I sigh for the millionth time as I look at the address I’d written down from the email. Why was I doing this? I know, ‘cause I need the money. It sucks when you don’t have family to rely on; even more so when they simply decide to not care about you anymore. That’s what happened to me. I came home from my high school graduation that took place that morning on school grounds to find my belongings in boxes in front of the garage door. Thankfully I have a truck so I didn’t have to leave anything behind as I was sure it’d end up in the trash. I was starting classes in the summer and the few scholarships I had covered books and tuition, but I still needed a place to stay. After checking my bank account I grabbed a couple of newspapers and was able to come across a studio apartment close to the not-so-good side of town. I had a job so I knew I would be able to get the place. After being thoroughly looked over by the landlord I was given the key to my first place. The building didn’t look too bad, but I could tell that having renter’s insurance would be in my benefit. I didn’t really have anything of value to robbers anyway. My mom didn’t place my computer or my keyboard outside with the rest of my stuff, so all I had were my clothes, books, and sketch pads.

          I moved my six boxes of things into the dingy empty space that was now my home. Thankfully there was a stove, refrigerator, and a sofa inside so I wouldn’t have to dig a deeper hole in my bank account for those things. After inspecting the sofa and finding it was a converter and only in need of cleaning and some airing out, I went out and got some cleaning supplies, food, and a few toiletries to bring back to my space. What a way to spend the first day of the rest of your life.

          By the time I finished cleaning, the sun had almost left the sky. I looked around at my new little space in the world. At least it looked better than when I came in. I had a couple of paid days off as a graduation present from my boss so I didn’t have to worry about work for the next three days. That was good of her. I cleaned myself up and made some sandwiches for dinner since I didn’t buy any cookware. That night, I couldn’t bring myself to cry about being suddenly abandoned by my mom. I don’t know why.

 

 

          Time went on and I went on about my normal routine minus my doodling on the keyboard or the computer in the morning and got a few more things for my place. I went to work and told no one about what had happened. It’s not that I don’t get along with them, I do, it’s just that I don’t really let people in to know me like that. I was kinda a loner at school as well. Yeah sure, people knew me and all, but they didn’t know me. Some were surprised to find out that I was fifth in the class grade point wise out of two hundred and forty. Anyway, my classes started and my schedule got jumbled around so for the past few months I’ve been looking for something else that can help supplement my income. It’s not that I don’t manage my money well, I just want to make sure I have some in case. Being on your own for the first time does tend to make you a bit of a tightwad.

          I was at the library near my job at a regional chain clothing store called The Hit when I decided that I should probably clean out my email account of all the junk mail that had built up since I found myself without a home. While going through and deleting, I came across the same email looking for someone capable of doing light secretarial work on a part time basis. They were also looking for hot, intelligent people. I really didn’t think much about my looks. I had this weird shade of indigo eyes that many thought were purple. Of course they thought I wore contacts as well. I wear my black hair long. It stops mid thigh and I always wear it braided and my bangs hang in my eyes. Some girls even compliment my looks, wishing that they could get their hair to look as nice as mine. Most of the guys thought I was a girl at first glance. Second glance they noticed I have some muscle definition, then they decided I was gay and stopped looking in fear that I might look back at them with a sultry eye. Idiots. Some older men have approached me with the intent on dating and screwing me, so I guess they think I look hot. Why not go with it. I checked the most recent email that was dated yesterday and scribbled down the address. Why not? I had my classes situated in the mid afternoon in case I was needed to open at my job and since I hadn’t been needed for that my mornings were free. My account was running lower than I like so maybe I could snag this job to bring it back to a more suitable level. I get home and call the number and set up an interview for the next day, now here I am looking at what I hope to be my second job. 

          I look at the tall building once again before making my way inside. Don’t need to be late for my interview. I walk in and see the usual business people bustling around doing whatever they were there for as I head to the elevators. I stand there with a few other people and look at my reflection in the mirror-finished metal doors waiting for them to part with the carriage to take me to the sixteenth floor. It’s a good thing the person that used to be my mom took some kind of care in packing my clothes or I’d have been in trouble since the cleaners were closed when I went by them on the way home. All of my suits were neat and needed no special care when I unpacked them two months ago. I went with my dark gray suit with a shade lighter for the shirt and a tie that matched my eyes perfectly. I noticed that people were glancing at me via the doors as we waited. There were a few that openly stared at me. I guess I do look hot. The doors parted and we were soon filing inside. I pressed the button for my floor as well as ones the other patrons called and we were on our way. The interior of the elevator was like that of the doors so again I could see people looking at me. I shrugged it off as I knew they were getting off before me. After three stops the carriage was completely mine. I leaned back into the far corner and listened to the music. It wasn’t that mellow-type elevator music either, there was some slightly older pop songs playing that was a change from the stereotype. The Space Between started playing when the elevator stopped. I still had five floors to go before my stop. When the doors opened I reacted to their movement and took in a sight. A man taller than me stepped in. His brown hair was cut neat and hung just below his ears. He was looking down at some papers so I couldn’t see the color of his eyes. He absently pressed the ‘16’ button on the pad as he turned and faced the front. I take in his features via the walls. He’s got a nice square jaw that’s clean shaven. His build isn’t overly muscular, but I could tell he was a good size underneath his black pinstripe suit. I realize then that I was openly staring at him the same way those people were staring at me and I blush and take my attention to the floor, that’s when I notice that he’s humming along with the song. He keeps pitch well, a nice baritone sound. I wonder what he sounds like when he speaks.

