“I can do this,” Lexi whispered to herself.

“Of course you can. Now go get them, tiger!” Hope grinned proudly at her friend as she headed for the door. “Oh, and I want you to bring the car into the shop sometime soon. I need to check the oil and make sure the repair on the hose is holding.” She kissed Lexi’s cheek and shoved her out into the hallway.

“Will do.” Lexi pushed the elevator button, then glanced back at Hope as she waved goodbye.

“I want details tonight,” Hope shouted down the hall, “and text me if anything really good happens.” Her voice trailed off as the elevator doors slid shut.

Lexi took three deep breaths as she stood inside the elevator of the Barrington Building and waited for it to reach the twenty-first floor. Her palms were sweaty, and she was nervously grinding her teeth on a piece of peppermint flavored gum. When the elevator doors opened, she stepped out and paused, watching the flurry of people that moved through the offices of Hunter Advertising.

The receptionist smiled at Lexi. “Can I help you?”

Lexi swallowed nervously, her gum scraping down the back of her throat. Her voice was just above a whisper when she finally spoke. “I’m Lexi White, and this is my first day of work.”

“What department, honey?” the receptionist asked as she picked up the phone, holding it to her ear.

“Human resources. I’m working with Mr. Wells.”

The receptionist smiled and began dialing. “Tim, your new employee is here, so why don’t you be a gentleman and come get her settled? I’ll let her know.” She winked at Lexi. “He’s on his way. A nice guy, but sometimes he needs to be reminded of his manners. I’m Sue, by the way. I’ve been working here for almost twenty years. I think you’ll find that this company is more like a family than some big corporation.”

The warm smile on her face put Lexi at ease. “Thank you, Sue. I appreciate it. I’m very excited to start, but I know there’s so much for me to learn.”

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“Alexandra,” a short man with light brown hair called as he walked in with his hand outstretched. “Welcome to Hunter Advertising. I’m Tim Wells, and we are going to be working together.”

“Very nice to meet you,” Lexi said softly as a faint blush swept over her cheeks. “Please call me Lexi.”

“Okay, Lexi, let me show you to your workspace.” Tim began walking briskly down the hall without even waiting for Lexi to follow.

“That man can be such a boob sometimes.” Sue rolled her eyes and pointed down the hall. “Bathrooms are on the left, and there’s a lounge on the twentysecond floor where you can eat lunch or take a break. The coffee in there stinks, and people steal red pens in this office like they’re made of gold, so hide them.”

Lexi mouthed a quick thank you, then took off down the hall to catch up to Tim, who probably could have qualified for the Olympic speed walking team. As she got closer, she heard him rambling on to no one in particular.

“… and here are the bathrooms, down this hall on the left.”

They weaved their way through a mass of cubicles, past a large room that looked like an art studio, and finally ended the mad dash in a long hallway lined with office doors. Tim led her to a small alcove at the end of the hall. A desk and a chair were tucked into the space.

“Here you go. This is your desk.” He patted the short section of Formica countertop and smiled. “Phone, trashcan, plant, and computer. I’ll show you where you can get office supplies. To get an outside line, dial nine. Someone from tech support will come by later and help you set up an E-mail address. I’ll give you a minute to get situated, and then I’ll start the grand tour.” He turned on his heel and ducked into the nearest office door.

“Home, sweet home.” Lexi dropped her purse down on the floor. She opened the top drawer and found a pile of menus to every restaurant within a ten block radius and a notepad. “Looks like I’m in charge of lunch,” she laughed softly.

After spending a few minutes playing with the phone and computer, Lexi began flipping through the notepad that had been tucked in with the menus. It seemed as if she would be responsible for getting around fifteen lunches a day, and some of these people seemed rather picky: dressing on the side, no onions, only fat-free skim milk, and no cheese (lactose intolerant) were just a few of the messages scribbled alongside the orders.

Tim appeared in the hallway. “Ready to get started?”

Lexi smiled. “Absolutely.”

It was after six that evening by the time Lexi finally knocked on Hope’s door.

“Get in here and tell me everything!” Hope grabbed her arm and dragged her over to the black leather couch in the middle of her apartment.

“Spill!”

Lexi smiled at her friend’s exuberance. “Well, the guy I’m working with, Tim, is a goofball. A nice guy, but I can see why he needs an assistant. He’s one of the most hyper people I’ve ever met, a real HR kinda team-building/ motivational-speaker guy. He had me running all over the building today.”

Hope snickered. “No, he didn’t.”

“Oh, yes, he did—all three floors! I hiked the stairs more times that I care to count. The little adventure took up most of my morning.” Lexi laughed as she slipped her shoes off and tucked her legs under herself.

“As goofy as it felt to be wandering around the office like that with a little checklist, at the end of the day, I met a number of the people who I’d be working with, and they all seemed really nice and welcoming.” Lexi grabbed a potato chip out of the bag on the coffee table. “Oh, and my desk is tucked in an alcove at the end of a hallway, the bathrooms are down the hall on the left, and I get paid every other Friday starting on the ninth. So, all in all, I’d say I had a very successful first day.”

Hope went to the kitchen and brought Lexi back a glass of iced tea. “So, do you have any idea what you’re actually going to be doing at Hunter?

Did he go over your responsibilities?”

“Well, the best I can tell, I do a little of everything.” Lexi focused all her attention on the ice cubes floating in her glass.

“And what does that mean?” Hope asked suspiciously.

“Okay, my main responsibility each day is to get the lunch orders and not poison anyone.” Lexi buried her face into her hands at the admission.

“You’re ‘lunch lady’ Lexi?’” Hope asked incredulously. “There has to be more to this job than that. They’re paying you way too much to be the lunch delivery girl.”




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