Desolation // l.p.

Chapter V

I wash my hands and stare at myself in the mirror. Trying to decide what my next move will be. Quitting seems like such a favorable option at this point in time. It's my first day and I haven't done anything right, and it's not even close to being over. I wonder how many more things I can manage to screw up before Mr. Payne decides to fire me.

I dry my hands and take one last longing glance in the mirror. The frown on my face shouldn't be there. It should be a smile, a proud smile because I'm happy here. But right now as I stand in the completely white bathroom I can't seem to convince myself that that is the case.  Two days ago I would have told you that Payne Industries is without a doubt where I belong. But it seems that idea was thrown out the window, along with my confidence.

My head snaps to the side as the door opens and a woman walks in. "Hello." she smiles and walks into a stall. I give her a small smile before I high-tail it out of the restroom. The first person who has been some what genuinely nice to me here. When I return to my desk a floor up from the bathrooms there are a few people standing around. They all have papers in their hands and look anxious.

"That is Mr. Payne's assistant." Victoria points at me with frown and a perfectly manicured finger and the people all turn to me. My eyes go wide when they all come rushing up to me, speaking all at once. Their words all melt together as they try to simultaneously get my attention.

"One at a time, please." I say a bit loudly on my last nerve at people and their audacity in this place. A tall guy who looks younger then me speaks up first.

"I'm here for an interview for the Seattle Rain newspaper and these people are trying to steal my appointment." he says sharply and a woman begins to yell at him that it was her interview, and then everyone else begins to fight and bicker at each other. I almost can't believe how savagely they are all treating each other. I look to Victoria who smirks and seems to enjoy me failing at my job. This is all way too much for me.

"I'm sorry, I don't know anything about an interview but if you just let me-" I'm caught off when a man shoves another to the floor. I gasp as the reporters become hostile. They're fighting is only getting louder and more out of control the longer I don't do anything. I shove through all of them and rush to my desk. I flip through Mr. Payne's calendar trying to find today's schedule. My shaky hands drop a few papers and I quickly bend down and retrieve them. I toss them carelessly on my desk when I know it's not what I wanted. As the people get louder and more aggressive my search becomes even more hopeless as I pick up papers I've already checked.

"What is going on?" A loud voice booms from in front of me. I freeze my actions and slowly look up to Mr. Payne who is standing in the entrance to the hall that goes to his office. He stands there, his chest heaving up and down in anger as he looks from the mass of now silent people to me. I choke on air as he stares at me expectantly, not even positive about what is happening myself.

"These are all reporters, but you only have room for one of them on your schedule Mr. Payne." Victoria speaks from her desk. Informing him since I can't seem to find the words to do so myself. He gives me a disapproving look before he turns to the crowd of people. The male reporters seem to stand taller, the woman all fixing their hair and giving him an innocent grin.

"What's your name?" Mr. Payne asks a very pretty girl with dark hair, standing in front of her and smiling down at her. He has a nice smile, if only he wasn't so damn intimidating.

"Candy Davenport with the Seattle Herald, sir." she smiles and holds her hand out for him to shake.

"Call me Liam." he says taking her hand and placing a kiss to the top of it. Charming. "The rest of you leave, I have an interview for the Seattle Herald that I must attend to." he says and the reporters all grown and sigh. Ms. Davenport lets out a giggle as he escorts her to his office with his hand dangerously low on her back. All of the other reporters shuffle into the elevator. I blink a few times, trying to figure out if that really just happened. He seriously just agreed to interview with her because she was a pretty face? I did not expect him to be like that at all, but then again. . . I peer over to Victoria who has the latest issue of Cosmo in her hands as I begin to believe that yes, he really is like that.

But if he is like that, then it still doesn't make sense to me why he hired me. And as his assistant where I will have to be around him for most of the day? None of this makes any sense in my head. Is it possible that I am looking at this all the wrong way?

Probably not. I flop down into my chair with a sigh and stare ahead at the mass of papers strewn across my desk. It's all mixed up from my search and now I'm going to have to spend half of the day going through them and reorganizing them. Fan-freaking-tastic.

•••

My attention is pulled from my papers when Victoria stands up and looks at me as if she wants to say something and to my surprise she actually does. "I'm going to lunch. It's your break too, just so you know." she finishes before frowning and walking away with her head held high. I scold myself for not thanking her. It was the first time she was nice to me and it had to have been hard for her seeming as how she hates me and I haven't done anything to her.

My thoughts are drawn short when I hear heels clank down the hallway, along with another set of footsteps. Candy, the reporter, stumbles from the hallway. Her hair is in knots and her skirt is sideways as she walks away with a small smile. Mr. Payne stops in front of me, watching as she walks away. My jaw drops at the realization of what happened. Whether it was her distressed outfit or his untied tie hanging around his neck that gave it away, it is still obvious.

"Goodbye Liam." she hiccups as the elevator doors close behind her. He smirks as he turns towards me, freezing. His smile falls when his eyes land on me.

"Shouldn't you be at lunch?" he asks with a raised brow and somewhat concerned expression covering his handsome features.

"Umm-" I stutter trying to pull my thoughts from the fact that he just had sex in his office with that woman. "I- ummm." I take a deep breath and recompose myself. "I was just about to leave." I finish and return my eyes to the papers on my desk. Is that even legal for him to do? Of course it is, he can do whatever he wants. This is his business, I remind myself.

"Well do me a favor and go now, would you?" he growls and turns to go back to his office. My eyes go wide in disbelief. Who gave him the right to be this rude to me?

I sigh and stand up, giving up on my papers and grab my purse. It looks like I'm going to the cafeteria. After going to the ground level where the buildings cafeteria is located I stand in line nervously, extremely aware of the fact that I don't know anyone who works here. When it's finally my turn to order something I get a bowl of chicken corn soup and a water bottle. I've seemed to have lost my appetite in the past half an hour.

I feel my face pale as I think of Mr. Payne being intimate with someone a mere fifty feet from where I was sitting. It at least explains why he chose a woman and not a man but I still can't believe he would do that. He was so nice to her... He's so nice to everyone. Everyone except- me?

I can't help but hate the way he treats me. This isn't how I want the rest of my days here at Payne Industries to go. Especially if I want to be a respected Publisher someday. This takes me back to my thoughts on leaving. I don't need this criticism and mannerism in order to succeed in my field of work. So what if I don't work at Payne Industries, it's not the end of the world. There are many other highly respectable Publishing Houses that will do me just as good and give me the job that I deserve.

It's settled. That's what I am going to do. Before I leave today I will hand in a resignation to Mr. Payne and tell him I quit. I'll have to start writing it as soon as possible. Trust me when I say he will be given a long resignation explaining that I am more valuable than what he thinks. I know it may sound a bit big headed of me, but I deserve to have so much more than this. I worked my ass off in school for the past six years and came out with a lot of student debt that I intend to pay off soon. And in order for that I will need a better salary and job. It's not my fault that I can not be offered these better opportunities here and that I will have to leave to make sure that I can get them.