Chapter 11 Team Dinner
Verena
The clinking of beer glasses echoed through the restaurant that bubbled with excitement. The sweet aroma of steak filled the air, the smile on everyone’s faces brightening as they chugged on their beer.
To welcome me, the executive assistant, Mandy made sure that I stayed over for the team's dinner, insisting that I needed to meet with the other assistants.
So the long table was surrounded by sitting assistants except for Emily, the receptionist whom Mandy forced to tag along.
Seeing the way Mandy’s eyes sparkled, I honestly didn’t think that she would invite me for dinner. I mean, considering what had happened earlier this morning. Maybe she said those words because she was genuinely looking out for me.
Although it didn’t mean that I would suddenly change my fashion style and start wearing loose clothes because of what she said. In fact, I planned on wearing something more fitting tomorrow.
Mandy shot me a smile. “Miss Verena, can you please introduce yourself?”
“Yes”
“Hi everyone, I am Verena Coo—” I clamped my mouth shut, clearing my throat. “—Carson, the personal assistant to the managing director,” I grinned.
That was so close. If I had mentioned Cooper, they would have freaked out.
“I hope to have an amazing work experience with you and I am open to learning more from you all” I bit slightly on my bottom lip, resisting the urge to fiddle with my fingers.
“Aww” Some of the assistants crooned, others offered me a smile and the rest clapped.
Mandy, who sat at the head of the table, rose to her feet, looping an arm around my shoulders while squeezing me gently—maybe a little too hard because it made me uncomfortable.
I forced out a smile. “Mr Daxton has placed her under my care so please treat her well. Introduce yourselves as well”
“I am Katie, the assistant of hotel manager, Gideon…”
The next few minutes went by with the assistants introducing themselves and Mandy’s hard grip on my shoulders.
The moment her grip left mine and she staggered back to her seat, it hit me that she was a little bit tipsy and the reason she pressed that hard was for support—she was probably scared of falling.
A smile crept on my face at the realization while I fell back on my seat, trying to raise the steak to my mouth when a question addressed to me caught me off guard.
One of the assistants who introduced herself as Brittany, leaned forward from where she sat at the far end of the table. “So, how much are you offered per year? Like your salary structure?”
I dropped the fork back to the plate, smiling brightly. “Two hun—”
Before I could complete my words, Emily butted in, and hearing the words that she said, I was glad that she did. “All Mr. Daxton’s assistants have always been placed on an annual salary of sixty-eight thousand dollars. Even Miss Mandy earns about eighty-five thousand per year”
A gasp almost escaped my throat as I swallowed down the rest of my words. If I had mentioned that Daxton offered me an annual salary of two hundred thousand dollars, then a protest would have broken out in the office.
But, sixty-eight thousand dollars next to two hundred was such a huge difference.
I forced out the words, a small smile stretching the corners of my mouth. “Actually mine is sixty-seven thousand dollars” I lied through my teeth.
Emily’s face fell and she twinged with sadness. “Oh, he must have reduced the annual salary offered to his assistants because most of them didn’t meet his expectations. But, I am sure that if you do well, he will give you a raise. I mean, he even interviewed you himself”
Another forced smile slipped onto my face but before I could respond, Miss Mandy burst into laughter. “A raise?” She fixed her eyes on me.
“Miss Verena, you had better not get your hopes high. Because he interviewed you himself doesn’t mean that he would favor you or treat you specially. The reason he set aside time to interview you is to test your intellect and ensure that you are more than a pretty face. Most of the assistants he worked with were just all face, no brains” She let out a humorless laugh.
No one laughed and I didn’t either because that was mean.
She continued. “And in the next three months, we will know if you fall into the ‘pretty face, no brain’ category”
I didn’t like those words. It didn’t just sit right with me.
Emily, who sat across from me, exchanged fleeting glances with me. “Ignore her. She is just tipsy” She mouthed.
I nodded, chewing on my steak while forcing it down my throat.
