The Personal Assistant.

Chapter 5

It had been quite early when James woke up. He had tried to fall back asleep again but failed miserably. So after ten minutes or so he stood up and got out of bed. He looked outside his window and saw that the sun was rising. Yawning he looked at his clock, 5 am. Great just great...

Deciding to just go with it he started his usual morning routine. He took a shower, shaved, got dressed and walked into his kitchen. Usually, there would be a maid to cook him his breakfast, after which she would tidy up the apartment and in the evening prepare dinner. Today, however, he texted her saying that she could stay at home today. 

He decided to make scrambled eggs and bacon and started preparing the dish. It was when he looked up for a moment that he saw her. The girl was also standing in her kitchen, but she wasn't cooking, she was making phone calls and putting on her shoes. 

When the scent of burned food filled his nostrils he realized he had forgotten about the eggs whilst staring at her. "Shit." He muttered trying to save his eggs, but it proved to no avail. As he looked back up again he noticed that the girl was gone. He sighed deciding to have Elizabeth bring him breakfast at the office. After all, what is an assistant for? 

It was 6 o'clock that Elizabeth had gotten the text from her boss stating that he wanted eggs Benedict for breakfast, on his desk at 7 am. 'Great' she thought. 'Just great'. 

Immediately she called her contact at the Ritz asking if it were to be possible. Thankfully they had been a loyal client of the Ritz for years and it was located right next to their building. 

Elizabeth took her car to the nearest Starbucks and there she got her morning coffee and breakfast. Soon after that, she sped up to the Ritz to pick up the eggs benedict and want up into the building. 

She looked at her watch, it was 6:53 meaning that if she'd go straight up now she would have his breakfast there at exactly the right time. 

Carrying her bag in one hand and the tray with food in the other she walked out of the elevator. Carefully she put her own bag down on her desk as she walked into his office. 

She was quite surprised to see him sitting there this early, already working. 

"Good morning Mr. McGregor." 

He looked up from his computer screen for a moment and sat back once he saw the tray. He, however, did not say a word to her as he did so.

"Here's your eggs benedict sir." She said as she put the tray down in front of him. She could feel his eyes on her as she removed the lid covering the food. 

"I've also gotten you salt, pepper, some bread and a regular black coffee." 

She took him by surprise as she grabbed the napkin and laid it down on his lap before continuing. "If you need anything else, you know where I am. Enjoy." 

She started to walk out of the office when suddenly he said, "Wait!" 

She turned around. "Thank you." He said for the first time...

The rest of the day went rather smoothly. Elizabeth got the chance to get some of her work done and Mr. McGregor followed his schedule as usual. 

It was around seven in the evening that James finally decided he was done for today. Most of the people in the building had probably already gone home at this time and he had not even eaten dinner. 

He stood up from his chair grabbing his coat when he noticed another person there. Elizabeth was still there with him, going over god knows what. 

He smiled to himself as he saw her work, he had to admit to himself, this girl did actually work hard. 

Elizabeth was sitting hunched over her desk busying herself with seating arrangement of the gala when her phone rang. She picked it up and was greeted by a voice that was unfamiliar to her. 

"Hello?" The voice asked before she even had the time to say something. "Good evening, this is the personal assistant of Mr. James McGregor Jr., how may I help you?" 

"I need to talk to James." The voice on the other end, which sounded like a female, said. 

"I'm sorry but he is rather busy at the moment, is there anything else I could do for you?" She asked pinching the bridge of her nose. 

The voice on the other end suddenly went higher in pitch as the girl huffed and started speaking in an angrier voice again. 

"I need to talk to him now." 

Elizabeth sighed and felt like just hanging up the phone when James walked out of his office. 

"Mr. McGregor?" She asked as she covered the microphone with her hand. 

"There is a girl on the line saying she had to talk to you right now." 

Confusion became apparent on his face before it went emotionless. "Her name?" He asked. 

Elizabeth held up one finger as she put the horn to her ear again, only to find the girl had been ranting for quite some time. 

"Name please?" She asked grabbing a post-aid. 

Suddenly the ranting stopped as the girl said. "Tiffany Gomez." 

Elizabeth put her hand on the microphone once more as she turned to look at  Mr. McGregor again and said. "Tiffany Gomez."

For a split second, she thought she saw his face change, but then it went right back to emotionless. 

"Direct her call to my office." He said turning to go back into his office. Elizabeth nodded and directed the call when suddenly he spoke again. "And Ms. Waverton, do go home, it is quite late." And with that, he closed the door behind him.