His Forced One

Valerie's POV

"Get in here right now!!". I hear my boss screaming from the other end of the phone. It is another typical day at the office for me.

I walk into my office bathroom and stare at my reflection taking in deep breaths. If this had happened two years ago, I would have curled up to a ball and bawled my eyes out, scared out of mind.

Now I am so used to it that nothing surprises me anymore.

I clutch my folder and walk through the hallway of Culligan Inc. Although I'm used to everything, my heart still pounds with anxiety.

I may have gotten used to being yelled at, overlooked and punished, but I can never get used to the anxiety that comes with working for the most ruthless businessman in New York. Damien Culligan.

I rush towards the conference room to deliver some last minute report. You may be thinking, if I am used to working for someone as ruthless as Damien Culligan, why am I still messing up?.

This is not my mistake, I clearly asked Damien if the report would be needed for the meeting several times this week and got the same reply.

"If I want a report pumpkin, I'll ask for a report".

I groan at the memory and rush into the conference, not wanting to get on his bad side. Again. You have no idea how many times it has happened in the past two years.

I get to the hall in time, skeptical about how smooth everything is going, but I speak too soon. I bump hard into someone and the papers I'm holding scatter everywhere. Yup, typical day at the office.

The whole room of all the elite businessmen and women in New York turn around at the chaos. I freeze, praying that the floor opens up and sucks me in.

"Excuse my personal assistant, everyone gets clumsy sometimes", is what I expect Damien to say but boy am I wrong.

I scramble to pick up the scattered papers, embarrassed. Even the entire lobby outside goes silent, all eyes on me as I hastily gather the documents.

To my dismay, a shadow looms over me, and before I can look up, I hear his voice.

"You incompetent fool!" Damien Sinclair's voice booms, dripping with venom. "Do you have any idea what you've just done?"

He doesn't give me a chance to respond. "These are confidential documents, and you have just made a fool of yourself in front of my clients!" His voice echoes through the lobby, making me shrink.

Clutching the papers to my chest, I stammer an apology, but Damien does not wait to hear it. He scoffs, straightens his suit, and with a dismissive shake of his head, turns away.

"Clean up your mess and get out of my sight," he mutters before walking off, leaving me humiliated.

"Do not cry Valerie, no tears, do not let him see you cry" I beg myself. I pick up the rest of the papers, arrange them into a neat pile, hand them to him and rush out of there.

I know I said earlier that I am used to it, but I realize now that I am wrong. I can never get used to being treated this way.

Over the past two years, Damien and I never got along. He has never failed to display his distaste for me and I could not care less. I had to learn to blend into the background, have a small voice and never speak unless absolutely necessary just the way Damien Culligan liked his subordinates.