          I’m brought out of my musings when the elevator stops at the sixteenth floor. He gets out and turns left; I walk out and stop in awe at what I see. There are gorgeous people everywhere! Men and women were talking and some occasional laughs were heard as I look around. Some were looking over papers, others walking around showing off the clothes they wore, it’s unbelievable. I take a few steps forward looking right and collide with a lady carrying a stack of binders in her arms coming from the opposite direction of my sight. There was a slight pause in the conversations going on immediately around us as the binder scatter onto the marble floor. I bend over the same time as she and we have a head connection that puts both of us on our knees amongst the binders.

          “I’m so sorry,” she says holding her head, “I should have been paying more attention. I normally do when I walk by the elevators, I mean, this isn’t a normal lobby so you can’t really just walk by those things without looking to see if they’re open and like I said I normally do that-,”

          “It’s ok,” I say stopping her flow, “It was my fault actually. It’s my first time here so I was in a bit of awe when I stepped out,” we began picking up the binders, “Can you tell me where I can find the receptionist? I’m here for an interview.”

          I look at her and I could tell immediately that everything I just said didn’t reach her, “Oh my, is that your natural eye color?” she asks.

          “Yes, it is. Could you point me in the direction of the receptionist? I’m here for an interview.”

          “Oh, forgive me. I’m the receptionist. My name’s Carol. And you are?”

          “I’m Sky. Sky Daniels.”

          “Oh yes, I remember now. I thought you were a woman when I first read the name. HR told me the person sounded like a guy over the phone. I thought that was interesting, a boy named Sky. Normally girls would be named something like that but I guess since it’s such an open name-,”

          “Hey Carol the phone’s ringing at your desk,” came a voice to our right. Carol quickly gathered the rest of the binders and took off leaving me to follow her with the ones I picked up. She’s only about five foot six but she moved as quickly as any person my height or taller did, weaving through people and coming to her desk putting down the binders and picking up the phone in one smooth motion. I sat the rest of the binders with the others and waited for her to finish.

          “Yes sir, you ten-thirty has arrived, I’ll send him in,” Carol hang up the phone and looks at me. She smiles and points down the hall just around the corner from her desk, “Just go right down this hall here to the double doors at the end. Mr. Daevin is ready for you.”

          “Thanks,” I say and start walking before she can start up again. As I walk I take in the artwork along the dark panel walls. They’re all depicting various scenes of eroticism. I try not to blush despite the fact that I do draw on occasion. It’s art after all, nothing to be ashamed about right? 

          I arrive at the doors and am about to knock when a baritone voice comes from behind me, “Just go in, he’s waiting on you.”

          I automatically open the doors and go in without looking back.  Well, I can’t really say that I thought about looking back when I was amazed at the room I revealed when I opened the door. It had the appearance of a study rather than an office. Bookshelves lined the right wall and extended halfway to the left side of the room completely covering the wall which housed the only way into the room. Just past the shelf of books on the left is an elegant glass case holding various alcohols and very expensive looking tumblers sitting atop the structure. At the back of the room sat a large desk with a comfortable looking leather chair. Beside the desk stood a man looking to be in his late forties, his hair salt-and-pepper colored which didn’t look too bad on him. His eyes dark as the night sky, they meant business. I came to stand in the middle of the room, that’s when I noticed there were more people in the room. In front of the bookshelves on the left is a leather sofa which sat two other people, both men. One had dark hair slicked back so that it shinned in the overhead light. It reminded me of a mobster from those cheesy mob flicks from back in the day and his face reminded me of an evil scientist from a bad sci-fi flick. He looked like a stick wearing clothes he was so thin. Please don’t let me get this job and have to see him everyday. The man sitting next to him is slightly pudgy and balding. He’s got that half moon of hair going from ear to ear. It makes him look like one of those old relatives that do book keeping or something. Both of them are dressed to the T. I look back to the man at the desk. His eyes look me over carefully before going over to the case and pouring a drink for himself and the other two men. He takes the tumblers over to the men then goes back to the third one and takes it to the desk and sits down. He sits in silence watching me for a few minutes while sipping on his drink.

