The Billionaire's Assistant

Chapter 7

Kat took Courtney in as she sat, the woman's bleach blonde strands nearly glowing under the fluorescent lights and capturing the majority of her attention. Her hair was clipped in a stiff, sharp line stopping just above her shoulders, and she wore a thin gold headband that pushed her hair backwards and emphasized her forehead. She had a narrow, elegant face and heavily mascaraed eyes, her lashes clumpy and spider-like with the layers of product she'd clearly worked through them. The rest of her makeup, including a sharp winged liner that gave her an almost feline persuasion, was expertly applied and she seemed to know it, turning her face this way and that as she searched for the missing document as if to give Kat a chance to better admire her. She had impossibly long fingernails that were filed to a severe point and her thin arms dripped with bracelets, gold, diamonds, and silver intermingling on both wrists. A matching collection of luxuriant jewelry hung from her neck, and a large teardrop diamond pendant overlapped with thin gold bands sporting small clusters of green and yellow jewels. The necklaces rested on the woman's ample, albeit exposed, cleavage, and her thin body was otherwise outfitted in a crisp tan blazer and skirt, the collar of her white button up starched stiff.

"Here we go. The woman said, pulling what Kat recognized to be her resume from the middle of an overcrowded folder. "So you're," the woman paused, her eyes scanning the paper. "Kat Prinella."

"Yes." Kat confirmed with a smile, her confidence growing as she realized her preparation for this interview greatly outweighed her interviewer.

"So do you have executive assistant experience?"

"I do," said Kat confidently, hardly believing the voice filling her ears was her own. "I have an extensive background in operations management which makes me a prime candidate for a fast paced and dynamic role like this. I spent three summers during my undergraduate degree working as an executive assistant to the dean of the environmental sciences department and I also have experience with office management in my current role." Kat sat back, pleased with how easily the lie had danced out. She may have spent three summers with the dean of the environmental sciences department, but only because she and her Limnology club had needed a staff advisor for their constant bus trips to the lake and their use of lab equipment when school wasn't in session.

"And what is your current role," Courtney asked, her eyes still scanning the page.

Kat took a deep breath. This was the big lie, the lie with almost no semblance of truth behind it, and Kat was as unpracticed a liar as they come. "I work for a local nonprofit that focuses on raising awareness for homelessness," she said, forcing the steadiness into her voice so intently it nearly caused a waver. "I actually have experience working directly for a CEO. I can't say," she says, leaning in a manner that she hopes is conspiratorial, "because I signed an NDA, but our nonprofit is actually run by a billionaire. He doesn't advertise it but our entire operation is basically a tax right off. It's genius," Kat adds quickly, praying that the polished woman wouldn't think she considered the made up wealthy man's grift a bad thing.

The woman nodded approvingly, finally looking up and setting Kat's resume down on her desk. She narrowed her eyes suddenly, making Kat's heart skip a beat.

"Stand up." She commanded. Kat pushed her chair back and stood slowly, confused. The woman looked her up and down. "Spin?" she asked, the tone of her voice indicating a question but the look in her eyes making it clear it wasn't. Kat turned in a slow circle, deeply confused now and feeling her face beginning to flush as the woman's piercing eyes studied her.

"You'll work," she said, gesturing for Kat to retake her seat. "I'm going to be frank with you Katherine." Kat opened her mouth then closed it, deciding now wasn't the best time to correct her. It was a harmless enough assumption anyways, everyone always assumed at first that Kat was short for something, but she was just Kat, always had been.