S I X

"YEAH, WE CAN MOVE THAT MEETING TO WEDNESDAY, THAT SHOULDN'T SET US BACK," ASHTON SAID TO HIS CLIENT.

I felt weird for standing outside of his opened office door the way I was, but I was holding the papers he asked me to fetch for him. But considering how this was my job, some things just couldn't be helped, I guess. Besides, I was incredibly indebted to him because I had been trying to find employment for months and here he came, out of the blue and it was everything I could've asked for. A nice job, decent pay, safe part of town, and the environment wasn't too stressful save for a few bad apples. It was the dream, actually, especially when considering how I started off as part of a catering company and went to lurking in a café for opportunities before my cousin finally hit me with a golden one.

The call went on for a while longer until he finally hung up, spinning his office chair so that he was facing my way. "Ms. White, what can I do for you?"

There were parts of me that would've winked at him seductively before saying "many things, sir," but what made my job so great was that I kept my feelings at bay as best as I could. The last thing I needed was to go stir-crazy over him and put everything I had made work well for me at stake.

"Well," I said awkwardly, "I have those papers you asked for." Internally, I was groaning because of how unprofessional I sounded. I didn't even look at them, save for a quick glance over to see that they had the company logo as well as lots of words in thick paragraphs and small script. This was definitely not my area of expertise and it made me feel cast out of a circle that made up the atmosphere of this floor. Not to mention how I was hired because I left a lipstick stain on his glass at a party and not for any of my qualifications - which were rather slim.

He scooted forward in the chair until he was directly in front of me, taking the papers from my hand and sliding back to his desk. "Let me just sign these real quick and then you can run these over to Ms. Marks on the next floor down."

"Whatever you do," Elijah warned sternly, "avoid Meredith Marks at all costs. If you have to communicate with her, be as tight-lipped and formal as you can because she means business. She's the great-niece of one of the first women to work for the Baldwin's which is tragic because there were only three generations of women, but she takes it upon herself to make sure she is the only outstanding female. Rumor has it, Elise who worked here was bullied into resignation."

I groaned externally now, Elijah's words from the bus ride yesterday haunting me. I could barely deal with Ashton and Emilie Standifer, I didn't need to throw Meredith into the mix. I could see it now, she likely dressed like an evil librarian and ruled her floor with an iron fist.

"What's wrong," he asked, his concern clear in his voice and the fact that I'd fallen for him made me wince. Ouch, I thought, I think I fell a bit too hard. "Are you hurt or something?"

I ran a hand through my hair and sighed. There was always hurt that I felt, and Ashton Baldwin didn't make it very easy to ignore. "I'm fine, just a bit anxious. I'm finally leaving this floor for work purposes, it's such an honor."

Clearly I was just playing around with him, especially since I wasn't even leaving his floor, just running an errand for him. So to see him feigning anger was hardly what I expected and I wanted to laugh but his fake angry face was too serious.

"Ms. White, are you suggesting that I'm overbearing to you? I'd be highly insulted if you were since I think we've been getting along just fine - like a house on fire, even."

"Your presence can be stifling, suffocating even," I said, taking a step back to emphasize my point. "It's like I'm choking on air whenever I'm here."

He chuckled. "Most girls choke on something else when they're with me."

With that, I left, not exactly being the one who was up for dirty talk with their boss, making my way over to where the elevators were.

-

MEREDITH MARKS WAS AN ANGEL.

Of course, I didn't know her the way Elijah did, but all I knew was that somehow, as soon as I met her we were going out for drinks at the pub nearby, Fiasco Friday's. When I had went down to her floor and finally got her cubicle number from somebody, she was pulling her coat on after hanging up the phone because she got a call from Ashton that I would be coming.

And just like that, she and I were sipping martinis at the bar counter. She was really pretty, with her blonde hair tied in a ponytail and a sleek, expensive-looking pantsuit that I could tell was designer. She looked like she meant business and I didn't know whether that was a warning bell or a welcome sign.

"So, Fiona," she said, setting her drink down with a grin. "Tell me something about yourself, and make it something very interesting because everyone's been dying to learn about you - not in a creepy way, but in that who's-the-new-girl way."

There was nothing interesting about me, I was just a girl who found her way here by either luck or a startling lack thereof. Except there was one thing that was slightly intriguing. "I am Brett White's cousin," I told her with a prideful smile on my face. "The baseball player, that is."

This made Meredith nod in acknowledgement, recognizing the name and all of the fame behind it. "He's got a nice ass," she said. "He liked my Twitter post complementing it, too."

I chuckled, holding onto my drink a bit tighter. "He told me all about that," I said, "I didn't know that was you though, that makes it even weirder."

