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Chapter Text

Evanora Harkness, CEO of Harkness Print, dead at 76!

The multi-billionaire and owner of the media conglomerate was found dead in her home by her eldest daughter, Valentina Harkness (27).

Although Harkness passed two weeks ago, the media is just now finding out about it. This news has shocked the world, as many of Evanora’s peers have taken to social media to share their condolences.

It is reported that both Harkness’ daughters (Valentina and Agatha, 25) have already taken over the enormous responsibility of being co-CEOS of the media empire.

Neither daughter has yet to comment.

By Wanda Maximoff – New York Post.

“Fucking Wanda,” Agatha muttered as she switched off her phone open to the news article.

Her sister glanced at her before adjusting her position in her seat. They were in their limousine, headed towards the Harkness Print’s main office in London.

“Didn’t you fuck her last week?”

“Hate sex, Val. The best kind,” Agatha argued, swiping long, dark brown hair mixed with silver behind her ear.

“Hm – hey! Is that my watch?!” Valentina shrieked as she pointed at the gold Rolex on Agatha’s wrist.

“No!” Agatha shot back. “You don’t even wear gold.”

“No, not the colour, the design!”

“Oh…then yes,” Agatha grinned.

Valentina scoffed, “Cagna.” Bitch.

“Sei così arrabbiato?" Are you that angry? She had to ask. Her sister only swore at her in Italian if she was particularly angry. “It’s a fucking watch, Valentina,” Agatha cackled.

“'It’s a fucking watch, Valentina,’” she mimicked. She’d gotten her baby sister’s voice down to a T.

Agatha rolled her eyes.

“I don’t have a clue why mother would make us co-CEOS when you can’t even think for yourself,” Valentina told her.

“Why?” Agatha tugged the silver streak at the front of her sister’s hair. Valentina smacked her hand away. “You afraid I’m going to steal all the spotlight?”

They’d always been like this. The Harkness sisters viewed their lives as a competition. Who was smarter, who wore what better, who stole what from the other. It technically wasn’t their fault; it was a relationship nurtured by their mother (long may she rest in the pits of hell) that they always needed to best one another.

That wasn’t to say the sisters didn’t love each other; they did. Blood runs thicker than water, and in a world that is out to get the people at the top of the food chain, the list of people you can trust are slim to none. They’d go to war for each other, easy, no questions asked. But god forbid they have the same watch.

“As if anyone would pay attention to you for more than five minutes,” Valentina snapped.

“Tell that to your ex-girlfriend.”

Valentina scoffed. “Like I didn’t steal yours.”

Another thing...the Harkness sisters also had a habit of doing...that.

Valentina turned to her sister and swept her gaze over her form before she said:

“You look nice. Is that a YSL suit?”

Agatha nodded as she looked down at the black oversized suit with the white dress shirt and black tie she was wearing. “Thank you. You ended up buying the Vivienne in the end?”

She was talking about her sister’s Vivienne Westwood silk deep brown blazer and matching trousers.

“I did, yes.”

“Cute.”

The limo pulled up to the Harkness Print headquarters in Covent Garden. They thanked their driver, Alexei, and headed towards the glass tower before them.

As they walked through the foyer, they were greeted by multiple people, all wishing them a good morning or offering their condolences as if they needed them. Their mother died two weeks ago, and the sisters despised her. They were overjoyed when the old bat finally kicked the bucket.

Agatha thought it was strange, though, that her sister was the only relative left in this world with her. Their father had been murdered in cold blood one night when Agatha was four, Valentina six. They’d both watched, the door that their father thought he’d closed had been left slightly ajar.

You never really get over watching a man stab your father in the heart, you never really get over your sister covering her hand over your mouth to stifle your tears, you never really get over your hands and feet being covered in blood as you try to get your father to start breathing again.

Then it’d been just them and their mother. And now it was just them.

The Harkness sisters vs the world.

Once they’d made their way to one of the building's many elevators, their coffee boy (whose name Agatha could never remember and just called him teen) ran up to them.

“Good morning, Miss Harkness’,” teen greeted. “I have two flat whites for you, extra, extra hot.”

“Since when did you get extra, extra hot?” Agatha asked, taking her cup.

“Since it makes coffee taste better,” her sister replied, taking hers.

They stepped into the lift, and their errand boy stared at them as if wanting to get in.

“Get the next one,” Valentina snapped.

