Chapter Text
“Fucking hell!” Lia whispered to her friend, tugging uncomfortably on her new work attire. “I still can’t believe that ridiculous email she sent last night. Is she real?” She gestured angrily at her monitor that displayed the email and down at her new clothing. “What did I fucking tell you? Trouble. That woman is trouble.” She seethed toward the empty office, just in case she had somehow sneaked in there without being seen. “Hey, are you okay?” She toned her voice down, noticing that the mind of her friend was elsewhere. “I mean after last night? Dixie was well out of order, mate...”
“Oh her?” Ashley scoffed. “I don’t pay much mind to Dixie, you know what she’s like. Certifiably insane for definite. How someone hasn’t sectioned her or something yet is beyond me.”
“But she said...”
“I heard.” Ashley snipped back quietly. “I heard what she said. It’s coincidence, that’s all. She’s just an insane drunkard who thinks that the vampire on the screen has somehow fallen out of the television and into the pub. She’s senile.”
“Well... you're not wrong there.” Lia finally stopped what she was doing to look at what Ashley was wearing. “My days, woman. You really do have a horrific fashion sense...” She chuckled lightly, leaning in closer to whisper. “Don’t you want to impress your otherworldly vampire?”
“I can’t cope...” Ashley held her bright red face in her hands. Today, she had had to pick actual office attire, something that she had never done previously, simply because she never had to. In a blind panic and abandoning her beloved Sudoku in order to actually make it into work on time, she had opted for a white fitted blouse over the top of a very short light grey dress that was not appropriate enough to wear without some kind of covering, for it unveiled far too much cleavage. She had pulled on and old pair of nude tights, for the outfit was far too inappropriate without them, and finally pulled on some brown boots.
When she had been getting ready, she looked herself over in the mirror, grimacing at her own reflection. She grabbed her usual necklace and fastened the clasp and checked herself over once more. Yes, the necklace was a very good choice indeed. The contrast of the brass pendant was just the thing to set this whole outfit off to be somewhat passable for professional. She stared at the necklace in her reflection, running her thumb over the emblem and sighed before taking it off. She had a sneaky suspicion that it would not of gone down well with her new boss and she didn’t fancy her chances at pissing her off on the first real day of working for her.
“No desk decor.” Lia scoffed. “Bitch.” She whispered even lower, not daring to speak loud enough for her to hear them, even though she wasn’t even in the office yet. “Come on Ash. Let’s get your stuff in a bag.” She pulled a plastic bag from inside the depths of one of her drawers, and began to put Ashley’s decor inside it. “Shame, ain’t it.”
“Well, you know what they say.” Ashley huffed as she held Alcina’s picture, running her fingers over the sugar marks on the glass. “Never meet your heroes...”
“I don’t know who she thinks she is, but let me tell you. Movie star or not, that woman is...”
“The writing has changed on this picture.” Ashley said suddenly.
“What?”
“The writing... the autograph. It's... different.”
“Don’t be so daft.” Lia chuckled. “I watched Jen writing that herself. She used my sharpie.”
“Do you know how many times I've looked at this picture?” Ashley scowled at her. “I am telling you. This?” She shook the picture at her friend. “Is different.” She stared at it again, yes, this was most definitely a different handwriting on this picture.
Did she? No. There's no way...
“Ashley. It's fake. I watched Jen doing it. We had pictures of her autograph from Google, she practiced it for ages to get it right. It's just a good fake.” She tapped her friends head playfully, she knew what she was thinking. “Don’t be delulu. It's not truelulu.”
Ashley studied it again. Maybe Lia was right? Perhaps she was seeing things that weren't there? Maybe she was just so infatuated with her that she was just seeing what she wanted to see?
But oh.
How she didn't want to be infatuated with her. Not anymore. Not now that she had to work for her.
Alcina had been the sole focus of her attention for so long, but back then, she was just a fantasy. You can’t fantasise like that about your boss. She daren’t care to recall the fantasies that flashed across her mind every time her hand drifted in between her legs. Even when she had tried dating, she could never picture even making it as far as the bed with anyone else, it was just her. It was always her. And now she was here. Walking toward her new office with a confident stride in her step and no smile on her face, not even greeting her staff. Ashley could’ve fucking kicked herself for the way she was feeling about her. Her eyes not daring to look in her direction anymore, she just couldn’t see a way out.
