Virgin Skin | 18+

CHP | 1 |

HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED WHAT IT WAS THAT YOU WERE DOING WRONG IN YOUR LIFE TO GET TO WHERE YOU ARE RIGHT NOW?

That's how I felt as I slowly shrank back in the leather chair in my boss's office. Waves of anxiety and pure uncertainty hit me like a shit ton of bricks. The sun pierced through her office's massive windows, boiling me from the inside out. A line of sweat formed on my forehead, and I only hoped I could hide the other sweat stains forming on my shirt.

I am the assistant to one of the most successful women in the industry of fashion. Ms. Naomi Matthews is the head editor and chief of Orphic Magazine. She is hard-headed, sarcastic, scary, and overall a bitch, but a classy one.

She was not a woman that should be crossed, yet someone decided to take a chance and failed. They failed so badly at trying to get in the way that I had to sit and suffer and watch her cut a contract with a business partner for the last five minutes. The air between them was thick and heavy.

I silently begged for this torment to be over. Being in the room as someone got fired was hard enough as it is, but when extreme social anxiety and boiling sun is mixed in, it makes things a bit harder.

I did everything right. I stayed in my lane, always had my work done on time, wore the appropriate clothing, kept my head down, and even always got Ms. Matthews coffee at the perfect temperature every morning, so why is she making me suffer for so long?

"You can't just pull out on this contract! You need us!" The man yelled, making me sweat even more.

"Can, will, and did." Ms. Matthews took a sip of her coffee and sighed in contempt. "Sorry to break it to you but you have no power over me. You signed yourself over to me the moment you signed the first business contract we made. Maybe you should read the fine print." She smiled sweetly.

After a beat of silence, the man began to laugh. "You can't do this! You pulling out of this contract means you lose our assets and risk losing revenue! We helped you make this stupid magazine great!"

Ms. Matthews slowly set her coffee cup down. Placing both hands on the table, she rose from her chair. The man quickly came down from his high and I sank farther into the chair as I embraced myself.

Ms. Matthews sighed, "Let me clear something up for you Mr. Jones. I built Orphic from nothing all on my own. Do you know why the people love the magazine, Mr. Jones?"

He began to answer but only stumbled over his own words. She raised her hand to silence him and continued, "They love it because of what I put into it. What they don't love is some middle-aged man trying to make changes to a women's magazine based on his uneducated opinion. I am not worried about losing revenue, like all men you are easy to replace. I can assure you, Orphic will be stronger than ever without you." She raised her hand and gestured to the door, "Mr. Green, will you please?"

I nodded eagerly and stood, "I will escort you out now, Mr. Jones."

Mr. Jones began yelling in protest but this wasn't the first time I had to escort someone out of Ms. Matthews's office.  I slowly guided Mr. Jones to the exit,  forcing him out of the office. His yells of protect that echoed through the hallways made clear to security that it was time to take over.

All the employees watched the scene unfold. It wasn't the first time they'd seen someone escorted off the property, but it was always amusing to them. For me, however, it just made my chest hurt uncomfortably.