Laquisha—another assistant— with braided hair falling down her shoulder, gave Emily a small jab with her elbow. “What happened in the office yesterday? You said you were going to tell me, later”
“Tell you, what?…” Emily was about to reach for another beer when her eyes widened. “Everyone, Mr Kian came to the office last evening—“
My stomach tied knots. As in Kian?
“Before he went inside, he appeared normal but on his way out of his uncle’s office, he was fuming and kicked at the flower vase in annoyance. He didn’t even spare me a single glance”
My heart twisted in my chest. Kian came to the office. If he did, why didn’t Daxton tell me? What happened between the two of them?
And wait for a second, I thought the lawyer said Kian was ill? If he was, then how did he have the strength to pick a fight with his uncle?
I knew he was telling a lie!
Emily clenched her heart, sadness written on her face. “Aww, my dream man…” She pouted. “You should have heard the way my heart shattered into pieces when he ignored me as he left!”
Laquisha clicked her tongue in her mouth. “Just how many dream men do you have”
Emily held up two fingers, then all five. “Five, my love and Mr. Kian is second on the list”
Laquisha laughed, her face accompanied by a dimple. “Why are all my friends delusional? You’d better remove him from the list because rumor has it that he is married”
“If he is, I would kill myself,” Emily joked while Laquisha laughed.
As sputters of laughter rang through the restaurant, the meat I chewed on suddenly lost its state. My appetite was now gone. How would they react when they found out that the woman Kian was married to was me?
We weren’t even divorced yet.
My late father had always kept the identities of my brother and me hidden because he didn’t want to expose us to trolls on the internet. Even when I worked next to him as an assistant, only a few knew that I was his daughter.
That was the same thing he did with my brother.
The plan was to introduce me to the world after I joined the company where my brother worked as the CEO before tragedy struck and ruined my once-happy family. Kian and I’s wedding was also a private one—hidden from the public’s eyes and only our close associates in the elite circle knew that we were married.
So, that was the reason they had no idea that the said ‘Kian’s wife’ sat across from them.
Mandy laughed. “Marriage? Why would a handsome young man like that want to ruin his life by getting married early. Men like that can’t stick with one woman, they need to explore. Any woman who expects loyalty from a man like Kian has to be reaching,”
My heart stopped and a question slipped through my mind. Did I ruin Kian’s life? Was his life even ruined to begin with?
Emily rolled her eyes at Mandy’s words. “Pick me woman” She mouthed.
Despite the weird ache that bloomed in my chest, I chuckled at her words.
For minutes, an awkward silence followed until it was broken by a male assistant, Trey. “Did anyone notice that Mr. Daxton was unusually nice this evening. He told me that I had a nice shirt on—”
“Me too,” the words chorused.
Katie smiled. “I think that the one who made him this happy is Mandy. He commented on her hair and it said it looked more beautiful when it wasn’t packed in a bun”
Beneath those tipsy eyes of Mandy’s, something warm sparked in them as a blush of pink rose to her cheeks and she flicked her hair back, stylishly. “You know, Mr Daxton tends to smile a lot around me”
I almost choked out a laugh—
The reason he was extra bubbly this evening was because of me. After we made out in his office, we talked—talked for hours, like we had known each other for years and I actually loved being in his presence.
There was just something warm about him.
Grinning ear to ear like he had struck a gold mine, Daxton mentioned how I’d made his evening better.
So, hearing them attribute the reason for his happiness to Mandy was laughable. It was just funny and if there was one thing I sucked at, it was holding my laugh. My mum would always chastise me for laughing in important situations.
It was a reflex for me at this point.
And I did the same thing my mum always warned me about. I coughed out a harmless laugh, pressing a hand to my mouth to muffle it but it didn’t help.
The chatter died and that was the moment I noticed that everyone had their eyes fixed on me.
Mandy’s voice broke, taking me back. “Are you mocking me?”
Wait, what!
I shook my head, trying to appear serious. “No, why would you think that…”
She cut in. “If you aren’t then what exactly is funny, Miss Verena? That laughter is that of someone looking down on me, of someone who thinks that I can’t be the reason behind anyone’s smile!” She almost raised her voice.
“Or, do you think I am so undesirable that a handsome man like Daxton wouldn’t even look at me once?”