Imagine being so obsessed with a celebrity, completely obsessed. To the point where you'd watch any and all content that contained them, consuming it like a necessary life force, water for the soul. And then that person suddenly becomes your employer.
And she does not like you.
She was not as nice in real life as she had been in Ashley's dreams. The entire illusion of her had been completely shattered, and it wasn’t Alcina’s fault – she hadn’t done anything wrong at all. It was Ashley who had built up a picture of her in her mind, what she would be like. She imagined that if they had ever met, there would be an instantaneous spark, an undeniable attraction. And she had felt it, but Alcina would never date someone like her. A common woman, who didn’t have an array of businesses, who wasn’t a well known celebrity who was clearly holding an unhealthy obsession for her like some kind of stalker. If the truth were to be told, it made Ashley feel uneasy about herself. Ashamed, to a degree. And as she packed up the rest of her desk, Alcina’s words had plagued her mind ever since they rolled from her tongue.
She was not leaving.
But Ashley knew that she could never work with her professionally, and even now, as she walked toward her new office, Ashley was painfully aware of the fact that she couldn’t take her eyes from her as she walked, no matter how hard she tried to force herself. If one thing was for certain, it was this; she couldn’t work for her, and how could she now? It was almost painful to watch her, and how pathetic she felt for feeling this way. Alcina didn’t owe her anything. She didn’t even know her.
It felt like the worst break up in the world. But only Ashley had been living in this relationship. She silently made a plan as she packed up the rest of her desk with her friend, tomorrow would be a fresh start.
***
Last night, after leaving Lia at the pub, Ashley walked home as she had done every evening for the last few years, but this time with a heaviness in her chest as she crossed through threshold into her own little bungalow. Usually she would have a shower and scroll on her phone or read a good piece of literature until she was ready for bed, but this time she skipped all of that and fired up her outdated laptop, beginning the hard work of updating her CV, which she hadn’t done for quite some time.
She stared blankly ahead, vape in her hand. It was already way past midnight and the snow outside had already began to fall, six hours earlier than it had been forecast. She already knew the factory would be pretty quiet at some point within the next few days, with a few people being unable to travel in the snow, but alas, she would have no such leniency where the weather was concerned. However, it was falling very lightly at the moment and it wasn't sticking to the ground, but she knew that she had to do this before the bad weather came in. She cast her eyes over her text one more time and hit send.
Ashley had made more than a few friends in that factory over the years, and a few of those friends had moved on to higher places in other workplaces. A small handful of the people she had befriended, had become managers in other places, and had gotten those jobs partly with Ashley’s help. She had acted as a reference for them, trained them for interviews and helped them acquire just enough knowledge to learn as they worked in their new roles.
Ashley – Hi Jake. You got any jobs going with you?
The reply was almost instant, unusual for this hour of the night, indeed.
Jake – I do indeed, boss. I've actually interviewed someone today for a managerial position, would you be interested in something like that?
Ashley – Ah mate, have you got anything else? I’m not really qualified for something like that.
Jake – Ash. This is me you’re talking to. You’ve done more than enough to call in a favour like that from me, I wouldn’t be where I am without you. It’s the least that I could do. I'll send you some more details in an email now. We’ll have to do an interview just for the hell of it, but the job is yours if you want it mate.
Ashley – Cheers love, I really appreciate that.
Jake – Can you come down around ten tomorrow morning? It's the only space I have free to fit you in.
Fuck it.
Ashley – Cheers mate, I'll be there.
Ashley sighed and pulled her blankets down from the back of the sofa, tucking herself in. She looked ahead at the print that Lia had commissioned for her from some Internet artist – an almost nude, yet not explicit but very large picture of Alcina wearing her signature hat and heels. Turning shyly away with an inviting smile, covering her modesty with a falling dress.
Yes, this is for the best. I can’t work for her.
She looked at her extensive collection of Dimitrescu wine that decorated her shelf space.
Maybe I should start getting rid of some of this stuff...
***
Ashley sat uncomfortably in her desk chair, watching out of the corner of her eye as Alcina got herself settled and began to start her morning.
Ashley had, at Alcina’s request, submitted a request for two hours off today, that should leave her plenty of time to get to her interview and come back before lunch break. She didn’t have any annual leave left, but was hoping that Alcina would be a gracious enough boss to let her work the time back.
She waited.
And waited.
How much work can she possibly be doing not to respond to my email? She’s only been here for a day!
It was already half past nine, and Ashley was beginning to sweat with anxiety.