          “Tell me Daniels, why did you come here today?” he asks.

          “I came across an email that was offering a job. Since I need to make more money I figured why not,” I respond.

          “And why do you need to make more money?”

          “With school, I can’t work the hours I would normally work in the summer so I need something to help pay the rent and my other expenses.”

          “Why not just quit school?”

          “Because I don’t want to work in retail the rest of my life.”

          “So you don’t like working for The Hit store?”

          I look at him with surprise. I’ve still got my resume in my hand. How did he know that I worked there? He smiles at me. Something’s not right here.

          “You’re wondering how Daevin knew where you worked?” came from my left. I look over and see the creepy thin man smiling at me. It’s more like a leer actually. Now I’m getting’ creeped out. I look back at Mr. Daevin.

          “H-how did you know that I worked there,” I say as calmly as I can.

          “I’ve known every move you’ve made since your mother and her boyfriend kicked you out,” Daevin says sitting down his tumbler, “My men have had their eye on you. They felt you were a good candidate to work for this company. After seeing their photographs of you, I agreed. We’ve been sending you emails for the past two months without a response from you. What made you decide to answer now?”

          “I haven’t really had a chance to check my email since I was….kicked out. It was yesterday that I thought I should check it and came across the emails you sent. Since it was advertising for something part time I figured I could squeeze in some time before school.”

          “Let me take him. I can put that body of his to good use,” says the creepy thin man, he’s rubbing his hands together in that evil scientist sort of way. I take a step away from them.

          “Uh, yeah, I don’t think this would be a good job for-,”

          “You will be working here Daniels,” Daevin says, drawing my attention back to him.

          “I think I’ll pass on the offer. Thank you anyway.”

          “You don’t have much of a choice. You can’t afford not to.”

          “My rent’s not that expensive. I can try and get extra shifts at the store, so really, thanks, but no thanks.”

          “You do not work for The Hit anymore Mr. Daniels,” says the pudgy man, “Nor do you live at six forty-three West Greer Street in apartment three oh eight.”

          “What are you talkin’ about? Oh course I do.”

          “The moment you walked into this building you ceased such actions.”

          “What the hell are you talking about?”

          The pudgy man shakes his head, “Such language towards your elders, I shall take you since you are in serious need of discipline.”

          “No! I called for him first!” starts the thin man.

          “You now reside at fourteen twenty-one Carson Avenue apartment twelve thirty-two. You also work for the Siren Corporation,” Daevin says taking up his tumbler, “You have to, your meager job at The Hit can’t cover the rent at Acropolis. And there’s also the matter of the debt your mother’s boyfriend has created, but has not yet paid in full.”

          “What….why? I don’t understand any of this? What the hell is the Siren Corporation?”

          “It a company that provides various services such as insurance and entertainment, among other things,” says the thin man.

          “The slender gentleman is Markus Rex. He heads a division of entertainment that takes care of the more….baser needs of our clientele. He’s more like a teacher of sorts. The man next to him is Tobias Wren. His talents are a bit more spread among the needs of clientele; from standard dominant and submissive training to escorting as well as dealing with the various forms of adult entertainment. ”

          “Wait, you said something about a debt that James created. What does that have to do with me?”

          “The stupid idiot hasn’t figured it out yet,” the thin man says.

          “Figured out what yet.”

          “The reason why you were kicked out of your home so to speak,” Daevin said. He pauses and takes another sip then sits his glass back down, “James got your mother to agree to let you work off his debt.”

“WHAT?”

“It seems that your mother was more interested in keeping James under her roof than her own son. A pity really. I can’t imagine why. The way he’s going, he’ll end up being found somewhere. But at any rate, the debt has to be paid. We weren’t expecting them to toss you out so early. They agreed to the deal the morning you graduated from high school.”

“So that’s why they weren’t there,” I say. It makes sense. I never really got along with James. He’d been living with us for about seven years. I never knew my real dad, he skipped town when I was still a baby. Luckily mom had some money so it wasn’t a hard life growing up. That is until James wormed his way into our lives. But that’s another story that I care not to discuss, “So why am I now living in one of the richest apartment complexes in the city? Can’t I live where I am now?”

“That rat trap? Please. Your clients wouldn’t be caught dead-,”

“Clients? What the hell? You’re whoring me out to pay off that fucker’s debt? Forget it!”

“That is but one way,” Wren says, “You could just as easily work as a training pet.”
          “What the hell is a training pet?”

“You would be taught how to be a submissive and then used as a training pet for those that wish to be proper dommes. But then again, with your looks I’d much rather have you as a toy for my more privileged clients. They would absolutely love you.”
          “There’s no way in hell I’m gonna be someone’s training pet or a damned toy!”

