Lilly clutched at the steaming mocha the bartender handed her with a smile. She returned it slightly, then turned away grimacing. These boys had no chance with her. She wrapped her scarf more tightly around herself, then breathed in the warm chocolate scent of her favorite drink. She walked out of the warm coffee shop, bowing her head against the chilly London breeze. Snow swirled around her as she rejoined the heavy stream of people on the cobblestone sidewalk. Winter was coming, and soon walking would be torturous. 

She kept her head down as another heavy gust of wind blew through the crowd. Already her drink was cooling. She bowed her head, bringing the cup to her lips. The warm, chocolate taste brought warmth back to her body as it slid down her throat. She looked up just in time to catch a glimpse of cool blue eyes before she smashed straight into the owner. 

Several things happened at once, the Styrofoam cup in her hands went flying, the contents dousing them both. She bounced off the man's chest, feet slipping wildly in the ice and she fell toward the ground, the crowd parting before the small woman. The man's eyes had widened in shock, his hand dropping from his ear where he had been holding his phone. He quickly registered the woman falling toward the ground, and reaching forward, caught her about the waist. 

He stared down at her, just as she stared at him. The phone in his hand was buzzing again, and absentmindedly, he answered it. He listened as his employee detailed out the purchase, asking if he would like to proceed. The woman in his arms gently extricated herself from his grip, red blooming across her cheeks. Lilly couldn't help but listen to the man's conversation as she cleaned herself up. Her white blouse was totally ruined, but she couldn't spare a glance toward it now. Her eyes were stuck on the man. 

He was frankly the most beautiful man she'd ever met. He was tall, taller than most everyone around him. He was also wearing a black suit, it's front splashed with brown liquid. But she wasn't staring at the state of his suit, no, she was looking at his face. Bright, sea colored blue eyes stared out from between long black lashes. Black, tousled hair swept across his forehead. He had a chiseled jaw and prominent cheek bones, seeming as though it had been carved from marble. He was a statue of cold perfection. Then he opened his mouth to speak. 

"How much is Wilding Park again, Stone?" A garbled sound emitted from the phone, and Mr. Ambrose nodded. "Alright, sign my go ahead on it-" 

"Wait!" Lilly cried stepping closer to the man. "Don't- don't buy it!" 

His cool eyes found hers. "And why the hell not, Miss?" 

"Wilding Park is this horrible set of houses in East London, and it's totally dilapidated and unsafe!" 

"And how would you know that?" His cool voice matched his appearance. 

"My uhm, Grandmother used to live there before she died. It's a pretty horrid place and I'm sure you wouldn't want to buy it." He studied her for a moment, then spoke into his phone. 

"Stone, cancel the transaction." 

"What?" 

"CANCEL IT NOW!" He yelled into the phone, then hung up. "You're exactly what I've been looking for," He said, staring down at her. Lilly gulped. 

"What- what exactly do you mean sir?" 

"Do you have a job?" She flushed. 

"No." 

"Adequate. Meet me on Monday at 8 am. Empire House. Just go the the front desk and they'll direct you to me office. My card," He told her briskly, handing her a rectangle of cheap card stock. Lilly reached forward, pulling it from his grip, and read the words printed on. 

Rikkard Ambrose 

Empire House 

322 Leadenhall Street

"Wait- are you offering me a job!?" She looked up, only to find an empty space where once he had stood. "Um... I'm sorry about your suit!" She yelled. 

She ran home smiling widely, trying not to slip on the ice coated walk up to the house she shared with her best friends. She thrust the key in the keyhole, then ran inside, slamming it shut. A warm burst of air greeted her, filled with the aroma of Eve's amazing cooking. "PATSY!! EVE!! FLORA!! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT JUST HAPPENED!!" 

Flora came running down the stairs, Patsy emerged from a side room, and Eve peeked her head out from the kitchen, wooden spoon in hand. 

"What?" Patsy asked irritably. "I'm in the middle of writing an article on the abuse of women-" 

"I got a job!!" Her best friends stared at her. 

"Say again?" Eve asked. 

"I. Got. A. Job." Lilly repeated, slower this time, smiling. 

Grins spread across Flora and Eve's faces, and they ran to envelop her in hug. They laughed and kissed her cheeks. "You didn't tell us you were applying for a job!" 

"I didn't! I met this guy..." 

"WAIT! Hold up!" Patsy butted in, crossing her arms over her chest. "A man gave you this job?" 

Lilly recounted the story, even showing them the empty cup that had held her mocha earlier. It was empty now. Then she finished with telling them that she was expected at Empire House on Monday. They were in the dining room now, chewing on the chili Eve had made, which was, as usual, scrumptious. They were currently discussing who this Rikkard Ambrose bloke was. 

"It says on Forbes that he's one of the RICHEST MEN IN THE WORLD!!" Flora screamed. Lilly dropped her spoon. 

"What." 

"Yes! It says that he was abandoned as a kid, fought his way back to the top, and somehow got a scholarship to Oxford! He created Ambrose Empire from his dorm room and started making more and more tech. Then, his University students started to notice and bought all his tech. He built an Empire out of scratch. Are you sure you could do this Lil?" Flora finished reading and looked up at her best friend. Eve and Patsy stared at her too. 

