Chapter 6: Office Life and a New Beginning

Natalie always regrets it when she brings it up. She says she shouldn’t have let me go to Chicago: "If you hadn’t gone to Chicago, you wouldn’t have met Derek. If you hadn’t met Derek..."

She trails off like she’s blaming herself for a tornado.

I cut in, "Then I wouldn’t have this $27 million."

Natalie put her hands on her hips. "Is money more important, or those ten years of your life?"

She leveled me with a look only she could pull off—equal parts big sister, best friend, and exasperated parent.

I tried to guess the right answer. "Money is more important?"

I grinned sheepishly, half-hoping to diffuse her frustration with a joke.

Natalie gave me a look. "You’re more important. If you’re not happy, no amount of money is worth it. Good thing you lost your memory. Otherwise, if you did something stupid, what good would the money be?"

Her eyes flickered with something I couldn’t quite name—fear, maybe, or old grief.

"Hmm... buy me a really nice grave..."

I tried for dark humor, but Natalie was having none of it.

Natalie was so angry she burst out laughing. "Get out!"

She shoved a throw pillow at me and rolled her eyes, but I could see the worry melt into relief.

"...."

Natalie has always been amazing. She still is. She’s a general manager at a Fortune 500 company, with a monthly salary of about $60,000.

Her job title sounds like something out of a business magazine, but she’s just as likely to show up in sneakers as heels. Everyone at her office calls her "the Fixer."

But she’s really busy, sometimes has to travel, and can’t stop worrying about me.

I knew she’d check her phone a dozen times a day just to make sure I hadn’t burned down her kitchen or gotten lost in the subway.

So she took me with her. Later, she figured, since she’d be taking me everywhere anyway, why spend her own money?

She hired me as her assistant at her company.

She handed me a company badge and a shiny new laptop, grinning like she’d just adopted a puppy. "Congrats, you’re officially on the payroll. Don’t make me regret it."

I was pretty good at this. In the past few months, I’d read over a dozen CEO-falls-for-his-assistant novels.

I practiced my professional walk in the hallway, clutching a fake coffee cup and tossing my hair like a soap opera extra. Natalie caught me once and nearly choked laughing.

On my first day, I wore a pencil skirt and strutted into work with confidence.

The elevator doors opened on the 18th floor and I stepped out like I owned the place, heart racing and hands sweaty.

I made her coffee, organized her documents, ran around everywhere.

The copier jammed every other hour. I learned to bribe IT with Starbucks gift cards. I color-coded folders, alphabetized files, even figured out how to fix the printer jam without swearing. Natalie called me her "organizational ninja."

I looked very hardworking. Later, she laughed and told me to stop running around so much, handed me a form. "Let Amanda show you the ropes. Do this slowly, learn at your own pace."

Amanda smiled at me, all easy confidence and kind eyes. She gave me a rundown of the coffee situation and pointed out the best vending machine snacks.

"Okay, okay."

And so, I officially started working.