“Well here in lies a problem, you are going to work for this company. Those are your options.”

“This is false advertisement!”

“The emails were sent directly to you and no one else.”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“You’d rather work in one of the strip clubs then?” Daevin spoke. I look at him.

“I’m not working here at all!”

“You have no choice really. Unless you want to go to jail for defrauding an insurance company.”

“What?”

“Surely you’ve heard of Siren Medical,” Rex said. I closed my eyes, my hand coming to grip my bangs. My health insurance is with Siren Medical. Just fucking great!

“I’ll take him,” came another voice. That’s when I remembered the baritone voice from earlier. I open my eyes and turn to look behind me. It’s the man from the elevator. My breath is lost to me.

“I like that idea much better. He’s all yours,” Daevin says.

“But I called for him first!” Rex cries out. I look over at the creepy thin man and take another step away from the pair on the sofa.

“He would only serve to make you want to break him instead of using him like you should Markus. I saw that look in your eye when he stepped in. You’d have him looking like a broken bloody mess,” Daevin turns his attention to Wren, “And you would have trouble with him as well Tobias. Your staff would try extra hard to shape him or your privileged clients would try to buy him from us, and we will not have that. I give him to you Chambers.”

Wren sighs then nods, “Yes, that would be best. Congratulations Ares.”

I look back to the man at the door, “You’re named after the Roman god of war?”

“Greek. The Romans called him Mars.”     

“Now that everything’s settled, I’ve got another meeting to attend,” Daevin says standing up, “You are now the personal assistant to Ares Chambers. I’m sure he’ll have some secretarial work for you to do, among other things.”
          “If I knew it was going to be a waste of time I would have sent one of my pets for this,” Rex spoke standing, “Good day Daevin.”

“And I shall take my leave as well,” Wren said following suit.

“Come, I’ve got work to do,” Ares spoke. I looked back at Daevin before catching up to Ares.

I walk a few feet behind him as we went back through the lobby. This time there were only a few people there in stead of the multitudes from earlier. Carol was walking to the elevators with a clipboard as we pass her. She looks up and smiles briefly before returning to her task. I smile back and continue to follow my new employer, Ares Chambers. We come to another set of elevators and Ares punches in a sequence and the doors open, “These elevators only go from this floor up to the twentieth. The main elevator can not stop on those floors,” he says as we step inside. The interior is a solid glossy black. I try to focus my attention elsewhere, but there’s nothing to look at other than the floor buttons. The music is classical and has a slight calming effect on me, but I’m still nervous about what my used-to-be mother and her boyfriend have gotten me into.

We get off at the twentieth floor and Ares quickly makes his way down the long stretch of hallway with me in tow. We pass be several unmarked doors, each possessing a keypad entry. Some had red lights flashing on them, others green. I’m tempted to ask but I have the feeling that either I’d get an answer that I wouldn’t want or no answer at all. We turn the corner and stop at a set of glass double doors. Ares swipes a card and the doors part allowing us entry. I take a few steps and stop to look around. There are three other people here, two are looking over the various color screens before them and one was to my right typing away at a computer while looking over four screens. None acknowledged our presence when we entered.  

“Daniels,” Ares spoke. I snap my attention back to him as he’s stopped walking to turn back to me, “come.”

“Yes sir,” I say and continue walking. We pass through two more sets of doors and down another hallway and finally stop at a set of oak doors. He pulls out a key and unlocks the doors. The inside looks like that of a large apartment with a dark gray living room set just off to the left of the entrance and a large plasma screen with five smaller screens sitting on a table in front of it curved around a keyboard on the right. Ares walks over and presses a few keys to bring the screens to life. A phone rings and he picks it up. While he talks to whomever, I look around more. I notice there are papers all over the coffee table and some on the sofa. I look down a hallway to what appears to be another open area. I walk down the hallway to the second room. It’s set up more like an office with filing cabinets and a desk with a large flat screen slim design computer resting atop its cherry wood finish. There were also papers everywhere. I sigh and reach behind me to grip my braid. Basically, this place was a mess. Yeah, I’m a little OCD when it comes to organizing.  I have to be with all the music and stories and poems I write in my spare time. Believe me, it’s a lot to keep up with.

“You’ve found your workspace, good,” his voice pierces my silence, “I need these files, the ones on the coffee table, and the ones in the kitchen organized and filed with a content table complete with search mode by five o’clock. This computer is only networked with the one in the front room so no one can access files. It will be quicker to create the table and search if you create it as a PDF. I’ll leave you to it.”

