Prologue
"I think I've clearly specified to you that I want an ad placed for a male assistant only," barked a furious Jaxon Craddock as he scrolled down his emails to find a single female application for the post of his personal assistant. Which woman was so desperate that she couldn't stay away from applying? It was specifically mentioned that he would recruit only a male.
His best friend and business partner, Ralph Van Halen, who was the Production Head at his company, shook his head. "You know I did what you had asked me to do, Jaxon," he answered calmly. He was used to Jaxon's short temper and his tantrums. Usually he had his assistant Phil in New York to look into these matters but here with no assistant present, Ralph was the only one who could calm his friend down.
Jaxon took a deep breath to calm himself down. "Then what is this resume of a woman assistant doing in my inbox?" He growled. He always had male assistants, and he wasn't going to change that.
He had started hating women after his own mom murdered his dad and escaped with his money. It was such a clever ploy that the police were also fooled into believing that it was suicide. He was just ten and couldn't do anything but watch helplessly. His own sister, Josephine who was eight years older divided the money that was left into two halves and left with her share.
Jaxon grew up under the care of his housekeeper, Molly. Her father's sister, aunt Barbara came over and adopted him and lived with him for the next nine years. However, she too wanted a share of her brother's money and left after receiving her share. Jaxon was very bitter against everyone after she left. When he was twenty, he had his first girlfriend. One night she came over for a night of fun and the next morning, she stole whatever she could lay her hands upon and escaped without a trace. Jaxon was shattered and he swore that he would never have anything to do with women ever in his life.
"Ignore that application, Jaxon. Shall I summon the rest for an interview?" Asked Ralph. Their headquarters were in New York and they all had arrived in Vegas for the most happening International Fashion Week.
"Yes, only five at a time, please, starting tomorrow. We can't handle more than that, " he said, calming down a little and massaging his temples.
"Sure, I'll do that. Anything else?" He asked. Jaxon shook his head and Ralph left his office to do as asked.
At the young age of twenty-nine, Jaxon Craddock, Ralph Van Halen, and Gilbert Presscott had built an empire in the world of fashion designing. Their fashion house, Jaxon Craddock displayed its trademark JC on all their products, named after Jaxon who was the celebrity designer. The brand was known for its large range of clothing, footwear, sunglasses and also created footwear, jewelry. His name became iconic amongst the younger generation for its modern lines and embraced the culture of youth and promoted gender fluidity. With exclusive outlets all over the world, he was too busy to have a personal life. His work was life and life was work.
Based in New York, Jaxon had visited his Las Vegas office for an important meeting with the Las Vegas Fashion Council. His last assistant resigned and he needed someone as soon as possible, preferably before the meeting and the upcoming International Fashion Week conference. His whole schedule was disorganized and he had no clue what to do.
Ralph helped him to the best of his abilities but he wasn't a very organized person himself and he managed the production side of his business, as the Head of Production, Clothing. Jaxon sighed and went on with his work, trying to check the agenda of his upcoming meetings. Tiredly he closed his eyes for a few minutes. He had been working continuously for the last two days and still couldn't cope with the mess. His fingers clicked on the mouse by mistake and he opened his eyes to see the damage done.
His jaws dropped when he saw what was on the screen before him. It was a picture of an innocent girl, most probably twenty, with green hypnotic eyes and a face exuding a glow that attracted him like a moth to a flame.
He saw her name, Carmella Parker. "Carmella," he pronounced her name, loving the feel if it on his lips. Then it dawned upon him, whose picture it was. This was the single female applicant amongst the list of male applicants for the job of his PA.
Shocked to the roots of his hair, he quickly closed the window and closed his eyes again. But could he get rid of the image from his mind? No, it crept up into his head, floated before his eyes, played havoc with his brain the whole day till he couldn't take it anymore. He dropped all his work and headed to his apartment in Las Vegas.
He needed sleep to calm his jumpy nerves. That was the only reason why he was reacting so much to a mere girl, nine years younger than himself and most importantly a woman. He couldn't fall for a woman, the most untrustworthy species on this universe as experience had taught him to believe. He drank two glasses of whiskey to get a hold of himself and get some sleep.
The next day started as a nightmare with him waking up late. He reached the office just on time to take the interviews scheduled for the day. Despite his instruction, Ralph had called twenty candidates for an interview. After a cup of shitty coffee, he started with the task at hand.
The first candidate, was over-smart, trying to prove what a good designer he was. "Are you aware that you've applied for a PA's job?" He grunted with disgust.
"Yes sir, but later I can handle both," the candidate spoke confidently.
"Look, Mr. Hartman, I'm not interested in a designer, right now. You may leave," he gritted out.
The next candidate was a punk weirdo with pink-streaked hair. "I need the whole weekend off, sir," he said. "I can't work overtime. I have obligations. I would love to travel but on company's expenses," he conditioned.
"Thank you. You may leave," he said without a glance at him.
The next one had a disgusting body odor which suffocated Jaxon before he could take the interview. He somehow got rid of him. The next few candidates were all worthless and he didn't like any one of them.
After the interviews were over, it was lunchtime and he had a headache. He really needed coffee. Not the shitty coffee that Ralph made. He needed a Starbucks coffee.
"Ralph, how many more applications do we have left?" He asked a flustered Ralph.
"We have thousands of them, all male applicants, Jaxon. Don't worry, " he said, holding onto his head out of stress.
"Forget it, Ralph. I'll shortlist who I want, " said Jaxon. "I need coffee. No not your disgusting coffee, thanks. I'm going to the Starbucks outlet nearby." Ralph nodded with a hurt look on his face. His friend really needed a wife. He was becoming impossible to handle day by day.
Jaxon went down the elevators and down the pavement to the shop a few feet away from his building where his office was located. He ordered his regular dark roast coffee and sipped, sitting down near the window his back towards the rest of the customers. He didn't want to get recognized with reporters bothering him. Inhaling the fresh, robust aroma of fresh coffee ye decided to sort the resumes himself. Ralph would send all the candidates and he didn't have the patience to interview all of them. He needed to shortlist. He paid for his coffee and turned to go out when someone bumped into him and spilled a cup of cold coffee all over him.
"What the f*ck!" He growled, looking at his stained and sticky white dress shirt and designer expensive suit.
"I-I'm soo s-sorry. It was an accident, I didn't see you," said a scared female voice. He was tired of these manipulative creatures who could stoop to anything to get his attention.
He looked up, ready to give this bitch a piece of his mind, but all his words drowned as he stared mesmerized by the green eyes of none other than Carmella Parker. She looked guilty and ashamed as she took in the damage that was done to his attire.
"I'll get your clothes cleaned. Please don't shout at me. It was an accident and I'm sorry, " she kept on rambling.
"How the f*ck will you do that, may I know?" He growled more, getting frustrated at his bad luck. Why did he have to meet the girl? Now he wouldn't be able to get any work done for the rest of the day. He got angrier at his own reaction to her glowing beauty. She was too gorgeous for her own good, that was for sure.
"I, I, " she stammered not knowing how to go about her offer.
"Cut it. You're not getting what you wanted. I'm not giving you my contact details nor inviting you to my house," he gritted out. Her face fell as she stared at him wordlessly, taken aback by his rudeness. He strode off towards his office without a backward glance although he wanted to get a last glimpse of her.
