But Harden knew this when he asked me to come. He wanted me to fail, didn't he?
I’m so angry with myself. How could I have wanted this man to kiss me yesterday? He's arrogant, cold, and cruel. He can do anything he wants, and he doesn't care about the consequences or about how many people might get hurt.
I hate myself for being attracted to Jack Harden.
I mean, I was. Iwasattracted to him.Yesterday. And I'm not anymore.
"Tom, I want you to meet our company’s new marketing assistant, Crystal Wilson," Jack says, introducing me.
To be honest, I wasn't worried before Jack started warning me about Masterson. But now I see that my hand is shaking when I hold it out for him to shake.
"It's nice to…" I start.
"A new assistant, huh?" Masterson interrupts me sarcastically as if he doesn't believe I could be Harden's employee.
He didn't even nod in my direction and wholly ignored my outstretched hand.
"Well, then meet mine," he says to Jack and turns around, waving to someone.
A guy, probably ten years younger than me, rushes to us immediately.
"I'm Nicolas, it's nice to meet you," he says, gasping slightly and holding out a hand to Jack.
Harden shakes Nicolas's hand but looks at me. His gaze somehow expresses guilt.
As if he's capable of regretting his actions, which I highly doubt.
I look away, taking a seat at the table again.
Even if this Tom Masterson is sexist, ageist, racist, and even some other “ist,” I won't let him ruin my self-confidence and, moreover, I won't reject this job because of assholes like these two.
They start talking about stuff like fishing and golf while having breakfast, completely ignoring Nicolas and me.
I was starving when I woke up this morning. I haven't had anything since those two glasses of rum yesterday. But I can't force myself to eat now. Right from the first bite, the food gets stuck in my throat. That's why I just sit quietly, patiently waiting for when they'll finally start talking about business.
Nicolas, who tries to be helpful, listens to Masterson's every word, but his boss rarely asks him anything, and even when he does, he interrupts his assistant without letting him finish.
He might be a sexist and a racist, but he also mistreats people even if they're white men like Nicolas, which means that Masterson is simply a jerk.
Well, now I see what he and Jack Harden have in common.
"I like the idea of launching something new," Masterson finally says, and I hold my breath. It's time: we're finally going to talk about business.
I prepare myself for a speech, which I repeated in my mind the whole morning: all about the product, its pros and a strategy to increase our company's profit margins.
"But your marketing idea is bullshit," Tom Masterson says, and I freeze.
I guess Jack already sent my strategy to Masterson, and this man obviously didn't like it.
Had Jack known this from the very beginning?
"I disagree with you, Tom. I think the idea is brilliant," Harden says seriously and then looks at me as if he read my mind and is now trying to prove that he didn't know Masterson's intentions.
"Are you kidding me?" Masterson chuckles, throwing his cutlery on the table loudly, drawing attention from neighboring tables. "This nondescript organic packaging and some random women from the street for advertising. That's nonsense!"
Before Jack can speak, Masterson turns to Nicolas and barks, "Tell them what you have, runt. And don't mumble!"
Runt. How can he speak to him like that? And why does Nicolas stay working for this jerk?