A long story.

ALLISON'S POV

My car screeched to a halt as I almost hit a man riding across the road on a bike.

"Hey! Watch where you're going, bitch!" the man yelled as he rode away quickly.

"It was a green light!" I yelled back as I drove away as fast as I could, not having the time to retort to his stupidity. It was my first day at work and I was already 5 minutes late, and I still had a five-minute drive before I gets there.

"Today is the worst!" I hissed and banged on my steering wheel as I slowly stepped on my brakes. There was traffic ahead of me and it doesn't seem to be moving quickly.

My phone rang as I cursed and honked, startling me and causing my heart to race a thousand miles per second as I felt my worst fear coming true.

I reluctantly checked the caller ID and breathed a sigh of relief as it read 'Jules', my best friend.

"Hey, girl! Where are you?!" Jules yelled into the phone, her voice almost deafening me. "You're almost ten minutes late!"

"I know," I replied apprehensively. "I'm stuck in traffic right now and it's moving very slowly."

"Why didn't you leave earlier then?"

"That's a long story," I sighed. "But you should blame Leo for that. He's the most troublesome of the three."

"Oh, no, you don't," Jules retorted. "Don't you dare blame my baby for your tardy ass."

"What do we do now?" I asked, hoping to get away from the topic of Leo. Jules would never hear a single bad thing about him and that argument could last for ages.

"Just get your ass over here as quickly as possible," Jules sighed. "I'll do my best to stall for you, and let's hope it works."

"Thanks a lot, baby," I said as the traffic started moving again. "You're a lifesaver."

"Just get your ass here, and be careful," Jules replied and ended the call.

"Thank you," I mouthed as I rode along as fast as I could to my new job, making sure to stay just a little under the speed limit. The last thing I needs right now is to be flagged down by a cop and given a speed ticket.

★★★★★★

"I'm here!" I breathed into the phone as I hurried inside the office building. Jules was calling again and I was exactly fifteen minutes late. It was a pretty bad impression for my first day on the job.

"Take the elevator to the sixth floor," Jules instructed as I hurried to the elevator. Luckily, the elevator wasn't in use, and I got in pretty easily.

"My first lucky stroke today," I mumbled into the phone.

"Don't relax yet," Jules informed me. "You're still fifteen minutes late on your first day on the job. You ain't out of the woods yet."

"Of course," I said as I accessed myself and straightened the creases in my outfit.

I was wearing a white long-sleeved shirt, with only one button loose, and a black, pencilled, knee-length skirt which hugged my hips and boldly displayed my curves.

The elevator dinged and the door opened to Jules in front of me with her hands on her hips and an annoyed expression on her face.

"I warned you to be here as early as possible," she hissed.

"I know," I apologized. "I tried my best to be early, I swear. Leo got in a fight in school so I had to attend a meeting with his teacher."

"Again, don't blame my baby for your tardy ass," Jules said as she walked away from the elevator down the line of office doors, with me trailing behind her.

Jules was a brown-skinned, 5'4 feet tall beauty with thicc thighs which seemed to want to spill out of her pencilled skirt, C-cup bust and sharp beautiful facial features. Her brown eyes accentuated her wavy locks of brown hair which extended to her shoulders.

"Good morning, Gina," Jules greeted and gestured for me to stand beside her.

"Good morning, ma'am," I greeted as well.

"What's the meaning of this?" Gina asked as she pushed up her glasses which rested comfortably at the bridge of her nose.

"Allison Dean," Jules said. "She's the one who is supposed to resume today. The one who I told you had to visit the hospital for personal reasons."

"This isn't a very good impression," she said as she peered at me. "You are already fifteen minutes late, and this is your first day."

"I know, ma'am," I replied. "I'm extremely sorry, and I promise that this would never happen again."

"You shouldn't be saying that to me," she shrugged as she typed away at her computer.

Jules worked in the Personnel department of Phantom Corporation and Gina was the head of the department.

"Seriously?" Gina sighed as she saw the position I was supposed to occupy. She looked up at Jules. "You knew this, didn't you? That's why you brought her to me."

"Just please help her," Jules pleaded. "I promise something like this would never happen again. You are the only one who can help her right now."

"Fine," Gina said as she stood up. "You owe me."

"Of course, I do," Jules grinned. "Anything you want."

"Thank you," I said.

"Just follow me."

Gina led me back to the elevator and they rode it in silence to the highest floor in the building. This floor had fewer offices compared to the floor she just left and the doors were a lot more decorated than the ones downstairs. It was obvious that this place was reserved for the important members of the company.

Gina soon stopped in front of an office at the end of the hall and knocked softly on the door.

"Come in," a deep but smooth voice said from the other side of the door.

She opened the door, and we were greeted by an empty office, with a door at the other end. Gina walked straight through the office to the other door and opened it also.

"Where is my secretary, Gina?" the man seated in the office asked the second they opened the door.

"Right here," Gina said. "I apologise for her tardiness. She had a medical emergency."

The man looked up for the first time at his secretary with blue eyes.

"Sir, this is your secretary, Allison Dean," Gina introduced me.

"Nice to meet you, sir."

"His name is George Grail," Gina said. "The CEO of Phantom Corporation."