Page 21 of Painted Truths

I am astounded to find a creche and childcare facility on the third floor. Martha snorts a laugh as she sees my jaw drop in her peripheral vision.

"The company recruits only the best, and we want to hold on to our staff at almost any cost. Providing this service for mums and dads also happens to be a great recruitment strategy. Mums are more likely to return to employment following their maternity leave, not to mention that they have access to their little ones as they wish throughout their workday."

I can definitely see the appeal and believe it is a very successful addition to an already impressive company.

I spend the rest of my first day learning the ropes but don't see Alex again as he's booked in back-to-back meetings off the premises. I'm kept busy, and before I've even realised it, the day is done, and everyone makes their way from their desks, filing out of the building like worker bees leaving a hive.

Deciding to take my time, I pack up slowly and am one of the last to leave the office. Punching the elevator call button, I'm surprised to find Martha standing inside.

"Going down?"

"Not yet, sweetie. I have some papers I need to grab from Henry."

Two things happen at once that make nausea swirl in the depths of my stomach. Martha's casual mention of a name that I can't escape, at the exact moment the elevator begins to move.

"I forgot to mention earlier that there is a pool, sauna, steam room, and jacuzzi in the basement of the building. They are only for the top brass, but you may need to schedule some time for Alex if he so requires." She leans closer, almost conspiratorially, despite no one else being present. "It's a relatively new part of the building, installed by Alex's older brother."

Enrico, or Rico, as Alex refers to him, was estranged from his brother for years. Alex has never gone into the reason for their hostility, though I've often gotten the impression that the fault lies with his older brother.

When their father died around the same time my parents did, the business was left to Rico. Still, he reached out to Alex, who'd just applied to study business at Cambridge and offered him an entry-level management position—entirely unheard of for someone with zero experience.

It took several weeks of talking him around, though eventually, Alex agreed to his brother's proposition. From all accounts, they seem to be getting along decently, considering their years of separation.

The elevator doors ping before opening on the uppermost floor as Martha bids me farewell, then strides determinedly from the lift towards a tall man, whose broad back fills out his black suit indecently well. A jolt of familiarity shoots through me as the door closes just when Martha reaches him, a bright smile on her matronly face.

Hitting the button to take me to the ground floor, I put all thoughts of tall, well-built strange men from my head. Instead, I begin looking toward the evening with my tall, not so well buffed best friend, and I can't help feeling sorry he's never had a relationship with his brother.

I'm just grateful now that Alex seems to be past whatever set the wheels in motion to make them cut each other off so many years before. Everyone deserves a second chance, and the Alex I’ve been seeing since he'd granted one to his brother is a happier, more well-rounded version of himself.

And so, the time has come for me to become a more well-rounded version of myself. This new life of mine calls for a new apartment. Or a studio at the very least because there's no way I can afford somewhere on my own on entry-level wages, even if those wages are totally not entry-level, regardless of what my new boss maintains.

It's not until a couple of nights later, after talking to my housemates, that they understand my desire to live alone for a while and are happy to support me in entering a new phase of my life.

The first four weeks at DeMarco pass in the blink of an eye, my days flat out, organising Alex's schedule along with general duties in the office, which all the PAs on the floor chip in with.

Since Alex is generally out of the office much more than the other management staff, it seems as though I have become everyone's go-to girl to do the odd jobs that really should fall upon our fair-weather office manager, Andrea. She has a serious fixation with her nails, playing with her hair, and reapplying her varying lipstick shades on a continuous loop throughout the day.

Basically, she's shit at her job.

Besides her, I've made some great friends on the twenty-fifth floor. The whole office, not just the handful of other PAs, has taken me under their collective wing, and I am never without someone floating by my desk to chat or ask a question or for a favour.

I finally manage to tie Alex down for lunch in the massive canteen on Wednesday of my fourth week before he flies back to the States for some big merger Rico is entrusting him with.

We're seated side by side, just about to tuck into a veritable feast of Italian cuisine as both of us reach for the arancini at the same time.

"Alex." Side-eyeing him, I can see his smirk clear as day.

"Olivia." Damn it, I knew we shouldn't have said we'd share.

"Ladies first." His hand inches closer, despite my words. He's got no self-restraint for these little morsels of culinary pleasure, and true to form, with the speed of a rattlesnake, his hand flies forward, grabbing two and jamming one in his mouth before I've even registered his actions.

Narrowing my eyes, I turn to him to find his mouth full and stretched wide with that stupid smile of his. "You shouldn't piss me off, Gaffer. I still haven't forgiven you for those Misdirection tickets."

His sudden laughter rings out across the canteen, before rapidly turning to cough when he nearly chokes on the arancini in his mouth. I help him with some water before he swallows while pounding his chest with his fist and clearing his throat.

Raising one eyebrow in challenge, he deadpans. "Why? You want to have them returned?"

Wanker.