“Don’t worry. It’s fine,” he comforts me.
“What if I miss a really important story?”
“You won’t—it’s fine. I’ll go through yours while you’re gone.”
“Really?”
“Of course it is. You aren’t expected to know everything on day one.”
“Oh no, you have to go to the top.” Ava grimaces.
“What’s the top?” I ask.
“Upper-management offices.”
“They’re not nice?”
“No, they’re fucking horrible, and you have a good chance of being fired on the spot.”
“What?”
“Oh, bullshit.” Aaron rolls his eyes. “They just don’t . . .” He screws up his face as he chooses his words. “They don’t fluff. If something is going to be said, they just say it how it is. They don’t take any shit from anyone.”
“Who are they?” I whisper.
“Well, Mr. Miles won’t be there. He never is. I think he’s in London.”
“Mr. Miles?” I ask as I feel my nerves dance.
“The CEO.”
“Yes, I know who he is. I think everyone does. Although I’ve never seen a picture of him. It’s him and his brothers, right?”
“Yes, it’s the Miles family who owns everything. He and his three brothers.”
“And they’re all upstairs?” I whisper as I quickly take out the bright lipstick I bought at lunch and reapply. I need some courage here.
“Just don’t say anything stupid up in the management levels,” Ava says.
My eyes widen. “Like what? What do they consider stupid?” I’m really beginning to panic.
“Just keep your mouth shut, take the tour, and don’t tell HR anything.”
“Why not?”
“Because they’re on speed dial to the management levels. This whole tour you’re taking now is just so they can do a personality assessment on you in the two hours it takes them to show you around.”
“Oh my God.” I sigh.
“Hi, Emily, is it? I’m Lindsey.”
I turn to see a beautiful blonde, and I stand immediately and put out my hand. “Hello.”
She smiles at my coworkers. “Let’s get started. We will go down to level one and work our way up.”
I give my new work friends a nervous wave and follow her out of the office and into the elevator.
Here we go.
An hour and a half later
“And this is the gymnasium, for our staff’s own personal use.”
I look around at the expansive and swanky-looking gym on level sixty. “Wow.”
“It’s open from six in the morning until six thirty at night. It’s busiest before work, obviously, but you can come here on your lunch break also. A lot of people take a late or early lunch so that it’s not as busy when they come.”
This place is ridiculous. A cafeteria on level two that is the entire floor, a movie theater, a gymnasium, a mailroom floor, a computer geek floor. Everything has been thought out with such care.
“Okay, let’s get going.” Lindsey smiles. “We will head up to the management floors now.”
My stomach dances with nerves as we head back into the elevator.
She gets in and looks at the buttons. “Oh look, you’re in luck.”
I frown in question.
“Mr. Miles is here.”
I fake a smile.
“I’ll take you to meet him first.”
Oh God.
Don’t speak. Don’t say anything stupid, I remind myself. I twist my fingers in front of me nervously as we ride to the top floor. The doors open, and I step out of the elevator and stop still.
What the hell?
White marble for as far as I can see, floor-to-ceiling glass, and luxurious white leather furnishings. “Hello, Sammia.” Lindsey smiles as I look around in awe. This place is insane.
A beautiful woman looks up from her computer at reception, and she smiles warmly. “Hello, Lindsey.”
“This is Emily. She’s new and started on level forty today.”
Sammia comes around and shakes my hand. “Lovely to meet you, Emily.”
“Is Mr. Miles taking visitors?” Lindsey asks.
“He is.” She smiles. “I’ll just announce you.”
Announce me . . . jeez.
Lindsey hunches her shoulders as if she’s nervous too.
Sammia picks up the phone. “Mr. Miles, we have a new staff member to meet you in reception.” She listens for a moment and smiles. “Yes, sir.” She puts the phone down. “Just go in.”