"Elsie!" Darla shook Elsie's sleeping body. Outside, the sun was about to rise. Elsie opened her eyes groggily, sleep still heavy on her lids.

"Jeez, Darl.” Elsie groaned and shifted further in the bed.

"Elsie, you gotta wake up.”

"Why?” Elsie whined, closing her eyes and facing the wall. She drew the duvet up to her head, shielding her from Darla. Darla rolled her eyes and grabbed the duvet. She dragged it away from Elsie, causing Elsie to whine again.

Darla raised her right hand and brought it down, hard, on Elsie's backside. Elsie shot up from the bed, irritated, and turned to glare at the culprit.

She put her hand behind her, rubbing the spot Darla had hit. Elsie was wide awake now but there were still remnants of sleep trying to drag her back to the bed. She eyed the window and saw that the sun was still rising which meant it wasn't even seven a.m yet.

"Darla, did you seriously wake me up before sunrise?”

"Elsie, you're employed now. Didn't you say your new boss wanted you at his home by seven-thirty?” Darla asked, pursing her lips.

Elsie's eyes widened at that piece of information. How could she have forgotten she was employed now? How did she sleep without setting an alarm? She got up from the bed and scrambled for her slippers.

"Oh, my God. Oh my God.” She said frantically, running into the bathroom.

Five minutes later, she ran with her towel around her chest and with her hair damp. Darla had made the bed and was helping her sort out her outfit.

The sun was fully up now, adding a soft golden glow to their pink bedroom. Elsie grabbed the phone and sighed when she saw the time. It was six-thirty a.m.

Darla had woken her up an hour earlier. She turned to show her gratitude.

"You're the bestest roommate and the bestest friend,” Elsie told Darla, warmth in her tone.

"It’s nothing,” Darla blushed. She dropped the final piece of the outfit on the bed. Elsie finished applying light makeup, shuffled to the bed, and eyed the outfit Darla had picked out for her. A blue flowy blouse and a black pencil skirt.

Darla had picked out red heel sandals to go with the outfit. It was simple but elegant. The blouse's neckline was low to show Elsie's skin but not too low to show her cleavage. Elsie's right hand flew to her chest as she sighed dreamily.

"You pick better outfits for me than I do for you.” She told Darla, grabbing the blouse.

"That’s because my work doesn’t require anything besides a black or white outfit. You do a good job.”

Darla said, trying not to take all the credit. When Elsie was unemployed, she used to pick out Darla's work outfits too.

"No, this is great. Royal blue has always been great and it's the perfect shade for any blonde. I forgot I even had this blouse.” Elsie lifted her arms, putting the blouse on.

She grabbed the pencil skirt and put it on.

Darla had assembled her own outfit on the bed too. She winked at Elsie when she turned to admire herself in the mirror.

"Well, I gotta go shower. I've got the morning shift today.” Darla didn't have any consistent work hours at the restaurant she worked at. It was random, and it threw Darla off sometimes.

Whenever she had morning shifts, she finished in the afternoons, around two p.m. If she had afternoon shifts, she finished at night, around ten p.m, just like the previous night.

"That's wonderful. You haven't had a morning shift in ages” Elsie called after Darla as she entered the bathroom.

"I know right?” Darla called back, closing the door.

"I'm going to watch Netflicks when I come home. Heard there's a new show out.” Darla's muffled voice came through the bathroom door.

Elsie's hands ran through the pencil skirt, smoothening it. “What's the name of the show?” She asked Darla.

She admired herself one time in the mirror and bent to put on the sandals Darla had picked.

"I don't remember.

I'll ask Sarah when I go to work.” Darla said over the noise of the shower running.

"Okay. I'm leaving now! See you later, babes.” Elsie grabbed her handbag, wristwatch, and phone.

"Work well!” Darla called after Elsie as she slammed the door to their room shut. It was fifty minutes to seven. Elsie had enough time to walk to Mr. Vanthross' home.

She didn't know if he wanted his coffee from a store or to be made in his home. She tried to remember if she'd seen a coffee machine in his kitchen but all her focus had been on preparing dinner last night.

Better to buy a cup then drink it if he wants me to make him one, Elsie told herself.

She made a quick stop at the small coffee shop that opened in her neighborhood recently. She ordered a latte, her favorite. Her favorite, just in case Mr. Vanthross rejected it.

By the time she got to Luca's home, it was seven-twenty. She knocked on the door, waiting for a response. When nobody answered, she gripped the handle and turned. The door opened and Elsie let herself in.

Just as she anticipated, the house was more beautiful when it was illuminated with sunlight. The floor-to-ceiling glass windows in the living room let in sunlight, giving the room a rosy morning glow.

She looked towards the stairs, wondering what her boss was up to. Not thinking too much about it, she hurried to the kitchen. She picked up the meal manual and flipped through the pages, looking for what to prepare for breakfast.

