Chapter 1

• I can’t believe it; this is really happening. I look down on my body adorned with a brown pencil skirt, a white blouse, and black stiletto heels instead of the usual jeans and t-shirt I used to wear for work. I am so excited and nervous to start my new job today.
• I walk inside the building and walk over to the receptionist at the front desk to direct me to my supervisor’s office. I can’t believe I am going to be working here. Somebody, please pinch me; I need to make sure this is not a dream.
• “Ouch,” I say, feeling a slight sting on my right arm. “Why did you do that?” I say to the pretty lady at the front desk. She is a beautiful brunette with grey eyes and an oval face with a lovely smile.
• “You asked someone to pinch you, so I did,” She says, still with that beautiful smile on her face.
• “I can’t believe I said that out loud,” I exclaim with wide eyes
• “You did honey, welcome to Crawford wine company. My name is Nora, and how can I help you?”
• The company I am going to be working for is a wine company. Its family-owned and was founded in 1970. I know all of this because the person who helped me get a job here told me. I don’t know much about wines, but I don’t think I need to know too much to be a secretary in a wine company.
• “I am the newly appointed secretary to Mr. Jason Crawford. Please, how do I get to his office?”
• “I didn’t know Mr. Crawford needed a new secretary. Please could you wait a minute? I need to call and confirm what you are saying?”
• “Sure, no problem” Oh my God, why does she need to confirm? Does it mean I didn’t get the job? Because if I didn’t, why would the older Mr. Crawford tell me I got the job. I am hoping there is a minor mix-up. I come back from my train of thoughts when Nora speaks.
• “Sorry about my earlier statement and for keeping you waiting; take the elevator to the 20th floor. Once you get there, you will meet someone who will help you.”
• “It’s fine, and thank you,” I say, releasing a breath of relief. Thank God, I was scared for a moment that I didn’t get the job. The older Mr. Crawford told me he really had to convince Mr. Jason to give me the job. I am so happy he did because this job is the beginning of many new things in my life.
• I follow Nora’s instructions and arrive at the 20th floor after a minute or so. I am greeted by another beautiful lady once I step out of the elevator. She has the same dirty blonde hair as me, but hers is styled in a short bob while mine is in a ponytail. She looks older than me, maybe in her early thirties. If I am not wrong, she should be around the ages of 32 or 33. I am 23 years old, so she will be older than me by ten years if I am right. I can imagine if she started working here the same age as me now. She will probably have a lot of experience in whatever field she works in.
• “Good morning; my name is Vivienne. I am Mr. Crawford’s secretary. I will be helping you settle in,” She says, with a stern face.
• “Morning, I don’t understand how you are Mr. Crawford’s secretary. I thought I was hired to be his secretary,” I ask, confused. This is the second time someone is saying something like this.
• “No, you are not. I am Mr. Crawford’s secretary while you are anything we decide you are going to be.”
• “Excuse me, I don’t understand what you are saying. That was not what older Mr. Crawford told me.”
• “Yes, of course, that is not what he told you, but that is what is happening,” She says, confusing me more.
• “Can you explain to me properly what is going on?”
• “As much as I would love to, I have a meeting to attend, but once the meeting is over, the CEO will answer all your questions.”
• “Alright, thank you, and how long will I have to wait?”
• “I don’t know, maybe an hour or two.”
• “An hour or two, that’s a long time. Do you have someone else who could explain things to me?”
• An hour or two is a long time to wait before things get explained to me.
• “I am sorry we don’t have anyone, so it’s either you wait or say goodbye to your job?”
• “Wow, don’t worry, I will wait.”
• I don’t understand why she was speaking to me so sternly. The older Mr. Crawford told me he got me a job at his grandson’s office. He told me I would be his grandson’s new secretary, so I don’t understand what everyone has been saying since I arrived. I will just have to wait till the meeting is over to find out.
• After two hours, I can’t believe she was not kidding. I am finally able to meet the CEO. I am a little nervous about meeting him. This is the first time I am going to see him in person. I have seen tons of pictures of him from the older Mr. Crawford, but nothing beats seeing someone in real life. I knock on the door of his office and wait for a response.
• “Come in,” A deep voice says from inside. I say a little prayer while turning the doorknob and step inside.
• I walk inside and find him seated behind his desk, waiting for me patiently to walk over. As I walk closer, I take in his features. His hair is black and grey in color. If I did not know his actual age, I would have thought he is a man in his 50s who looks very young and failed while trying to dye his hair. Mr. Crawford told me that his grandson is 37, so I know he is not as old as his hair would want you to believe. Once I am in front of his desk, I can see his face clearly. His eyebrows are full, black, and shaped perfectly. His eyes are hazel brown and look like a pool of caramel. He has beautiful eyes, I must say. His nose is straight and a little pointed, but not too much. His lips are just the perfect size and are peach in color.
