4- Bathroom Stall

The next morning, she so wanted to apply a bold lip color but then controlled the urge. This was the first day of her job and she really wanted to look presentable.

And wanted to dress like a girl.

“Anyways. Someday… soon… very soon, I hope.”

She quickly washed her hair in the men’s bathroom and took a shower in a cubicle.

“I know I have made it wet. Please can you clean it?”

She quickly slipped a ten-dollar bill into the male cleaner’s hand and left the bathroom. Once she reached the office, she excitedly got rid of her hooded coat and took the elevator to the seventieth floor of Garner Towers.

The cute receptionist hadn’t arrived yet. What was her good name?

Yes! Aniya!

River looked around and nodded at the cleaner woman nearby. She nodded back and got busy with her job.

She sat on Aniya’s seat and started observing her place. It was neat and organized and there was a picture frame where she was smiling with two other attractive girls.

They didn’t seem to be her sisters. Maybe friends.

“What are you doing on my seat?” River looked up and found Aniya standing there with her hands placed on her hips with a brow drawn up.

“Oh, sorry. I … I was just looking at this picture. You look so pretty, here.” River’s remark made Aniya blush.

“A…Are these your sisters?” River asked her hesitantly.

“Friends.” Aniya said fondly and then turned to River, “I don’t know why he hired you.”

“Excuse me?”

“I mean you sent back all the candidate’s home. And I was expecting him to throw you out of this window from the seventieth floor. And you are hired as his PA. Who are you?”

Oh, God. Just this morning when River was convinced that she looked like a boy, here Aniya was shaking her confidence.

“I … I am …” River stuttered and then cleared her throat, “I am no one. I mean…”

“Mr. River … Good to see that you are on time. Aniya will explain to you about your job. Our meeting is just about to start.”

She heard Marwick Garner’s frosty voice and then released a breath when saw him vanishing inside his office followed by a man who might be his secretary.

“Hey, beautiful!” A man who must be around Marwick’s age called Aniya.

“Hey, Derick! Mr. Garner is waiting for you people.” Aniya said a little flirtatiously and then leaned towards River.

“Today I am giving him coffee but from tomorrow onwards you are responsible for the boss’s morning coffee. Maintain his schedule for the head office only. For the rest of the timetable and planning he has his secretary Mr. Theodore Panks.”

When all the board directors arrived and the meeting started, Aniya took River to the floor kitchen and switched on the cappuccino option on the machine. 

“Can you look out the reception area for a while? I need to hand over this coffee to the boss.”

“Yeah. I can.” River nodded with a smile.

“Thanks. You are cute.” River got embarrassed when she realized Aniya was flirting with her, “Just wait for me. They are here to discuss the bidding that is about to take place this afternoon.”

“What? Bidding?” River suddenly remembered the man from last night who was talking on the phone, “Miss Aniya. Can I take this coffee cup inside?” She requested the secretary.

“Please call me Aniya. Why? I mean, are you sure?” Aniya didn’t know how this boy was so brave and didn’t seem the least bit scared of the boss.

Aniya had a die-hard crush on Marwick, but he never encouraged her. He was her best friend’s brother and took her on a date only once when his sister pleaded with him.

He had been very clear since starting. He was not interested in a relationship with any girl until and unless he would get the clue about his wife.

Aniya wished she could find that lucky girl and convince her to divorce Marwick. When she started the job, she used to look at him with those puppy eyes. But when he kept ignoring her, she had to withdraw and keep her feelings to herself.

***

“May I come in, sir?” River entered with a cup of steaming hot coffee. There were several lines on Marwick’s forehead. He didn’t like the intrusion.

But he reminded himself that River was now his PA who was in the learning phase.

She was expected to place the cup and leave the meeting room. Marwick looked so yummy, so appealing that all she wanted to do right now was sit on his lap and tie her arms around his neck.

What if I tell him that I am the same River he has been looking for so many years? She suppressed the giggles erupting in her chest.

“Mr. River. You are supposed to leave.” Marwick warned her without even bothering to look up.