I turn to look at him, but he’s gone. I sigh and take off my jacket. It’s a good thing I don’t have class today, this is definitely going to take a while. I roll up my sleeves and get to work. I grab stacks of papers and set them aside to make space on the desk so that I can start a filing system. I end up using seventy-five percent of the desk and the tops of the filing cabinets when I finished arranging the papers in the office. I walk back into the front room. I grab a stack of papers and take them back into the office. When I finished transporting those, I went in search of the kitchen. I walked back into my office area and noticed another hallway. I walk down the hall to the door at the end. I look around the corner and see another stretch of hallway and continue my trek. The smell of coffee caught my nose and I followed it to what had to be the most gorgeous kitchen I’ve ever seen. It’s finished in metal and black and everything was sleek and modern right down to the coffeemaker that was brewing the most delicious smelling beans I ever caught a whiff of.

I walk in to the area and see to my left what I can guess is a metal worked dining table covered with papers. I look over the counter dividing the dining area from the kitchen so find my employer looking over yet even more papers before turning to reach up into a cabinet and retrieving two large black ceramic mugs, then opening a drawer at the island and pulled out two spoons. The mugs look like they hold about two regular cups of coffee, wonderful. He poured the wonderful concoction into mugs and went to the refrigerator to get cream. I went into the kitchen and stood at the island on the other side of the fridge looking at him for a moment then down at the steaming mugs. He placed a small black creamer beside the mugs, “Sugar,” he spoke.

I look up in response. That’s when I take in the sight of his eyes, a pale green, almost like a frozen jade color. To simply put it, they’re beautiful. He cocks a brow and that’s when I realize that he asked a question, “Uh, yeah, sugar’s good.”

He turns away and produces a small metal canister with black trim labeled ‘sugar’ and sets it down beside the creamer, “Help yourself.”

I open the canister and scoop out my usual amount of sugar, about twelve scoops, then I fill the mug to the brim with cream. I stir my mug and bring it to my lips trying to contain the drool of getting my hands on such an aromatic brew. I stop with my mug mere centimeters from my lips to take a look at my employer, he’s staring at me, “What?”

“Is it really necessary to have that much sugar and cream in coffee?”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“I think it would be hard to enjoy the taste of coffee when it covered by so much cream and sugar.”

“What do you mean? I’ve always taken my coffee like this.”

“Then you haven’t truly experienced the flavor of coffee,” he says before putting a scoop of sugar and a minute amount of cream in his own mug, “You’re no different from those coffeehouse junkies.”

“You make it sound like I’m destroying the purity of the best beverage on the planet.”

He stirs his coffee then brings his mug to his lips, “You are.”

I sit my mug down on the countertop and take hold of his, “Fine, then let me see how yours taste oh of guru of the bean,” I say. His fingers come away from the mug and I bring his to my lips, blow on it slightly and take a sip…then another…then another. Before I know it, I’ve polished off the entire cup. I set the mug down and lean on the countertop. It was almost as good as getting a blowjob first thing in the morning. I moan passes my lips and I feel drool running down from the corner of my mouth. Yeah, that was good.

“I take it you’ve seen the light,” he says taking the other full mug and emptying it in the sink before filling it again with straight coffee.

“Mmmmm, that was great. Where’d you get those beans?”

“They’re imported from Peru.”

“So they were like hand picked by Juan Valdez?”

“That’s Colombia.”

“…oh.”

 I watch as my employer fixes himself another cup of the wonderful beverage. He reaches over and takes the cup in front of me and fills that one as well. He adds the same amount of cream and sugar to both mugs and then places one in front of me.

“How far along are you with the filing?" He asks before taking a sip.

“Once I get the files in here sorted I can start typing their titles into the computer and that should take about three hours. I’ll have it done before five, don’t worry.”

He looks over at the digital clock on the stove, it reads twelve thirty nine, “You’ve sorted through ninety-five percent of the files in just under two hours. Not bad.”

“I’m a bit OCD when it comes to stuff like organizing papers and whatnot. I write a lot and I have lots of papers so it comes easy to me.”

“Good. When you’re done with that you'll be done for the day.”

“Oh,” I say before taking a sip of the ambrosia in my hands.

“Trust me, it Is a rarity that you'll be done for the day with only one task. You’ll more than likely have to change your schedule around once you get a good idea of what I need from you.”

“What?”

Ares put down his mug, “You’re my personal assistant. There will be several times when you will be unable to attend school. You should start setting your schedule to mine.”

“I thought this was only part time,” I say sitting my mug down now.

“That was if you were chosen by Rex or Wren. Daevin might have been able to use you on those terms. It doesn’t apply to me.”

“What the hell? Do you want me to just drop out of school altogether? I worked hard for those scholarships!”

“I’m sure they know. That is why those two were chosen for you.”

I thought about the creepy thin man and shivered, “I doubt they would have cared.”

