Lilly swept inside, smiling at Rosa before making a quick stop at the Break Room. Other employees  were clustered about the 5 espresso makers, chattering on about their lives. Lilly joined them, saying hello to the few employees she knew. She'd quickly realized that not many women were in the higher up positions, which made her dislike Mr. Ambrose a bit. She wasn't complaining though, the pay here was good.

Lilly glanced at the clock. Crap! She was going to be late. She found Mr. Stone, standing among his own group of friends and sipping from a green mug. "Mr. Stone! Mr. Stone, hello! Um- I'm going to be late, but do you know what kind of coffee Mr. Ambrose likes?" 

Mr. Stone turned toward the smaller woman, clad in one of her brightly colored pantsuits. Today, she was in a bright shade of red. Not that she didn't look pretty, but, her splash of color in the austere office was something nobody ever saw in the Ambrose Empire. "Well, Ms. Linton, I do believe he likes it black, no sugar. Also, I do believe his mail arrived on my desk earlier this morning. Only give him the mail most important to him, and throw away the rest." 

"Thank you Mr. Stone!" Lilly hurriedly moved to an empty coffee maker, brewing herself and her boss a cup of joe. She ran to the elevator, jamming her elbow into the button to floor 85, the highest floor in whole building. She winced as she held the hot mugs in hand. The elevator dinged open, and she trotted to Mr. Stone's desk, where a neat pile of letters sat. She moved them to the edge of the desk and used her elbow to hold it to her side. She ran into his office struggling to keep the letters under her arm, just as the clock struck 8:05. Mr. Ambrose looked up at his secretary, who was grinning at him with a pained look in her eyes. 

"Thought you might like a cup of coffee sir." She placed both cups gingerly on his desk, then took the stack of letters from her arm and quickly sorted through them, giving him a smaller stack than before.  She smiled at him, again. He raised a brow. 

"While I do somewhat appreciate the gesture, I'd like it better if you do it on your own time, not mine." 

"Alright sir. So, I hope you like black coffee." 

"I do, actually." He reached for a cup, taking a sip. A small crease formed between his brows and he glanced disapprovingly at her. "Without a bucket load of sugar." 

"Oh! Sorry, sir, you must have gotten mine! Here you go," she handed him the other cup with an apologetic smile. Mr. Ambrose looked through his mail, keeping only five envelopes and throwing the rest into his paper bin. 

"Didn't Mr. Stone tell you to only give me ones of importance?" 

"Well, yes," She started, looking puzzled at his wastepaper bin. "But most of those were for charity sites, and 'Charity is important! Is the improvement of the lives of the poor of no interest to you?'" 

He replied instantly, "'Not if by so doing they become richer and I poorer.'" Lilly gaped at him. Did this man have no heart? By even donating 1,000 pounds from his fortune to a charity, a hundred lives could have been improved! Swallowing past the sudden anger in her throat, Lilly squeezed out a, 

"What are we going to do today sir?" 

"Today, I need you to write me a correspondence to Mr. Gates and-" 

"MR. GATES! As in, Bill Gates!? Co-founder of Microsoft?" Her irritation with her boss dissipated when she heard the name, too overcome with the reality of it all. Bill Gates... The richest man in the world... 

"Who else would I be taking about?" 

"I just- I never thought I would actually be talking to him! Albeit, on your behalf but..." She trailed off. 

"Get your laptop, now, then come back here." 

"Alright Mr. Ambrose!" Lilly practically ran to her office, throwing open the door to her plain office. Though he was rich, Lilly noticed Mr. Ambrose didn't furnish his office lavishly, as she had expected. The walls were actually a boring off white color, and his office chairs were sparsely padded. He had one couch at the side of the room, and a 55 inch HD TV that looked like it had never been used. Her office wasn't much better. It was empty, save her glass table and two chairs. The only bright spot of color in the room was her table and the painting Flora had made a year before. 

Mr. Ambrose had eventually won the email fight, and she'd been forced to change her username to [email protected]. She pulled her charger out of her laptop and carried it out of her office and into Mr. Ambrose's. She settled into one of the very uncomfortable chairs in front of his desk and opened up her email account. Mr. Ambrose started talking, and her fingers flew quickly over the keys, typing exactly what he said. It wasn't easy, he spoke fast and barely stopped to allow her time to type. It was a good thing Lilly was proficient at computers, having majored in technology in her college days. 

"Are you finished?" Mr. Ambrose asked. 

"Yes sir! What's Mr. Gates' address?" 

