You didn’t even know how you’d managed to get the job, after being kicked out of your house, having to drop out of college because you had no more money, managing to survive with the little you had left.

You had put on your nicest clothes and decided to simply give it a try, you hadn’t expected to actually make it. And yet you did. Simon Riley had hired you as his personal assistant. You knew it would take a while to make enough money to live in a place of your own, but at least now you had somewhere to sleep in.

You were new, so no one suspected why you were staying until late every night. No one knew you actually waited for everyone to leave, just to settle yourself on the leather couch in Simon’s office and catch a few hours of sleep, always making sure to wake up well before he showed up. You covered up any proof, and made sure to buy him his coffee so he would find it, still steaming hot, atop his desk.

The office’s restrooms were enough for you to manage to always be clean, and a little deal with the cleaning lady guaranteed a perfectly ironed change of clothes, discreetly hidden in the supply closet.

You had gotten the job right before winter, but even though you could sleep in a building, the heating system didn’t function at night, so you were no safer than others to the tricks of the cold. You’d caught a fever over the night, and you hadn’t heard the alarm. Simon was surprised to find his assistant, dead asleep on the black leather couch, shivering and with red cheeks, clearly ill.