What Nobody Knew

Part 11

"So the job is going well?" Julie asked through the phone.

I started coating my big toenail with red nail polish.

"I guess you could say that. The hours are quite long though, I never expected it to be this exhausting to be a PA." I blew the nail polish to try and dry it quicker.

"Well, he is quite an important man, I would expect that the person who helps him to organize and track his day would be busy." The signal was bad but I could still make out what she was saying.

"I guess you're right. It's not all bad though, on Friday Mr Knight let me leave at six o'clock."

This week had been hell trying to stay on top of all the new work that Mr Knight added for me to do each day whilst still keeping up with his emails which I could swear were increasing by the day.

I finally managed to go through the employment contract and concluded that I was to be at Mr Knight's disposal basically whenever he needed me. The compensation and company benefits made this worth the hassle though. 

So far I've had to organize meetings, confirm that everyone would be present, set up the board rooms and take note of everything that has been said during these meetings. Mr Knight also had me running all over town to collect and drop off documents that were of dire importance, i.e. not suitable for a courier to handle.

I hardly ever left the office before 7 o'clock at night and when I did arrive home, I was to expect at least 2 phone calls where Mr Knight would ask me where I left a certain file or whether I answered an email. This had nothing to do with my lack of actually doing said tasks but rather his need to be on top of everything 100% of the time. Outside phone calls became significantly less intrusive after 8 o'clock but not non-existent. 

This damned phone caused a never-ending series of conversations from me to Mr Knight and vice-versa. The whole situation was quite ironic actually, most of my waking hours were spent either directly in Mr Knight's presence or his conversation.

"Lizzie?" Came Julie's voice through the phone once more.

"Hhmm?"

"I thought I lost you there for a moment. So you'll still be picking me up from the airport tomorrow night?" She asked uncertainly.

I almost completely forgot I agreed to pick up Julie! And she asked me nearly a month ago! She was to come back on Monday night and stay home for a few months before going off to Turkey, I think.

I have just been so busy with work for the last couple of days that I hardly had any time to think of anything other than picking up the pastries for the following day's meeting or organizing cars to pick up Mr Knight from various locations. I didn't, however, want Julie to know that. She would be crushed or worse yet, start feeling guilty for the imposition and try to excuse me from the task.

"Don't be silly! Of course, I remember, did you honestly think I would forget about my favourite sister?" I asked, whilst furiously scribbling the time down in my planner for when Julie's flight would be landing.

Julie chuckled through the phone. I heard some strange noises in the background, although I couldn't quite make out what it could be.

"Sorry Lizzie, I have to get going. But I'll see you tomorrow!"

"I'm counting the minutes sis!" I said before ending the call.

I bent down and touched my toenails carefully to check whether they were dry enough for me to go to bed without ruining them beyond repair.

Tomorrow was going to be a busy day. Mr Knight had an early meeting off company grounds and for the first time he wanted me to join him. I guess that means Mr Confidentiality was starting to trust me a bit more. The company car was to pick me up at 08:00. Luckily this meant I didn't have to leave home as early as usual.

I snuggled in under my duvet and drifted off to sleep within minutes.

...

I straightened my skirt out before heading downstairs.

My father was sitting alone at the breakfast table, busy reading a newspaper and drinking coffee.

"Morning dad, where's everyone else?" I asked as I filled my travel mug with some freshly brewed coffee.

"Good morning Lizzie, I believe your mother went to her book club meeting and your sister has already left for work." He answered glancing up from his paper.

"Mom went to her what now?" I asked, looking at my father with disbelief.

If I ever saw my mother read a single book from start to finish, it would be a lot. She was more the type to rent the DVD and judge the casting and costume decisions if you catch my drift. She was definitely not included in the half of the family who enjoyed reading for pleasure.

"Don't be too impressed, as far as I can tell very little reading or discussion of books are done at these meetings. They consist primarily of catching up on neighbourhood gossip."

I chuckled at my father's response. Now that I could believe.

I closed the lid of my travel mug and checked the clock on the kitchen wall. It was five minutes to eight and the car was likely to show up any moment now. I grabbed my laptop bag and started making my way towards the front door.

"I have to get going now dad, but enjoy your morning of solitude then! I'll see you later."

I heard a muffled goodbye from him as he had already gone back to reading his paper.

I closed the front door behind me and stood waiting on the porch. I double-checked that the lid of my travel mug was secure before taking my first sip. Let's just say there have been some incidents and I didn't feel like spilling on my brand new white blouse. I can just imagine the look of disapproval that that would elicit from Mr Knight's direction.

At that the company car pulled up by the curb and I quickly made my way down where the driver was already holding a door open for me.

"Good morning Miss Bennet." He greeted me with a hearty smile.

"Morning Patrick, thank you," I said before climbing into the back seat.

Let me just start by saying that there is absolutely no ladylike manner in which a person can climb into a particularly low car while wearing a pencil skirt and high heels. It simply cannot be done. 

I was still pulling down my skirt which had managed to ride up my thighs during this whole process when someone cleared their throat next to me.

May the earth suck me in now...