Chapter 4 First Day In Hell

Manny arrived at work as early as possible, ready to give it his best shot. The conversation he had with his uncle had boosted his morale, so he was ready to deal with Mia's bullshit.

"Nothing good ever comes easy," Manny said to himself, wearing the words as a badge and using them as his mantra.

Besides, what is the worst that Mia could possibly do? All she would be capable of would be bossing him around, after all, she was that poor, wretched girl he knew back then in school.

"Good morning!" Manny greeted Elisha whom he almost ran into at the elevator.

"You are just arriving at work?" Elisha seemed surprised and dreadful when she asked that question, but Manny did not catch her tone or expression.

"Yeah," Manny responded, being certain that he was early. Then he turned towards the direction of where he would get Mia's daily cup of coffee so that he could take to her.

"I wouldn't bother if I were you," Elisha said, shaking her head at Manny, but Manny was already off.

Manny was somewhat confused when he was informed that Mia's coffee was no longer available. Anyway, not to waste anymore time, he turned and rushed off. Manny wanted to get to Mia's office to set things in motion before she arrived for the day, and maybe snoop around to see if he could find something that would be useful to him.

"She is probably still curled up in bed with that ugly fiancé of hers," Manny sneered.

Okay, fine, Harlem wasn't exactly ugly, if Manny was being honest. He was just jealous and bitter, but anyway, he did not want to give any reasons for Mia to treat him like trash.

Many froze on the spot when he opened the CEO's office and found Mia seated comfortably on her chair.

"You are fifteen minutes late," Mia said gruffly.

For a moment, Manny almost thought that it was a man who was scolding him. He took a quick glance at his wristwatch and realized that actually, Mia was twenty minutes early.

"I am early," Manny argued lightly.

Mia stood up and walked over to Manny sophisticatedly. Then she looked at Manny from his head down to his toes with disgust and in a condescending manner.

"First of all, I need you to correct yourself and address me properly as your boss," Mia said authoritatively.

Manny cleared his throat and said, "I am sorry, ma'am."

"The next time you will make that mistake, I am going to cut off your salary for one whole month, and make you work your butt off in this entire office building, and take on extra hours. Is that clear, Manny Sutton?" Mia asked.

"Yes, ma'am," Manny responded. He knew that Mia wasn't bluffing, so he registered it in his mind not to step on her toes again.

Besides, referring to her with the 'ma'am' title would not kill him...yet.

"Secondly, what are you wearing?" Mia asked, looking at Manny all over again with more disgust in her face. It was as though she would throw up from merely looking at Manny.

Manny was confused; he could not see anything wrong in his pair of suit trousers, long-sleeves and jacket.

"You are a poor, stricken, money-hustling young man; I get that, but you are also Mia Kennedy's personal assistant; the heiress to the K&S Empire, and if you cannot act the part, then I suggest you tender your resignation and stop coming here," Mia said. "Your appearance is giving me both a migraine and nightmare, and it is just early in the morning," Mia added.

"My apologies, ma'am," Manny apologized, even though it killed his manly ego to have to submit to not just a woman, but his sworn enemy back then in school.

Mia knew how hard it was for Manny, and she smiled evilly. Seeing Manny beneath her gave her more satisfaction than emerging as K&S heiress. Mia decided there and then that she would open one of her most expensive bottles of champagne to celebrate her win.

Anything to make Manny Sutton's life a living hell...

"Thirdly, no matter how early you think you have arrived at work, the moment I get here before you, you are late," Mia informed Manny.

"Yes, ma'am," Manny said as he nodded in agreement.

Manny strongly believed that Mia deliberately came early just to spite him, because he came before the time Elisha gave to him, and the time on his employment contract. Mia Kennedy was witch sent to hunt him, and Manny could not tell exactly what crime he might have committed against the universe to punish him this way. He would rather tolerate anything else in this world other than being Mia's toy for torture.

"Every single day, you are to have my coffee waiting right in this office, ensure that I am well taken care of and that my day runs smoothly, and by God, Manny, if I ever call out for you and you delay a second, I will make you pay for it," Mia threatened darkly.

"Gotten, ma'am," Manny answered dutifully. This only meant that he was not entitled to breaks and restroom visitations.

Manny sighed internally; if it wasn't his responsibility to take back his family wealth from Mia, he would have disappeared and never look back.

"You may leave now. Meet Elisha to give you a rundown on how to work with me, because there is no way I can tolerate this attitude of yours. You are only going scot free because today is officially your first day," Mia said.

"Thank you, ma'am," Manny said in appreciation, bowing his head slightly for emphasis.

But when he turned to go, Mia stopped him.

"You are nothing compared to who I am now, Manny Sutton, and you will never be," Mia said harshly. "Now, get the hell out of my face," Mia dismissed him harshly.

Both Mia and Manny knew that those were the exact words that Manny had used on Mia when they had run into each other in school.