Filed to story: Watch Out, I’m The Lady Boss (Eleanor & Sebastian) Book PDF Free
I wasn’t the kind to ditch work without a damn good reason.
I’d done late nights voluntarily, just to use the studio’s centrifugal caster when no one else was hogging it.
Freelance or not, I’d earned my stripes.
Then Savannah turned her head slowly and aimed that laser glare at Chloe Shaw.
“Did you not tell Elean the meeting time was noved?”The admin assistant looked like a startled fawn caught in headlights.
Chloe was fresh off probation, officially signed on last month, and still walked like she hadn’t broken in her heels yet.
“I did! I told her!” Her voice took on a whiny, panicky edge.
“I told everyone, like, two days ago. I swear I told Elean. I said it to her in person. There’s no way she didn’t know.”I snapped my laptop shut.
“Funny. I haven’t seen you in days. What time exactly did you tell me? Give me the full deets, timestamp and all.”Her face twitched.
“It was right before the end of the day, around 43o? Savannah told me it was super important everyone knew, so I told everyone one by one. Just to be safe. Face-to-face.”A voice piped up behind me.
“Yeah, Chloe was really clear about it. Kept reminding me like ten times. You don’t get interns this conscientious anymore.”I glanced sideways.
The guy piping up had Violet Lin’s scent all over him-same fake charm, same smug loyalty.
Her little fan club had clearly rehearsed their lines ahead of time.
My eyes chilled.
I turned to Chloe Shaw and asked, slowly, like I was offering her a last chance to stop digging her grave, “If you really came to tell me, in the office, on Friday afternoon, then someone must’ve seen you. Who can back you up?”
“I, ah, I went to you when the office was empty. No one was around. So… no, no one saw me.”I laughed.
Not a haha-funny laugh.
More of a you’ve-got-to-be-fucking-kidding-me laugh.
“Right. Four-thirty, just before clock-out? You expect me to believe the entire floor was a ghost town?”There wasn’t a single day when that place was quiet at 4:30.
People were usually hovering by the printer, bitching about deadlines, stealing snacks from the breakroom, or pretending to work while online shopping.
I folded my arms and stared her down.
“If no one saw you, no one can back up your story. Maybe you should’ve thought of a better lie than that.”Her lips trembled.
Then the tears came-messy, theatrical, just the right amount of pitiful to stir sympathy in the cheap seats.
“Eleanor, I swear I told you! Why would I lie? I know you think I’m inexperienced. Fine, I am just a fresh grad, but I take my job seriously. It means everything to me. You can’t say that… you’ll get me fired!”Violet Lin glided over and handed Chloe a tissue.
“Elean, come on, Chloe’s never had any beef with you. Why would she leave you out on purpose? You were late and you’re just lashing out at a newbie.”Another one jumped in.
“Yeah, poor Chloe. She’d never do that on purpose. Look at her. She’s crushed.”
“She’s the first one in, last one out. Always working her arse off. Don’t throw her under the bus like that.”The crowd murmured their approval.
Apparently, I was now the wicked witch who picked on interns for sport.
I let out a slow breath.
“I haven’t even raised my voice, and she’s already sobbing like I keyed her car. No one saw you tell me, Chloe. You’ve got no proof. I’m the one you were allegedly talking to, and I don’t remember it happening. Make that make sense. Or we can just check the security footage.”Her eyes were red, nose running, full-on ugly crying now.
“I did tell you, I swear! It just so happened no one saw it. You were late, you almost screwed everything up, and now you’re blaming me because you’re scared of getting in trouble!”She sniffled.
“If you really want to throw accusations at alphabetise the stationery cupboard. I’ll just quit.” me, fine. I’m the lowest-ranking nobody here. All I do is fetch coffee and And boom-crowd reaction.
Gasps. Murmurs. An entire chorus of “don’t quit, Chloe’s bursting out like she’d just announced she had two days to live.
“Alright, enough!”Savannah smacked the table like a judge.
“I don’t care if Chloe forgot to pass the message or if Eleanor hit snooze too many times. This mess ends now. From today on, every communication gets documented-text, email, whatever. Meeting over.”The crowd scattered.
I left with my jaw tight and my face frozen in neutral.
Right before I reached the door, I caught Violet Lin watching me, smirking.
Minutes later, Violet Lin sashayed back to her desk.
Her smug little smirk said it all: she thought she’d bagged the project.
As she passed me, she let out a little scoff.
Had she pulled something shady again? Probably.
I didn’t bite. Didn’t even blink in her direction.
My proposal was solid.
But showing up late this morning was a stain I couldn’t If I were Eliza Black, I wouldn’t trust someone who co off. read a clock either.
Thirty agonising minutes later, Savannah stepped out of the office with her phone still in hand.
From the look on her face, she’d just hung up.
“Eliza Black’s people got back to us,” she said, scanning the room. She picked Violet Lin.”Silence.
Then-
“Really?” Violet gasped, one hand clutched to her cheek like she’d just been proposed to.
“Eliza Black actually picked me?” Savannah nodded.
“Yes. Prep starts now. Contract’s getting signed tomorrow. The budget’s generous, and this project’s top priority. Violet, build your team. Everyone else, give her full support. I want a completed design draft on my desk as soon as humanly possible.”
“Got it,” Violet chirped.
Her eyes locked on me.
I knew that look.
Knew exactly what she was about to pull.
“Eleanor,” she said, sugary sweet.
“Be my assistant?”Assistant?
Please.
That was just a fancy word for errand girl in Violet’s dictionary.
The kind who fetches lattes and hauls garment bags up five flights of stairs because the lift’s out-yeah, that kind.
I’d seen her pull this stunt before.
She called it team building. called it hazing.
Last time, she ran some poor intern into the ground, sent her up and down the building so many times the girl nearly passed out.
The girl quit the day after.
I would’ve too.
And now she was trying it on me.
Across the room, Savannah caught my eye.
I didn’t say anything, just raised my brow a fraction.
She knew it wasn’t protocol for one designer to play lapdog to another.
But Violet got in first.
“This project’s a big deal,” she said, all sweet and reasonable.
“I just want to make sure there are no mistakes. Eleanor, you’re okay with helping out, right? If Eliza Black’s happy, that’s a win for all of us. Gotta think about the company.”Savannah hesitated, lips pursed.
“Violet’s the lead, we’ll go with her arrangement,” she said.
Her tone was flat, but her eyes flicked to me.
She wasn’t thrilled either.
Too bad the client had already picked sides.
Violet was about two seconds away from gloating when I leaned back in my chair and said, “Yeah, no. I’m not doing it.”
Her smile twitched.
I was still fuming about the job being yanked from under me, and now Violet had the nerve to bounce over like a rabid cheerleader, trying to stick me with the grunt work.
Hell no.
Seniority. Skill. Portfolio.
I ticked every damn box.
At Nyx Collective, I wasn’t just a designer-I was THE designer.
I’d rather jump in front of a moving bus than work as Violet’s assistant.
I stood.
“Not happening. I’m taking leave.”Violet blinked, fake-shocked.
“Oh, don’t be dramatic. It’s just one project. You’re not seriously quitting because you don’t wanna assist me?”Then she got all performative.
“If you were the lead designer and I had to assist, I’d totally cooperate.”