“I …” she chewed her lower lip, “I need to talk to you.” She said eyeing Marwick who was looking at some document in front of him.

“Spill it, boy, and leave. We have a meeting in progress.” He snapped at her. For a split second, River considered pushing the cold-hearted man off a cliff and leaving his office. Why should she get involved in something when he was not ready to at least talk to her civilly?

Keep looking for your wife, Monkey. You deserve this pain.

“I think he is here to waste our time, Marwick.” The director whose name was Chad told him with a smirk and looked at River from head to toe.

River ignored his sarcasm and leaned to the CEO.

“Sir. It’s something private. If you can come aside for a while…”

“For God’s sake!” he shut the file with a thud and stood up forcing the seat to get almost thrown away. He held her elbow in an iron grip and pulled her to the other adjoining room with him.

“Now we have the privacy. What is it?” River who was shocked at the sudden outburst kept looking at him. She found it insulting the way he handled her.

It was hurtful.

“I am sorry,” she whispered and got her arm free from his grip, “Please go back to your meeting. It’s nothing important.”

She stepped back and bowed her head.

“River Brower …”

“Good day, Sir!” she tried to tuck a small strand behind her ear and then turned around to leave the room.

“River!” he held her arm again but this time his hold was gentle, “Listen, Mr. River Brower. I was tensed about this upcoming bid, and I took it out on you … I am going to lose this bid. Everyone in the industry knows that. But this can never be the excuse for what I just did. Please accept my apology.”

River was looking everywhere but him. Those blue orbs had some kind of magnetic power.

“Look. I am sorry, man. Now tell me. What is it?” he leaned his hip to the desk and looked at her.

“It’s about the bidding, sir. There is someone inside your office who is giving away confidential information.”

Marwick frowned and looked into River’s grey eyes, “And how do you know about it?”

“Last night I was around Amasa Street where I found a man talking on the phone.”

Marwick listened to her quietly. He knew she was not lying. Last night, he did see her near that street. But how to trust the info she was giving?

“How to make sure that you are telling the truth?”

“Because no one knows except your closed ones that you are planning to put ahead eight seventy-five offer.” Marwick Garner could not move for a moment.

The boy was telling the truth indeed. Without giving much thought, he made a quick offer to his newly appointed PA.

“Will you accompany me to that meeting, this afternoon, Brower?”

The offer was unexpected for River. She came out of the meeting room with a big smile on her face. Without realizing that tonight she would get the opportunity of meeting Marwick Garner without any boy disguise. In her beautiful girly appearance.

***

River was over the moon. Her boss trusted her and wanted to take her to that meeting. He wanted her to look for the man whom she bumped into. The culprit might be attending the bid.

River didn’t need makeup to get ready. But she certainly needed to visit the male bathroom to relieve herself.

However, she could not use urinals like others. She closed herself in a stall and got done with her business.

She was pulling up her pants when someone knocked on the bathroom door. She found it strange. Why would someone knock it when there were several stalls available?

She decided to ignore it and zipped up her pants.

When she opened the door, she could not get the chance to go out. Because she was pushed back and whoever it was, locked the door behind him.

“Excuse me. What the …” She tried to push away the man but then went still when she saw Chad the director of the Garner empire standing there with an evil smirk.

“What’s so special about you that he is ready to take you there?” he pinned her against the wall and gave her an evil smirk.

“I … I … am … sorry. Please let me go.” She requested in a feeble voice.

“No… No. Don’t be afraid. Just tell me what’s so special there … What are you hiding?” he brought his face closer and sniffed her male perfume.

“You smell divine by the way,” River stood there holding her breath, “We directors are working with him, and he never bothered to take us with him to such high-profile meetings except for his secretary Theodore Panks. And look at you…” he brought his nose closer to take a long sniff, and River wanted to gag when his nose tip started touching her cheek, “I know your type, man. In case you are confused…” River heard his sick chuckle, “I am crazy about young boys. They are my weakness.”

Oh God! River could feel her legs turning jelly. Marwick Garner must be waiting for her impatiently. They were supposed to leave for the bidding.

And she was stuck with a sick man. In a bathroom stall.