“What’s wrong with you?” Lia spoke suddenly, making her jump. “You've been staring blankly at that screen for like an hour. Your monitor has turned itself off twice.”
“I put a request in for a two hour leave and she’s not responded to it.”
“Have you got any leave left?”
“No. But I did say that I’d stay on tonight to work it back. But she hasn't responded. I need to leave, like now. What should I do?”
Lia breathed in through her nose and looked behind her friend. “Well, she’s in her office...”
“I can’t go in there!” Ashley whispered back. “I’d have to speak to her!”
“Oh come off it! Isn’t this like your dream scenario? Alone, with her, after hours?” She winked playfully at her flustered friend.
“Lia. Stop... it's not funny anymore.”
“I beg to differ.” Her friend scoffed back. “Don’t be such a wuss. Just go in and tell her that you're leaving and will work back the time later. She’s just a person, stop putting her on some pedestal. She’s not that good looking. She’s just a person.”
You're so wrong...
“Yeah.” Ashley nodded falsely. “I'm just gonna tell her.” She took a deep breath and pushed herself from her chair and walked to Alcina’s door, which had been left open. From where Alcina was sitting at her desk, she could only see Ashley and Lia. She knocked on the already opened door to get her attention.
“Yes?” Alcina sighed as she spoke, scribbling something down in a notepad without looking up.
“Uh...” Ashley’s mind went completely blank. She had not thought this through. She had to speak to her.
“I do hope that you aren’t planning on standing there and staring at me all day?”
Vicious...
“Uh. No, actually.” Ashley answered her, not daring to pass over the threshold of her door. “I need two hours off. I sent you a request like you asked...”
No answer.
“I can work the time back later.”
Still no answer. Fuck me, she’s rude...
“So?”
“Yes, fine.” Alcina shook her head, annoyed.
“Right.” Ashley clicked her cheeks and rolled her eyes ever so slightly. “Ta.” She turned to walk away when Alcina called her back, suddenly.
“Before you go...”
“Yes?” Ashley turned back to face her, trying to hide her obvious shaking knees.
Alcina looked her up and down, her eyes flicking over her outfit. “There's a ladder in your tights.”
Ashley looked down at her legs, and sure enough there was a very small ladder in her tights, just at the point where the outside of her thigh met the bottom of her dress. She mumbled some kind of apology and turned to walk away, making eye contact with Lia, who had been watching the entire interaction.
“Told you.” Lia mouthed at her friend. “Trouble.”
***
Ashley sat in Jake’s office, her legs aching after a lengthy tour of the facilities. “Bloody hell, this place is massive!” She chuckled, taking a sip from an iced tea that he had had brought in for her.
Jake was a very dear old friend, indeed. They had been through school together, they had attended college and university together and Ashley had got him his previous job in The Cheese Mill; and had helped him to get this job that he was in now. She had introduced him to his soon-to-be-wife during a night out, because Jake was too nervous to approach the beautiful woman at the bar. And being one of his best friends and honorary 'wing-man,' Ashley had helped to introduce the pair.
The woman in question; Eleanor, was the kindest, sweetest woman that the pair had ever met, and her and Jake hit it off right away; Jake had proposed a little over a year later and they were currently in the midst of intense wedding planning. Eleanor had very recently found out that she was pregnant, and Jake could not have been any happier if he had tried. The stress that he was under was intense, to say the least and he was more than eager to have one of his best friends to help him run the factory that he had recently found himself in charge of.
It was a given that Ashley was to be a god-mother; even though she was not religious in any way, and neither was Jake; Eleanor was and they had agreed on a traditional marriage, a non traditional after party, and a traditional christening for the baby.
Oh, to be young and in love...
“It is!” He chucked back. “I've proper turned this place around since I've started. We’ve taken on a lot more staff due to the workload as well. The turnover is at a record low, the last four people who left, left because they were retiring.” He smiled softly at her. “So, what do you say? You're on twenty-five a year now, if you want this job, I'll give you thirty.” He grinned. “This place is amazing, I’m just missing a manager, I’m missing you. And to be honest with you, Ash; it'll be really nice to work with you again. What do you think? It'll be just like old times! You can even wear your ripped jeans, if you like.” He chucked, pointing at her with his fountain pen. “You won't have any dragons breathing down your neck here, I'll tell you that for free.”
“You know what? Fuck it. Let’s do it. I'll hand in a week’s notice today and I’ll get these papers back to you tomorrow, that okay?”
