Nevertheless, I was eager to please, and if I had to start with Charles and his condescending attitude to get by, then so be it. My new boss couldn’t possibly be worse than this little jerk.

“So should I do something? Maybe go in and straighten up his office or—”

“Dude—do not touch his desk or his stuff unless he asks. Just…wait over there.” He pointed to a waiting area with a comfortable-looking arrangement of deeply padded chairs meant for visitors and clientele while they waited to meet with the bigwigs. “You report to Susan, his paid assistant, and she isn’t in yet.”

I looked back at him. “Can’t I do something for you?”

He raised his brows. “Yeah, as a matter of fact…” I leaned in, anxious to get to work and impress my new co-worker. “I take my latte with skim milk and two sugars. And don’t go to our café. They suck. There’s a Starbucks down the street. Extra hot, mmkay?”

I straightened, resisted shooting him a glare, and with a bit of resignation in my slumped shoulders, turned around to carry out his orders. There was a pecking order here, and clearly Charlie-boy considered himself above me.

I returned twenty minutes later with his coffee and one for myself. This time, when I walked through the front, the marketing department was populated, and some of the interns I’d worked with waved and smiled. Cari raced toward me, her massive mane of blond hair trailing after her. She was wearing a provocative outfit—plaid, pleated mini-skirt that hit well above mid-thigh paired with a tight white blouse and knee socks. She’d referred to this outfit as her take on the “naughty school girl.” Professional it was not.

She took in my sweater set with a nod of approval. “You’re looking very grown-up today for your new position! How are you doing? Want me to help you carry that?”

I smiled, a little uneasy as I remembered Sid’s comments about her this morning. “I’m good, thanks.”

She threw a curious glance at me out of the corner of her eyes as she pushed the double doors open. “So, um, nervous? Everything going okay?”

I hesitated a moment and returned her look, slowing my pace. “Why do you keep asking?”

She grimaced. “I, um…well, I was going through my timeline this morning on Facebook…”

My hand carrying Charlie-boy’s ultra-hot scalding with the fire of a thousand suns coffee shook and a bit of it spilled out the top, burning the back of my hand. “Shit,” I said, but didn’t know whether it was because of the pain or the fact that Cari knew it was me in the video.

“Um. I don’t want to talk about it,” I muttered.

“I, uh…why is it on the Internet?”

“I don’t know. I must have pushed a button to upload it to the cloud or something. I have no fucking idea. And did I mention I don’t want to talk about it?”

I turned and started back to the atrium and Charlie’s desk, anxious to get this blistering cup of simmering lava out of my hand.

“So, what are you going to do?”

“I’m not sure there’s much I can do,” I said bitterly. But maybe there was… If I got Cari on my side, her loyalty would prevent anyone else from talking about it. So as much as her behavior of late had been distasteful, I was going to have to be her bestest buddy ever. Cari was fast becoming one big gnat I couldn’t bat away. I’d have to sweet talk and kiss up to this gnat, in fact.

“Can I, uh, ask you to cover for me with the others?”

Cari smiled. “Ingrid was the other one with us at the bar, and she was so drunk she doesn’t even remember that was you. I won’t say a word. I know you must be stressed out. I’ll do whatever I can to help. Let’s get together for lunch, okay?”

The feeling of relief came as a rush—I was almost giddy with it. Thank God I had Cari on my side for this. “That sounds great,” I said.

I didn’t fully trust her—had never fully trusted her. But she had no reason to rat me out, and she was smart enough to know it could backfire on her to do it. I’d find a way to keep the loyalty I’d won in her. Time for the chameleon to change her colors again.

Cari quickly peeled away from me before I entered the atrium, where I all but slapped that cup of white-hot neutronium on Mr. Hipster’s desk. I shook my hand out the minute it was free.

“Mmm, piping hot. The same way your new boss likes it,” Charlie chimed. “He’s here, by the way, and the first thing he grunted at me was a demand to get him a venti triple espresso, no cream, no sugar.”