"Good morning, Suzanne, darling! Don't you look lovely today? Are you going to a party or something?"
"Very funny, Mary!" Suzanne replied, as they crossed the entrance hall of the company. "You know very well that I like to feel pretty all the time!" she said trying to sound playful, but in truth it sounded so sincere that even she herself got surprised.
"Well, I'm sure that Mr. Hill loves that too!" the other woman smirked.
Since Suzanne had started working at that subsidiary, Mary Pierce had been the only friend she'd made there. The woman was an accountant and worked in the financial sector. Unlike Suzanne, she liked to dress in a more modest style, and was short and chubby, with short dark brown hair.
From the beginning Suzanne noticed the cold and distant way the other women are treating her at the company, as if she were an unwelcome presence. Mary was the only one who approached her one day and invited her to eat something together. At the end of the lunch, Suzanne took the opportunity to ask what was going on.
"Well, it's not your fault" Mary said, smiling uneasily. "It's just that the girls think that you're the new... Umm... How can I put that... Mr. Hill's girl."
"And what does that mean?"
"Look, Suzanne, I'm not sure if I should tell that, but you deserve to know. You just need to promise that you won't talk about our conversation to anyone, okay? Or I may even lose my job."
"Of course, Mary! No one will know."
"Thank you. So, the thing is, Mr. Hill's former assistants didn't have a good reputation among the staff. People thought they were too friendly toward Mr. Hill, if you know what I mean, and he really seemed to enjoy that. Because of this, they always received some favors and special treatment."
"Are you saying that Mr. Hill had some kind of extra-professional relationship with his former assistants?" Suzanne asked, pretending she had never heard about that before.
"I'm not sure, although some people swear they've caught Mr. Hill and his secretaries acting inappropriately sometimes. None of these women lasted long at their jobs. It seems that Mr. Hill soon gets tired of them and then looks for a new one. I'm sorry for that. I'm sure that's not what you're expecting when you applied this job."
"You're right, Mary. This is kind of surprising. Thank you for letting me know. I really appreciate that."
"You're welcome. I only told you this because I wanted to help. I'm having a good time having lunch with you. You seem to be a very nice woman, unlike Mr. Hill's former assistants. So, if you decide to keep this job, you need to be careful!"
From then on, Suzanne and Mary began to have lunch together almost every day, and they got to know each other better. Mary was married, and had two daughters and a son. Suzanne also talked about her unhappy marriage, stressing how much she had suffered, and only had had the strength to keep going on thanks to her beloved daughter.
During all this time, Mary remained concerned about the situation of her new friend, having to work as Mr. Hill's secretary. That morning, when they met at the company's entrance hall, Mary started talking about this issue again.
"You know, if you want to avoid unwanted attention from Mr. Hill, I don't think you should come to work so dressed up."
"Well, I can tell you that he has been a true gentleman so far" Suzanne pointed out. It was true that the man had touched her arm unnecessarily a few times, and put his hand on her back as they walked together on two or three occasions, but apart from that, he hadn't done anything that could justify his bad reputation.
"I fear that this may change at some point. But you know what? Sometimes I think you're having fun with all this. Are you interested in Mr. Hill, Suzanne?"
"Me? I don't think I'm ready for a new relationship yet."
"That's a relief. And this is Mr. Hill we're talking about. I don't think he would be interested in a relationship either. Most likely, he would just want to take advantage of you."
"You're so sweet, Mary! But I've been thinking... Are you worried about me just because people think that Mr. Hill is a womanizer, or do you know something else about him that you're not telling me?"
"W-what? O-of course!" Mary stated, although she seemed too nervous and uncomfortable with that question. "It's just... Well, I think you deserve someone better than him! That's all!"
"Okay, then" Suzanne said, now suspecting more than ever that her friend was hiding something for some reason.
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"Good morning, Mr. Hill" Suzanne said when her boss arrived at the office, half an hour later. As an efficient secretary, she was already at her desk, waiting for him.
"Good morning, Suzanne. And we're alone now, remember? There's no need for such formality."
"Okay, Gregory. I'm sorry!"
"That's perfectly fine. So, any news?"
"Yes. Mr. Garcia called to ask if you could receive him this morning. He wants to discuss the deadline for the next delivery."
"God, that man is so boring! But he's also one of our best clients… You can tell him to come."
"Okay. Oh, and Alfred asked and he can send you the weekly report tomorrow. It seems he had an issue with a defective machine in the production line."
"No problem. But tell him I need it tomorrow without fail. I have to send this to the company's headquarters as soon as possible."
"Understood."
"I'm going to my office now. Could you bring me some coffee, please?"
"Black and without sugar?"
"That’s right! You really know me well, don’t you?" he smiled at her. "Oh, and I really like your blouse, by the way" he said, with his eyes fixed on her cleavage. Suzanne wondered if the men really believed that women couldn't tell when they were doing this. "It suits you very well."
"Thank you, Gregory. That's very kind of you. I'll bring your coffee in a minute."
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Once again, the day went by without anything unusual happening. One more time Suzanne would return home without any progress in her endeavor, which was disappointing. However, this changed in the late afternoon…
"Excuse me, Gregory" she said, entering Mr. Hill's office. "It's already 6 p.m. Will you need me for anything else?"
"Oh, no, Suzanne. Thanks. You can go. See you tomorrow."
"Umm... Are you going to stay longer today?" she asked, seeing that he was still sitting at his desk with several papers in front of him.
"Yeah... I have to finish some documents, unfortunately. I hope it doesn't take long!"
Suzanne thought it was very weird. Mr. Hill never stayed in the office at night, and she had no idea what those documents were about. Maybe that was the chance she was waiting for…
"Well, you can finish it faster if I stay to help you."
"I wouldn't ask you such a thing. I bet you can't wait to spend some time with your daughter. And those papers aren't that important, anyway."
"Brianna will be out tonight. She's going to see her new boyfriend. I can't believe my sweet girl is already dating. Kids grow up so fast… But it means I'm all yours, Gregory. So, why don’t you start telling what I can do for you?"