Care To Command

dedication:

To the amazing group of people who read this book while it was in progress. Thank you for laughing, crying, and sassing with me. This story wouldn't be the same without your support and energy.

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epigraph:

"One day, someone will love you the way you deserve to be loved, and you won't have to fight for it."

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(Picture is just for vibes, this is not how I imagine them lol)

Chapter 1

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I've been working at this office for four years and still don't know how to use the coffee machine. The modern, black appliance exposes my incompetence as I shove the little pod into the pocket and punch random buttons beneath.

"Are you seriously drinking coffee before happy hour?" A familiar, infuriating voice says behind me.

"Oh my God, Lucas," I turn around, mouth open in surprise. "Congratulations, you have eyes!"

My colleague — the reason I started yoga to stop daydreaming about murder — stares at me, no doubt about to say something stupid.

"You're in my way, shorty." He lifts a strong arm above my head and opens the cabinet, making me duck down to not get hit.

"It's Layla — or future boss — and I was standing here first!" I grimace as the heat from his chest seeps into me. He takes an Advil bottle and closes the cabinet, smirking as I have to duck again.

"Quick reflexes for a poodle," he says, pointing his chin over my shoulder. "Are your paws unable to turn the coffee machine on?"

I grab a paper towel to push him away without getting any of his germs on me. The only problem is that he's a 6'4 ex-Marine with a stubbornness as thick as mine, so he doesn't budge an inch.

He just opens the bottle and pops two pills in his mouth, staring down at me. The sunlight from the open blinds shines on his chestnut hair and makes his cognac eyes bright.

"You should really wear a deodorant," I say, smiling as he becomes serious. "And I can see your nose hair from this angle. Maybe trim it sometimes."

"You're five," he deadpans, stepping away.

"Five times better than you," I fire back, resisting the urge to strike a gangster pose.

"Are you two bickering again?" Grant, my boss — also Lucas's brother in law — steps into the break room. He's in his fifties and has a very thick accent that makes everything sound wise.

I've started at his production company as an intern then climbed the ladder throughout the years, specializing in data analysis to predict and strategize viral content.

The peasant next to me uses that information to film commercials with our team —  soon to be my team, when I get promoted to Vice President and make him cry. I've marked my calendar two months from now and bought a champagne to celebrate.

"Grant, can you tell Layla that she doesn't need to dress like your secretary to be taken seriously?" Lucas scowls at my go-to button-down and hair bun.

"I... I just want to look professional." I blush, furious at him for embarrassing me in front of the one person I have to impress.

"I'm just saying, it's stressing everyone out!" He chuckles. "We're making videos, Layla, not saving lives. You almost made the new girl cry today because she laughed during a meeting."

"She wasn't paying attention," I scrunch my eyebrows. "It took me three hours to put that presentation together."

"And it was great," he smiles. "It put us to sleep in less than three seconds."

"Alright you two..." Grant sighs, taking off his glasses as if he's tired of seeing us. "I really hope these fights stop when we choose the VP. I don't want to think about losing two of my best people."

"No problem, though I can't promise anything for Lucas's fragile ego." I shrug, smirking at Lucas.

"I'll let you know how my ego feels when it's sitting in the VP chair."

"You wish." I roll my eyes.

"My wishes always come true."

"You know what..." Grant turns on his heel to leave. "I forgot why I even came here."

"Good job, you scared our boss away." Lucas says when Grant walks out of the room.

"I think it was your lack of deodorant," I narrow my eyes with pity.

Lucas lifts his hand towards the coffee machine and touches a single button. I gasp as the sound of it turning on breaks the silence, excited for the coffee to pour in my paper cup.

"Oh my God, thank—"

He flings my cup off the counter and drops it on the ground, making the fresh coffee drip into the waste basket.

"It's a party, not a meeting," he says, smirking at my gaping reaction. He tosses the medicine on the counter, before turning to leave.

~

The company is hosting one of those mandatory 'Family and Friends' parties that the Human Resources department thinks is needed for a healthy, work life balance. Because nothing screams balance like spending even more time with coworkers on a Friday evening.

My parents didn't come — what's new. Mom is basically nonexistent, probably on another trip with another boyfriend. Dad said he should visit after I get promoted so it's 'more special' that way.

It sucks a little, because I'm the only employee without their family here, but it's not the end of the world, because it's not like I have friends at work to introduce them to.

Okay, that's even more sad.

No, it's not. I'm not here to make friends. I'm here to become a boss. To become someone important. Someone worthy of respect —  as my dad has taught me since I was little.

On the bright side, my two friends are here —  Casey and Regine. Sure, they don't exactly know what I do, but I told them there's free food and drinks, and they were excited to show up.

"Oh my God, Layla! Your workplace is so cool!" Casey gushes, her strawberry blonde curls bouncing as she scans the space around.

There's a large wall of fake greenery, decorated with flowers, spelling out the company logo 'UNLATCHED.' A red carpet is rolled out on the side, with the marketing team taking pictures of the event. A DJ and bar station are situated on the other end, where people mingle over catered finger foods.

"You should see the office for the future VP!" I squeal, dragging them to the the other side of the party. I open one of the offices to unveil a beautifully furnished space.

A wall length window reveals the pink sunset, casting a romantic glow on the white executive chair that sits in front of a glass table and two large monitors. There's a long bookshelf behind it with quirky art and overpriced magazines. If that doesn't say important, I don't know what will.