The teen with his mop of curly black hair nodded far too many times as the doors closed. The two sisters stood in silence, drinking from their respective coffee cups as they watched the numbers on the elevator climb up.

PING!

When they hit the 50th floor, the lift doors opened to a scene of people shuffling frantically about the place. The work chatter was loud, and the sharpness of everyone’s actions told the sisters that something had happened.

The teen ran out of an elevator moments later.

“The...the theme for The Met Gala has just been posted,” he got out breathlessly.

Has that been mentioned yet? If not, Harkness Print is a media conglomerate that owns and publishes fashion magazines: Coco Radiant, Women Power and Look Live. Harkness Print also owns a book publishing company: Harkness Books. A television network: Cloud. And a newspaper: The London Mail.

The sisters mainly oversee the fashion magazine element of their vast company, leaving the other parts to their investors, only stepping in when needed.

“Ah,” Agatha acknowledged as she looked upon the chaos. “Makes sense,” she said as she sipped her coffee and headed to her office.

Her jaw almost dropped when she pulled open her door and looked at the piles of files she had atop her desk and coffee table. Her office was not small, and yet all the paperwork was making it appear so.

Agatha’s office consisted of a desk and chair to the left that had a wonderful view of London, in the centre of the room, she had a velvet purple sofa and glass coffee table, and…that was it so far. She’d just moved into this office.

She walked in cautiously, her eyes darting about the place as she took in file after file, magazine cover after magazine cover. What the fuck happened to emailing? To saving paper? They couldn’t have sent her all of this digitally? And what was all of this?

Agatha had nothing on her desk when she left last night at TEN PM! What the hell had happened since then and now?

“Oh,” she turned to see her sister entering the room. “So, it’s not just me then.”

“What the hell is all this shit?”

“You’re asking me? Where’s curly head when you need him?” Valentina asked.

At that, the teen appeared.

“Hiiiii, so, let me explain,” he started.

The two sisters stared at him with their faces scrunched. The teen continued undeterred.

“You need to decide what styles you want to keep and not keep for all magazines. Templates date as far back as the 80s, how cool!” The teen squeaked. “Anyways...erm...that’s why they are there.”

“But who put them there?” Agatha asked.

“Your mother,” the teenager replied.

The sisters pulled a face.

“Oh…no…erm...”

“Seems like mum rose from the dead,” Valentina deadpanned.

“Yes, because that explains how she was able to fill our offices with paperwork,” Agatha replied in the same flat voice.

“No…I should’ve worded it...it’s in her will that you do this on the day marking two weeks of her death. Some guys came with all of this stuff and said so.”

“What guys?” Agatha snapped.

“I don’t know, I don’t know,” the teenager said hastily, backing up towards the door as if Agatha might pounce on him at any second.

Valentina rolled her eyes. “So, we’ve got to deal with this shit, plus go over and finalise the covers for tomorrow when they’re done, plus the meeting with those Cloud investors...what else?”

“Lunch with the major,” Agatha added.

“Lunch with the bloody major,” Valentina echoed.

“Erm...if...you might want to get an assistant,” the boy whispered. “It...it might help keep you on track. I would be more than happy to-”

“Brilliant!” Agatha cut him off. “We’ll get assistants, why didn’t we think of that sooner? It’s been two weeks, and we’ve been struggling for what?”

“Not a clue. Boy, get us the best assistants London has to offer and have them here by this time next week,” Valentina told him.

The teenager nodded far too many times.

***

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Rio muttered under her breath as she hopped around her barely lit bedroom trying to put on her Doc Martins.

She was going to be late, and she couldn’t afford to be because she needed this job. Her sister had bent over backwards to secure her an interview to be one of the Harkness sisters' assistants. Hela was very influential as manager of Women Power Magazine. And because she was, she’d put a word in for Rio.

Rio knew nothing about being an assistant for a CEO or working in the fashion industry. The only proper job she’d had after she’d left university was a bartender. What Rio wanted to actually be was a film maker, but the film industry in the UK was going to utter shit.

She’d been on sets as a volunteer, a runner and an assistant director once. But now jobs, even as a volunteer, came few and far between because for some bizarre reason no one was making fucking cinema.

After she’d been fired from her three year job working at her local pub for shoving a Hugo Spritz down a wankers trousers after her wouldn’t stop harassing her (and had been for the three years she’d worked there, and this particular day Rio had just snapped) because it was somehow her fault a man wouldn’t leave her alone. She needed a new job...duh.

