CHAPTER 1

Andrea woke up with a start, immediately sitting upright. No matter how many times he heard it, her alarm clock was still a shock every time. It was as loud as it was annoying. She stopped it with a loud bang and literally jumped out of bed. She threw her legs to the side and her body immediately followed.

She rubbed her eyes as she made her way to the bathroom. A loud shriek immediately followed by a sharp pain woke her up completely. "Ow!" She yelled and bent low to pick her cat who she had accidentally stepped on.

"Mikey!" She called the feral monster. "That hurt!" The poor creature looked like it was happy to give her a taste of what it had felt earlier. "It wasn't my fault," she argued. "You know I always come by the way every morning. Why aren't you in your bed? My rug is not for sleeping." 

The cat meowed and stretched on her hands before proceeding to purr and then curl up. She rolled her eyes and carefully placed it back on the floor. She didn't have time to deal with Mikey, she had to get ready.

Her agent, well more like her best friend, had told her about the job opening at The Lucian Lyc Company. The CEO was looking for a new personal assistant. Tracy didn't seem too happy about giving her the details of the job but she was desperate and if she could get a job at LLC, what more would she want.

Tracy did warn that he was known for firing his personal assistants on very short notice that Tracy didn't want her to lose the job just as she got it. Andrea had answered with, "we would worry about that after I get the job, for now, let me go try my luck."

She cleaned up as fast as she could, the last thing she wanted was to show up late. The interview was by nine-thirty, she intended to be around the premises by nine. Nothing was wrong with being a little early, late was out of the question.

She opened her wardrobe, throwing the door to both her left and right. It wasn't a sliding door which meant she always had to be careful whenever she opened it, else she would end up with a mess.

She checked through her hangers, unsure of which to pick. She would have loved to ask Tracy but her best friend was most likely at work already. She probably won't be able to get through.

Besides, it was better if she decided on her own, Tracy was likely to pick something that would make her too self-conscious of herself. She needed something she would feel comfortable in, an outfit that made her feel at ease.

She saw it before she even started thinking. She often thought it was the finest dress in her wardrobe but Tracy always argued otherwise. It was a gift from her mother. A simple navy blue dress, with no designs or flowers. It stopped just above her knees.

It was perfect, she picked up her glasses, wore them, and spun in front of the mirror. She was happy with what she saw. Picking a footwear wasn't an issue, everything she and was just in one color, black.

She picked low heel stilettos, Tracy often called her shoe collection hideous. Aside from the fact that she hated colorful, —if her plain room was anything to talk about, the different shades of gray colors screaming from the walls— she also hated anything that drew any sort of attention to her.

Low heels were comfortable and if at all there was a cause to run, maybe from zombies or worse she wouldn't have to worry about taking her shoes off. Those were the reasons she had given Tracy but her best friend had scoffed at her refusing to acknowledge her foolproof logic.

She quickly brushed her hair and applied a little blush to her skin, she thought she looked pale well, she felt so too. A little touch of lipstick followed, she went with pink. She didn't want anything that screamed, look at me.

She picked her bag and was out the front door but not before pouring out food for Mikey and changing his water. There was nothing for her if she dared eat especially with how antsy she was feeling. She was afraid she might tumble it all on the interviewer's lap. She had to avoid that.

Her taxi was already outside, she had stepped out just in time. Tracy often said she was so on time, it was frightening. She climbed and instinctively dialed Tracy.

"Hello," Tracy said on the first ring.

"Tracy!" She called out a little shocked.

"You're almost ready right?" Tracy asked.

"I am on my way." She muttered.

"What? It is barely eight-thirty!" Tracy almost yelled.

"I know but going earlier makes me feel like I have an edge besides the drive to the company is over twenty full minutes. What if there is traffic? I would get stuck on the road for longer. I am not about to take any chances, you know I badly need this job."

"This would not have happened if you had spent less." Tracy scolded.

"How was I to know the company would let me go due to a financial crisis?" She asked, sarcastically.

"It was pretty obvious, you even told me."

"Yeah, but I did not think they would actually let me go."

"Well, that shouldn't bother right now. I know you would do great. Kisses and lots of love. I've got to go, I got another call." Tracy said in a rush and hung up before Andrea could give her reply.

She sighed and sank into the back seat. Her nerves were in disarray. The cab managed to get her to the address she had given the driver a few minutes to nine. She paid her fee and rushed out of the car. 

She stared at the building for quite some time before strutting to the coffee shop nearby. "One coffee please," she ordered, at least her stomach and nerves could handle that.

"Milk, Sugar?" The waiter asked.

"Yes, three cubes please." She liked coffee but couldn't handle it black. The bitter taste made her nauseous.

She sipped the coffee out of the coffee cup as fast as it was humanly possible. It was a little too hurt and it burnt her tongue but she didn't care. This was a wake-up call.

Nine fifteen, Andrea left the coffee shop and began to slowly her way to the huge building. "Good morning," she said to the security by the entrance, smiling as cheerfully as possible. "Could you please show me the way to the interview room?"

The guard seemed happy to help her and told her the floor to go to, she thanked him profusely before making her way up, embarrassing the poor guy. "Good luck!" He called after her.

"Thank you," she replied, waving back.

She got into the elevator just as it was about to close and found herself surrounded by ladies. She immediately assumed they were here for the interview and she wasn't wrong. She carefully followed behind them and got to the waiting room.

They were each handed a form but Andrea spent so much time filling hers as she cross-checked and cross-checked. She didn't want anything to be wrong. Finally, she handed the paper and waited to be called up.

No longer distracted, she noticed her competition and immediately felt very small. They were nothing like her. She swallowed and folded herself moving closer to the edge of her seat. She hoped this would finish faster.