Defying the Lycan King (Kira and Derek) novel Chapter 306

Chapter 306: Coffee for the Chairman

Jessica was stacking clean plates behind the counter, half-humming to herself, when Gloria suddenly appeared at her elbow.

"The boss wants coffee brought up to his office. Immediately."

Jessica froze, one plate still in her hand. "The boss?"

"Yes, the boss. His usual assistant didn’t show up this morning, and since you’re the newest, you get the honour." Gloria said it as though she were announcing a prize rather than a death sentence.

Jessica’s mind went blank for a second. Somewhere in her chest, a very small alarm had begun to ring, and it was ringing in Sebastian’s voice.

She had promised Sebastian — sworn to him, actually — that she would never set foot in the main Jescore Tech building and never, under any circumstances, go near the Chairman. According to Sebastian, the man did not respect women, and the less contact she had with him the better. Sebastian had also sworn that the Chairman never ate in the company restaurant, so the worst she would ever have to do was catch a distant glimpse of him from afar.

And now, on her very first proper day, she was being sent upstairs with coffee.

Gloria snapped her fingers in front of Jessica’s face.

"Earth to Sidonie. Take the coffee."

"Sorry. Yes." Jessica came back to herself and found her voice. "Couldn’t someone who already knows the building do it? I’ve only just started."

"Everyone else is on the floor and we’re two down." Gloria pushed the mugs into her hands. "Top floor. Turn right out of the lift. Big office at the end, you can’t miss it."

"But—"

"He doesn’t bite." Gloria paused, then added, "He’s grumpy, yes. Strict as anything. But if you walk in, put the coffee down, and walk out without making a performance of it, I promise you he won’t even notice you exist."

Jessica looked down at the two mugs in her hands.

Two. He drank two coffees at once, apparently. Marvellous. A grumpy, strict man with a caffeine problem who didn’t respect women. She was going to be up and down in ninety seconds and Sebastian would never have to know a thing about it.

"Go," Gloria said. "He can’t stand lateness."

"Of course he can’t," Jessica muttered, and went.

***

Up on the top floor, Alicia’s phone had gone off at the worst possible moment.

She had been perched on the edge of Kai’s desk, halfway into a sentence about the engagement, when one of the floor staff rang up about a scheduling issue.

So she’d got up, smoothed her skirt, given Kai a look that promised she wasn’t finished, and stepped out into the corridor with her heels clicking and her mood souring by the second.

She walked a short way down the corridor, and met the employee and listened as she explained some minor scheduling problem.

Behind her, the lift doors slid open.

Alicia finished the conversation, said something crisp about sorting it by lunchtime, and turned to go back to the office. And came face to face with Jessica.

The sound Alicia made was not dignified. It came out somewhere between a yelp and a wheeze, her whole body jerking backwards, one heel going out from under her. She went down hard, flat on her backside.

Jessica jumped back a foot and only just saved the coffee.

Alicia’s eyes widened to a degree that seemed medically inadvisable. Her mouth opened and no other sound came out.

For a second nobody said anything at all. The staff member stared. Jessica stared. Alicia sat on the floor with her legs folded awkwardly beneath her, going a shade of red that no amount of expensive foundation was ever going to fix.

"Oh my— I’m sorry!" Jessica said, because someone had to. "I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. I’m Sidonie, I was just... coffee—" She gestured vaguely with the mugs, which suddenly seemed like inadequate explanation for causing a woman to collapse.

Alicia’s heart was still hammering, but the name and the polite, slightly nervous tone slowly registered.

Sidonie.

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