Chapter 2 : Just the Beginning

*Trinity's POV*

I checked myself in the reflection of the elevator and smoothed my blouse over my baby bump one more time. The elevator dinged and I sucked in a breath as the doors began to slowly open. This was it.

It had been two days since I had accepted the position at Wither Records, but this was my first official day at the job. They had virtually called me on Monday and asked if there was any way that I could start right away.

So here I was, starting off Tuesday morning with a new job and a bundle of nerves.

At least I would finally get to meet my boss. It would alleviate my stress quite a bit to meet the man who was going to determine my fate at this company. Not to mention the fact that he was the CEO, so if I impressed him, it would be a step in the right direction.

"Please, Nate, give me strength," I prayed silently to myself as the elevator doors slid the rest of the way open and I stepped out into the modern looking office.

And standing there waiting for me was a surprisingly young gentleman. He was dressed head to toe in the most expensive looking suit that appeared almost as cool as the expression on his face. It showed hardly any emotion as he looked at me head to toe, though I did see a slight spark of surprise when he saw my belly.

I tried not to flush in embarrassment. This man looked to be around my age and I was surprised at how good-looking he was with his clean-cut blonde hair and face and his piercing blue eyes. His attractiveness seemed to make me feel even more embarrassed as he stared at me as if I was a harlot.

"I see that you are pregnant," he said, and his tone was almost as chilly as his expression. "Are you sure that you will be able to perform the duties of this job while this far along in the pregnancy? Why are you even working at this stage?"

Wow. Upfront and to the point with this guy. I hope he realized that it is against the law to fire or hire me based upon my pregnancy status. But there was only one guy I could think of that would care about it, or would be that honest without being worried about the consequences.

"You must be Mr. Matthew Withers," I stated while holding out my hand to shake his own. "My name is Trinity Mathers and I am your new personal assistant. And as for my capabilities in this position, I believe that my actions will prove them on their own. Also I would prefer to not talk about such private matters in a professional setting."

I had to remind myself to smile. It had been a while since I was forced to smile.

Mr. Wither's eyebrows raised slightly as he considered what I had said. After a moment, he reached out and grasped my hand firmly in his, giving it a generous shake.

"I will take your word on it for now, then," he replied and let go of my hand. "The board members called and let me know you were on your way up and told me to introduce myself to you. My secretary Amber will show you everything else you need to know."

He gestured at the girl behind the counter and with that, he turned around and was gone. I stared after him for a moment in complete shock.

He was nothing like I expected.

"Don't worry, he is always like that until he warms up," came the voice from the front desk.

I walked up to the counter and looked at the girl that must be Amber. The look of surprise on my face didn't leave. Behind the counter was not the professional, beautiful girl that I was expecting.

Instead, the girl had choppy brown hair that was styled as a mullet, a nose ring, wide brown eyes that were heavily lined in eyeliner, and glossy pink lips. Her eyes had an innocent, doe-like appearance to them, which perfectly matched her more earthy attire.

"Hi, I'm Amber," the young girl said with a more natural smile as she stood up to shake my hand as well. I noticed she was also on the shorter side, even as far as girls go.

"Hello, Amber. I'm Trinity." I shook her hand happily, noticing the tattoos that were apparent on her arms.

"If you want to come over on the other side of the desk, I can show you how to clock in and get you going on some of the tasks you will be responsible for," Amber noted and I instantly thought that she seemed genuinely friendly. "I can also give you a quick rundown of the systems we use, though they are pretty basic for business settings."

I walked around to her side without a question, eager to get started and learn more, and even more eager to not embarrass myself.

Once I got on her side of the desk, I also noticed that she wasn't wearing any shoes either. This girl really did not fit in with the rest of the modern atmosphere that the office was putting off. Amber seemed to notice me staring at her and instead of getting upset, she simply laughed.

"You can go ahead and ask if you want," she continued after her laughter. "Everyone asks me when they first see me."

I felt guilty about staring at her, but I really did want to know how she got a job here. Though, after my preaching about separating personal and professional, I couldn't really ask her either. It was her business and she could tell me about it if she wished to.

"It's your life, it's your business," I answered with a shrug. Amber seemed to smile even bigger.

"You seem pretty laid back, which is awesome!" Amber said excitedly. "And you'll need that quality when working with Mr. Withers. He can be pretty high strung about some stuff."

