The Assistant

Roman Industries

After a long and extraneous search for a decent-paying job, Valencia was full of excitement when she received a call back from Roman Industries. It was considered one of the city's biggest and most prestigious marketing businesses, owned by Mr. Roman Ortiz. There were many rumors that he started his company from nothing at eighteen and steadily built an empire that continued to grow until it became what it is now.

Roman Ortiz's corporation was known for doing business with the most prominent companies worldwide, including Cobalt Inc., Galaxy Tech., and XperYanZe United, to the smallest ones known around our city. Anything before then, though, was non-existent. All of Roman Ortiz's records before his eighteenth birthday were nowhere to be found. The man was full of mystery. Valencia only hoped he wasn't like her old boss, but nothing would have prepared her for the man she would meet.

When Valencia got the call about being his assistant, she dug into the deep web, trying to find everything she could about the man she would soon be working for. After a few days, she realized that his childhood was missing. She wanted to be prepared, but it only left her frustrated. Valencia had hoped that doing a little homework before meeting her new boss would help ease her nerves; instead, it only left her with more questions.

Valencia had never been an assistant to anyone and wondered why they had given her a job she hadn't even applied for. The woman she spoke with on the phone could only tell her that Mr. Roman Ortiz's current assistant was set to retire and had asked for someone younger to take her place. Someone able and willing to be on-call at all hours of the day, with unclear holidays. Valencia's teeth chattered at the thought.

At first, she wasn't sure about the grueling and demanding position provided to her until the woman mentioned her pay. Valencia would be able to live not only comfortably but lavishly, too. Her income would be much more than most assistants would have dreamed; she knew this because she had researched it.

They wanted her to start immediately as the old assistant would watch over her for the first few weeks, teaching Valencia her responsibilities, expectations, and requirements. After that, she was unsure how much time she'd have to live an everyday life—no more guaranteed free weekends, no more late nights out, or any kind of fun. Dating was already hard enough, and taking this job would make it nearly impossible.

The options swam around her as she drove until the answers were clear. Her life had been falling apart for months, and this job was the best that had happened to her in so long. Nothing mattered anymore. Everything she was worried about losing, she had already lost. Valencia was forced to quit her last job as a receptionist after finding the courage to report her disgusting supervisor, Mr. Devilin. The complication began when she asked for a raise he had promised her, which she deserved.

All he wanted in return was for Valencia to become his new lover. The memory of his beady little eyes staring at her breast as they spoke made her stomach turn and knot. Even worse, the sound of him licking his lips echoed in her mind, creating a cold chill running down her spine. The phantom feeling of his knobby, thin, and wrinkled fingers trailing down her hip to her thigh made her nauseous. Revolted and angry by his unwanted advances, Valencia stormed out of his office without giving Mr. Devilin an answer. His intentions were too precise to be mistaken.

With rage coursing through her veins, she marched straight to the top to report him to the company's CEO, Ms. Katherin Avery. The woman was also the aunt to her now ex-best friend, Samantha. At the time, Valencia was sure that her voice would be heard as a fellow woman and that her feelings would be considered. Sexual harassment was supposed to be a severe offense in the workplace, and she hoped that Ms. Avery would handle the situation accordingly. For a while, Valencia paced back and forth in the waiting area. Her reflection walked with her across the glass coffee table. She tried to ignore the annoying side-eye Ms. Avery's assistant gave her, but they were like daggers, piercing through the thick skin she believed she always had until today.