Chapter 3 Unwanted But Surviving

• Blair’s P.O.V
• The next morning, I dressed myself in my regular office outfit of a white shirt and light brown pencil skirt that reached to my knees, paired with a jacket of the same color.
• My brunette hair was once again in a ponytail and my makeup was to the bare minimum, keeping up with the company policy. It was a little odd that the company policy even had an entire chapter on how the workers should dress and how they should normally present themselves, but after meeting Mr. Maxwell yesterday…who seemed to be a person stuck in time and refusing to move forward as needed…it wasn’t all that surprising that there was also a rule about co-workers not being able to date and that marriages inside the same department weren’t allowed.
• With a heavy sigh, I out of my house, only grabbing a couple toasts for breakfast as I made my way to the bus stop to catch the earliest bus to the office. Once I got down from the bus at the right stop, I immediately headed to the coffee shop opposite to the huge thirty storied building that was Maxwell Buildings Incorporated.
• Yesterday, even though I hadn't expected him to, Mr. Maxwell had been kind enough to stay behind with me into the late hours of the evening until my brother got out of surgery. It had been a success…but due to the blunt force trauma to the head…he was now in a deep coma, with the doctors having no idea when he was going to wake up.
• All I could think about in that moment had been...at least he was still alive! It was the biggest mercy that god had shown me in ages!
• But in the meantime, I had been briefed about everything that I was supposed to do for Mr. Maxwell, while working for Landon Maxwell. I had learned very quickly just how much of a control freak his father was, but I kept my mouth shut tight. It wasn’t my place to comment on morals or family matters when I myself had run away from home five years ago, with my brother…it had been a desperate attempt to escape a man who had been our step father…and it had been the best decision we had ever made.
• Shaking my head to rid myself of painful memories, I got the coffee that Landon Maxwell usually ordered and headed into the office building. As expected, the receptionist downstairs gave me my employee card and some other necessary files that I held tightly in my hand as I made my way up to the fifteenth floor…Landon’s office.
• The lounge area was big and spacious. It was also spotless and beautifully decorated. It looked like this particular floor had a completely different design than the rest of the building and it brought into sharp contrast the ‘generation-gap’ or the conflicting ideals of the two men, the father and the son.
• “Ms. Avalon?”
• I turned to look at the tall woman with orangish-red hair and green eyes, who was sitting behind the reception on this floor. She was really tall, even without the high heels and her smile was polite as she called me over.
• “Yes.” I bowed my head slightly with an awkward smile. “I’m Blair Avalon. Sorry, I’m new here.”
• “Don’t worry, I could tell.” She gave me an understanding smile. “I’m Eliza Queen, from the Legal department. I was just here to drop off some files. But I thought I should warn you before you went in.”
• “Warn me?” I looked at her a little perplexed. “Did I do something wrong?”
• “No, but you were about to.” She pointed to the plastic takeout cup in my hand. “Mr. Maxwell does not like to be served in those plastic cups. There’s a set of cups and dishes behind the reception area, please do change the coffee cup before you enter.”
• “Oh!” My eyes widened as I realized I was about to make a grave mistake. “Thank you so much! I’ll do that right away.”
• “Best of luck.” She smiled at me before waving and heading to the elevator. “I’ve placed all the documents behind the reception area, please hand them over to Mr. Maxwell!”
• “I will! Thanks again!”
• As the elevator doors closed behind her, I ran to the reception desk to get the files sorted and poured the coffee into one of the cups. Placing the cup on one of the trey’s, I walked over to the door that had Landon Maxwell’s name in bold and knocked three times before taking a deep breath and entering his office.
• “Good morning, Mr. Maxwell, I brought you your cup of-”
• The coffee was slapped out of my hand with so much force that it flew up in the air before landing a few feet away from us, making me jump back in surprise so I didn’t get the hot liquid on the exposed parts of my legs.
• Cradling the tray to my chest, I looked up at Landon Maxwell, befuddled and utterly speechless.
• “Who the fuck are you? And why are you in my office?” Landon sneered at me, his anger leaving me even more bewildered. “Does this look like a park to you? Just anyone can waltz in and do whatever they want?”
• “M-Mr. Maxwell…I think there has been some kind of misunderstanding.” I swallowed, looking at the handsome man in astonishment, unable to understand why his anger was directed towards me. “I’m Blair Aalo-”
• “I don’t fucking care who you are!” He snapped, folding his hands in front of his chest as he sneered down at me. “Get out of my office.”
• “Mr. M-Maxwell…your father hired me as your assistant-”
• “My father?” He barked out a sudden harsh laugh. “From where? The hospital?”
• Suddenly…I felt a chill run down my spine.
• This wasn’t what was supposed to happen…this wasn’t what I had expected to happen on my first day of work…
• Landon Maxwell had been at the hospital? Did Mr. Maxwell even know about it? I don’t think so…because if he had, then he wouldn’t have made that offer in front of his son…
• “You think you can fool my father with your innocent face, but you can’t fool me!” He sneered. “Not get out! You’re fired!”
• “Mr. Maxwell…please…” I begged, standing in front of him. “It’s not what you think. I-I came to interview in the morning as well…but…the accident…Mr. Maxwell went there to meet some clients and met me…”
• “Enough! Why are you still here?” He pushed me back suddenly, and me having not expected the sudden push, slipped on the spilled drinks and fell back on the floor hard, on my hands and knees.
• The fall took both of us off-guard and for a second, I saw pit cross his eyes before Landon set his face in a frown once again.
• “Get up and leave.” He said in a rough voice, barely holding on to his anger, but I could only shake my head.
• “I can’t.” I told him, withholding back some of the truth. “Mr. Maxwell hired me…he said only he can fire me.”
• But it only made him angrier. “Did he now?”
• I think I may have said the wrong thing in this situation. But no matter how much he wanted me gone…I had to survive this…for Blake…for the money I now owned the Maxwell’s for saving his life…
• “I will talk to my father and I will have you fired.” He said at last, his voice rough with anger. “You’re nothing more than my father’s booty call and you belong at my feet!”
• With that, Landon Maxwell stormed out of the office, leaving me sprawled on the floor with my palms still stinging from the fall.
• No…he didn’t just assume that…that I…no…he must be mistaken. I saw him arguing with his father yesterday…he must be angry with his father and taking it out on me. He’s wrong though. Mr. Maxwell is a wonderful man…he helped save my brother’s life…Blake is alive because of him…
• Landon can be angry with his father as much as he wants, but I could never betray Mr. Maxwell. He means well, despite his methods seeming a little harsh…but he meant well. And one day, Landon will see the truth.
• One day…he’ll realize that all his assumptions about me are terribly false.