Page 71 of Love Under the Microscope
Zelda does the same, then dabs her mouth with a paper towel since I couldn’t find any napkins. “This is so tasty.”
“Told you so.”
“You did, and I’m sorry I ever doubted you.” She takes another bite and sighs. “I never knew how good breakfast food could taste.”
“You’ve been missing out.”
“Obviously.” She scoops more eggs on her fork. I added cheese, mushrooms, and spinach to make my signature scramble. “So…your questions.”
“I want to make sure I don’t give away your identity, so if anything is off-limits, you just have to let me know.”
“The name Zentello—”
“Do you mind if I take some notes?”
“Go ahead.”
I whip out my phone. I can type faster with my thumbs than I can write. “The company’s name…?”
“I’ll tell you where the name came from, but it would give away too much if you used it in your article.” She adds syrup to her plate. “Zentello comes from combining letters in Nate’s and my names, specifically Z-E-L from my first name. N-T-E from his first name. And L-O from our last name, which we share.”
“Clever.”
“Drunken cleverness.” She laughs with a shake of her head. “After a couple of bottles of wine, but we couldn’t do any better sober, so Zentello stuck.”
“I see how that would give things away.” I watch her take a bite of pancake, and her sigh of delight feels like a hug. I swallow. “How hard has it been to be thought of as a personal assistant when you do so much more than that?”
“Honestly, not hard at all. Nate’s so much better at being the face of the company. I don’t need the accolades. Our earnings are enough for me, only …”
The way her voice trails off has me leaning forward. “What?”
“Nigel said a couple of things during his call that I didn’t tell you.” She sets her fork on her plate. “He called me a lowly assistant, and that’s one of the first times I’ve wanted to throw my actual title right back at him.”
“He’s such an asshole.”
“Yes, which we knew. Most people don’t realize how much power assistants yield. Piss them off, and you’ll never be put through to their boss. Instead, you’ll be a message that needs to be returned. Or not. And yes, I have done that to people who treated me with disrespect or like some plaything.”
Damn, this is something I want to write about too. “Serves them right.”
“It does. There’s so much misogyny in the business world. A couple of former board members were the worst, and they thought Mr. Z was one of them. Ha!”
“I’m sure you found a way to handle them.”
She grins with a devilish gleam in her eyes. “I did.”
I wouldn’t want to be on Zelda’s bad side. I get the feeling she would be a formidable opponent. “What else did Nigel say to you?”
She knocks her fork off her plate. “Sorry, what?”
“You mentioned Nigel said a couple of things.”
“Oh, the other doesn’t matter.”
That tells me it matters a lot. “It does to me. Please tell me.”
As Zelda eats another bite, I wait. “He said something else that was mean and made me feel vulnerable and even stupid.”
“You’re not stupid.”
