Prologue - Dear Sonja...

The second young woman, Natalie, is suffering under pressure from her resentful boss. All she wants is to be appreciated yet she's constantly left feeling isolated and forgotten.

The hands on the clock were ticking themselves slowly around. They were so slow. Natalie Forbes' eyelids were getting heavy as she watched the hand tick over the twelve for the fifteenth time. Fifteen minutes she'd been watching the clock. Fifteen lousy minutes she'd be sitting at her desk waiting for her boss Sonja to return with her day's documents to assess.

Natalie was paid per document and per word count she edited and assessed, so every minute that passed by was another minute she was in further debt.

She rapped her fingernails sharply on her desk as her eyes scanned the small firm. Henry was in his office clicking away on his keyboard and speaking loudly to someone in his earpiece. Sasha was on the front desk with the phone resting between her shoulder and her ear, while taking the time to gloss her salon-preened nails. Then there was Mac. He was in an office next to Henry's flipping through a document folder and sipping at his coffee without letting his gaze divert from the pages. He was engrossed in what he was doing which meant Natalie could stare and not be caught. He was beautiful. And not beautiful as in a gay proud metro type way, rather beautiful in a ruggedly handsome way. He had perfectly chiselled features with a tight looking jaw bone and smooth cheekbones. He had broad shoulders and was deceptively tall; as he was usually sitting down most of the day, Natalie was always surprised at his height when he'd get up periodically. He had dark hair and deep blue eyes and was always clean shaven. He was so dreamy like he'd just stepped out of a magazine shoot.

He was out of Natalie's league though. She looked but she didn't dare touch. He was off bounds. A forbidden temptation. That dark, rich piece of mud cake you eye off but never go near if you know what's good for you.

Natalie looked away. She was stuck in this job because she needed the experience and she needed the money. She was not welcomed like she'd hoped and she was seen and not heard. She was still the "new kid" even though she'd been there for six months. Her boss Sonja was a friend of her mother's who had owed their family a favour after breaking confidentially in her business by using the family's secrets in a scandalous advertising campaign. She promised to hire Natalie if their family didn't report her.

It was tense when Natalie arrived. Sonja's advertising business was small with barely any opportunities. She'd thrust Natalie into document editing and assessing as it seemed the most downright condemning job. Paying Natalie meant pay cuts for the other three employees which did not go down well. Natalie was practically tied to a desk reading over menial documents and being paid minimum wage. On top of that there was no way to escape the animosity from Sonja and Sasha; a constant reminder that her presence was not wanted, not accepted and not needed.

Natalie was starting to burn with impatience. How long was she supposed to sit around waiting for her work to arrive? How long was Sonja going to punish her undeservedly?

She waited for the hand on her clock to pass the twelve again before she got to her feet. Her hands were shaking and her back was damp with anxiety. She didn't want to be like a rejected piece of furniture. She was there to work.

Upon taking in a deep breath and rehearsing what she would say, Natalie made her way slowly to Sonja's closed office door. She attempted to knock but her shaking hands led to a mere scraping of her knuckles, making the knock sound more like a plea than a request.

'Yes.' A strained voice came from inside and Natalie pushed open the door hesitantly.

Sonja didn't look up. 'What.' It wasn't a question, but more a demand to leave her alone.

'I was just wondering if you had the documents for me to check yet?' Natalie tried to steady her voice but halfway through the sentence it began to wobble. There was no denying she was terrified of Sonja. It was strange. Sonja didn't appear as a frightening sort of person. She had shapely shoulder cut sandy coloured hair, high dark eyebrows, big graceful eyes and a pleasant face. She looked younger than forty. Much younger. But she had dark circles under her eyes which her makeup failed to cover up. And she had a permanent frown. Natalie couldn't recall a time when she'd seen Sonja smile. She always had such a tense expression like she'd been having botox for years. Then again, maybe she had.

Sonja's sigh was the only acknowledgement Natalie received. Her pen continued scrawling on the document she was hunched over and her free hand massaged her forehead.

Natalie wasn't quite sure what to do. Would she be fired if she asked again? Was it impolite to even be in her boss's office?

'Um, Ms Collins?'

She'd resigned to calling Sonja Ms Collins after her first day and calling her Sonja resulted in her eyes boring into Natalie's like laser beams. That was when she first realised perhaps that wasn't the right way to address her new boss.

'I heard you!' Sonja's hands slammed down onto the table sending her pencil holder toppling to the ground and the room falling deathly still. Natalie even heard Sasha out on the phone stop talking for a moment while the two of them locked eyes.

Natalie's heart was racing and she felt a lump jam in her throat. She wanted to cry but she couldn't. She held her breath instead.

Sonja kept her eyes glued on Natalie for a few moments, allowing the heated moment to consume them both.

'For God's sake, girl! I can't baby you every minute of the day! I have a business to run! Use your initiative! Make coffees, clean the copier, do some of Sasha's paper work! Just do something!'

Natalie was still reeling but now she was more confused. Her job entailed document checking. Would she be paid?

As if reading her mind, Sonja dropped her head back to the work in front of her and mumbled, 'I'll pay you for whatever you find to do. Just get out.'

Her voice had turned so stale that Natalie left the room immediately. She tried to stop her body from shaking but it was no use. Every inch and fibre of herself felt torn in two. She'd just been victim of a flying rage and that was when she realised that if it happened once, it would probably happen again. Inside her stomach was churning, her blood was pumping, her heart was ready to jump from her chest. Sonja would never see the impact her words had on Natalie's inner self. She was simply an object, a thing. To Sonja, she would never be a person.