Thirty Days of Genius – Day Four

She watched him from across the room as he moved from group to group, fake smile firmly in pace.  She knew he hated these events, even as he was forced to attend.

“Why should I go to some boring ballet that benefits some new cause trying to save the planet?  It’s a waste of time,” he had told her last month when she brought it up.

“It’s good for your image,” she replied patiently, used to his harsh attitude.

“It’s trivial, that’s what it is,” but he sighed, resigned.

She knew he would go because he always did.  However he always hated it.  As his personal assistant, it was her job to make sure his image remained sparkling, no matter what she knew to be true.  In actuality, he was a demanding, demeaning, spoiled, chauvinistic pig, but not many people got to see that side of him.  It was her job to keep it that way.

She sighed into her champagne flute and wondered how she had fallen so low as to keep a spoiled little rich boy looking like a competent CEO.  She had basically been acting as the CEO for the last two years but without any of the fame and fortune; just more and more responsibility.

The job was demanding but also occasionally rewarding, such as tonight.  She got to see the Nutcracker ballet and rub elbows with the city’s best and brightest, or at least richest.  Plus one of her favorite causes was getting a hefty donation from her incompetent boss.

Suddenly bright green eyes set in an attractive face invaded her line of sight, breaking her out of her thoughts.

“Miss Andrews, I believe?” he inquired politely.

“Yes.  And you are?”

“Nick Knight at your service.”  He took her extended hand and instead of shaking it, he bowed with a flourish and gently kissed the back of her hand.  She raised one eyebrow.

He laughed.  “That’s pretty much the response I get every time.  Can’t a man be a gentleman these days without rousing suspicion?”

“What can I do for you, Mr. Knight?”

“Well, I’ve come to sweep you away from Mr. Reynolds and into the waiting arms of Am Corp.”  He continued quickly at her skeptical look.  “I’ve heard that you’ve been quietly running Mr. Reynolds company for him for the last year.”

She looked at him suspiciously, wondering where he got his information.

His smile was charmingly mischievous.  “I have my ways,” he said with a grin.  “Your skills are being wasted on Reynolds.  Come work for me and you’ll be on track to be my interim CEO in less than six months.  Honestly, I need a break and I can’t leave unless I”m sure my company is in good hands.  I believe that is you.”

“Your investors won’t ever sign off on it.  I don’t have a business degree and I have no recorded history managing a company.  I’m just an assistant that keeps the CEO on the straight and narrow.”

“So if my investors agree, you’ll take the job?” he asked slyly.

She looked at him again, wondering why Knight and Am Corp were ringing a bell but was unable to come up with anything.  It was a dream job, which immediately put her on edge.  If it was too good to be true, it generally was.

“I’ll think about it Mr. Knight, but I think you need to keep looking in the meantime,” she finally replied.  She needed to do some serious research and soul-searching to see if leaving her currently crappy but steady and well-paying job for a chance in the dark was really worthwhile.

“Welcome aboard Miss Andrews!”

“What?!  No!  I never agreed to any such thing.  I merely agreed to think about it.  And now I’m kind of regretting even that.”

He just winked and drifted away.  “I’ll have my people call you to work out the details,” he tossed over his shoulder with yet another infuriating grin.

She ground her teeth as he disappeared into the crowd, firmly clamping her mouth shut to prevent her desired retort from escaping.  Nick Knight didn’t know it yet, but he’d met his match.  She’d show him, one way or another.

Writing prompts:  trivial, ballet, planet

1 thought on “Thirty Days of Genius – Day Four”

Leave a Reply to Kassy Cancel Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.