Chapter 2

Chapter 2: A Second Too Late

Anaya's P.O.V:

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. BEEP. BEEP!!!

SLAM!

The door banged open at the exact instant I shut off my alarm clock.

"Honey, if you're trying to wake up the entire neighborhood, I think you've already succeeded." 

"Five more minutes mom..." I groaned from under my blanket. Soon found it flying off of me to land on the floor.

"Say that to your new boss." Mom put her hands on her hips to emphasize her point.

"Mooooom! Why did you remove my blanket? I'm not five!" I whined, the cold morning air making me shiver as goose bumps danced on my skin, but being the stubborn, lazy person that I am, I simply stayed put.

"Yes, you're not. You're 25 and you know very well that it takes over an hour to reach your new office!" She said sternly. "Up. Now!"

"I'm up! I'm up!" I sat up in bed, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. Twenty-five or not, my mom is still the boss of the house.

"Good. Get ready. I'm making breakfast." With that, she flipped her dark brown hair over her shoulders and walked out of the room.

Does she have to be this dramatic at six in the morning?

I sighed, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. It was past four o' clock when I went to bed last night, or should I say this morning. I’d hardly had two hours of sleep. But I can't waste time on sleep today. I have a hunch I'll be working my ass off this week at my new office. Any mistakes and I'm fired.

Sometimes, I really need to know when to stop. Antony had merely asked for a favor, to work at his brother’s office for the remaining of my term. If I couldn't do it then I can go back to working with him any time I wanted to and he’d even renew my term for another 3 years. I should have refused but the idea of taking on a challenge with Lancelot Eustis was just too tempting. The pay's pretty high too. But most of all, it was Lancelot's I-am-God's-most-prized-creation attitude that got me into this mess and I'm not the kind of person who gets scared of the big bad wolf.

I took a quick shower and dressed in a blue pencil skirt and jacket with a white shirt underneath. Pulled my hair into a neat bun on top of my head and put on my glasses. Applying a tiny bit of eyeliner and lip-gloss, I checked my reflection in the mirror one last time before leaving the room. Mom was making me breakfast when I reached the kitchen.

"Mom ", I called out to her."I'm leaving."

"Here's your breakfast honey," she handed me a lunch box. "I made your favorite sandwiches. Eat them on your way and I’ve packed salad for lunch, separate dressing."

"Thanks mom, I love you. Bye." I gave her a hug before leaving for Reefwood HQ.

The bus ride took an hour, which gave me enough time to go over and compare everything Antony had told me about his brother and what I'd gathered from the net, while snacking on my mom's delicious turkey salad sandwiches. The difference was humongous.

What the tabloids said was that Lancelot Eustis had it all easy. He was never in office the entire day, was always seen with a different woman, he was a cheater, a heart breaker, but no matter how bad the break ups, none of his ex's said a single bad word about him.

On the other hand, Antony had told me that he was a hardworking man who didn't want people knowing that he was talented; he came across as a spoilt rich playboy because he had commitment problems and that he was a genuinely nice person.

I could play eenie-meenie-miney-mo here but since I've known Antony for over three years, I decided to trust his advice.

But Lancelot Eustis on the other hand, other than being Godly handsome with soft, shiny black hair and golden eyes similar to a topaz, had an air of power around him that could intimidate the Angel's themselves. But at the same time, there was no denying the fact that he was also extremely arrogant. I sighed. I have to steer clear of him before my infatuation grows. I'm his secretary and I plan on keeping it completely professional if I am to survive a single day.

I got off at my stop and decided to cover the short distance walking on foot. Since I wore wedges, walking was a bit easier. I checked my watch before entering the building. Punched in my card and took the elevator to the 10th floor.

"Hey! Hold up." I stopped the elevator doors and smiled as another person entered the elevator on the third floor. A man with light brown hair and green eyes in the usual staff attire, carrying a coffee mug in his hands.

"Here," he handed over the steaming cup of espresso to me. "Boss has this every morning. Gets really cranky without it. Mr. Eustis asked me to inform you."

"Mr. Eustis?" I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Antony." He corrected with a dimpled smile.

"Thank you, Mr. Trevor." I read his nametag. "And don't worry; I'll prepare it myself from tomorrow onwards."

"Happy to help, Ms. Johnson." He exited on the ninth floor.

I stepped out of the elevator on the 10th, placed my purse on my desk, took out the organizer in one hand and used it as a tray for the coffee, adjusted my jacket with my free hand, took a deep breath...and opened the cabin door...only to nearly have a heart attack.

"Ah, Ms. Johnson. You seem to be a second too late for work." He smirked, leaning over his desk, palms on either side of a half-naked woman underneath him.

I tried my hardest to keep my poker face on. I'm a professional and I've seen worse. I would

not be fazed. "Actually Sir, I'm two minutes and three seconds early. You're clock is approximately four minutes and twenty nine seconds faster than standard."

His smile vanished and he pushed away from the woman, who got up and fixed herself as if I hadn't just walked in on her and my boss, going at it at eight in the morning, on top of my boss’s working desk…, which I’ll now have to disinfect. My boss on the other hand, was currently on his iPhone, checking for the correct timing.

"Looks like you get to keep your job for today, Ms. Johnson. Now," he looked at the woman who was now standing on her feet by his desk, not a hair out of place.

"I'll leave you to your work then," she smiled seductively at him, making me shudder inwardly. "Call me when you're free." With that, she glided her way out of the room, but not before pinning me with her murderous gaze.

"You actually counted the timing?" He asked, incredulously.

"I would have corrected it if the clock weren't so high." I answered truthfully. “Here’s your coffee, Sir."

He gave me a piercing look, which had me freezing on my spot. Did he think I'd poison him or was he just startled? I didn't have to ponder that long for the answer since he took the mug away from me at that instant.

"Sir, if you tell me what your plans for the day are, then I ca-"

"Oh, I'm not going to need any planning, Ms. Johnson. But I do have some for you." He smirked, cutting me off as I took out the organizer. I was beginning to learn that his face, as Godly as ever, was just as mask for the Devil underneath. "Are you ready for it?"

"Yes Sir." I said firmly. I will not bend like all the others have before. If he thinks a little work will scare me, he doesn't know me yet.

But what was also running through my head at that instant was… I should have trusted the tabloids.