When I wake on my first day of my new job, nervous is an understatement. I am beyond nervous. I know Ethan is a nice guy, but is he a nice boss? That is the real question.

Rolling out of bed, I still feel like I am in a foreign place. I don't think of this apartment as my apartment just yet. I guess I just need to give it time to grow on me. I spent all day yesterday getting a feel of the place after Ethan had my groceries delivered at 7am to ensure that I'd have breakfast. Tricky bastard.

Shuffling to the bathroom, I let my hair out of the braid and turn on the shower. I wasn't used to having hot water every time I showered so this is just fantastic. The bathroom steams up quickly as I step inside. Trying not to let my nerves get the best of me, I put all my focus into shaving my legs and washing my hair, still pretty damn happy that it's not red anymore.

As I rinse my hair, I hum some cheesy pop song that's been stuck in my head since watching MTV until 2am last night. As I'm turning off the water, the smell of bacon cuts through the smell of my lavender body wash. Quickly wrapping a towel around myself, I speed walk to the kitchen, leaving wet footprints behind. When I get to the living room, I am shocked to find Ethan in my kitchen, sleeves rolled up and jacket hanging off the corner of a bar stool at the breakfast bar.

"What the hell, Ethan?"

His eyes shoot to mine for a split second before turning back to the stove to flip the bacon. I wonder if he made eggs...oh snap out of it you greedy woman.

"Ethan, why are you here?"

"Making breakfast. Sleep well?"

"Uh, I'm not blind, I can see you're cooking and yes I slept fine, but why are you cooking in my kitchen?" I hold the towel around me for dear life, half angry, half wondering if there will be pancakes.

Ethan doesn't answer, he just grabs two plates out of the cabinet and begins putting food on them. After a few moments, he sits both plates on the breakfast bar and I inhale sharply. Pancakes. My ultimate downfall.

"Come, sit down and eat" He orders and I stand there for a moment. Ethan looks up and raises an eyebrow. "Thea, come eat, now. You have work in an hour."

"But...I should...I'm naked" A shiver runs over me as cool air brushes over my wet legs.

"Not completely" Ethan shakes his head and pats the seat next to him. "I won't tell you again. Come eat, please before your food gets cold and to answer your previous question, I was out of eggs."

"So you just thought you'd come down here and cook? Isn't that abusing your power a bit? I didn't take this apartment for you to just come and go as you please" I shift my weight to one foot, trying to stand my ground, but good lord, pancakes!

"Thea, I'm not abusing my power. I made you breakfast"

"What if I didn't want breakfast?"

Ethan frowns at me, stuffing a fork full of fluffy warm pancakes into his bossy trap. "Thea, your pancakes are getting cold. If you don't want them then I do"

Eyeing the full, steaming plate of morning deliciousness, I roll my eyes and walk to the breakfast bar. Carefully sitting down to ensure precise towel placement, I pick up the fork and knife and cut into the fluffy goodness. Biting down on the pancakes, I nearly have a food orgasm. Out of the corner of my eye, Ethan is smirking.

"At least I know one way to keep you quiet" he mumbles as he bites down on a strip of bacon.

"You're a weird boss." I say, licking syrup from the corner of my mouth.

"I'm an involved boss"

"Mhm. I've encountered a few involved bosses in my day. The last time I checked, they are either divorced or serving jail time for sexual harassment." I snort, but my humor doesn't travel to Ethan.

"You've been sexually harassed before?"

I shake my head "No, but I've worked with girls who have. It makes the job hard for young girls to have to put up with sleazy assholes who think just because they hire a young woman that her ass should fall into the palm of his hand."

Ethan stares at me for a moment before looking down at his food. "Well, you won't have to worry about that with me. I've never had relations with my employees."

"That's commendable. Someone like you should have assistants falling into his lap"

"And you're my assistant" A smirk grows in his lips and I open my mouth to say something, but only air comes out. Ethan chuckles.

"Don't worry, Thea. I understand what you were saying. I don't expect you to fall into my lap."

"Good, because I won't." Would I?

After breakfast, Ethan leaves to go back to his place of living, but tells me to meet him downstairs so I can ride to work with him. I quickly get dressed in a dark green dress with a slip black belt around the waist.

Slipping my feet into a pair of red bottom black heels, my toes have never felt this rich before. After blow drying my hair, I run the flat iron over it before pulling half back and braiding it, loosely to keep it out of my face. When I look at myself in the mirror, I giggle loudly.

"Damn, Thea, you look like an adult."

Grabbing my bag, I slip my phone, earbuds, and journal into it, figuring I'd get some writing down on lunch break. At 8:30, I ride down to the lobby and see Ethan waiting by a black car. When I walk out, a smile flashes over his face along with surprise.

"Wow, Thea. You look great"

"Thank you. It feels different" I scrunch my nose, looking down at myself.

"Different good?" Ethan asks.

"Yes, different good."

