e up at 7:
muscles from the bike ride, but her mind was crystal clear. It
s and marched into her
ower. The trust fund was the safet
inal Cassie favored. Instead, she pulled out a sharp,
look. She slipped her feet into a
y against the hardwood floor. She headed straight for the dining
ng room
buffet table, quietly poli
said, glancing around the ro
looked at Cassie with a re
morning. He took the private elevator down to his waiting car.
harp prick of disappo
culous. Garrison was a billionaire CEO; his schedule di
urse," Cassie
f avocado toast and a cup of black coffee. Cassie ate fast, k
bbed her Hermes Birkin bag an
orman had already hailed
ng traffic of Manhattan blur past the window. She felt a surge of adren
front of the massive glass-and-steel build
ployee badge at the
Phones were ringing, producers were shouting across desks, and
t was messy. I
ssie's closest work friend, walked over
to Cassie and r
down. "You look like you just won the lottery. Wh
coffee. The caffeine hit her bloo
er eyes flashing. "I just finally figured ou
ally. She assumed Cassie was just
mode. "Come on. The pitch meeting for the new social experiment r
a glass-walled
arity. She remembered the vague plotlines of this wor
ducer asked for ideas,
ompletely flipped the traditional dating show tropes. She s
t her, her jaw
her hand on the table. "That's the hook. Th
ded slowly, a greedy smile
s officially named the lead segme
at down heavily in her ergonomic cha
is time, it was from pride. Sh
r Birkin bag and pu
cked the
o text messages. No
screen for a few seconds. S
lay hard to get. Two
turned her attention to her computer moni
y, in the Fina
assive mahogany table in the Ha
ed VP of Acquisitions was standing at the front, pointing a laser pointe
tared at t
seeing the p
n his study doorway, wearing that thin silk d
, trying to clear the
he table. His personal cell p
as no little green light flas
ht feeling twisted in his chest. It fel
ad been so aggressive last night. She had forced her way
cket felt louder than
, terrifying scowl. The temperature in
The man's voice cracked. He started sweating through his
notice the ter
one, and flipped it face down
ector screen, his chest tight with
took a bite of crisp lettuce, her mind already moving on to her ev
to Korean BBQ tonight. She had successfully navigated a high-sta
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