"It's *******@gmail.com" (Mr. Gates does not wish for his email address publicized, thanks for your cooperation. :)) 

"Alright sir." Lilly clicked send, and reached for coffee. To her disappointment, it had already cooled. She sighed, and downed the sweet liquid. Seeing that Mr. Ambrose was finished with his as well, she stood and offered to take it down for him. He nodded, dismissing her. Lilly grabbed both mugs and went down. Mr. Stone looked up from his game of Zuma Deluxe. He caught her gaze and flushed slightly, deleting the tab. 

"Uh- I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention it to the boss.." 

Lilly laughed. "Don't worry Mr. Stone, I'm not a snitch!" 

He laughed too, and nodded. "Good! The last one was... Frankly, she didn't last long." 

Lilly continued down to the break room. It was in the middle of the building, Floor 42. Nobody else was in there, seeing as it was already 9:30. She placed the cups in the dishwasher, and started it up. Then she went for a quick trip to the restroom. 10 minutes later, she was on her way back to Mr. Ambrose's office, humming softly to herself. She swung open the door, expecting only to see Mr. Ambrose's handsome chiseled face from across the room. 

A black grizzled beard was the first thing she saw. Slowly, she looked up, craning her head back. The tangled beard led up to a weathered, tanned face, a squat nose, and small, beady eyes. A purple turban sat upon his head. The man looked down at her, eyes narrowing in a hard glare. She gulped, letting out a squeak. 

"Karim! Let Ms. Linton in." The man, presumably Karim, moved aside, glaring at her. 

Lilly shuffled past, ducking behind the man's muscled bicep. "Um... Who are you?" 

"I could ask the same of you, girl." Karim rumbled. 

Mr. Ambrose looked coolly at them both. "Karim, this is my new secretary, Lillian Linton. Ms. Linton, this is Karim, head of security and my personal body guard." Karim stuck out a huge spade-like hand and Lilly did the same. They clasped hands, Karim squeezing hers until it felt like her fingers were about to pop off. Lilly returned the glare he was giving her, trying in vain to squeeze his fingers back. He released his grip, and Lilly gingerly stretched her fingers out. Good, he hadn't broken them. 

"Sahib! About Simmons..." Karim cast a furtive look down at the small woman. Lilly stuck her tongue out. He growled. 

"Ms. Linton, stay in your office." Mr. Ambrose commanded. 

"Yes, sir." Lilly walked to her office, closing the door softly behind her. Who was Simmons? And why did Karim hate her so much? The soft rumble of the men's voices could still be heard. Lilly walked toward the air conditioning vent on the white marble floors, and knelt upon the cold stone. Their voices were more audible here, and she could clearly make out what they said. She leaned down, a stray strand of hair from her bun falling over her face. 

"Have you found him?" 

"No Sahib." 

"Then what are you still doing here? I need that file Karim!" 

"I did receive some intelligence that he was staying at a hotel after I searched his apartment. I just don't know which..." 

"Hack their data bases to see the guest list." 

"One of Warren's men did. I have eliminated 30 of the hotels, there are seven left with Simmons listed as their name. We are unsure how to proceed now." 

"We will send in a force of our men to ransack each room." 

"But... Sir, the Press.. The Police..." 

"Karim! Order the men to-" 

Lilly had had enough. This plan was pretty stupid. She didn't care if she got in trouble for butting in, but this was simply idiotic. It just showed how dense men really were, even if they were billionaires. She burst into Mr. Ambrose's office, stopping him mid-sentence. 

"Wait! Don't do that! I have a plan!" He and Karim stared at her. Anger brewed like a storm in Mr. Ambrose's sea blue eyes. 

"What. Are. You. Doing? Didn't I tell you to stay inside your office?"  His voice was like a giant block of ice. 

"I couldn't help but hear what you were talking about- the vents are really um... Anyway, I've got a plan." Lilly finished breathlessly, her heart pounding in her ears. He could fire her for this. And she'd only had this job for three days! It would a new record though, she thought bitterly. 

"We've already got a plan-" 

"It's a stupid one! It's going to get you in trouble with the authorities!" 

"Why you little-" 

Karim broke in, hesitantly saying, "Sahib? I would like to hear what her plan is. Your plan is... doable but impractical." 

"Fine. Speak, Ms. Linton." 

Lilly smiled and shot Karim a grateful look. He glared back at her. "First things first, I'll need a dress." 

"A dress?!" Mr. Ambrose repeated, almost surprised. Almost. "What's wrong with what you're wearing now? You look feminine enough." 

Lilly shot her employer a sly smile. "I need to look irresistible sir. Sexy in other words." 

Mr. Ambrose nearly bit off his tongue. 

Do you want this to be a longer story? Maybe 10 parts or so? Or just a short story, with like, five chapters? 

P.S. I wanted to reward you guys with an early update. You've been so understanding and encouraging, thank you all so much! I'm also on Christmas Vacation so... :)