"Great. Well, let's get your first day started. I hope your phone is fully charged" He flashes me a small smile before opening the back door for me.

I slide inside and he gets in behind me. Seconds later, the driver pulls off. Ethan pulls out his own phone and scrolls through it.

"Phone out and open your calendar" He orders and I dig in my bag, finding it quickly. I unlock it and find the calendar "Okay"

"12:00, business meeting with George Butler. Don't worry about lunch, it will be provided. 2:00, meeting with HR. 2:45, some files will be delivered. Be at your desk to get them for me, I'll be out. 3:00, contract signing with a company I'm buying. Please have some hot coffee ready in the conference room. 4:30, I need you at my apartment. I'm having a suit delivered and I don't want anyone's fingers on it expect yours. When you return, meet me in the conference room for a security debriefing." Ethan sighs and closes his phone and I bite my lip, putting in the day's agenda.

When I'm done, I relax a bit. I think I can do this. It doesn't seem hard at all.

When we arrive at the building, I follow Ethan in as my heel clack against the floor like everyone else. I'm one of these stiletto Barbies now. Jeez.

In the office, Ethan shows me my little office cube attached to his office. It's pretty out of vision to everyone else unless they come around the corner from general population. Ethan gives me a brief summary on how to transfer calls to him and my computer log in information, before going into his office, leaving me. I sit down and place my bag under the desk and suddenly the phone rings, making me jump.

"Hello"

"Always answer saying, “This is Mr. Sawyer's office, how can I help you?” Repeat it please" Ethan orders with the same stern voice from when we were in the car. I inhale and before I can get the words out, I giggle.

"Thea" Ethan's low voice stiffens me.

"Sorry" I mumble and clear my throat. "Mr. Sawyer's office, how may I help you?"

"Great. Now, get my coffee. And I hope you have a productive first day, Thea" I can almost hear the humor in his voice. I know damn well what he is doing.

"Yes, sir" I hang up the phone and make my way out to find out where to even get coffee. Thankfully, I run into Anna. Finally a familiar face. She shoots me a welcoming smile and wink before bouncing on her way.

By 11:40, I've answered 100 phone calls and gotten like five cups of coffee. Why five? Because I managed to fuck up his coffee twice. The first time, too much sugar and the second time, not enough cream. I literally ended up having to measure it out. Picky bastard.

When my office finally quiets down, I lean back in my chair and twirl my pen around between my fingers as my mind drifts off. Funny thing about being a writer, it's easy to day dream. It only take a few seconds before an idea or fantasy crosses my mind and takes me away from reality. A smirk draws at the corner of my mouth as I imagine a guy hiking a woman up on top of my desk and taking her while people walk by without knowing what's going on. He muffles her screams with his hand over her mouth as he thrusts over and over and-

"Thea!"

I yelp and sit up "What?"

I peer over through the glass window, looking into Ethan's office and he is gazing at me and he is pissed. The door to his office is cracked and I hear him tell me to come here even though I read his lips just fine. I stand and walk into his office, feeling both guilty and turned on at the same time.

"Yes" I mumble as I stand in front of his desk.

"I called you three times. Were you ignoring me?"

"No! I swear I wasn't. I didn't hear you."

"Are you deaf?"

The last thing I should have did was the first. I snorted. I couldn't catch it if I tried. Ethan's face tells me that I'm treading dangerous grounds.

"You clearly have a lot to learn, Thea." He sighs. "I'm being nice to you, but I will not tolerate disrespect."

My face burns with embarrassment. "I'm so sorry, Ethan. I was day dreaming"

I shrug and he raises an eyebrow.

"Day dreaming? About?"

My eyes widen at his question. There was no way in hell I was going to tell him that I was day dreaming about two people fucking in my desk.

"I was day dreaming about...about...I was just thinking about...crap" I whisper to myself.

High five, Thea. You're a writer who can't even lie.

"You know what, if you can't even lie about it then clearly I don't need to know. I need you to focus, Thea. If you can't then-"

"You're going to fire me" I interrupt, finishing his sentence. “I look down at my pretty shoes and wonder if I'll be able to pawn them when I'm jobless again.

"No, I'm not going to fire you. I just need you to work a little harder. Okay?"

I nod "Yes, I promise. I'll do whatever you need me to."

"Good. Now, it's almost noon. We have a meeting to attend." Ethan gives me a reassuring smile before standing up. I let him step in front of me and he pauses, snapping his finger.

"Look in my desk and grab an orange file please, I forgot to grab it"

I nod and quickly walk behind his desk as he turns his back to me, going through his phone. I look through the drawers and when I get to the last one, I find the file. I pick it up, but pause. Under the file is a simple black mask like the kind in masquerades. I run my fingers over it. Why does Ethan have a mask in his drawer? Is he into theater or something? Under the mask, I see a small white card, but can't make out the small cursive writing.

"Thea, did you find it."

Quickly closing the drawer, I straighten "Uh, yeah. I got it"