Aryana Divarone always knew she'd one day be rich. Everything seems hopeless until Yani encourages Aryana to apply as the executive assistant to the aging billionaire Romario Ulston, the founder and CEO of Ulston International. Aryana has no significant job experience but she applies anyway. Like every hard-working girl in New York City, Aryana rents an apartment with her best friend Yani. The problem is they both have been falling behind with their rent and credit card bills. Other than that, Aryana is struggling with her student loans, her ex-boyfriend is stalking her, her grandmother is dying and she is being sued by her neighbor. Aryana needs a way out. What does she have to do to get the life she'd always dreamed of? Does she have to give up for her body, her soul, her dignity? She needs to find money now or else she will suffer dire consequences. Her future seems dark until... Her phone rings. It's from Ulston International.
Chapter 1 One Day
Aryana Divarone always knew she'd one day be rich.
Like any hard-working girl in New York City, Aryana needed to work multiple odd jobs to make ends meet. And, like any girl who had been in a relationship, her ex-boyfriend Bastien kept calling her during her shifts.
Bastien called her boss at the restaurant and threatened to blow up the place. Her boss, an elderly French woman, almost had a heart attack when she heard the bomb threats. Aryana tried to convince her boss it was a tasteless prank of Bastien. Yet on the same hour, Aryana was fired.
Aryana wanted to complain to the authorities about Bastien and about her wrongful termination...but what else can they do? If anyone who could fix everything that was wrong with her life, it was her and only her.
"Bastien, please stop calling me. Stop harassing me. We are over!" Aryana said when Bastien called her that evening. She tried to steady her hand as she held her phone.
"If I can't have you, no one will!" Bastien screamed as he kicked the furniture in his apartment.
"You are not my boyfriend anymore. I don't love you anymore. Stop ruining my life!" Aryana said.
"No one, Aryana! No one will love you like I do!" Bastien screamed some more before he ended the call.
Aryana curled her body on the wooden floor. She wanted to cry. She wanted to scream. She wanted to call an attorney or the police but she had done that many times before. And all her efforts costed her more money and it was money she did not really have.
"Oh my God, are you alright?" It was Yani, her best friend. The world seemed not as cruel for now.
"I did not hear you arrive." Aryana stood up then pressed her hands on her clothes. "I feel like I'm drowning. I can't take it anymore. I think I am going to lose my mind."
"Come here." Yani kept Aryana in a warm embrace.
"What have I done to deserve this? Bastien just won't stop." Aryana complained.
"If I see him, and trust me when I say this, I will slap some sense in to him!" Yani said. She would have to jump to reach the six-footer's face. They laughed at the thought.
"What will I do without you, Yani?"
"We'll get through this. I don't know when. I don't know how. But one day we will. I promise you." Yani said as she tightened her embrace. Her words gave comfort to Aryana.
"Glad you are home early."
"Oh!" Yani broke off and continued, "Before I forget, there's a vacancy at Ulston International. I read it from their newsletter. It's for an executive assistant position."
"You are telling me this because...?" Aryana asked while raising an eyebrow.
"You should apply." Yani said matter-of-factly.
"Yani! Are you crazy? There is no way I'm going to get that job."
"What do you mean? Weren't you a secretary before?" Yani asked.
"Well, yeah, but for a pizza parlor! I took orders!"
"How about the one from the bookstore? Weren't you an assistant there?"
"Yeah but I carried books around and placed volumes in shelves."
"And what did you do for that I.T. company?"
"It was a freelance job...I was a virtual assistant!"
"Whatever. Apply anyway." Yani dismissed.
"What are you talking about?" Aryana looked at her friend, worried there might be something wrong with her friend. "No way I'm going to get the job. So impossible."
"But it's for Ulston International."
"Exactly my point!" Aryana wanted to laugh but the look on Yani's face stopped her. Aryana cleared her throat and continued, "You really think Ulston International, one of the biggest luxury conglomerate in existence, will hire me to be an executive assistant?"
"Well, you have the experience. And the brains. And the tenacity. And the looks." Yani said like it was prophecy.
Aryana rolled her eyes and yielded, "Let me see the newsletter."
Yani sent the newsletter to Aryana's E-mail. Aryana then reviewed the vacancy call and the list of qualifications. The monthly salary was enough to cover eight months of rent. But the final line of description shocked the living shit out of her. "What the hell? The assistant is expected to work directly with the CEO? Yani, let's put this to rest because it's not funny anymore. It's not going to be me."
"I just sent them your CV."
"What?!?" Aryana's jaw dropped and her eyes widened. "How?!?"
"E-mail, of course." Yani smiled in victory. "You sent your CV to me days ago, remember? You asked me to edit it."
"Yani!" Aryana wanted to jump out of a window.
"You'll get the job." Yani said as if she was one of the major stockholders of Ulston International.
"I don't have anything to wear for the interview!"
"You can borrow my clothes like you always do".
Aryana's phone rang. It was Bastien again.
"Didn't I tell you to block him?" Yani reminded.
"I already did. 50 times already. This is his 51st number."
"Ignore the call." Yani snatched the phone out of Aryana's hand. "Let us focus our energy to bigger and better things."
Chapter 1 One Day
22/09/2022