How else would anyone survive this economic crisis jobless? Even the people who had jobs were barely surviving.

Rio yelped when she slipped on a piece of clothing on her bedroom floor and crashed to the ground.

“Oh, for fucksake.”

“You okay?” Her best friend Alice called from the other room.

“Bloody brilliant,” Rio called back as she peeled herself off the floor.

She grabbed her bag off her deck chair, retrieved her phone and headed for Finchley tube station.

The sun had painted the sky with light pinks and lilacs, and Rio found herself staring at that instead of being on her phone like she usually would. Well, until she was plunged into darkness when the tube ventured towards the heart of the city.

She huffed and pulled her phone out to change the song blasting through her earphones. Rio laughed when she saw that Alice was on her Spotify account and had started to play, I Say A Little Prayer by Aretha Franklin.

The now crowded tube carriage all turned to look at her and Rio shrunk into herself with a smile. She understood, this was London, and it was far too early to even appear happy.

***

After getting off at Leicester Square, walking over to Covent Garden and getting lost trying to find the Harkness Print building because Covent Garden had no service (which was bloody ridiculous, what part of central London didn’t have 5G?!), she finally found the office.

She was very, very late.

She rushed up to the front desk, explained who she was and why she was there, and the security guard opened the barriers to let her through. Rio pushed frantically at the lift buttons until one came. She slipped inside and headed towards the fiftieth floor.

Rio rested her back against the wall, panting. Her eyes widened when she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Her dark brown hair was a mess, all the bangs and layers were going in every direction, and she’d sweated off half her makeup.

Rio flipped her head upside down and ran her fingers through her hair to give it some volume. When she was satisfied, she began wiping her face with her hands to clean the sweat off it. The only thing that looked decent right now was her outfit: a deep brown V-neck long-sleeve fitted button-up with matching trousers. She also had her favourite necklace on for good luck, a sliver heart (an actual human heart though not the lovey-dovey shit).

The elevator pinged, and Rio practically sprinted out of it. She shot towards the front desk, where a boy with curly hair was sitting.

“Hi,” Rio said. “I’m here for an interview to be an assistant for one of the Harkness sisters,” Rio told him.

“Erm...you’re late. They’ve stopped interviewing.”

“What?!” Rio shrieked. “What time is it?”

“Er...ten.”

“Ten!” Rio echoed. “Oh, for fucksake.”

No, because seriously, where had the time gone?

“Can you just...can you just ask if they’ll see anyone else? Please,” Rio begged.

“I mean...I can try, but don’t get your hopes up,” the boy...Billy, according to the label on his desk, said. “Come with me.”

Rio nodded and followed him. Her sister was going to murder her if she didn’t even get to go to the interview.

Billy knocked and creaked the door open slightly.

“Miss Harkness, Miss Harkness, you have one more interview,” Billy said.

“We don’t,” a voice replied. Rio didn’t know which of the sisters had replied, the door wasn’t opened wide enough.

Rio didn’t know much about the Harkness sisters; in all honesty, she didn’t even know what they looked like. All she knew was that they were very influential and very powerful. Their mother had died a few odd weeks ago and now they were amongst the youngest CEOs in the world...or some shit like that.

“Interviews ended half an hour ago,” the other voice replied.

“Yes but-” Billy started.

“Nuh uh,” the same voice continued. “If they’re late, that’s it. Send them away.”

Great. Rio had blown it. Her sister was going to murder her.

She huffed, going to turn away before her eyes locked with deep blue through the crack in the door. Deep blue narrowed before the woman with the beautiful eyes spoke:

“Wait, open the door.”

Billy did, and deep blue and light brown locked onto her.

Rio swallowed, her hand twisting the strap of her tote bag. The two sisters were looking at her like vultures might their prey. Like they might go for her if she even dared to breathe. They were terrifyingly beautiful. All sharp features and dark hair, minus the streak of silver, both women seemed to have at the front of their hair. Was that a Harkness gene or something?

The sister, the one with blue eyes, deep red lipstick and navy suit, spoke again. “And you’re the one who’s late?” Her voice was stern yet not accusatory.

“Yes,” Rio said with a nod.

“And what’s your name?” The sister with light brown eyes and a different coloured suit asked.

“Rio Vidal,” Rio replied.

“Well, Rio Vidal. You’re late,” blue eyes told her. “You must not want the job.”