“Yeah, no worries. If that woman offers you more money to stay, we'll match it.”
“Thanks, mate. I really appreciate this.”
“I have to ask... why don’t you want to work for Alcina? She’s an incredible business woman and she's pretty easy on the eye. I know that you like her. Why do you want to leave?”
“Well.” Ashley pondered with squinted eyes. “It’s just...”
“Awkward to have a crush on your boss? I get that. There’s no worry of that with me, right?” He chuckled loudly. “I don't have the right equipment for you, do I?”
“No, you fucking don’t!” Ashley laughed loudly at him.
Since coming here, she’d felt like a weight had been lifted. Yes, this was the right decision for her. As much as she thought that she would’ve liked to of worked for Alcina... it just wasn’t feasible.
She took her time going back, and grabbed another a sugary snack and a hot cup of tea along the way. The weather was unforgivingly cold and she didn’t have a car, and the bus that she sat on wasn’t exactly warm, especially at this time of year. It was so cold outside that condensation completely covered the inside of the glass, the only warmth from the inside being the few bodies that were brave enough to sit in there and the tiny radiators that struggled to push out any air that wasn’t freezing.
With a heavy heart, she opened up her emails on her phone and began to type.
How the fuck do I even start this?
Ashley had never resigned from a job before, The Cheese Mill had been her first ‘real job’ and she had been here since she was eighteen. She could never have imagined leaving, nevermind leaving like this.
She thought briefly of Alcina, she would probably be glad to see the back of her, she imagined. She had just taken over a new company in a new country, while being extremely busy with her plethora of businesses and an upcoming movie premiere; to find what was more or less a stalker as her appointed ‘go-to girl’ whose desk was littered in shrapnel that had her own face on it. If it was an embarrassing ordeal for Ashley, she could only have imagined how Alcina must have been feeling when she had seen it.
When she had heard what she had been saying about her seeing her own Hollywood star.
The password.
Oh my days.
Ashley cringed in her seat, writhing uncomfortably in the worn out, dusty foam. How she must have felt to have experienced it from the other point of view.
Ashley hadn’t even considered it, up until this point. How Alcina must have felt. The word ‘disgusted’ came to mind. She imagined that she probably would have been laughing about it behind her back, calling her famous friends to tell them.
Or worse.
Her lawyers.
Alcina had an impeccable legal team, and anyone who followed her antics knew this to have been very much the case. There had been a case, reported on some podcast regarding a young woman who claimed to have been kidnapped by her, she had said that Alcina had become increasingly obsessed with her, thinking that she was someone else, apparently.
What an idiot.
As if the likes of Alcina Dimitrescu would be interested in doing something like that to some random nobody. Or anybody, really.
About a week after her initial report, the unnamed girl had dropped all of the charges, but it was too late by that point. Alcina’s legal team had rinsed the poor girl of every spare penny, And every future penny that she would earn for the next ten years or so for ‘false claims’ and ’defamation of character’.
Yes, it was quite the scandal, indeed.
The podcast that Ashley had listened to, had covered it on one of their ‘unsolved mystery’ episodes; claiming that the girl who had made the initial claim had been missing for over a year.
Pile of bollocks.
Nevertheless, the very fucking last thing that Ashley needed was a letter from said legal team with a cease and desist or even worse, a restraining order.
I wouldn’t even be able to follow her on social media...
The thought made her stomach drop. She had liked almost every post across every platform where Alcina had a social media presence.
Perhaps I should just delete social media...
She cast her eyes over the keyboard, bit her lip and just began to write. At the end of the day, it didn’t really matter what she put in the email. She would be leaving regardless. She could leave now, if she wanted to. Start the new job tomorrow morning. Jake had offered her that option, but she didn’t want to just leave without saying goodbye to her friends. And it would have been a pretty shifty position to have left Alcina in, as well. Yes, this was for the best.
Lia was going to be fucking furious, but she would understand her reasoning behind it.
She hoped.
***
Dear Ms. Dimitrescu,
I’m writing to let you know that I’m handing in my one weeks notice today.
I’ve realised after a lot of thought that this role isn’t quite the right fit for me at this time. An old colleague has offered me a position that’s a bit more suited for me and I think it’s best if I move on.
I’m sorry for the short notice and any trouble this causes you. I’ll make sure all my bits are sorted before my last day and will help to make sure that there are no loose ends before I go.
Sincerely,
Ashley.