As soon as the door was closed, I let out a breath I’d been holding. “That’s what she said,” I whispered.
“I can hear you,” Mr. White called through the door.
* * *
I was exhausted by the time the office party came around. It was seven in the evening, I’d skipped dinner to make sure I finished the calls Mr. White needed me to make, and I was running on fumes. If the human body was sixty percent water, I thought today, mine might be fifty percent water and ten percent caffeine. I’d been chugging coffee like it was medicine, and my head was buzzing even as I was struggling to keep my eyes open.
So far, all the employees at Coleton Publishing treated me like I was a leper. I wondered if Mr. White had warned them, or if they just knew how quickly he went through personal assistants and didn’t want to get attached. Either way, it was a lonely job, and the best I got as people headed out to get changed or get dinner before the party were stiff goodbyes or little nuggets of small talk.
I still hadn’t made a single work friend.
I let my forehead sink down and rested it on my desk, closing my eyes. I thought maybe I could sneak a five-minute nap. I’d just drift off gently and take a quick, dignified cat nap. Once I’d recharged a little, I’d change into the dress Mr. White got me and-
A loud, ear-splitting snore startled me awake. I wiped at a little puddle of drool on my thigh, then realized I’d fallen asleep hard.
I also saw Mr. White standing in front of my desk with his arms folded. “You’re not dressed. And you snore.”
“Somebody woke me up at the asscrack of dawn to make me get a new dress when I have a perfectly good outfit at home.”
“But you liked the dress, didn’t you?” he asked.
I sighed. “Yes. But I’m human, Mr. White. I can’t work all day and into the night for you and get up at four in the morning. I’ve got to sleep at some point. And eventually, I might even like to get to resume my social life.”
He didn’t respond right away. “You’ve got a boyfriend? Is that it?”
“What? No. I just like to have time to do things other than work. I don’t see how this is sustainable. I’ve been here for a couple days and I’m already running thin.”
“You’ll adjust.” He hooked his thumb toward the double doors behind him. “The party started. I need you in there.”
“Where am I supposed to change?”
“Everybody is already at the party. Just change at your desk.”
“What if someone comes up the elevator? Or if somebody from the party has to run out for an emergency.”
“I’ll watch the doors, and the lobby is closed. It’s after hours so nobody is coming up the elevator.”
“Fine. Whatever. But make sure nobody comes out those doors.”
Mr. White headed through the doors, and I prepared for the world’s fastest costume change. I didn’t particularly care if the lobby was closed. I knew there was some freak chance that a person would come through the elevator.
I yanked my skirt down and had my shirt halfway over my head within a second or two of Mr. White closing the door. Then I heard the doors open again.
“Or you could use my office, if-” he trailed off.
I had the shirt at my neck and I panicked, trying to yank it off my head but it got stuck around my chin. I lost my balance and backed into my chair, which sent me crashing to my ass with my shirt over my head and my skirt around my ankles.
I felt someone lifting me to my feet. I got the shirt off my head and saw Mr. White had his head to the side and his eyes averted, but he was standing right next to me while I was in my bra and panties. He had to have seen when he opened the door, too.
I whacked him on the side of his head.
Mr. White flinched, but actually grinned at my little slap. “You didn’t mention you were a speed changer on your resume,” he said, still averting his eyes while I yanked the party dress from my desk and slid into it.
“Usually when you close the door for someone to change, they don’t stand around and contemplate life’s greatest mysteries before they start. You don’t just open the door again,” I hissed.
Mr. White was actually on the verge of laughing, which was a state I didn’t think I’d ever seen him in. “Fair, but seriously. I thought at most you’d have one button undone. How did you even get your clothes off that fast?”
“I wanted to do it quickly in case someone came in.”