“I do,” Rio answered. “I had transportation issues, and then I got lost.”

Brown eyes raised an eyebrow. “Excuses. Wake up earlier.”

Rio nodded. “I know for next time.”

Blue eyes scoffed. “Next time?”

“Yes,” Rio replied confidently, even though she knew she was walking on thin ice. “You’re talking to me now. You might as well let me in for the interview.”

The sisters glanced at each other; their faces twisted in the same manner that they almost looked identical. Rio wondered if they even knew they were doing it. They seemed to communicate some silent message as blue eyes hopped off the desk and headed towards the purple sofa by the coffee table.

“Well, come on in then,” brown eyes told Rio.

Billy gave her a reassuring smile before exiting the room, leaving Rio alone with two vipresses.

She ventured further into the office and stood awkwardly by the coffee table, unsure of what to do.

Blue eyes furrowed her eyebrows. “Aren’t you going to sit down?” Her eyes dropped to the single chair beside the sofa.

No, duh, of course that’s where they would want her to sit.

Rio nodded before lowering herself into the chair.

Brown eyes took up the seat next to her sister. “I’m Valentina, that’s Agatha,” she pointed to blue eyes. “We’re both looking for assistants. You’re late, so we’re interviewing you at the same time.”

“That’s fine,” Rio replied.

“Rio, what’s your accent mixed with? I think I have an idea, but I don’t want to assume,” blue eyes...Agatha asked her.

“That’s not a question,” her sister scolded.

“It is now,” Agatha said, leaning forward.

Rio cleared her throat. “Erm...it’s Spanish. I grew up in Spain before I moved here when I was eleven. I didn’t want to get rid of it, so I mixed the two.”

“Ah, bien,” Agatha replied. “Lei è Spagnola.” She’s Spanish.

Oh, yes. The Harkness sisters were half Italian.

“E?” And?

Now, did Rio inform them that she could understand Italian? Nope.

“Why do you want to be one of our assistants, Miss Vidal?” Valentina asked.

Miss Vidal...Rio. It was clear which sister cared about professionalism.

“It would be a good opportunity for me. It gives me the chance to get accustomed to high-pressure environments and learn from the best in the industry.”

“And what is it you want from the industry? From this job?” Agatha asked her, her gorgeous blue eyes narrowing.

“To make connections, network,” Rio answered honestly because why lie, right?

Both sisters smirked.

“There’s no lying with you, is there...Miss Vidal?” Valentina asked.

That professionalism Rio was talking about? Yeah, gone. The tone Valentina had used, low with the slightest bit of seduction...yeah, there was nothing professional about that. Rio could tell by the way her hair had stood on end.

She swallowed. “There’s no point.”

“I like that,” Agatha nodded slowly.

Rio felt like a person watching the ocean pull away just before a tsunami. Like all she could do was hold her breath until the waves came crashing back towards the beach to drown her, because she would drown if these two sisters kept talking to her like that.

Was this some kind of new interviewing strategy? Trying to seduce your potential new assistant? What happened to the two scary women who had been blunt and cold less than ten minutes ago?

“Tell me,” Valentina started, until her sister nudged her in the arm. “Us,” Valentina corrected with an eyeroll. “Have you ever been an assistant before?”

Rio shook her head. “Not for a CEO, but I’ve been an assistant director and a runner on sets. It’s similar.”

“Oh, is it?” Agatha replied, lifting her eyebrows in amusement.

“Now, now, Agatha. Miss Vidal says it’s similar, so it is. We wouldn’t know,” Valentina patronised.

It was evident who was the youngest and who was the oldest. Rio realised she probably should’ve known that.

People do not do what Rio has done and walk into an interview without knowing anything about your employer. That’s not...like...good.

“So, because you’ve worked on film sets, you think you have what it takes to be our assistant?”

“One of our assistants,” Agatha corrected.

Her sister waved her off. “Yes, that.”

“Yes,” Rio nodded.

Agatha’s lips lifted. “Just out of curiosity. Which one of us would you rather work for?”

Valentina perked up at that. She held herself higher as she straightened up. Agatha had done the opposite, leaning closer, flattening herself.

Rio raised an eyebrow...did...did they seriously want her to answer that? Are they even supposed to ask her that?

Well, why not?

What if they both ended up wanting her, and her answer would be taken into consideration on who she worked for?