I scoffed inside of my head, but didn't say anything out loud. This was already her second time at what seemed like baiting me, trying to get me to say something bad without intentionally meaning to.

Keep it professional, Trinity! Stay strong.

"You seem pretty laid back as well, and you seem to be doing well," I stated with a smile, trying to compliment her and win her over even more. Allies were a must in a work setting. "How long have you been working here?"

"Quite a while." Amber sat back down in her chair and gestured for me to sit in the one next to her. "A little over a year in this position, but I am also an aspiring artist and do that part-time on the side."

"Here?" I asked, not able to hide the impressed tone of my voice, but for the first time since I had met her, Amber looked a little embarrassed.

"No, not here, sadly. I have never actually applied at Wither Records," she said with a shrug. "They don't often take indie artists."

I found myself feeling bad for the young girl.

"But working for a music record label company does have its advantages still!" Amber continued enthusiastically. "I get great networking, learn all of the best tactics on the business side of things, and get an opportunity to meet all the hot new artists. Just like the newest signed artist, Brett MacCovy!"

I had no idea who that was, but I didn't want to let Amber know that. Since I had accepted the position here, I had been doing my research on the company in general, as well as the industry and the ins and outs of the business of music.

But I hadn't seen anything on a Brett MacCovy.

I sat there for what seemed like forever, when in reality it was only seconds, just trying to think of a clever way of asking the question without giving away the fact that I had no idea who he was.

"Wow, Brett MacCovy?!" I faked excitement. "That is so exciting!"

"I know, right?" Amber gushed. "He is only like the hottest artist out there right now with all of his pop hits, but he is just as good looking in person as he is in all of his pictures."

"Withers Records is lucky to have him," I said with a smile, making a mental note to look him up later. My cheeks were starting to hurt from all of the use they were getting. I hadn't smiled like this in a long time.

The pang of guilt hit my stomach again, but Amber was quick to distract me.

"Speaking of new additions that we are lucky to have, I better get you going." Amber searched around on the messy desk for a minute before pulling out a folder and handing it to me. "Here is the list of duties that Mr. Withers expects from his personal assistants. If you have any questions feel free to ask me or Mr. Withers, but most of it is typed out there for you in that folder.

As long as you do everything on that list, then you will do fine here. And I promise that he is not as scary as he might seem. He likes everything particular, but he has worked his butt off to deserve that right. The first thing on the list is his coffee and breakfast, so you better get on that before you get behind."

"I thought I was just training today?" I asked, somewhat concerned, with the nerves creeping back in.

"Mr. Withers believes in training on your feet."

Shit. I opened the folder and looked at the list of duties followed by papers printed with exact instructions. One of the papers was titled breakfast and coffee and had a very detailed and complicated order that Mr. Withers liked and expected. I noticed that he also had to have it from a certain type of coffee shop that was at least ten minutes away by car based on traffic.

I checked my watch and realized that I only had thirty minutes to get there, get his food, and get back in time for the normal time on the daily duties checklist.

Double shit.

"I'll go ahead and let you take care of that real fast, and I will give you a tour of the building and walk you through everything else as soon as you deliver him his breakfast." Amber smiled, but looked a little worried. "I know I said he's not as scary as he looks, but you definitely do not want to see him when he is hangry."

"Noted," I said as I stood up and immediately headed to the elevator.

The folder was tucked in under my arm as I went. Mr. Withers' order was advanced enough that I wanted to take the order sheet to verify that I was getting the right thing.

I fast walked over to the elevator and waited for it to come back up just so that it could take me back down. I would have to have Amber show me where the stairs were when she gave me that tour later.

The empty elevator finally arrived and I stepped inside, pushing the button to close the doors even quicker. The doors shut almost as slowly as they had opened just minutes earlier.

I took a huge breath as soon as I was inside and moving down.

I couldn't deny that my nerves had spiked back up and I almost felt as if I was going to be sick. Morning sickness exaggerated the nausea as well, and I prayed again that I wouldn't puke on my first day of work. The fear of getting the order wrong was also in the back of my mind.

However, along with the nerves and the fear came a sense of exhilaration and I realized that I felt more alive than I had in months. More invigorated.

And the job had only just begun.