"I can't wait...just two more months." I grin, just imagining myself sitting there.

"Aw, you're so supportive Layla. I can't wait either." Lucas pops his head in the room.

Regine and Casey smile at him, though the shock is evident in their features. I guess, I get it. He's not bad looking if you ignore the fact that he's a tactless jackass.

"Get out, Lucas." I cross my arms.

He stares with a mischievous, crooked smirk then leaves. I groan, face reddening with anger.

"Damn..." Casey wonders, still looking at the door.

"Dude, don't even."

"Oh, come on." She points to where he was just standing. "Deep voice, sexy smirk, broad shoulders. He's so hot!"

"Please." I roll my eyes. "He walks around like he owns the place. I wouldn't be surprised if he shows up one day wearing a robe and slippers."

~

"Look at them..." I glare at Lucas who's talking to Grant and the Head of Finance across the room, laughing at something that's probably not even funny. "You think if I put on a fake mustache and speak in a British accent, they'll talk to me?"

"They're related, huh?" Casey asks, eyeing Lucas curiously. "Damn, that's got to be tough to compete with. I bet they talk about work at home all the time and keep you out of the loop."

"Thanks for the support, babe." I deadpan at her and she shrugs sheepishly.

"You should go talk to them!" Regine urges, tossing her red hair over her shoulder. "Be confident!"

"Me?" I laugh. "I'll have a better conversation with inanimate objects... or plants."

"Okay, then pretend they're succulents and go chat!" She pushes me and I stumble forward, almost spilling my wine. This is going to be so painful...

"Easy. It's going to be a piece of cake ." Lucas says, sipping on whiskey while I approach him from the back. They're in a small circle and all three of them are tall, so no one notices me.

"Amazing, because we need that Grey Goose contract to meet our revenue goals." The Head of Finance — Josh, I think? — says, looking at Lucas like he's a genius.

"The first video was posted last week, right?" Grant asks him. "Do you plan to film the second one the same exact way?"

"It did pretty well, so I don't see why not."

"How did it do?" I ask, making them turn around. They open the circle a little as I shift forward.

"Excellent." Lucas presses his lips into a straight line. "People loved it."

"Did they?" I tilt my head, narrowing my eyes. "What was the retention like?"

"What... do you mean?" He drawls with exasperation.

I smile. "As in, what was the audience retention like?"

Grant and Josh look between us with baffled expressions, Lucas tries to mask his glare, and I feign nonchalance, turning to Grant.

"I only ask, because the video didn't do so well compared to our other campaigns this year. There was a 25% retention drop in the first 10 seconds, which lowered the average watch time below our standard. So we ended up paying for the views, which won't reflect well on the client report."

"Oh..." Grant's face falls. "So, how did that happen?"

"Because clients always ask for changes that hurt performance," Lucas shrugs. "We can't do anything about it."

Grant grunts, but there's an awkward silence that almost seems like an invitation.

"Yeah, but that's part of the job. It can be easily prevented if we study the numbers." I say.

"If I look at the numbers, you'll yell at me for not being on set." Lucas chuckles in a condescending manner. "She's more intense than the Marines, sometimes I wake up from a nightmare, going 'thank God, it was just my Sergeant Major, not Layla.'"

"Aw, I'm glad you think so highly of me," I reply with the same tone he used on me. "I also see myself in a position to tell you what to do." 

Lucas stares without a word, though the unmoving stance of his body tells me I've gotten under his skin. I look straight back, refusing to be the first to break eye contact.

"She's not entirely wrong, Lucas is excellent out on the field," Grant breaks the tension. "Layla is more of a behind the scenes master, delegating how things should go."

He starts to tell the story of how I started as an intern and broke viral records in their early campaigns, and I'm so high on his compliments that I don't realize Lucas has slipped away.

I look over my shoulder and notice his tall figure heading straight to Casey and Regine. And I know he's up to no good so I quickly excuse myself when Grant is finished and head over there.

"Layla, guess what!" Casey squeals when I get near. "I'm going to model in a video!"

"What?" I frown while Lucas grins at me.

"Yeah..." She giggles, looking up at him. "Lucas said that he's looking for a model that looks just like me for a Grey Goose video you guys are filming next week. Isn't that exciting?"

"I'm sorry, Casey..." My eyebrows furrow. "But we actually need someone with experience—"

"Experience to what? Party and have a good time?" Lucas interrupts, "If you don't know how to do that, I can train you." He winks at her.

"Lucas, a word?" I snap, beckoning him to a nearby office.

~

"What are you doing?" I whisper, closing the door behind us. "You're going to mess up our commercial just to get back at me? Not to mention, you're using my friend for it?"

"Who said that I'm using her?" Lucas stands in front of me, hands in his pockets, voice deep. "I actually find her to be a very attractive, nice woman. I'm surprised she's friends with you."

"Bullshit." I scowl, looking at him up and down. "Just admit it, I got under your skin."

"You'd have to be important for that, Layla." He crosses his arms. Ouch.

"You're going to regret this." I step towards him, craning my neck up.

"Is that a threat?" His lips pull up in one corner. "You think you scare me, poodle?"

I scoff, shaking my head. "Ugh, I can't believe how careless you are!"

"And I can't believe what a control freak you are." He returns my resentment, turning to leave. "But I guess we'll see how it turns out, huh? I look forward to hanging out with Casey." 

~ A/N ~
I promise you, these two will go through so much character development, you'll be shocked!