New York Billionaires Series

“How quaint,” I say. “It was only the highlight of my week.”

He barks out a surprised laugh, his fingers beneath my chin. He lifts my face to his and gives me a final, lingering kiss, one that speaks not of goodbyes but of unspoken promises. “See you around, Strait-laced.”

I stop him when he has one hand on the door, my words rushing out of me. “Tell me one true thing about you.”

He pauses, his gaze traveling across my nude body with unmistakable admiration. “If you hadn’t spoken to me tonight, I would have broken the rules and done so first,” he says. He gives me a crooked grin and shuts the door behind him.

My first day at Exciteur Consulting starts with a presentation that is at least fifteen minutes too long. I glance left and right to my fellow Junior Professionals, the company’s fancy euphemism for paid trainee, and see them diligently taking notes.

So I resume taking my own.

Exciteur Consulting recruits three trainees for this one-year program every year, one of the most prestigious in the industry. Exciteur Consulting might not be a household name, but they’re everywhere. Advising a large medical company on advertising? Exciteur Consulting. Hired to oversee the strategic overhaul of a failing conglomerate? Exciteur Consulting. Come an alien invasion or the apocalypse, I have no doubt they’d be hired on the spot for their crisis management expertise.

The presentation wraps up with a flourish, and we’re sent off to our different departments. The woman who calls my name is blonde, short-haired, and in her mid-forties. “Frederica Bilson?”

“You’re with me.”

I grab my handbag and notepad, following her neat steps through a glass-covered hallway.

“Eleanor Rose,” she informs me over her shoulder. “I’ll be your supervisor while you’re working with us in the Strategy Department.”

“A pleasure to meet you.”

“Yes, I’m sure.” She punches in the code to a door, and we step into a lobby with elevators. “Strategy is on floor eighteen. We’re a closed loop system, Miss Bilson. We advise management and all the different consulting teams, but we never talk to outsiders.”

“Got it.”

“And because I know how people talk, I want to ensure you hear it from me first. You were not my first choice for this position, but I’ve read your resume, and believe you’ll do well here.”Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

Ouch.

But I have no doubt that I will either, regardless of her preferences. I’d gone through three rounds of interviews to be hired here and I’d nailed every last one. So I meet her brisk, businesslike tone with one of my own. “I understand, and I appreciate your honesty.”

There’s approval in her gaze. “I figured you would. I’ll introduce you to the team and your workspace, and set you up with your first task.”

“I’m ready,” I say and mean it, practically chomping at the bit. From my straightened hair to the heels I’d worn inside my apartment for a week to break in, I’ve never been this prepared in my life.

Eleanor leads me through a second set of doors, using her key card to get in. “You’ll get yours by the end of the day.”

“Excellent.”

She pauses with a hand on a divider, looking over a spacious office landscape with a handful of desks. Individual glass offices line the back wall. “This is your home for the coming twelve months. The Corporate Strategy division.”

“Home sweet home,” I say.

Snorting, she leads me to an empty desk, throwing out names as we pass. “That’s Toby, you’ll work closely with him. Here’s Quentin, he’s in charge of strategic implementation.”

Quentin gives me a sour nod and turns back to his computer. “Another fresh-faced MBA,” he comments. It’s clear it’s not a compliment.

“Exciteur only hires the best,” I quip back.

Both Eleanor and Toby chuckle at that. “Here’s your password,” she tells me. “Get settled in, get acquainted with your computer, and I’ll be back to give you your first assignment in an hour.”

And that’s it.

I sink into my new office chair and watch as she retreats to an office in the corner, the glass door shutting behind her.

“The ice queen,” Toby says beside me. I jump at his sudden nearness and he rolls back, a sheepish smile on his lips. “Sorry,” he says, reaching up to adjust bright-orange glasses. “Unlike Eleanor, scaring you wasn’t my intention.”

“She meant to scare me?”

“Intimidation is the name of the game on first days around here.” He shrugs, unfazed. “Quentin and I aren’t like that, though.”

“Don’t bring me into this,” Quentin retorts. With his ill-fitting suit and mop of ink-black hair, he reminds me of a certain perpetually sad donkey in a children’s cartoon.

Toby rolls his eyes. “He’ll warm up.”

“I won’t,” Quentin says.

“You always do,” Toby responds. “Don’t fight the inevitable. Anyway, welcome! What’s your name?”

I extend my hand. “Freddie.”

“Freddie?”

“Short for Frederica, but I never go by that.”

“Freddie it is,” he confirms, leaning back in his chair. A slim build, a shirt that’s designer, and an eager smile. “You can’t imagine how happy I am to get a new deskmate.”

“Was the last one bad?”

“He wasn’t bad, exactly, he just…”

“Kept stealing your pens,” Quentin says. “I told you to tell him off about it, Toby.”

My new deskmate shrugs. “Anyway, he’s gone now, and you’re here. Exciteur’s shiny new acquisition.”

I chuckle, crossing my legs. “Acquisition?”

“The company is aiming high. Every new hire is highly educated, young and hungry.” Toby winks at me. “Just like you and me.”

“All thanks to our new fearless leader,” Quentin mutters.

I type my password into the sleek new computer I get to call mine. “New fearless leader?”

“Oh, this is too good. Quentin, we have to give her all the details.”

“I’m not paid to gossip,” is his response.