58- Everything is fine

“Don’t be,” Allen says and soon she’s back on her feet. She walks out of the office, this time a bit more slowly but her knees are still very visibly wobbly.
I don’t blame her. I myself feel a bit jarred after seeing her, but luckily for me my current seated position does well to keep my appearance calm.
The moment she leaves the office Allen turns to me. “Would it have killed you to be a bit warmer to her?”
I don’t even try refining my response, “Yes, it would have.”
That stops him for a moment, but he soon recovers. He moves towards me and begins to make a case for her. “I’m not going to let you reject her,” he says. “I’ve already offered her the sun and the moon and I’ll be damned if you make me look like a fool by refusing her.”
“I’m not going to accept her,” I say. “Give her a check and apologize for wasting her time. You can go as high as five thousand. Tell her that the position has already been filled.”
The usual care free air about him immediately disappears. His gaze hardens and his brows crease in annoyance.
It’s rare for him to be this offended and I am not particularly pleased that I’m the cause of his annoyance, but this is a more complicated situation than he will ever know.
“Why?” he asks. “You haven’t even asked for her resume.” He flings the folder to my table.
Even after it lands, I don’t even spare it a single look. “I don’t want to work with a woman,” I reply calmly. “Especially one as attractive as she is. It’ll be too distracting.”
He considers my response for a moment. I wait for him to accept it.

His smirk returns to his face.
I begin to breathe easy, but then the next words that come out of his mouth are not what I expect at all.
“That’s exactly one of the reasons why I’m hiring her. As your best friend, I have been concerned about your abject state of solitude and your unhealthy obsession with work. Therefore, I am taking it upon myself to—?”
“Allen, I’m not joking with you.” I’ve run out of patience. “Send her away and that’s final.” I return my gaze to my desktop’s screen and get back to work. Or at least I try my best to. It is definitely impossible to concentrate especially when I feel his glare on me, but I ignore it all.
This entire situation has shocked me and I need quite a while alone to process what has just transpired. I don’t much believe in fate or coincidence but this is most definitely one sick twist that I want nothing to do with it.

I ’m panicking.
I try to listen to what they might be saying outside the door but I can’t hear a single word. It’s as though in the space of a single minute I’ve been taken to Heaven and then cruelly kicked back down to the ground. I don’t understand this fucking joke.
He is the CEO of FireEye?
Him? The man that had fucked me senseless, barely two nights prior? I’ve been so focused on the CFO Allen, that I didn’t even bother doing any research on the CEO. I had expected an entry level position in one of their departments, but instead Allen has offered me what I am certain is one of the most prized positions across the company.
To become the personal assistant of Grady Abbott, a man whom I have heard mentioned over and over again amongst other industry professionals for his sheer genius and business acumen, is not a casual opportunity. He has however kept such a low profile that very few are aware of what he looks like. I should have done my research before this damn interview and I would have been able to find some information about him despite the fact that the majority of FireEye’s publicity is handled by their PR officer along with the CFO, Allen.
Grady Abbott was rumored to be more focused and concerned with the development of the company’s products.
His name should have struck some sort of chord with me at the bar, but I had been out of my mind with lust at the time and now here I am about to lose a position that I would probably never have obtained ordinarily. My hands are trembling and my heart is racing, so I fish my phone out of my purse to call Lee Rang.
Tears sting my eyes, and by the time she picks up my voice is now shaky, “Lee Rang,” I say.

She immediately knows that something is wrong. After a quick, scattered explanation of the situation, she goes silent for a little while. “Did you know who he was before you slept with him?” she asks.
“Of course not,” I almost squeal out in my defense.
“Hmm,” she says. “I’m just trying to see if this is some sort of orchestration by them.” “I don’t think so,” I reply. “It’s just my cursed, twisted fate.”
“You weren’t cursing your fate on Saturday when you picked him up from the bar.”
“He picked me up,” I retort, “and why the fuck do I have to suffer for what I did outside of work?”
“Exactly,” she says. “Exactly. You deserve this job and you’ve earned it. So don’t you dare allow him to take it from you.”
“That’s the thing,” I mutter. “I don’t know if I’ve earned it or if I’m even qualified. This is a job anyone with more working experience than me would kill to get.”
“If you’re not qualified for it then why were you hired?”
“The CFO and I clicked over burritos at the job fair, and I think I mentioned my experience with creating the development kit that my internship company packaged and sold as a defense solution against app attacks. I even forgot about that because he so casually slipped the inquiry into our conversation, but apparently my answer impressed him and made quite the impression.”
I moved to grab my hair in frustration when I recall that it’s in a very delicate chignon, so I restrain myself just in time. The last thing I need right now is to go back into the office again looking crazy. “Lee Rang, what the hell am I going to do?”
“Blair, listen to me very carefully,” she says. “You might not believe that you’re qualified for this job and nothing I say is going to help you change that perception. But what I need to know is whether you’re certain of this opportunity. Is it as special as you claim it is?”
“Of course it is!” I exclaim. “This is the fucking position of the century- to learn directly from Abbott. I’m prepared to work my fucking ass off. Having him anywhere on my resume automatically puts me above seventy percent of the entire industry.”
“Okay,” she says. “Now go in there and tell him that and demand your job. The CFO has already offered you the position right?”
“Yes he did but—“
“Did you accept it?” She cut me off.

“Of course but—“
“Then it’s binding. A contract has been established between you two even if it’s a verbal one, so he is obligated to offer you the job. Tell Abbey or whatever his name is that you will sue him for wrongful termination if he fires you or refuses to give you the position solely based on your personal affairs beyond the workplace.”