But they didn’t both want her as their assistant. They didn’t even want to interview her two seconds ago.

“I…” Rio started. “I would be happy to work for either of you.”

“Oh, yeah?” Agatha replied, her voice low, raspy.

Did the temperature rise or something? Why was Rio sweating?

Rio swallowed. “Yeah…yeah.”

“Good to know.” Agatha held her gaze, and Rio couldn’t bring herself to pull away. A feeling she couldn’t quite describe had started low in her stomach.

“Well,” Valentina clapped, causing Rio to blink and break eye contact with her sister. “I think that’s it for today. Thank you, Miss Vidal. We’ll be in touch.”

“Oh…right,” Rio replied as she tried to get up. Her brain still fuzzy from staring into the deep blue depths of the ocean.

Valentina guided her towards the door, her hand on the small of her back, and Rio felt…tingly.

“Maybe we’ll see you soon,” Valentina told her as she stood at the door. Agatha had appeared next to her, a smirk on her face.

“Yeah…maybe,” Rio replied before she left the room.

Well…Rio thought that went better than expected.

Chapter Text

“I want her,” Agatha announced as soon as Rio left the office.

Valentina scoffed. “And what makes you think she would want you? You were acting so desperate, Agatha. I wanted to stab my eyes out; it was a painful watch.”

“Says the one who put on her ‘I wanna fuck you’ voice,” Agatha countered.

Valentina clicked her tongue. “Well, at least I kept it somewhat professional.”

“And how didn’t I keep it professional?”

“'Rio, what’s your accent mixed with?’” Valentina mimicked.

Agatha rolled her eyes.

“I want her. I’m the oldest; therefore, I win,” Valentina shrugged.

Agatha pulled a face. “That’s not how that works.”

“Says who?”

“Says me,” Agatha challenged. “Snooze you lose.”

Valentina scoffed once more. “How old are you?”

“Old enough to steal your last girlfriend,” Agatha flashed her a smile.

Valentina flared her eyes as she shook her head. “Extremely mature.”

“Aren’t I just?” Agatha winked. “And because I’m so mature, let’s make a deal.”

“No.”

“We’ll both hire her.” Agatha continued. “On her first day, we’ll split her. You get her in the day; I take her to that office party you’re forcing me to go to.”

“The Women’s Power’s fifth anniversary? I’m not forcing you to go; you lost the toss-up.”

Agatha waved her hand dismissively. “Whatever. Deal?”

Her sister stared at her, her facial expression giving nothing away.

When what felt like hours passed, Agatha rolled her eyes, parting her lips to-

“Deal.” Valentina headed for her office door. “But when she realises she’d rather just work for me, don’t think for a second I won’t tell you I told you so,” she called over her shoulder.

“You’ll choke on those words,” Agatha called back.

***

So…Rio had been hired by both sisters…?

She tapped her foot incessantly as the lift took her up to the lion's den.

I don’t get it.

And she didn’t.

They hadn’t even wanted to interview her, and now she’d been double-hired? That meant double the work, double the stress…double the pay. She shouldn’t complain. She couldn’t afford to be jobless in this economy. The lift opened, and the Harkness Print headquarters was just as chaotic as Rio remembered it to be. People were running about the place, yelling orders, typing furiously, and nattering away on their phones.

Billy was at the front desk again, smiled brightly when he saw her. “Good morning.”

“Morning.”

“You really must’ve blown their socks off. You were late to your interview and yet…here you are.”

“Yeah,” Rio replied.

He pointed to the sisters offices. “Head to Valentina’s, she’s waiting for you.”

Rio nodded, offering a small smile before she left.

Brown eyes locked onto her from behind the glass door, and a smirk graced Valentina’s face. She tilted her head, instructing Rio to enter. When she did, Valentina said:

“You’re ninety seconds late.”

Rio jerked her head. “I-”

“Why?”

“I…don’t know. I’m sorry.”

“No.”

Rio furrowed her eyebrows. “What-?”

“No,” Valentina cut in. “Give me another answer. I’m not accepting ‘I don’t know.’”

Rio swallowed. “I don’t have an excuse. I shouldn’t have been…ninety…seconds late,” Rio said sceptically.

“Time is money, Miss Vidal,” Valentina said, getting up. She shoved a file into Rio’s hands. “We’re leaving, come on.”

“Er…” Rio said, scrambling to keep up. “N…now?”

