Her Assistant | Natasha Romanoff

31. That Feeling

Natasha POV
Seeing the interaction between Y/N and Evelyn, I'm forced to remember what Diana said to me about Y/N possibly being Evelyn's biological mother. When she pointed out their similarities and how close they were even on the second day of meeting, it reminded me of the time I first hired her.

I had close to nothing then. After our house burned down in the fire, what I had were the remaining clothes I was wearing. I woke up in a hospital with slight cuts and bruises around my body from escaping the fire. Our family's lawyer heard of the incident and came to visit me and I was thankfully able to use the money from insurance and inheritance to settle down somewhere temporarily.

After getting most of everything settled, I started making ways to start my own company. I didn't finish college but I knew I had to make it somehow. I invested everything I had left and started the business. It was tough in the beginning as I was a sole proprietor with no background and a woman. When meeting with suppliers and looking for office space, they looked down on me and tried to take advantage of me by charging prices higher than market value thinking I knew nothing in the industry.

I showed them what I knew and their tactics were before they learned not to mess with me. I had a few hiccups here and there which set me back a couple grand but I got back stronger. There were times I thought I was going to fail when things seemed bleak, everything that could go wrong did, and I was struggling to make payments.

Eventually, I persevered and pushed on, starting to make a small name for myself. That's when I hired Y/N knowing I'm going to need more help. I needed someone that was worth more than I paid. I put in a request for a personal assistant that was well rounded, specialising in business and hers was the most striking. I wasn't sure if it was because I saw myself in her. Though having a degree, she didn't have much experience like me before I started this company. After the interview, I decided to take this chance and hire her.

Wanting to protect myself from past mistakes, I made her sign a contract that has some other requests compared to a usual employee contract:
1. Never lie to me

2. Obey my commands without question when I say the phrase 'I order you'

3. Protect me until I release you

I remembered her hesitation when she saw the three rules but she picked up the pen and signed the contract regardless.

That was the best thing I've ever done. With no experience, she managed the tasks I gave her very well, exceeding my expectations. No doubt if she were to start her own company, she would have been very successful as well.

While her work may be fabulous, her character at that time was not. She was a woman of few words and I could hear her grumble after she stepped out of the room. I didn't mention anything as the results she delivered were exceptional.

I was sure she was a nerd in school as when it came to the house, she knew almost nothing other than cleaning. Her food and drinks were either too bland or too salty. I gave up allowing her to cook after the first day. Thankfully, she was a quick learner but it was still interesting to see her having to put effort in something I deemed easy.

"Again." I said sternly as I poured the hot liquid into her palm after she failed to make a satisfactory cup of coffee for me. I watched as she clenched her jaw, enduring the heat that was hitting her skin.

Of course, it would never go without her retaliating and she would do it at a timing when I couldn't get back at her as I was meeting a potential client. She would watch as I struggled to find a document or when I was stumbling on my words when I was presenting to a client. Using the second rule to her advantage, as if taunting me that I needed to call her for help.

"Miss Romanoff... Miss Romanoff... Natasha!" I got pulled out of my thoughts when Y/N called me only to realise that we had reached the house. "We have reached. Bucky is in the house waiting." I nodded before stepping out of the car but I realised Y/N wasn't following behind.

"Are you heading somewhere?"

"Yes. I have something to do if that's alright. Do you need my help?" She asked. I must have missed her telling me that she was heading somewhere.

"No, you're free to go. If you can't make it back for dinner it's fine." She nodded before getting back in the car and driving off.

The first thing I did was to check on Wanda. I had given her some books to read on management skills and marketing, though just relying on these won't help her much, but it was somewhere to start. I was planning to make her work under me for a few months so she knows how I liked my process to be. Pietro was still stuck with learning English, even though he has improved conversationally, it's still ways before he would be able to read such complicated books. Either way, his job remains largely the same, to assist his sister.

I checked in to make sure both didn't require my help or have any questions before heading back to my home office. With the new confectionary line coming up nicely, everything seems to be set for the launch in a few weeks.

Third POV
Over the next few days, Natasha worked in the office instead of being at home as there were a lot of documents that required her review and approval from her employees. She was looking for the packaging design that she had planned but she couldn't find it on her table. Sighing, she concluded she must have left it on the table. Natasha told Bucky to get it from her table as Y/N was at the factory today to get the data from the supervisor.

"Thank you Bucky." She said without looking at him when he set it on the table.

"No problem, just give me a call if you need anything else." He said, knowing the character of his boss especially during the busy period when something was so close to launch. Natasha proceeded to finish what she was doing before opening the envelope that was resting on her desk.

As she pulled out the document, her eyes widened at the content before turning to the front to see Y/N's name. Clearly this was meant for Y/N and not Natasha.

Y/N knocked and entered the room before giving me the documents she got from the factory with the stamp on it. Hesitantly, Natasha gave her the envelope she had accidentally looked at. "Sorry, I didn't know it was yours and took a look at it." She truthfully said.

At first Y/N was shocked that Natasha apologised, she could count on one hand the amount of times she said that word, that was until she saw the organisation printed on the top left hand side of the envelope. "I didn't mean to see it, I thought it was my document that I had told Bucky to bring."

Posted on 9 March 2023

Things are getting hectic for the author. 3 projects crammed into 1 month. 2 test in one week and finals at the end of the one month