I stared at my closet in dismay. The grey pants I'd planned on wearing had a stain and none of my other skirts would go well with my top. I considered changing the entire outfit altogther but saw a flash of grey. The dark grey pants seemed to mock me as I lifted it up. It'd been years since it was last worn. I walked over to the mirror, stared at my backside then the pants. I'd definitely added a few pounds since then. Would it even fit?

A few pulls and grunts later, victory was mine. I stared at my reflection in the mirror, thoroughly satisfied with my outfit for the day. After a few other adjustments, I headed out to work.

"Morning," Heather greeted as I placed my bag on my desk.

"Good morning. Is he in yet?" I asked and she shook her head. I sighed contentedly before sitting down.

"You look a little tired, are you okay?" I noticed.

She yawned. "My fiance and I spent almost the whole night talking, we finally set a date for our wedding."

"Oh that's great," I smiled, "when is it?"

"Next year January." She grinned happily.

"Congratulations again then." I smiled again. Wedding bells seemed to be ringing everywhere lately.

William arrived a few minutes after and Lilian about half an hour later. I could have touched the moon when she didn't start another one of her lessons. I hadn't yet fully recovered from yesterday's blow. At noon, William called for a meeting in one of the boardrooms; the attendees being just he, Heather, Lilian and I.

"Did you add rose gold to the list of colours for the new tablet Sx?" He asked Lilian.

"Yes sir and I sent it to the development team this morning." She replied.

I finally researched about William's company last night. I was surprised to know their gadgets and a few other apps and software were leading the tech market this year. Even if William hadn't bought this company, I'd have eventually heard about his success one way or another. That much was fated to happen.

"What was the last product Leona and Dieter put out into the market again?" William asked staring at me.

"A nano SIM card(4FF)."

"Who made it and when did it start selling?"

Heather placed down the file on the maker of the SIM card that we'd prepared prior to the meeting before speaking. "Twain Yanus. He developed the SIM card around November last year but only got it to Dieter and Leona January this year, when it was finally marketed as a joint product."

"Where is he now?" He asked gazing through the file.

Heather cleared her throat, "He's dead. He died in a boating accident sometime in February and since his family didn't understand the know-hows of his work, they discontinued the SIM."

"And it inevitably caused Dieter and Leona a lot of money." I finished. After gathering all the information of Twain Yanus, his family and Dieter and Leona, I felt saddened by the unfortunate turn of events that affected everyone greatly.

"Okay, thank you." I noticed a slight change in his speech but didn't ponder. "Lilian what is my schedule for the rest of the week like?"

"You have a charity gala ball Friday night and the McLaren's tech launch party Saturday night." She relayed and he nodded.

"Will you be accompanying me for the two parties?"

"I will actually be occupied." Lilian said and then, an oddity occurred. The ever stern and strict Lilian blushed. Her pale cheeks turned pink and the corners of her lips lifted but flattened so fast, it became a ghost. What just happened?

"Ah, of course," William nodded in shared understanding, "then miss Jack will accompany me for Friday's gala and miss Duhamels will follow for Saturday's party." He finished.

"Actually sir, you already have a date for the tech launch."

"A date?" He stared at Lilian almost incredulously, "who?"

"Michelle Vale."

I thought of who Michelle Vale was but came up empty. His girlfriend? Highly unlikely. And Lilian said it herself yesterday; he didn't have one. William was silent for a few seconds before responding.

"Oh yes, you made a promise I think."

"She seems nice and I believe she has been eagerly waiting for this tech launch." Lilian's eyes briefly turned to me and I rolled my eyes at whatever nonsense she had going on in that uptight head of hers. "But if you don't want–"

"It's fine. I can't cancel now. Michelle Vale will be my official date to the party Saturday night but Miss Duhamels will still follow. I can't have two PAs with me at the gala Friday night but you both need to get more acquainted with these parties and galas." He said, ending with his stare on me.

"Okay." I said.

"Brief us on the new payroll system and annual salaries for all the departments for the whole of this year."

I nodded and stood, carrying the files that I painstakingly printed out and arranged earlier this morning, in preparation for this meeting. I walked towards the projector board which placed me directly in front of everyone. Facing the board, I turned it on and the slide I'd also prepared showed. A file suddenly fell from my grasp and as I bent midway to pick it up, the deafening sound of fabric ripping was heard.