“I just said that, didn’t I?” Valentina replied, breezing through her office door. “Leave your bag,” she snapped.

Rio dropped her tote bag in the corridor, too afraid to return to the office to put it away properly.

“You can’t leave that there!” Billy shouted.

“Move it for her,” Valentina bit back.

“Yes, Miss Harkness,” came the hasty reply.

Rio mouthed a ‘sorry’ as she darted after her boss.

The doors to the lift snapped shut, and she was left alone with the viperess. Rio felt as if she were seconds away from being eaten alive.

“Don’t be late again,” Valentina told her.

Rio shook her head. “Won’t.”

She watched the numbers descend.

Forty-seven.

Thirty-one.

Twenty.

Four.

PING!

Valentina scoffed. “Look who decided to show up.”

Blue eyes locked onto her, her lips twitching.

Rio’s mouth dried out. It was the black and white pinstriped suit, the red lipstick, the hair that was down in its natural waves.

The streak of grey.

Yeah, that really fucking did it. Rio’s mouth was as dry as the Sahara Desert.

“My apologies,” Agatha said, putting her hand to her heart regretfully. “I just…you see my mum died recently and I…I’ve been finding it really hard to get up in the mornings and-”

“Jesus Christ, what is wrong with you?” Valentina sniped.

A grin split Agatha’s face. “I was trying to spare you. Didn’t want to say I spent the night with your ex,” she shrugged, replacing them in the lift.

“You didn’t,” Valentina said matter-of-factly. “Alina’s in Switzerland.”

“Oh, is she? How’d she end up in my bed then?”

Valentina’s face dropped, and Agatha’s cackle only cut off when the doors closed.

“That mother fucker,” Valentina muttered.

Rio blinked, hugging the folder she’d been given like it was her lifeline as she tried to process whatever the fuck just happened. Her new bosses were insane. She really should’ve done her research before she came in for that interview.

“Come on, Rio,” Valentina ordered.

She blinked again, realised Valentina was almost out of the office and raced to catch up with her.

“Sorry,” Rio apologised.

“You wouldn’t have to apologise if you just did what you were supposed to,” Valentina said.

“No, you’re right.”

“Always am,” came the reply.

A limo was waiting for them outside and Valentina’s driver, a bald man with a long beard who could certainly crush Rio with his bare hands, opened the door. Rio thanked him and slipped inside without another word.

It was only when they started moving that Valentina said, “So you’re Puerto Rican and Spanish, grew up in Spain but moved to England at a young age, want to be a director but aren’t doing a job that’ll help you get there, and you have a half sister who works for me?”

“I…er…yeah,” Rio got out. “I’m sorry…how do you know this?”

Valentina pulled a face. “Do you really think I would hire someone without doing the research first?”

This is another reminder to anyone who comes across this…research things. Do not be a Rio.

“That would be like you not looking into us before coming to interview,” Valentina continued.

Rio bit her lip, said nothing.

“Why aren’t you doing film?” Valentina asked.

Rio shrugged. “No jobs in the industry and I’m not a nepo baby so-”

Valentina snorted, the sound causing Rio’s lips to curl. She liked it, would have to think of something else to say so she could hear it again.

Twenty minutes later, the car stopped, and the door swung open.

“Thanks, Alexei,” Valentina told her driver as they hopped out.

“You’re welcome,” Alexei replied in his thick Russian accent.

Rio followed her boss into a side alley, watched her press frantically at a doorbell to some office buildings until a voice crackled through the speaker:

“Who is this?”

“Who do you think it is? Let me up!” Valentina barked.

This was followed by a BUZZ, and Valentina nodded for Rio to let them in. Another lift, more floors to climb, this set of elevator doors sliding open. Rio found herself walking into a photoshoot. The consistent clicking of a camera filled her ears as people rushed around with clothes bags over their shoulders with models in their underwear on their tails.

“Val!” A man with a fedora exclaimed.

He reminded Rio of one of those fashion designers she’d see on early 2000s Disney Channel shows.

The man kissed Valentina’s cheeks, pulling back with a wide smile. “Do you have…?”

Valentina waved a hand in Rio’s general direction, and when she realised a beat too slow what she meant, she gave over the folder.

“You are a lifesaver!” The man exclaimed. “Whatever would I do without you?” He mumbled to himself as he made his way through the studio.

