Back to December

One

December 20th, 2022

Five years later.

"Marley," Victoria's shrill voice rings through the office. Time has dragged on painstakingly slow today, and it was all because my boss was supposed to leave over an hour ago. It wasn't rare for her to keep me here well after I was supposed to leave, but it'd been almost two hours now. All the other editors had left early, ready to get out of our office and enjoy a much-needed break.

    That should be me too, but instead, I sat behind my desk, watching the minutes pass by.

    "Yes, Miss Priestley," I rush up from my desk, moving from my tiny workspace into my boss' massive office. Victoria's office was lined with shelves, filled to the brim with all the books she'd published. Her office smelt strongly of the Chanel perfume she'd made me buy for her, if I hadn't grown so used to the scent, I'd have a headache. She sat at her desk in the middle of the room, clicking away at buttons on her laptop with an impatient scowl. One that I, unfortunately, know all too well.

    In movies and TV, the heads of companies are always stereotyped to be rude and ignorant, and while that might not always be the case, Victoria Priestley proved all the stereotypes to be true. She was impatient, arrogant, and judgemental, using her power to make everyone at the office's life a nightmare.

    I'd started interning at Priestley Publishing as soon as I graduated two years ago, with a creative writing degree from NYU. At first, all I did was get coffee and make copies of things. I didn't expect to get a job straight out of university; it was going to take a lot of work to achieve my dreams of becoming a published author.

    I was content with being an unpaid intern waiting for her turn.

    That was until Victoria's assistant broke down crying at her desk one afternoon. Victoria has never been very aware of other people's feelings, and she has less patience than a little kid, resulting in her running through assistants like no one else. I'd been working at the copy machine as the girl packed her bags, claiming she couldn't take it any longer and quit. It was apparent that her quitting only made Victoria even angrier. It was rare people quit, she always fired them before they got the chance. In retaliation, Victoria set to prove to the girl just how replaceable she was, saying that any person would love to be her assistant.

    Then, she pointed at me. I wasn't sure how to feel in the moment, while getting a promotion was exciting, Victoria wasn't exactly the kindest woman. I couldn't help but feel a sense of dread as well. 

    Since then, I've been upgraded from unpaid intern to paid assistant. Victoria's old assistant marched out that day, wishing me luck on her way out. She hadn't been mad or annoyed that she'd been replaced so easily. She seemed relieved.

    And I get why, Victoria was a lot to handle and loved making my life a living hell on the daily, but she was also one of the most well-known publishers in New York. Victoria was powerful and had published tons of her employee's manuscripts in the past. If I stuck around long enough, maybe she'd read mine and consider publishing them too.

     "Have you purchased that watch for Hyacinth yet?" She asked, glancing up at me out of the top of her glasses impatiently. Victoria's greying hair was cropped into a fashionable style,

    "Watch?" I question, my naturally thick brows knitting together in confusion. I did all of Victoria's Christmas shopping this year and got every single item on her kids' extremely long lists. There was no watch on there.

    Victoria let out a breath of annoyance as if I was taking up far too much of her time, "Yes, the apple watch Hyacinth asked for."

    An apple watch? What eight-year-old wants an apple watch?