the urge to wipe my hand on my pants.
I get a feeling I need to stay away from this guy.
“Do you have any idea where I’ll be sitting?” I ask to speed things along.
A look of surprise washes over his face and then he smiles broadly.
“Yeah, of course. Follow me.” I follow him down the hallway, right to the end. He points to a desk that’s situated right outside an office. “You can sit here for now.”
He points at a desk that’s situated right outside an office that’s at the end of the hallway.
“The secretary is on vacation,” he says. “Make yourself comfortable until they show you where to go and get you loaded on the system.”
Disappointment washes over me. Carter said I would be working with the graphics team.
“How long is she on vacation for?”
“Two weeks. I don’t know where Mr. West is, but I’m sure when he’s back he’ll get you all settled.”
I force a smile to my face as I step around the desk. I tell myself it’s just temporary. It will give me time to get used to everyone and to brush up on my graphic skills.
The morning is filled with a haze of faces and names as Stew introduces me to the team. He’s constantly hanging around me and it’s making me feel uneasy.
I’m sitting at the desk in reception, contemplating whether I should go up to Carter so he can give me some work. I hate not having something to do. It makes the day so much longer.
When I see Stew walking toward me, my stomach starts to burn with tension. This guy is just too much. He walks around the desk and comes to stand behind me. When he leans over me, I freeze. This can’t be professional. I might not have worked in an office environment before, but I’m not an idiot.
He places a pile of documents in front of me, and when he speaks, his stale coffee breath wafts over me. “I can see that you’re bored. Let me go show you where the copy room is, then you can make us some copies of these documents.”
I lean to the side so that there’s more space between us. Right now this asshole is making Carter look like a saint.
When he walks around the front of the desk, I let out the breath I’ve been holding. I rise to my feet and pick up the stack of documents.
We start to walk down the hallway when he asks, “Have you lived in New York all your life?”
“No,” I answer not wanting to encourage him to ask personal questions.
“Where are you from?”
I suppress a sigh. “North Carolina.”
When we get to the copy room, I’m disappointed to see that he’s hanging around and not leaving me alone for a little while.