My heart stopped.

"Oh no." I faintly heard Heather in the background.

Did my pants just tear?

My hands flew to my exposed backside in horror. I straightened and quickly turned around. Ashamed and embarrassed weren't enough to describe my mortification and humiliation. William looked away while Lilian sat still and said nothing. It was Heather who after her initial shock, stood up and quickly walked to me.

"Let's go to the restroom," she said before pulling me forward and blocking my gaping trousers with her body.

Was there no end to my suffering?

"Stay here, I'll get new pants for you." She said as we entered.

"Thank you," I said looking down. I felt too embarrassed to even look at her. Soon, she was gone. I slowly turned my body, enough to see just how much I'd flashed my colleagues and William, through the mirror. Luckily, my bright pink grandma panties covered most of my butt but I still groaned in despair and turned away from the mirror. Why me?

Heather returned nearly thirty minutes later with a shopping bag which I gratefully accepted. She left and I changed into the black pants she bought. The grey pants that failed me, roughly went into the shopping bag. My head stuck out the door of the restroom, glancing down the empty corridors.

I needed motivation.

The situation could've been worse. Instead of three, it could have been a whole department or even the whole office or live TV. I could have been wearing a thong. I shuddered at the thought of my butt being showcased on live television. Heather and Lilian were females just like me, I bet they had pink panties too. William, well he'd once upon a time seen a lot more than pink panties. My middle name should've been damage control. I walked out of the restroom carrying the shopping bag, as bravely as I could.

"Miss Duhamels, you're just in time for the start of our next lesson." Lilian stared at me, disapproval marred her features but fit quite well with her stern nature. She stood between I and Heather's desk, in front of her whiteboard.

I cleared my throat and turned to Heather. "Thank you very much Heather. I honestly owe you more than one."

"It was nothing." She smiled.

"Let's begin." Lilian said after I sat down. "Our topic today will be galas and balls: how to dress, act and what will be required of you. Once again, you are merely playing security. You are just to accompany Mr Illston, take note of the guests, deal with the financial transactions backstage if necessary and ensure everything goes well."

Her eyes stopped on me and I became wary of what insult would follow. "So any notions of dressing overly prettily and putting on loud makeup should be cancelled. You should look decent of course, but this is not a Cinderella story."

The doors to William's office opened before I could properly react to her indirect insinuations.

"Miss Duhamels, my office." My gaze shifted from Lilian to William. His back was all I saw before the doors shut. What now? Lilian's back was now turned to me and I could only glare at it before entering William's office.

He wasn't behind the large desk as normal but rather seated on one of the couches arranged in a rectangular form. A small bout of shame caught me as our eyes met. Disregarding our past, he did just see my bright pink underwear a few minutes ago.

"You can sit," he pointed to the couch next to his. I slowly sat down and waited.

"Nice pants." He smiled and I sharply glared at him but he only continued grinning.

"Did you call me here to mock me?"

"I didn't," he smiled, "take a look at this." He passed me a brown file which I collected. Opening it, I brought out its contents and the first words I saw were 'Illston homes'.

"Have you changed your locks?"

"I haven't had time to yet. Why did you give me this?" I raised the papers.

"You should move there," He said and I gazed at him.

"You want me, to move here." I pointed to the papers and he nodded.

"It's a staff housing and you are a staff. Your current home is clearly not safe and I need to make sure my staff is safe."

It was a logical idea. A great one probably.

"I can't." I said dropping the papers on the coffee table.

"Why not?"

"Why are you being so nice to me? Stop it."

"I'm not being nice, I'm merely behaving how any employer would to an employee in need." He shrugged.

"I'm not in need." Of your help.

I hated the relaxed look on his face. I didn't want to become his charity case. Where was karma? Why did he have to have the means to help me? Why should he help me now after everything that happened? I hated William Illston; maybe a lot more than I realized.

"Don't be stubborn Ophelia, at least consider it." He pushed the papers and file back to me then stood up.

"I don't want it." I said defiantly.

"Then let me say this as your boss, take it." His words left no room for arguments and I angrily shoved the papers back into the brown file.

"Thank you sir."

I left his office in anger.

***