"Miss Wyatt, here's a list of venues for the evening party. Can you confirm them by three?"
Rose nodded. It was her fourth day working for Asher. She made appointments and helped him with his work.
The person left and another came.
"Miss Wyatt, I need signatures on these files."
Looking at the files mountain piling up on her desk, she got a new understanding of the job profile of an assistant. She was basically a butler plus manager of the boss.
Rose managed to get a fifteen-minute interval before the pile became high again.
She knocked and entered the office again.
Seeing him sitting leisurely, she was beginning to feel resentment.
Asher who was calculating the investment required for this quarter in his mind got confused by her weird look.
"Sir, you need to sign and tell me where you would like to arrange today's event."
"Which event?" He asked sighing.
Now how did Rose know that? Asher then answered her.
"I think, Caster Hotel will be appropriate."
Rose sighed happily.
She left with a sway that confused Asher even more.
The spies these days are really not discerning. They don't even look at confidential info and just confuse everyone else by being happy on leaving.
The lunchtime made Rose feel as if she had just finished her cooling spell.
It was the first spell they taught in magic school. And for kids, who just started learning spells, it was really hard. But the cooling effect made them feel like they died and came back alive.
She felt the same now.
Though Rose lived in the human world for five years, she didn't eat anything great. The magic embassy provided her magic world meals. So looking at the human canteen, she was somewhat dumbfounded on her first day.
But witches are really great at learning from others. She followed the steps of the person before her then.
It was the same today.
"Wow, you like almond milk too?"
It was a cute girl, younger than her. Someone talked with her.
Rose didn't know if she should nod.
"Come with me. You are new, right? Let's sit together."
She took her to a somewhat isolated table where the cute guy from the interview sat.
"This is Aiden Becker, he is my best friend's brother. So, yeah! Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm June, haha, not the month."
Rose smiled at her.
"I'm Rose. It's great to meet you."
Some friendships don't need much to happen.
"So yeah, I had to make my first presentation on my first day, suddenly."
Rose told them what happened to her.
Aiden laughed.
"Haha, you don't know who she is, haha."
"Who is she?"
"It's funny, Rose. You don't even know her name."
Aiden laughed.
Even June giggled.
What's so funny about not knowing your somewhat enemy's name?
"Okay, okay! Let me tell you."
June came closer as if she was about to tell some shocking earth-shaking secret.
"She is Lydia Barnes. We call her Lydia but her name is Claudia. Sort of like an official name and a nickname. We studied in the same school. And looking at her family status, she wants to be the most likely Mrs. Boss. So, you should get why she treats a secretary or a personal assistant as a rival. And look at you, she definitely won't allow you to work here."
"Like she could do that!" Aiden interrupted June.
"Huh?"
Looking at the identical confused faces, he sighed and explained slowly.
"You know, the Walden family doesn't interfere with the Boss's choice. And look at our boss. He likes video games maybe, more than women. And frankly, all her wishful thinking is just, wishful thinking. So, as long as you, the secretary, don't get caught doing something wrong, you are golden."
Rose wasn't ruffled at all. She, a witch, getting scared by a human. Crazy, right? And that too, for a human who paid her money! Impossible. Even her wand buzzed at the thought. Her wand was connected to her magic. So, her total being- wand plus human, was not concerned with the fact that she was being treated as an imaginary rival.
"Yes, you are right. At the rate our boss changes assistants, it's definitely not written in the stars that he would fall for someone. But that doesn't make this situation any better. Just because she is Department head, she thinks she is a fairy."
June tsked.
Rose felt that humans were somewhat similar to Witches. But such situations in their world were solved with duels. No need to think more, just fight. Again, if the male is interested, there is no need for a duel, right?
So this was all the fault of her boss.
"Yes, Rose, since you look good to me and I like you, if you face any trouble, ask me."
June smiled at her.
"Thank you. I wish you good luck today."
Rose felt a good feeling over her for the first time so she sent a good luck spell to her first friend in the human world.
"Aha, let's go, I have to go fix bugs today."
Aiden ran away with his plate.
"Not the bugs you are thinking. Apparently, computer bugs are different."
June explained to Rose.
