Off Ice.

Chapter Two.

"Avery, be a doll and run this down to Chris," my boss calls from her office. I look through the glass windows, seeing her hand waving the packet of papers in the air. She's not even looking up from the booklet she's reading. I scurry out of the seat of my little cubicle, tugging up the waistband of my pants and make my way into her office.

She still doesn't look at me as she hands the papers my way. I take them from her, turning back and heading to Chris. "Get me a cup of coffee, too! Not as much milk this time, you know I have a sensitive stomach."

"Yes, ma'am," I respond, resisting the urge to roll my eyes as I leave. I really didn't think the trope of the nasty boss who orders the assistant around everywhere was real, but it is and her name is Lillian Kassidy.

It's like the movie the Proposal, except she's not Sandra Bullock and I will not be marrying her to keep her US residency like Ryan Reynolds did.

I'd let her get shipped to Canada on the first opportunity.

I head to Chris first, knocking lightly on his door. He's nice, much nicer than Lillian, but he's still sort of a dick. I just don't understand how people can be so dismissive of others.

"What is it, Avery?" he asks, only glancing up from his computer for a moment.

"Lillian asked me to run this to you," I say quietly, entering the office slowly. I always feel like I'm about to get yelled at and I really don't do well with confrontation. "I believe it's the final draft of that Lovison thriller."

"Oh, good!" he exclaims, now actually giving me the time of day. I walk up and hand it to him while he asks, "Did you read any of it?"

"I only got to read the first couple of chapters, but it seemed very intriguing to me," I tell him, surprised he's even making conversation with me. He nods a few times, giving me a smile and holding it up, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," I smile back, before turning quickly and getting out of there.

I'm at the coffee machine, making her her stupid coffee when the only friend I have here stands at my side. "Is that for the she devil?"

I look over at Laney, laughing lightly, "Sure is. Wanna spit in it?"

She laughs now, leaning her back against the counter next to me. "Don't tempt me. She told me my shoes were ugly today."

I glance down at her backless black loafers, scoffing. I think they're cute as hell. "Those are amazing. Who even says that to someone?"

"She does," she laughs, shaking her head. I continue to stir the coffee as she asks, "Whats on the schedule for tonight?"

I glance at the clock, seeing that I'm able to get out of here in about ten minutes. Thank fucking God. "Theo has an art exhibit tonight," I smile, looking over at her. "He's been working on it for months."

"Oh, right. Your super hot tattoo artist boyfriend," she teases, which makes me laugh and nod. "Yeah, that's him."

"Well, I hope you guys have fun," she smiles at me, before gesturing towards the door. "I'm going to head out before Chris ropes me into another pointless task that he could do on his own."

"Yeah, go," I encourage her with a smile. "I'm right behind you."

After we exchange our goodbyes, I bring the coffee to Lillian with a fake smile on my face. She takes it without even a thank you, so I say, "I'm going to head out."

"Alright. Make sure you're on time tomorrow, I have that meeting you need to be here for," she instructs, as if I'm not early every day. I also don't understand why I'm so needed here because I'm not allowed into the meetings and I end up just sitting on my phone until she's out. But whatever, at least I get paid to do nothing.