Against The Current

Chapter 2

Assistants Pool

The words were bouncing around inside her brain and just wouldn't stop. This assignment was so far outside of her wheel house, she was used to the more physical assignments.

Emma lay sprawled on her living room floor, surrounded by papers that were piled up in a messy order. Crunching on a juicy red apple, she flicked through the papers pertaining to her 'new job'.

'Assistant ' - Emma had faced a lot of tough assignments in the past and all of them had suited her particular skill set. She quickly flicked through some of them in her head: she was tough, flexible, great at hand to hand combat and an excellent marksman.

None of these skills screamed 'Assistant.'

If anything, Emma knew she was terrible at office work. Paperwork was something she hated, usually because she didn't have the patience to deal with the bureaucracy of it all, especially when there were better things she could be doing with her time. She was always staying late at the office, spending hours of unpaid time catching up on reports that needed to be submitted. The only schedules she usually organised were her own and her time management skills could probably do with some work. Emma never asked for help with her reports, or research as she'd learnt the hard way that the only person she could count on was herself.

A legitimate job had come up at Corsair's for a low level assistant. Entry level assistants appeared to work in a co-operative environment as it required note taking, attending meetings and answering general enquiries for any member of 'higher-ups' that needed it.

David pulled a few strings to make sure that Emma was the only candidate to be hired. He had not been happy at her lack of enthusiasm for this new case and had warned her that her need to be professional far outweighed her personal feelings about her cover.

Emma had been taken aback that David Nolan of all people would question her dedication and professional behaviour. He had also taken the time to warn everyone that this case would not be an easy one and that it was going to be a tough slog that may drag out for months. Emma had groaned and David had narrowed his eyes at her before pointing out that the jobs they were assuming would be real. They were expected to fulfill all of the duties associated, keep a low profile and 100% not get fired.

Emma picked up the background on Corsair's CEO.

Killian Jones was a mystery. The man seemed to have everything. He was incredibly rich, good looking and from all accounts a very quick witted man. There was limited information in the file about his private life and most of the file focused on his business career and his reputation with women. Audits of the company had always come back clean and though Killian Jones appeared ruthless in business there was nothing to suggest that he was underhanded. Emma knew from experience that sometimes things that seemed legit just weren't. She had been through all of the documents provided twice and had memorized as much information as she could get her hands on.

The need for this undercover operation was vital...it wasn't about just stopping the weapons being shipped; it was about stopping the supplier. The influence that Corsair's held was incredible and if they didn't sew this case up tight she doubted she'd have a job left to come back too!

Emma reached over to the pick up the pad she had been scribbling notes on. A new wardrobe was in order if she wanted to fit in seamlessly with the other Assistants at Corsair's. She doubted that jeans would cut it.

Buy new work clothes - pretty

Emma made sure to include 'pretty' in the note as she had a habit of only buying practical pants and plain blouses before pairing them with her red leather jacket. This assignment at Corsair's would mean a new more feminine wardrobe was in order.

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Emma tugged at her skirt, feeling that it was sitting higher than it should be.

'I should never have let that woman talk me into this,' she mumbled under her breath.

Pushing open the big glass doors in front of her, Emma rushed into Corsair's Headquarters. It was her first day and she was already late by 15 minutes. Being late was something that Emma hated but trying on 10 different outfits would make anybody late. She had questioned nearly every outfit the sales assistant had conned her into buying and in the end had no time to do her hair. Emma usually preferred her blonde locks tied back but this morning she'd simply had no time and had let them cascade down her back.

Having already received her security pass and employee I.D from David, it made accessing the building so much easier. She'd already wasted more time earlier as she didn't yet have access to a parking spot which meant that she'd had to park around the block.

Emma was to meet a woman named Regina Mills on the 15th Floor. She flashed her badge at the security guard who dutifully scanned the QR code and waited whilst her belongings were put through the scanner.

Stabbing the elevator button she gave herself a few seconds to glance around and take in the lobby. It was an extremely busy place but there was order and security was posted throughout. There were also adequate security cameras installed above the entrances and throughout the lobby. If this was any indication then a quick check of recent security logs may show any inconsistencies. Emma wasn't sure at this stage what her level of access would be but it wouldn't take much to use her many skills to get what she wanted.

The elevator chimed and Emma quickly turned to face its opening doors. Stepping in, the doors closed swiftly behind her. There was only a man and a woman in the elevator which had just come from the parking garage. The man had his back to her but it wasn't hard to see what they were doing. The brunette woman had her head thrown back against the elevator wall whilst the man's lips attacked her neck. She was wearing a short tight dress and had her leg thrown up around the man's side whilst he caressed her thigh with his hand. The elevator lurched upwards but the rendezvous continued.

Emma cleared her throat quite loudly so the couple would take the hint but the awkward tension in the elevator continued. She decided to ignore it until the woman began to moan unflatteringly.

"Get a room!" Emma directed harshly before turning away from the scene. If there was one thing she hated it was unprofessional behaviour and feeling uncomfortable.

Emma heard movement behind her and felt a presence step up close to her. The hairs on her arms stood up and a tingle rolled down her spine.

"Ahem..." The sound of a throat being cleared was a clear tactic to now get her attention. Emma resisted the urge to turn around and give the man a serving.

"Excuse me?" An English accented voice questioned boldly. The tone of voice exuded power and Emma felt the need to twist her head. She was met with piercing blue eyes and unruly black hair.

Shit

Her stomach dropped to her feet and she briefly squeezed her eyes shut. The one thing David had warned her about was making waves. He had explicitly told her to blend in.

"Stay out of trouble Swan."

This was the exact situation that David had wanted her to avoid.

Standing in front of her was a rather irritated Killian Jones.