[Nicole]
The next morning, I woke up earlier than usual with a new energy. I could not tell why but I felt really good. All of my moodiness was gone and so were my worries.
It must be the drugs. It's definitely the contraceptive pills I took the night before. Now I don't have to worry about getting pregnant, and as long as I don't set my eyes on the bastard who had taken advantage of my unconscious state ever again, I can pretend as though it never happened.
We were back to our daily routine with me being up early and Clara still sleeping. I got into the bathroom to clean up, after checking my system for new mails and finding none.
That was when the alarms went off. Clara's loud grumble made me giggle a little. The alarm went on for a few minutes before it went off. Clara must have turned them off when she realized that I was not going to.
I stiffened as the water ran through my now naked body. It was cold. Almost too cold than I could bear, and I briefly considered running a hot bath. I decided against it because it would consume a little more time, and I didn't want that.
I will get used to it. I told myself, and sure enough, I did. I spent less time in the bathroom compared to most other days as my hair didn't need washing. I also made a mental note to run a warm bath for Clara once I was done.
When I stepped out of the bathroom, I was shaking slightly from the cold water, and mostly from the coldness of the room. I went over to Clara's side of the bed, and pulled the blanket off her.
"Wake up, sleepy head, or we'll be late." I said to Clara whose gaze went straight to the clock on the wall.
"Come on. I still have about thirty minutes to sleep." She protested, and I rolled my eyes.
"I know but today is a little different. We don't want to give the new CEO the wrong impression of us while he resumes the office today." I explained in haste, so as not to reawaken feelings which I believed have been or were being killed.
"I totally forgot." Clara replied, climbing out of bed. I hadn't expected total compliance from Clara who went straight to the bathroom to clean up, leaving me to watch her from behind in surprise.
My laptop beeped just then, indicating a new message, and I opened it, after wiping my hands thoroughly on the towel I wore around me.
It was him at last. The new CEO had finally sent me a message, I thought and heaved a sigh of relief. All these while I secretly hoped he had no intention of replacing me as his personal assistant and now that he sent me a message at last, there was no need to be worried anymore.
My smile gave way for horror as the content of the mail registered in my brain. This is no mail. This is only a substantial reason to get me fired.
It was already too late by the time I tried to stop myself from panicking. How am I supposed to get this done within an hour when it is not possible to achieve in three days? I had sincerely hoped Mr Leonard would be much more considerate than his predecessor but clearly my wishes were nothing more than mere wishes.
I sat tiredly on the bed, staring blankly at the screen just as Clara's scream resounded in the room, causing my gaze to travel quickly to the closed door of the bathroom, where the scream had emerged from, and my heart to race even more.
"This water is damn cold." She said from inside the bathroom, and only then did I remember my resolve to run her a warm bath. But that was not my major concern right now, I thought as my gaze returned to the screen where Leonard's mail stared at me.
I didn't realize when Clara stepped out of the bathroom until she touched me with her wet hands.
"It's just me." She said quickly when I almost jumped off in shock.
"Now what is going on?" She asked after a long pause, during which I regained some composure.
I lifted the laptop, and handed it to her. I was too dazed and tongue-tied to utter a word.
"Bloody hell!" Clara exclaimed after going through the mail.
"Is he crazy? How does he expect you to prepare every transaction the company has made in the last five years and submit it by 09:00 AM today?
"What should I do?" I asked timidly. The good energy which I had woken up to was gone. All thanks to Mr Leonard Litt.
Let's get dressed then. We'll report to work on time, and you will get to work immediately. Of course you can't complete the assignment today or even tomorrow but then you should have something to show him." Clara explained, pulling me from the bed where I sat, and leading me to the closet.
*******
"How is it going?" Clara asked me, taking her eyes off the road briefly to look at me. We were on the way to the office, and while Clara drove, I got busy on my laptop, in search of what transaction history I could find from five years ago.
"Not easy but I think there's a little progress." I informed her while my fingers expertly typed away on the keyboard.
"Yes! That's what I'm talking about." Clara exclaimed.
We had hurriedly got dressed for work, and while Clara applied some finishing touches to her outfit and make-up, I had started work on my laptop. No one thought about breakfast as we needed to get to the office as fast as possible.
"It's a good thing I sent some files to my laptop to work on them at home." I said in a very low voice, as Clara drove into the company's premises.
"We are here at last." Clara announced, climbing out of the car. She ran to the other side to get my door but I beat her to it. With my laptop in one hand, and my bag in the other, we moved towards the building. Except for a few cars, the garage was empty as most of the staff were yet to report to work.
We arrived at the first floor sooner than usual as we were the only ones in the elevator room, and so there were no unnecessary stops.
"You get busy with all you can lay your hands on, I will get what I can from the sales and marketing department." Clara offered, once we got to the CEO's corner, where my office is located.
"Clara?" I called, and she looked back at me with Impatience written all over her face.
"Thank you so much." I said and she frowned.
"Come on, get to work." She said in a commanding voice instead, and left.