The Next Day...

Colter exits the office and he walks over to my desk. He places a piece of paper on the table. He returns to his office without saying a word to me.

I hope this isn't always going to happen. Sooner or later I'm going to have to get the courage to talk to him.

I open the paper and read the note.

Alexis,
I need you to go to Di's and get me some food. I want ham, cheese, tomato with pepper sandwich, a white coffee with two sugars and a bag of chicken chips. Ask everyone on this floor if they want anything. There's money in the petty cash in your bottom draw. Thanks.

Colter

I write his order on a separate piece of paper.

I don't want to stare at his writing again. He used to write me plenty of notes in the old days.

I throw the piece of paper in the bin and I walk to each office and take orders for lunch.

The last door on this floor is Quentin's. I knock on the door.

He rises and opens the door for me. He steps away from the door and I enter. "What do you need, Lexi?"

"Do you want anything from the Di's Café?"

He shakes his head. "My wife makes lunch for me. You should go before my brother starts yelling for food."

I exit Kingsman Enterprises and walk across the road to the café. I place the orders and take a seat.

A guy stops at the table. "Is anyone sitting here, Miss?"

I shake my head. "It's all yours."

He sits and extends his hand to me. "I'm Mike Williams."

I shake his hand. "Alexis Martin. But, I prefer Lexi."

"It's nice to meet you. What are you doing here all alone?"

"I had to get the boss and other people food. It's a dream come true running around the place and getting food for the lazy buggers in the office."

He laughs. "Which office?"

I point across the street. "I'm the CEO's secretary."

He looks across the street at Kingsman Enterprises. "I heard they went broke. Someone saved that company from destruction. Rumour has it they are getting big bucks in since some Silent Partner brought the company."

"Do you know anything about The Silent Partner?"

He shakes his head. "No one knows who it is. When that Partner comes out; I'm sure most of California wants to meet the person that put extra jobs into circulation for that company."

I nod. "What if the person never wants to take credit for all this?"

He leans against the chair and places his hand behind his head. "What do you know?"

"He or She is a Silent Partner for a reason. They don't want to be found out by anyone. Even if there is a time to come clean how can that person face an Ex that broke their heart and they decided the way for the Ex to acknowledge them is to buy into something that meant more to them than the relationship."

"Shit!" He says. "Do you think The Silent Partner did that? I'd hate my Ex if she saved my company from ruin. That person is an Ex for a reason."

"What if they had a child together and that child died after birth and the guy was depressed from losing a child?"

He laughs. "Is this hypothetical or real?"

I shrug. "Does it matter?"

"Not to me. To someone else, maybe."

"Lexi, your orders are up."

I rise. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Mike. I'll see you around." I walk over to the counter and I take the bags of food to the office.

When I get to the top floor Colter exits his office and grabs the bag and coffee from me. He enters his office, slamming the door shut with his foot.

I give everyone their food before I walk back to my office.

On my desk is another note.

Lexi,
You were gone for too long. I'm taking twenty minutes off your break.

- Colter

That idiot can't take time from my lunch.

I push open the door to his office and it slams against the wall. Coffee spills all over his white shirt.

He looks at me. "What do you want?"

I show him the piece of paper. "You aren't going to take any time from my break. You asked me to go to the Café during their rush. Next time you should take your lazy arse across the street and get the food yourself."

He rises. "You're my god damn secretary. I never asked for you to work closely with me. If truth be told I wish you never came back."

I roll my eyes. "Then you wouldn't have a challenge. I remember you always liked a good challenge."

"What do you propose?"

I move over to his desk. "You have three months to prove to me that you can make something of this company. If you fail I stay. If you succeed I leave."

He extends his hand. "Deal,"

I shake it. "Good, I'm going to take my forty-minute break. You have Carmel out there until I return."

Quentin blocks my way as I try to leave Colter's office. He grabs my arm and steers me to a seat. "This shit between him and you needs to get sorted out now."

"It's done, Q. We'll tolerate each other in the office and make it a comfortable environment for everyone. I'm going to have lunch now." I exit the office.

My phone starts to ring and I answer it.

Me: Hey, Maddie.

Maddie: Can you meet me for lunch?

Me: Yeah, do you know where Di's Café is?

Maddie: Yeah, I'll be there in five.

I slip my phone into my pocket and pick up my handbag.

On the way out of the office, Quentin walks over. "He told me about the challenge. Are you sure that's what you want to do?"

I nod. "I'll still be The Silent Partner that he doesn't know about. When he succeeds I'll have something else to go back to when the three months is over. Maddison and I are opening another shop; here in LA of course."

I step into the lift.

At Di's, I walk over to the counter and order a sandwich. I walk over to a table and wait for my cousin. Maddie enters the cafe. She walks over to the counter to order her food. She turns around and looks for me.

I raise my hand and wave.

She smiles when she sees me. She walks over to the table and sits across from me. "How's your second day at Kingsman Inc. going?"

I shake my head. "Terribly. But, I did come up with a challenge for Colter. I'm giving him three months to show me he can increase sales by himself and then I'll leave."

Maddie smiles. "That works out great. You get to run this one. I think you should get out of sticky offices and do something different."

"I agree. People that work for our company will work better if they meet their employers first hand."

My name is called. I walk over to the counter and pick up my lunch I carry it over to the table. I put the suck on the straw and the chocolate thick shake comes out.

Maddie's name is called and she walks over to the counter to get her lunch. We spend forty minutes talking about our new store and the other one she wants to open in New York.

I hug her. "I'll see you later cousin." I walk away from her. I enter Kingsman Inc. and I take the lift to the top floor.

Colter exits his office. "You're finally back. Why didn't you tell me I had a twelve-thirty appointment?"

I look at him. "You didn't have a twelve-thirty appointment. If you did it would have been in the book. Maybe, your old secretary screwed up. She's got appointments booked up until March for you, Colter." I move toward my desk and open the appointment folder on the computer. I print everything out for him. I give him the copies of everything I have.

He looks at the papers. "I didn't approve a lot of these meetings. I have no idea what that woman was thinking. Lexi, can you talk to them and find out what they do. That way I can choose who I want to deal with."

"Yes, sir."

I spend the rest of the day making phone calls and making notes at the side of the appointments. When I've finished with the calls I e-mail Colter.