She found the section for breakfast and chose something simple. Scrambled eggs, yogurt, and bananas were fine, she hoped. She took out four eggs from the fridge, and cracked them in a bowl, adding pepper, a sprinkle of cinnamon, two slices of tomato, and onions.

She whisked the mixture and poured it into a pan.

Soon, the entire house was filled with the inviting sweetness of the eggs as Elsie fried them. Luca was already up.

He'd gone to bed around four a.m. the previous night but the aroma of the eggs gave him a heady feeling. He got out of his bed, took off his shirt and joggers, and went into the bathroom.

Elsie was done preparing breakfast but didn't make a move to go upstairs until Mr. Vanthross joined her in the kitchen after his shower. He looked at the counter and eyed the plate of scrambled eggs with desire.

"Good morning, Mr. Vanthross," Elsie greeted him. She watched him take a seat and shift the plate of scrambled eggs closer to him.

"Morning," Luca replied. His voice was deep like it'd been soaked in chocolate and wrapped in butter. Elsie swallowed, hard.

So this is what men sound like in the morning when they wake up? Elsie wondered. A mental image of her waking up next to Luca and hearing that every morning flashed through her mind and she blinked rapidly to chase it away. Luca was oblivious to her inner thoughts. She was grateful for that.

"My room is the last door to your left upstairs. It won't be hard finding the closet. Go pick out an outfit then go get the car ready. There's a room across my bedroom, it's an office. I left some files on the table, grab them on your way down. They're important files for the meetings -” Luca looked up and stopped speaking.

He hadn't taken a proper look at his secretary when he came into the kitchen but now that he did, he was speechless. The soft morning sunlight bather her in a warm glow from where she stood, in front of him. She was hypnotic.

"Yes, Mr. Vanthross?” Elsie asked, bringing back his attention to what he was saying. Luca shook his head, slightly and grabbed a fork. He chose not to look at her again.

"Grab the files, they're for the meeting.”

"Anything else?” Elsie asked.

"No.”

"What about coffee?”

"I don't drink coffee," Luca replied. His answer surprised Elsie but she was glad to get morning coffee from her new favorite shop. Who doesn't drink coffee? Mr. Vanthross sure is a strange person, she concluded.

She walked past Luca and he couldn't stop himself from catching a whiff of her scent. She smelled fruity but Luca couldn't pinpoint which fruit it reminded him of. He shook his head and took a bite of the scrambled eggs.

He groaned when he tasted it, nodding his head to the ingredients Elsie had used to fry it. Luca made a mental note to thank Calvin for finding someone who was good at cooking. At least, that was a bonus.

Upstairs, Elsie was lost in Luca's closet, admiring the big space and the luxurious clothes and accessories he owned.

"Being rich must be awesome.”She whispered to herself.

She dropped her handbag on one of the cases for his wristwatches and slanted to the section where suits hung. Elsie picked out a black suit, a white dress shirt, and a black tie. Since Mr. Vanthross had meetings to attend, wearing all black would give him a boost of superiority and confidence, Elsie debated.

She assembled the outfit on his bed and went to the office to grab the file. Elsie was just about to leave the office when she bumped into Luca. She nearly fell back but Luca was quick enough to catch her by her waist.

The files left Elsie's hands and dropped to the floor as she clung to Luca's muscled arms. The only thing separating their bodies was their thin clothes. Elsie couldn't help getting lost in the brown depths of Luca's eyes. Then her eyes flew to his lips, making her even more lost.

When Luca saw where her eyes went, his grip on her waist tightened. A low groan threatened to escape from his throat but he held it back. Whatever this his new secretary was trying to do would not work on him, he affirmed.

With that, he righted her on her feet and stalked to his bedroom, looking disgusted. Elsie who was still confused and disorganized, bent to pick up the files that had fallen. She frowned when she saw that Mr. Vanthross didn't like being that close to her.

She knew that the attraction she felt towards her boss was ill-advised but she couldn't help herself. She closed her eyes and waited for her raging heartbeat to calm down. At least, Mr. Vanthross didn't show any interest in her. It will be easier to remind herself not to crush on him.

She looked towards his bedroom one more time before going downstairs to get the car ready. Whatever happened a minute ago didn't happen, as far as she was concerned. When she'd gotten the car ready and waited for Mr. Vanthross, she gave herself a lecture against falling for billionaire CEOs.

The lecture she gave herself was working until the doors opened and Mr. Vanthross stepped outside looking like a Hollywood spy dressed in the damn outfit she'd picked for him.

"There goes my luck,” Elsie sighed as she watched him swagger to the car like a celebrity.

"I'm fucked,” she whispered when Luca opened the door to the backseat and climbed in.

I just wish he'll be the one to do the fucking, Elsie thought to herself and sped off to Mr. Vanthross' house.