• “Miss Brown, please take your seat,” Mr. Jason says, gesturing to one of the chairs in front of his desk. I was so busy admiring him that I didn’t even take in the beautiful interior of his office.
• The walls are painted all white except behind his desk that is painted brown, a nice mixture of colors.
• “Thank you, sir,” I say, taking a seat on one of the white chairs in front of his desk.
• “I will try my best to make this quick and not waste any of our time,” He says and places a document in front of me. “This is a contract that states you will leave my grandfather and I alone. I will pay you enough to make sure you don’t break the contract.”
• Mr. Jason says, shocking me to the bone with his words. What in God’s name is happening today? I was so excited to start working today, but everyone has been making me feel like I don’t have the job ever since I stepped into this building.
• “Why would you think I will sign such a contract?” I ask, feeling insulted to be offered such a type of contract. I don’t bother to pick up the document to read it because no matter how much is written there, I will never take it.
• “Because it’s money you want, and I am giving it to you.”
• “Yes, I want money, but I want to work for it.”
• “You can quit the act; I am not my grandfather. I don’t believe you prefer a job than collecting settlement money.”
• “Yes, you are not your grandfather. He knows I would never betray our friendship for a few dollars.”
• “A few dollars,” He says, chuckling. “You insult me, Miss Brown; why don’t you check the document and tell me if that amount is a few dollars.”
• “I don’t need to because no matter the amount written here, I will not take it,” I say, pointing to the document.
• “Even though I still insist you have a look before you say anything else.”
• “I am sorry, Mr. Crawford, but I am not going to read this document to see how much money you think is enough for me to stop being friends with your grandfather.”
• “So you are telling me 1 million dollars is not enough to make you stop being friends with my grandfather,” He asks, smirking.
• “Please repeat yourself?” I ask, wondering if I heard him correctly. Who pays someone such a tremendous amount of money just because they are friends with an old man?
• “You heard me right, Miss brown; I will pay you 1 million dollars if you sign this contract that states you will never speak or see my grandfather again.”
• I can’t believe he is serious right now; why does he not want me to be friends with his grandfather. The man is a lonely old man. I don’t understand why he is doing this. As much as the money would change my life around, I can’t accept it. The conditions to have the funds are too insulting to me as a person. I won’t lie; I want the money, but I can’t take it because I will be calling myself cheap if I do. I don’t believe I have everything in life, but I am not suffering to the point that I will stoop so low and accept such conditions and take the money.
• “So, what do you say, Miss Brown?” He asks, eager to hear my answer.
• “Mr. Crawford, I am sorry, but I still won’t accept your offer. I would prefer to work and make my own hard-earned money.”
• “So you are sticking with your act, just tell me how much more, and I will have my lawyers draft a new contract immediately.”
• “Mr. Crawford, I don’t want your money like that.”
• “Then what do you want?” He asks, angry with me
• “I only want to work here and earn money. That’s all I want,” I say truthfully.
• “That’s a lie; I don’t believe you.”
• “I know you might not believe me because of how I became friends with your grandfather, but I swear to God. I am not friends with him for his money. I didn’t even know he had money until he got me a job. Please allow me to work and earn my own money,” I say, praying he will drop it and allow me to work here peacefully.
• “I don’t believe a single word out of your mouth, but since grandpa wants you to work here. I have to allow you since I don’t have a reason not to.”
• “Thank you so much,” I say, smiling. I was starting to get scared he wasn’t going to allow me to work here.
• “Don’t thank me. I am not the one who got you the job.”
• “I know but still, thank you, and please, I want to ask. Your grandfather told me I was going to be your secretary, but I met a lady earlier who said she is already your secretary.”
• “That is correct,”
• “If you already have a secretary, what am I hired for then?”
• “You are my personal assistant.”
• “I thought a personal assistant does the same work as a secretary.”
• “Yes, they do, but not in your case.”
• “What exactly am I going to be doing?”
• “You will run errands for me at the office,” He says, casually waving his hands.
• “Alright” Thank God my job is something I know how to do. I was worried he might assign me something outside my field of expertise, even though running errands does not have anything to do with my area of expertise. Anyone can run errands. I have a degree in business management.
• “That’s all for now; you can leave. Vivienne will work you through the rest.”
• “Thank you, sir, for allowing me to work here,” I say and stand up to leave
• “Don’t thank me yet because you will be leaving soon,” He says with an evil smirk.
• “What!” I ask, shocked by his words
• “Nothing, Miss Brown.”
• I walk out of his office with a lot of thoughts in my head. I can’t believe how my first day started. I don’t know why, but even though Mr. Jason allowed me to work here, I just feel things will not go well for me here.