Sugar

Chapter 4: Gwen

Sometimes I wondered if people could tell that Jared and I were sleeping together, though we tried to keep it a "secret." Nothing about our personal lives stayed a secret for very long, though.

Jared didn't really like me, I knew. He just liked women in general. Five years ago, I finally came to terms with this realization, and I grew to care about him very much, as a friend and coworker. Sometimes, I also wondered if he was even capable of having a long-term relationship, or if his inner mind was just too erratic and self-absorbed to allow him to ever fully share himself with another person.

What we had was not a relationship—it was more like a form of stress and release. When you were the CEOs of a large company, you were inevitably always stressed, so after a long day in the office, we would spend a long night in bed. I always felt that there was something missing, though, that our chemistry wasn't quite perfect because there was something neither of us had.

But, once you were in your forties like me, all you could do was settle for what you could have. This was a lesson Jared never quite got the hang of—he never settled. He would set his sights on younger and younger women every time we would go out. But whatever, I wasn't his mom or even his girlfriend, I couldn't control what a grown adult did in his personal life. It was his name on the building, after all, not mine. And he was no Leonardo DiCaprio—he never went after girls younger than 20.

Prime example of Jared's type: the woman who was walking in my direction right now. I supposed Bristol wasn't that young, being 25, but anyone 30 and younger seemed like a child to me.

She didn't seem to notice me; what was occupying her pretty little mind? Did she just leave Jared's office? Because that was exactly the direction I was headed in. What could he have possibly said to her that was giving her blue eyes that glazed-over look, like she was deep in thought but also about to cry?

"Hi, Bristol," I decided to say. "What's up?" And her eyes went wide, snapping up to meet mine, as if she had been startled.

She only allowed that one small crack in her composure to show before she smiled her placid smile at me. It was impressive, for such an inexperienced lawyer.

"Hi, Miss Rivas," she said, always polite and formal. She hesitated for a moment. "I suppose I should tell you...Mr. Simmons hired me as his new assistant."

I tried not to let the shock and disbelief visibly show on my face, to avoid seeming rude. This was a new low, even for Jared—making a first-year legal notary his assistant just because she was pretty? I managed a smile—it wasn't Bristol's fault, after all. "That's great, Bristol," I told her. I leaned a little closer, lowering my voice. "If you ever feel uncomfortable...or if anything happens that breaches your contract, you can always let me know. I know this job can be a lot to handle, but we care about the well-being of all our employees."

I placed a hand on her arm for reassurance, and she smiled up at me gratefully. "Thank you, Miss Rivas."

I could tell this girl really was sweet. She would be a good assistant for Jared, wouldn't stab him in the back or anything. I just hoped she would be competent enough, too, and efficient enough to juggle all his tasks.

For the time being, though, I was looking forward to working more closely with her in the future.