The Belle Behind The Mask

DIANA THORTON

"Fuck, fuck fuck!" I cursed as I raced through the crowd in my trusty sneakers with a handful of items in different shopping bags and coffee in the other- to get my boss's watch from the repair shop. I'd almost forgotten about Mr stick up his butt's overly expensive wristwatch. Hell hath no fury as a livid Alexander Stone should in case I show up without that watch.

"I am so sorry" I apologized after nearly colliding my coffee with a tourist. How did I know? Hat, shorts, sunglasses, a sling bag, and a map in hand- typical attributes of a tourist.

Pushing my glasses up by its bridge; a bad habit, I needed to get that stupid yet pricy enough to pay my salary for nearly a year wristwatch and then high tail it back to the office to finish up other looming tasks.

With my thighs rubbing against each other much to my chagrin as I raced on, beads of sweat forming a small pool and were now dripping down my face, damp armpits, and even my grey-rimmed glasses fogging up as a result of the heat emitting from my body, I knew without seeing my reflection that I looked a mess.

I silently cursed Alexander for making me go through this. I'd taken the job not entirely knowing what it entailed.

Amanda, the previous assistant didn't mention that the role required being at the beck and call of the CEO- maybe she did but it definitely did not include this.

She did list a few errands but did not include, gift shopping for his numerous easy lay arm candies, picking up laundry, treading up and down steep hills just to get his favorite coffee, and the ridiculous likes- or maybe she did, and I wasn't listening. The whole orientation process was a blur because I couldn't pinch myself out of what I thought was still a dream:La Belle freaking hiring me!

What a hidden epiphany I've come to unravel. They needed somebody to clean up his dirty laundry and who better than a girl who didn't go to the university?

Over time, I had concluded that Executive assistants are just as much as slaves and all that I could do was rant and curse to myself, not forgetting to hail my shitty luck.

I'd accepted the job even though I knew next to nothing about being a secretary or Assistant and had to binge the entire season of What's wrong with Assistant Nicki to know the basics. And no, in my case, I won't be working as an assistant for 9 years.

I also hoped that with time, they will come to realize my potential and allow me to work in the product development department- one I had applied for a few times and got rejected. The reason was 'underqualified', which was true. I'd ditched college to go to a vocational beauty school instead, and while I thought it should be enough to kick-start my career in the beauty industry, it looks like society's standard of obtaining a degree will never go extinct.

I needed to show my skills and working directly under the nose of the CEO didn't seem like a bad idea at that time for someone as desperate as I was but, out of all the bosses in the world, it had to be a stuck-up one.

Six months working in La Belle Beauty and now, I know him to the tooth. He is stuck up, intimidating, cold, self-absorbed, lacked self-awareness, and most importantly, didn't care how his actions impacted others. It's his way or the highway.