Aria had fired her previous assistant for constantly being late and never doing what she was told. It was true that Aria ran a tight ship; she had to. She was a twenty three year old young woman in charge of a multi billion dollar company, her family’s company and while she knew many of her employees, many of her long lost family members prayed for her demise, Aria wouldn’t let it happen. Because the flood had gotten into the new building and it was being repaired, she had quickly rented a nice building in Inman Park for a little while, until the old office building was repaired.
When her receptionist told her that her new assistant, Gemma Lacroix, was here, Aria smiled. She was quite fond of the Lacroix family – they were good family friends, but for whatever reason, Gemma and Aria had never met. She had heard good things about her, and her father promised she was very capable. Pushing back her perfect red hair, she stood up and smoothed out her expensive work dress and walked out into the lobby to see the brunette. She smiled, sticking out her hand.
“Miss Lacroix, I take it? Lovely to meet you. Aria Lockwood. Just call me Aria; Miss Lockwood and Mrs Lockwood were my mother.” She smiled, signaling for her to follow her down into her office. “I appreciate you meeting with us today, Miss Lacroix. Forgive the change up; my beautiful office space downtown, very chic and pretty, was flooded, so we scrambled for a temporary spot. It’s not nearly as nice, but it’ll do for now.” Aria gestured to the seat and sat behind her desk, putting her chin on her hand, looking at her and handing her an folder that contained the agenda for the next time.
“So. First things first. This is how it works: I run a tight ship and I don’t have time for weakness. Whatever rumors you’ve heard about me being a hardcore bitch, they’re true, but bitches get things done, am I right? In this business, you have to be a bitch when you’re a woman. Sad, but true. I don’t tolerate any laziness, any tardiness, so please, keep being on time for both of our sakes. I require clean clothes, a professional looking dress will always do, but you’re gorgeous, so I’m sure this is not an issue for you. You’ll do my appointments, do my calls for me, and you’ll get to know everyone fast, but there are a lot of people calling me all the time. If any of my horrific long lost relatives call, you hang up and if they call again, you block them. When I say something to you, I mean it and when I want something done, I want it done right. I don’t have time to babysit you through anything. I inherited this business, as I’m sure you know, through the death of my parents and I have a lot to learn myself, so I don’t have time to babysit you. You’ll have vacation time, perhaps even come to Europe with me a few times a year, but that is all expenses paid.” She sighed, smiling up at her.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, as well, Ms. Lock--- Aria.” Gemma’s rose hued lips parted in half of a smile but, honestly, that was still up for debate. The red headed young woman in front of her was intimidating, to say the least. She was a commanding presence, full of self-assurance, and she couldn’t help but wonder how she’d come to be that way. It must’ve been something she was born with because, despite their similar upbringings and lifestyles, Gem possessed neither qualities. Or at least she never had in the past... these days she was trying to pull a 180 in her life and finally stand up for what she wanted, but even now it was hard. That much was clear just in the simple fact that she’d gone along with this job in the first place.
Tucking the manila envelope beneath her hands, one that would no doubt be the first of many grasped between her slim fingers, she took a seat opposite her new boss’s desk and listened in. The spiel wasn’t unexpected, but she’d have been lying if she tried to say it didn’t settle another ball of nerves in the pit of her stomach. Answering calls and handling appointments hardly seemed like difficult tasks, but she could tell Aria wasn’t forgiving when it came to mistakes. Slowly inhaling a deep breath through her nose she mentally bolstered her own self confidence and then nodded her head. She was Gemma Lacroix... she could do anything... right?
“I don’t think work attire will be an issue. I have an entire closet full of just the thing---” Correction... she used to. The recent storm had taken care of that for her. Almost immediately she made a mental note to go back to the store later that evening to pick up enough necessities to last the week. “I’ll also take a few preventative measures and get a list of names together so that I can screen the calls for you from the start.” It would make the task of keeping the girl’s family at bay a little bit easier considering she wasn’t familiar with any of them.
“Should I expect to be working late nights or do the days usually end around a normal time each evening?”