“While Rex is a sadist, he does know his limits. If he went past them he would have to deal with Daevin. The same goes with Wren, but in his case he’d be caught between angry clients and Daevin.”

I thought about the accountant-looking man, “He thinks people would pay money to…own me.”

Ares looks at me, his eyes boring into my being. “All it would take is a few clients to get a good look at you and a bidding war would ensue.”

I scoffed and pick up my mug, “Yeah right.”

“I’m not lying Daniels.”

That stops the movement of my mug of deliciousness to my mouth, “And Daevin would allow that?”

“In your case no, but it has happened before.”

“I probably wouldn’t make enough anyway.”

Ares took his mug and the stack of papers he was reading and headed out of the kitchen, “Ten,” he says then disappears down the hallway. I look in that direction with a confused look on my face. I abandon my coffee to follow him down the hallway.

“What do you mean ten?” I ask catching up with him at my workspace. He stops and surveys the organizing that I’ve done so far. He turns to look at me as he sits his mug down on the edge of a nearby filing cabinet along with the stack of papers.

“You would fetch about ten times more than the last person that Daevin allowed for auction.”

I was almost too afraid to ask, but couldn’t help it, “And how much was the…last person sold for?”

“Thirteen million.”

It only took me a second to process that. And it only took a second for Ares to catch me as my knees gave out. I would be worth one hundred and thirty million dollars to someone? I can’t believe someone would spend that much money on a human being.

“That’s insane,” I say trying to steady myself, “Why would someone buy another human being? Why would someone allow themselves to be sold like that?”

“People get themselves into situations they have no chance in getting out of. With the last one, he kept borrowing money for disastrous investments thinking he could get himself in the black from the last one.  He deserved what he got,” Ares spoke still holding onto me.

I went still, “Did I deserve this?”

Ares said nothing. Maybe I just imagined it, but for a second there I could feel his arms tighten around me. I took his arms from around me and went over to my chair. Ares picks up his mug and papers and left for the front room. I look out the window at the skyline for a few minutes before getting back to work.

 

I sat back in my chair and stretched. The clock on the wall read three fifty-seven. All of the organizing was complete and with plenty time to spare. I sat there at the computer looking over the various programs before I notice someone watching me. I turned around and found Ares looking back at me with a neutral expression on his face.

“It’s finished,” I say as I press a few keys and bring up the table of contents for the filing cabinets.

“I know. You’re done for the day. Be here at seven tomorrow and I’ll show you more of your duties.”

I stand up and take my coat from the back of the chair, “I’ll see you then.”

“Inform your professors you will not be in class for the rest of the week. I will need you.”

My eyes went wide, “I’ve got a test on Friday that I can’t miss! Are you-,” his look stops me from finishing the sentence. I sigh and shake my head, “I’ll see if my professor will let me take it later,” I say and fold my coat over my arm and make my way past my employer. I head through the front room and out the sets of doors to the private elevator. I get inside and lean against the wall as I wait for the carriage to bring me safely to the sixteenth floor. When the doors opened on the main floor I spotted Carol just ahead of me talking with a model-type woman adorned in a power suit. Not wanting to interrupt their conversation I slowed my pace and stayed behind them until I reached the main elevators. Once inside I hit the lobby button. I needed to get out of here and to my…new apartment. Yeah, today was a good first day.

           

          I walk outside into the somewhat cooler air of the afternoon. I get my parking ticket out of my pocket and realized that I forgot to get it stamped. I went back inside and up to the sixteenth. I met Carol as soon as the elevator doors parted, stamp in her right hand, “Figured you’d be back,” she says and stamps the slip of paper.

          “Thanks Carol.”

          “How was your first day?”

          “It’s…a lot to take in, but I think I can handle it.”

          “Good. Ares can really use the help. His last assistant turned out to be not much help and then Mr. Rex got his hands on him….he was completely useless then,” I shivered when I thought about that man. He really does give me the creeps, “Well, don’t let me keep you hon, I’m sure you’ve got school and all. I’ll see you later,” and then heads back to her desk. Wow, that was a short conversation, I’m impressed.

          I get out of the parking garage and then remember that I don’t live where I used to live anymore. I live at the Acropolis. Holy shit, that’s really up there. I was afraid to even show up there but I had to since that’s where my home is now. Thankfully it’s a straight shot from where I work so I make it there in ten minutes. I pull into the underground parking and carefully park my truck between a vintage Shelby GT and a custom edition Harley Davidson. My truck sticks out like a sore thumb in the parking lot. I walk past Mercedes, Hummers, even a couple of Lamborghinis. This place is way out of my league. I get to the elevators and note there is a key pad instead of the traditional ‘up’ button. Shit, how was I supposed to get in? I look around and see no one. I’d feel like an even bigger dork if I walked around front to get in the building. After a few minutes of internal debate I give up and make my way to the front of the building. At least I look like I could have a purpose here.