Rose felt that her afternoon was good. She sorted out files and booked venues, sent invitations, and finally it was all over. Her bed and phone with a romance drama were calling to her.
"Miss Wyatt, get ready. We have to attend the dinner party."
What? She wasn't going home?
Rose wouldn't wear clothes from the human world because they weren't spell-proof. She opted for a blazer and changed the color with a simple spell so it looked formal and dinner event-friendly.
Asher didn't comment so she felt it looked good. Magical world events had a strict dress code. Only protective clothes are allowed. Because no one knew when a fight started and you got hit by a rogue spell.
It was the first time she saw an event in the human world. And it looked far more spectacular than she had seen. The lights that changed colors made spells feel awkward.
The food, the decoration, the color, the brightness, it was just so awesome. Rose really felt like a bumpkin.
"This dinner is to get acquainted with Mr. Kell, an overseas mogul. He accepted our invitation and I want to see if we could become partners. It's always good to have more friends than enemies."
Asher told her in a low voice on the car ride.
Rose nodded. She felt she liked nodding.
When they entered the hall, almost every eye turned towards them.
Rose could feel the knives in the gazes. What's with these women and their obsession with Asher? If they saw how he doled out homework, would they still like him?
Asher then transformed into a fish in his pond and managed to talk with everyone. He seemed to know everything about everyone and it almost made Rose worry that he had some kind of memory spell on him.
"New secretary? Asher, why don't you hire my son? He is perfectly capable!"
An aunt inserted herself into the conversation.
Another person after her job. Thirty thousand a month is the salary many people sought after, Rose understood.
"Aunt Anne, he is not my type. I'll stick with ladies, for now."
It was later that Rose knew that her son liked Asher and Asher had clearly rejected many times. If they hadn't crossed some lines, it wouldn't have become ugly. Wealthy people had rich imaginations.
"Asher, have you eaten?"
This sweet saccharin voice made Rose vomit. If this was her alarm, she would probably run away in her sleep.
Claudia Barnes was dressed in red like a goddess. She showed all her curves and managed to look decent.
And she pointedly looked at Asher deliberately ignoring her presence.
That was fine with Rose. She could sneak away for a snack and finally know how the cake tasted.
"You can go eat."
Rose ran away.
"Your assistant seems not smart."
"And you poke your nose in an anthill."
"Haha, Asher, you are still funny as always."
Claudia smiled. To anyone in the audience, it surely looked like they were flirting.
"You are really self-conscious. See, how they are flirting after he sent you away."
June sat beside Rose watching everything.
"So?"
"Have some backbone. She set a trap for you, you have to get your revenge."
Rose was unfazed.
"I'm here to work for the boss. Other stuff doesn't concern me."
June sat like a punctured balloon. There was no fun here.
"Oh, here they come. Mr. Kell is here."
Rose raised her eyes and found Mr. Kell and she was almost frozen. She was familiar with that gaze and that person.
It was Kelvin Klint.
Her mentor.
His eyes left her and Rose shook. She walked towards the bathroom to wash her face. She had an innate fear of being dominated by the spells of her mentor. And what was he doing here? Is this some kind of dream she was trapped in?
Anyway, Rose cheered herself up.
Nothing was as important as her salary for her now.
When she came out, she was bumped into by a little girl.
"Sorry, sister!" She yelled and ran away.
Rose didn't mind.
As she entered the room, she found the silence was a bit awkward.
"Miss Wyatt, you seem shaken. Maybe you have something we need."
It was that woman again. Claudia Barnes.
"What?"
"We just lost an important document and only you left the room and came back in. You seem suspicious."
No one would add to her words. Doubting Rose was like doubting Asher.
Seeing no one agreeing, she took the matter into her own hands put her hands in Rose's front pocket, and took out three folded papers.
"Looks like we found our spy, Asher!"
Asher felt conflicted. Just when he thought his assistant was not a spy, it turned out that she was a spy. But he couldn't seem to believe it.
Rose felt indignant at the thought of someone framing her.
She looked at Asher and seeing his wavering eyes, she almost saw her thirty thousand flying away.
"No, boss. I didn't do this. Trust me."
"Do you have any evidence, Miss Wyatt?"
Claudia sneered.
"I do."
Two voices answered her.