Lilly looked down at the bowl she was eating from. Red sauce coated the beans and chunks of meat. "Of course I can. He's just a guy. And I'm a woman. I can do this." 

* 

Lilly stared up at the steel tower that was Empire House. She rubbed her sweaty palms on her grey pantsuit. 'Come on Lil. You're going to be late!' She strode inside, heading for the receptionist. The woman looked up at her, with a practiced smile on her lipsticked lips. "Rosa, nice to meet you! What's your business here today?" 

"Um- I'm Mr. Ambrose's new secretary." 

Rosa's heavily penciled in eyebrows rose. "You are?" Seeing as she didn't answer, Rosa continued. "Well, his office is on the very top floor. Here's your key card." 

"Thanks." Lilly took the card from her outstretched fingers and ran to the elevator, clicking the button to the top floor and slid the key card into the slot, tapping her feet impatiently. For she had just glanced at the time over the elevator. 8:08. The elevator glided up through the floors and as soon as they opened ran out into the lobby. 

A guy looked up from his AE3 Laptop, peering up over his glasses. "Hi, you must be the new secretary. I'm Mr. Stone. Mr. Ambrose is that way." He turned to point at the double doors at the other end of the room. Lilly thanked him, then walked to the doors. She knocked, then entered a few seconds later. 

The man from before looked up from his laptop. "I don't pay for tardiness, Ms. Linton." 

"Yes Sir, I'm so sorry I got lost on my way- Wait, how do you know my name? I never told you."

He appraised her coolly. "I have my ways."

"Yes well- it's creepy."

"I don't care if it's 'creepy' Ms. Linton, I pay you to be my secretary, not my conscience." Mr. Ambrose replied coldly, glaring slightly. Lilly fought to keep staring into his eyes, not willing to let him see that he affected her.

"What do I do then?"

"Your office is this way. You will be provided your own laptop. Your job is to sort my files as I receive them into folders according to the month and year. I will dictate the subjects of each file, which you will put in the file name. Occasionally, you will need to find a file and send it to me. More often, you will be needed to send my emails and sort my correspondence- letters and packages from Mr. Stone and you will forward relevant emails to me. Everything you need will be provided for you. You will also receive a company phone." Mr. Ambrose opened the door to her office. It was smaller than she expected, but she was okay with that. She looked to the far wall and gasped. It was made completely of glass. She peered out into the grey stormy clouds that covered the sky. She glanced back at Mr. Ambrose. 

"It's beautiful." 

"That may be, Ms. Linton, but I do not pay you to stand around admiring the view from outside. Get to work." 

"Sir yes sir!" She shot him a cheeky grin, then hurried to her desk. Already, the latest AE laptop sat on her desk, the metal a pristine chrome color. She opened it, and the screen blinked to life almost instantly. The display was HD of course, and the screen was touch screen. She spent the next few minutes figuring out the controls, and of course, customizing her profile picture on her new company AEmail account. Chocolate, of course. Who didn't love chocolate? Then, an email came in from her boss. 

From:
{[email protected]}

Subject:
File #LXVII

Message:

Ms. Linton, 

Sort this file into November.

Rikkard Ambrose

Lilly clicked the reply button, quickly sending the following email:

From:
{[email protected]}

To:
{[email protected]}

Subject:
File #LXVII

Message:

Dear Mr. Ambrose,

Consider it done. :)

Yours,

Lilly Linton

She smiled. It wouldn't hurt to show some respect by answering would it? And she loved seeing her new username. Clever wasn't it? A ping alerted her of a reply.

From:
{[email protected]}

To:
{[email protected]}

Subject:
File #LXVII

Message:

Ms. Linton,

I demand you change your username immediately. I cannot have 'ChocoLover' as my secretary when I have you write my emails. Furthermore, you are not 'mine' in anyway, nor am I 'Dear.'

Rikkard Ambrose

She quickly typed up a response.

My Dearest Mr. Ambrose,

But I love chocolate so very much! Almost more than feminism and women's rights, but, alas, very many chauvinists are still out there today. I do hope you aren't one of them... And I'm merely being polite in my address to my new boss. Wouldn't want to make him mad, after all.

I'm sure you were quite dear to your mother.

Yours forever (Or for however long I'm in your employ)

Lilly Linton

His reply pinged only a minute later.

From:
{[email protected]}

To:
{[email protected]}

Subject:
File #LXVII

Message:

Ms. Linton,

This is wasting my time, and I do not tolerate my time being wasted. Once again, change your Username or I'll be forced to deduct this time wasted from your wages. And I was never dear to my mother. By the way, your boss tells me that you're already doing an extremely good job making him mad. GET TO WORK.

Rikkard Ambrose

A slow grin spread across her face. This was going to be fun.

"Sir Yes Sir!!" She yelled.

Outside the door, Mr. Ambrose sat at his desk, staring at the computer. His new secretary was bugging him. Then, out of nowhere, her voice yelled out, "Sir Yes Sir!" Involuntarily, his lip twitched upward. Then he frowned. What was happening to him?