          I make it inside with no problem. I get to my floor and as I’m walking down the hallway I come to the realization that I don’t have a key to get inside. I come to the dark gray door with the numbers twelve thirty-two in polished silver staring back at me. I run a hand into my bangs and lean my shoulder into the door.

          “I thought I might find you here,” I perked up and looked behind me. Coming up the hall in my direction is the personification of sex on two legs dressed in black Armani. He is the same height as Ares with a short shock red hair that was parted on the side and the front falling into a dark set of eyes that reminded me of, “Anthony Daevin.”

          The owner of the Siren Corporation.

          “Sky Daniels?” he says stopping beside me.

          “Yeah.”

          “This will probably help you get in,” he says and dangles a silver key in front of my eyes.

          I reach up and take it, “How?”

          “Your boss was caught up with Carol so I decided to help him out. He’s quite surprised what you did with the filing. His last assistant was no where near as efficient.”

          I shake my head, “That’s just the OCD at work,” he smiles at me and I fight off a blush.

          “Either way you did a good job. I think he likes you.”

          I stick my key in the door, “He must since he wants me to miss the rest of my classes this week,” I open the door and step inside. I stop and blink…several times. This place in amazing! Mist colored walls enhance the beauty of the silver framed artwork that hung from them. Rich hardwood floors gleamed to perfection. Dark blue furniture tastefully arranged around a glass and metal coffee table settled in front of a faux fireplace. I take a few more steps into ‘my’ apartment and was greeted with the sight of the setting sun through floor to ceiling windows with Venetian blinds the same color as the walls.

          “I take it this is the first time you’ve seen the inside of an apartment here at the Acropolis,” Anthony says coming up beside me at the windows. I nod and hear him chuckle, “You’ll get used to it, well, maybe not seeing how you work for A.C.”

          I looked in the redhead’s direction, “Why do I get the feeling that you don’t call him that in his presence?”

          “’Cause I like to keep my throat where it is.”

          “You should hope he doesn’t find out.”

          “I think he already knows,” Anthony says stepping closer to me, “He does talk with my brother after all.”

          “So what do you do at Siren?” I ask moving away to look at the art hanging above the fireplace, he follows.

          “I try to do as little as possible,” he says stopping even closer to me, “But mostly I oversee the graphics and interior design. We just started up the interior section three years ago. It’s progressing nicely.”

          “I study graphic design at school,” I commented before moving on to explore more of my apartment. Of course Anthony is only a few steps behind. This place is incredible. I can’t believe I live here. After looking through the kitchen to find my more acceptable items were present, we made our way down the hall that was to the left of the living room. I open the doors along the way to find an extra bedroom, guest bath, an office and the final door at the end of the hall, the master bedroom. I take a step inside the room and look in awe at its beauty. The bed was beautifully polished silver and king sized with black and navy bedding and what seemed like a mountain of pillows. Does one person really need that many pillows? Either way it looked great. The dresser and doors matched perfectly with the bedding. I peaked into the master bath that was worked in silver and black with white tiles on the floor and in the separate shower. I go over and open the door to my walk-in closet and find my clothes hanging neat and categorized. Maybe it’s just me, but the fact that some stranger was touching my clothes makes me feel kinda…creeped out. I shiver as I think that someone was touching my boxers. I step back and close the door only to bump into Anthony. Damn, I almost forgot he was still here. He was actually quiet as I looked through the rest of the place. I turn around and I’m backed against the door with him inches in front of me, his right arm braced against the door.

          “I heard from Carol that you had an interesting shade of eyes and now that I see them for myself I have to agree with the chatterbox for once,” he says staring at me.

          “I, uh, yeah,” I get out. He leans closer to me.

          “She failed to mention how hot you are,” he adds, his left hand coming to my cheek. His thumb strokes my cheek and then my lips. Oh hell no! He passes his thumb over my lips again and I bite him, hard. He jerks back and looks at it, “You like to play rough don’t you,” he grabs me by my jacket and yanks me over to the bed. We struggle for a few minutes on the bed and he comes out on top, “I think I’m gonna have some fun with you,” he smirks.

“Get off of me,” I say pushing at him. He’s got about four inches on my six one and a good twenty pounds of solid muscle. The way he’s situated on me makes me think he’s done this before.

“How ‘bout I just get you off,” he says then nuzzles my cheek before his tongue comes to the bottom of my ear. I can feel his hard-on against my thigh, his hangs gripping my wrists tighter. Luckily I’m still wearing my shoes so I bring my heel down on his Achilles and he lets up enough for me to reverse our positions. I press his wrists into his chest putting all my weight on him.

