Fake Billionaire Friends

Chapter 5

Ava P.O.V.

Today was going to be my big day. I was starting my first serious job. During my college years I worked at a mall in a clothing store. I hated it, but not because of the contact with customers or the physical strain of standing on my feet all the time, cleaning up fallen clothes or carrying tons of clothes out of the fitting room. Contact with other employees was difficult for me. I had the impression that they do not care. They were rude to customers, slow to work and preferred to gossip with each other rather than take care of their duties. It was very annoying for me.

I was happy that my new job would be dependent only on me and if something wasn't done it would be my fault. I wanted responsibility and to be able to prove myself. Even my sexy but arrogant boss did not spoil my mood.

I excitedly ate a nutritious breakfast. I put on a white shirt and a flared black skirt, complete with black oxfords. I put my crazy hair in a braid, and put on subtle makeup. I smiled at myself in the mirror and said in my mind, "This is going to be a good day! Good luck." On my way out I looked at the picture of my sister and quickly kissed it.

I arrived at the office at 7:50 a.m. The receptionist was already there, so despite the last bad impression she made on me I smiled and walked up extending my hand to her.

- Hello, my name is Ava Green and from today I will be Mr. Jake Brown's assistant. I'm pleased to meet you - she looked at me with consternation and then looked at my hand as if not knowing what I meant. I took it back.

- Sonia - she just said and put the card on the reception desk - This is your card to enter the building and also the key to your office. You can come in whenever you want. Good luck.

She turned towards the monitor again, giving me a sign that she didn't care about me anymore. I just nodded, "Thanks," took the card and headed for my office. I opened the door and froze. One wall was covered in glass. I squealed in delight. The room was small, but bright, with a huge window and most of all it was mine. Against the wall stood a large wooden desk with an ergonomic chair, behind which stood empty bookcases. I sat down on my chair and turned around several times gloating about this moment and planning what to add to make it more mine.

When I was satisfied, I fired up the laptop lying on my desk according to the instructions left by the It department. I turned on my email and after a while the emails from today came up. Five messages were purely technical regarding the job and the training I need to do. I also got a welcome email from Mark and the other partners. I guessed that this was an automatic email for all newly hired employees. From my boss I received an additional message with the subject line: , "Tasks for Today". I opened the message:

, "Miss Ava,

Here's a list of today's assignments:

1. Americana from Starbucks with an extra espresso at 9.

2. Pick up laundry in Brooklyn.

3. Reserve a table at Carpe Diem for 3 people at 2 p.m.

4) Pick up Armani suits from 5th Avenue.

5. schedule a photo shoot for the August cover of GQ.

...

"

The remaining 15 points were just as trivial as the first 5.

I got up from my desk and headed for my boss's office. I stood in front of his door and knocked hard 3 times. Learning from experience, I didn't go in right away but waited for "Please". When I heard it I went into the office. Jake was sitting at his desk staring at the monitor. Only when I slammed my hand down on his desk he raised his gray eyes from the computer. He looked at me with indifference raising an eyebrow in query.

- Mr. Brown, the tasks you have assigned me for today belong to a personal assistant, not an assistant to the business manager of a large corporation. That's a ridiculous 20 points. I want other assignments.

He pointed to a chair across from his desk and as I sat down I felt his gaze on my body. He surveyed me unflinchingly from my feet to the top of my head. The anger subsided and in its place was embarrassment. I begged my body not to blush under his cold steel eyes.

- Miss Ava.First of all, let's change it to 'you', it's silly to address each other so formally if we are close, isn't it? - I nodded - Secondly, these tasks are not trivial. My previous assistants couldn't manage to complete as many as 20 points in one day, but I have faith in you to succeed.

- The only non-trivial item on the list is scheduling a session for GQ the rest is just silly. I want to do more.

- We'll get to the more important tasks one at a time. Please prove yourself on these tasks and if you can help me with personal life problems then you'll start helping me with business problems too. How about that?

I looked at him suspiciously to see if he was making fun of me, but his face betrayed nothing. I sighed heavily and stood up.

- All right. I want to learn and help you with important things.

- Help you Jake - he corrected me. He looked at me in silence and then took something out of the desk drawer and after a moment he put the cards on the table -These are the cards to my apartment. They will come in handy when you fulfill today's and later obligations. I will send you the address by text message.

I nodded and headed for the door feeling his insistent gaze on me. Before leaving I turned to face him.

- Is something wrong, Jake?

- Your whole outfit - he said indifferently and I felt myself blushing - You look like you came to the start of the school year. Not for work.

- Excuse me?

- What you heard," he shrugged his shoulders and looked at the monitor again, "Add item 21 to your to-do list for today. Shopping. I'll pick you up after 5 p.m. Don't put that time in overtime. Let me know if you were able to reserve that table on time. We'll discuss the other points on the way to the stores. I'll come by and pick you up. Now I'm waiting for my morning coffee.

I looked at him stunned, but he didn't speak again or raise his eyes from the monitor. So I left and looked at my watch.It was already 8:50 a.m. I had to hurry if I was going to get his f*****g coffee to him in time.

After delivering coffee to Jake, I didn't see him again for the whole day. I flew around the city doing his personal errands. Surprisingly, it was not that easy to fill everything up. The biggest problem I had was with the laundry. They lost one of the 5 suits from the receipt, claiming that there must have been a mistake when entering the order and it wasn't really there. I tried to reason with them nicely but they didn't even want to check it claiming that somehow when such problems happened before, the receiving person didn't make any problems. I did not want to comment on the incompetence of my predecessors, I just changed my tone to a firmer one and after 10 minutes by some miracle the Tom Ford suit was found.

When I had finished running all the errands, burdened with a lot of shopping, I arrived at the boss's apartment. I entered the lobby and informed the butler that I was Mr. Jake Brown's new assistant, had a key to his apartment, and would probably be dropping by often to leave his laundry or groceries. The elegant older man looked a little puzzled but greeted me friendly leading me to the elevator in the corner.

- This is Mr. Brown's private elevator. Please use it. The last 95th floor. - He pressed the button, held up his card, and stepped out.

The apartment, as Jake called it, turned out to be a two-story penthouse with its own indoor pool, a gym, a cinema room, a library, a beautiful terrace overlooking the city, four guest bedrooms, and a huge dressing room filled with numerous suits from top designers. His previous assistants must have assumed that the owner of so many suits in similar tones of black and navy blue would not realize that one or two were missing.

Besides the size of the property, I was surprised by the decor. By Jake's indifferent, cold manner I thought his apartment would be cold and expressionless, as if taken out from under the needle of an architect designing for men. Surprisingly, the private and guest areas were filled with family photos, mementos and other items that suggested my boss could be a warm and loving person. I didn't have much time to look around, but I suspected from the photos that Jake must have a really large family. I involuntarily felt a stab of jealousy.

I loved my parents and sister, and now I was all alone. All my other family had stopped speaking to me during my stay at the facility. True, I would call my grandparents to wish them a happy Christmas, but each time the whole conversation seemed forced and made me very tired. It was like I was the only person who cared about keeping in touch. Over the past few years, I have come to terms with my loneliness. Therapy, which I continued to attend once a week, helped.

I managed to get back to the office just before 5 p.m. I had just sat down warm and tired at my desk when Jake's head appeared in the doorway.

- It's five pm. Come on," he chuckled and left.