Meredith rolled her eyes before taking another sip of her drink. "Face it, Fiona, you're related to a hot slice of man, and you're just disappointed that you can't hit that - legally, at least."

"Oh no," I laughed, "that's gross. Besides, we're not exactly cousins, he's my step-cousin, so we aren't related by blood, but it would still feel incestuous."

Meredith was fun and cool, and she looked like a total party girl. I wondered if she knew of any parties coming up because the only time I did anything remotely fun these days was when I went out to parties with the baseball team and I needed a new source of entertainment. Plus, she seemed like she would make a great drinking buddy. I could see what made her such a force to be reckoned with, she seemed to casually walk the line of making you love her or making you loathe her. She was definitely more loving now, but while I was sipping martinis with the girl, I kept close watch on her.

"Do you want to get a facial?" I heard her ask and I realized that maybe, I didn't watch her enough because a man I didn't know had his arm around her shoulder as they beamed at me.

I looked from the guy (who was muscular and had skin that looked like it underwent a fake spray tan) and back to Meredith, my face etched itself into a worried look.

"Are you sure that now's the time?" When she stared at me in confusion, I leaned in closet so as not to publicize my words. "You know, to have him -"

"You little minx," she said with an exaggerated gasp, placing a hand over her heart for dramatic effect. "I mean like an actual facial - like with the cucumbers and everything!" Her male counterpart shot me a dirty look for suggesting that he was here for reasons as scandalous as such. "This is Pierre Thomas, my friend whose mother owns a spa. He was offering because they're forty percent off this week only."

I instantly shrunk down in my seat, wishing I could completely shrink away so they would never be able to see me again.

-

EVENTUALLY I DID GET A FACIAL.

It was the one Meredith was talking about, thankfully, and it was very rejuvenating. She even offered to pay for mine, which I would've done except I wasn't exactly made of money so I had to save and budget what I had. "Don't worry, it's on me," she told me as she went up to the registration desk.

I was back at Baldwin Industries, feeling my face and it was strangely soft in a way that I could fall in love with endlessly. Sure, it was my first spa day in a while - I was usually just left to my own devices when it came to making sure I looked beautiful - but it was like Pierre's mother was a genie and her work made my every wish come true.

It was a lovely day outside as well, I noticed. Maybe I should be going out for a run. Either way, whatever I did today felt like it would be extremely lucky. After all, I survived my first encounter with Meredith Marks, who was allegedly cold and calculating. She was hardly the cunning girl she was made out to be, or maybe she liked me - who knows? All I knew was that my encounter with her was a lucky one for sure. I instantly felt bad for giving Ashton sass when he told me to go to her.

Speaking of Ashton, I still had some things to do for him, so I got to it. They weren't as eccentric as Kelsey described, meaning that this was likely some kind of grace period I was being offered as the newbie on the job. I grabbed up the stack of papers lying on my desk - they were for Ashton, but he was currently out so I was asked to deliver them to him personally - and arranged them neatly so that they would be easier to carry, before calling Elijah to ask if he knew where Ashton was.

"I have no clue," he said and I could even picture him shrugging. "But I think you should know something, he looked pretty livid."

Livid? I tensed in my seat as I found myself internally asking the obvious question: what made him so mad?

"Livid," I asked cautiously, "about what, exactly?"

"That's the thing," Elijah said and you could hear the excitement in his voice. "No one knows. He's just been fuming about something for the past few minutes, his mouth running a mile a minute. This honestly might be the next big office drama and I've honestly have never been more excited. Everyone's been buzzing about this."

I frowned, pursing my lips tightly together. I just really hoped that Ashton was doing alright. He still had Emilie on his hands, so extra drama was the last thing he needed by a long shot.

Since Elijah had a client to redirect on his line, I hung up on him so he could get back to work. I was just getting ready to grab up those files for Ashton when sure enough, he came through the door and up to my desk. Sure enough, he didn't seem too pleased, but this was on a different level for me. While I had seen him in states of displeasure before, this was beyond, his lips twisted into a scowl and scarily enough, the look only intensified as he got closer and closer to me.

"Mr. Baldwin, I have those papers you were asking for. I was unsure of whether you wanted me to leave them on your desk or deliver them to you personally. But since you're here, I guess that takes care of the issue, doesn't it? Or are you on the move and you want these on your desk for later on." My mouth was running a mile a minute, completely in the dark bout how to handle him while he was in this state. Not that I could do anything about it if he was angry, but maybe there was something I could do to make him less upset.

"What I want to know," he growled, "is why you, Fiona White, billed a spa appointment today to the company account?"