“When I say get off of me I mean it you fucking asshole. Got it?” I grind out. He smirks at me and I’m about to clock him one when a hand grabs my arm. I look at the person denying me the pleasure of punching this bastard.

It’s Ares.

“You made your point Daniels, get off of him.”

He lets go of my arm and I look down at Anthony, smirk still on his face. I give him a shove as I get off him and the bed. Anthony gets up from the bed and straightens his clothes.

“I wasn’t expecting to see you-,”

Ares cuts him off with a jab laying him out on my bed. I stare wide-eyed at Ares then at Anthony.

“That really wasn’t necessary you know,” Anthony said sitting up and rubbing his jaw.

“He told you to get off of him and you didn’t.”

“My my, aren’t we protective.”

“All you needed to do was bring him his key, that’s it.”

“I just wanted to get to know your new assistant, that’s all.”

“If he wants you in his bed I’m sure he knows how to get you there.”

“Huh?” I say looking at my boss.

Anthony gets up again, “I see you’re keeping a better eye on this one. Better make sure Rex doesn’t get a hold of him.”

“Rex knows he belongs to me. Daevin gave him to me.”

“So Pat actually gave him to you? I thought for sure Wren or Rex would have persuaded big bro for this nice looking young man. You know those are Wren’s favorites as training pets. He’d fetch a nice price and clean up that Markham debt easily. I can only imagine what Rex would have him looking like if he got his hands on him.”

“Your brother isn’t allowing him to be sold.”

Anthony shrugs and then looks at me, “I’ll be seeing you Sky.”

“Stay away from my assistant Daevin.”

“We were just playing Ares, no need to get bent out of shape over it.”

“It didn’t sound like that to me.”

“You heard?” I ask.

“There’s no need for you to be here any longer Daevin, leave.”

Anthony puts his hands in the air, “Ok, ok. I’m going. It was a pleasure Sky.”

“Too bad I can’t say the same,” I reply. Anthony looks at me a moment longer before heading out of the room. I follow him to make sure he goes straight to the door. He opens it and turns to flash me a smile before leaving. I frown and close the door.

“Don’t lead him on,” Ares says behind me, “You’ll have a hard time trying to get his brother to believe you should Anthony try anything more than what he did earlier.”

I turn and face him, “You think I wanted that?”

“Why would the two of you be in your room if you didn’t want him.”

“He followed me in there.”

“Why would you go to your bedroom knowing you had a guest in your home.”

“Well excuse me for wanting to take a look around the place I now call home.”

“You could have done that after he left.”

“Why the fuck are you here anyway?” I yell at him. My patience is already gone from having to deal with the company owner’s brother. He looks at me unfazed by the outburst.

“You need these to access the room,” Ares says holding out access cards, “Otherwise you would have to wait for me to let you in. The others will not.”

I take the cards, “…Oh, thanks,” I look down at the cards with Siren’s logo on them, “Sorry about yelling at you. It’s just that this day started out normal but ended up being anything but. I mean, why the hell do I have to pay off that fucker’s debt? He’s the one that created it, right?” I thought for a split second, “Shit, you just clocked the owner’s brother, am I even gonna have a job tomorrow?

“That decision was not made by me and yes you will have a job tomorrow.”

“You don’t know that. Anthony may tell his brother anything and I’ll end up getting sold off or something.”

“You will not get sold. He has no thoughts of doing so. Daevin knows the habits of his younger brother.”

“So why are you making it sound like all that with Anthony was my fault.”

“Because it was.”

“The fuck?”

“You need to learn about the company you work for. And the politics involved. Stay away from him.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. Wait, is he allowed where we work?”

“He doesn’t come there. And you work in the securities division. There’s a file on the table in your kitchen. Make sure you read if before you come in tomorrow.”

I blink at him, “Why is it in the kitchen? I was just in there and I didn’t see anything.”

Ares moves past me and opens the door, “Make sure you read it,” and with that left.

I didn’t know if I should be angry or thankful to him. He keeps me from whaling on the owner’s brother, but says it’s my fault I put myself in that situation. What the fuck? Ok…maybe it was but damn, what do you expect when you’re told that you live in the ritzy part of the city now simply from just walking in through the front door of an office building. Even more so when you learn that you have to have a job there because you were chosen to pay off someone else’s debt. That kind of stuff doesn’t happen to normal people like me. I sigh then close and lock my door and head for the kitchen. It really is a beautiful kitchen, sleek and modern with touches color here and there. I didn’t even know they made navy blue coffee makers and matching coffee grinders. I walk into said kitchen and stop short. There on the island was the file and beside it a bag of coffee beans with a note. I walk over to the island and pick up the small piece of paper, ‘These are Colombian. Juan Valdez doesn’t pick beans anymore so you’ll just have to deal with it. Drink responsibly’.