Rio spluttered as hairspray fumes wafted up her nose. Her boss turned to look at her, her face scrunched, and she held her breath to stop herself from choking. When Valentina turned away, she let go, tried desperately to proceed to die without making a sound. They stopped before a white backdrop. A model stood posing as a photographer clicked away.

“I’m letting the intern get a few shots in,” the man told them.

“Ah,” Valentina acknowledged.

What was this, and what were they doing? Again, Rio realised she should probably know this. It was her literal job to know where they were supposed to be and why they were supposed to be doing it. So far, Rio Vidal had been doing an abysmal job at being an assistant.

“This for the Look Life cover, yes?” Valentina asked.

The man nodded before his gaze shifted to Rio. “You can join the other models.”

“Oh, I’m not-”

“This is my assistant, George,” Valentina said at the same time.

“Oh! I’m sorry, you just…have you ever tried modelling?” George asked.

Valentina quirked an eyebrow; her interest piqued.

“No,” Rio replied.

“Huh.”

“Interesting.”

“She would look great in the Versace dress, you know, the green? None of my models can make it work, and I think it would do so well with her skin tone,” George said to Valentina.

“Get her to try it then,” Valentina answered.

Rio’s eyes widened. “Oh, I don’t think-”

“Go on,” Valentina prompted.

And who was Rio to argue with the boss?

She bit her lip, nodded, headed for the makeup chairs to her left. God, how she hated being in front of cameras. She only ever wanted to be behind them.

“What can I do for you, poppet?” One of the makeup artists asked when she approached.

“Erm…I was asked to-”

“She’s a model for today, Stacey,” Valentina chimed in, placing her hands on Rio’s shoulders, making her jump.

“Ohh,” Stacey acknowledged, grabbing Rio’s hand and tugging her into a chair. “Where’d you find this one?” She asked as she began to wipe Rio’s face with wipes.

“She’s my new assistant,” Valentina grinned.

Stacey jerked her head. “Assistant?!” She placed a hand on Rio. “I am so sorry.”

Valentina laughed. “Enough or I’ll slash your pay.”

“That joke is never funny,” Stacey smiled.

Rio spent the next god knows how long sat in a chair being poked and prodded with makeup and hair tools, with Valentina barking orders on how it should be done. The same thought occurred more often than not:

What the fuck?

What the fuck?

What the fuck?

And this was day one. Not to mention, she had to go with the other Harkness sister to the Women’s Power fifth anniversary celebration. She dreaded to think what would be in store for her there, but at least her sister would be around.

“No, I don’t like that,” Valentina said, snapping Rio back into the present. “Let me do it.”

The next thing Rio felt were soft fingers under her chin and a slight pull of her lips when her boss began to coat them in lipstick. She froze, although her heartbeat did the opposite, reaching a pace Rio was sure couldn’t be healthy.

Was it hot in here?

Brown eyes locked onto her, smirked. “You doing okay?”

Valentina’s voice, her tone. It was the same why she’d spoken to her in her interview, smooth, seductive…dangerous. Rio hoped that whatever foundation she was wearing concealed her flush.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Rio replied nonchalantly.

Valentina shrugged, leaning down to whisper in Rio’s ear, “You’ve clenched your hands into fists.”

Rio looked down, wanted the earth to swallow her up when she realised her boss was right.

“Don’t worry about it, sweetheart,” Valentina said, pulling back. “I have that effect on people.”

“Pretty sure you’re not supposed to have it on your employees,” Rio told her.

That smirk returned, and Rio was sure she was going to get quite familiar with it.

“Probably not, but you were the one who got all hot and bothered.”

She couldn’t argue with that.

“Go change,” Valentina instructed, nodding to the dressing rooms.

***

When Rio returned to the studio, she was in 2005 Versace. The green George spoke about was more of a teal, and the slit of the beautiful dress was high, almost her entire leg was on show. Fine, if she were anywhere else but work.

“Oh, beautiful!” George exclaimed when he saw her, shuffling her along until she was in front of the camera.

He started snapping away whilst Rio stood awkwardly. Her gaze kept shifting to Valentina, who watched in amusement. Her boss let this charade drag on until she finally stepped in.

“You’re letting the clothes wear you,” Valentina commented.

Rio huffed. “I don’t know what that means.”

“Oh, come on, don’t lie. I know you know a thing or two about fashion, Miss Vidal. Your work attire tells me everything I need to know.”

Miss Vidal again.

Valentina stepped in front of the camera, ruining George’s latest shot.

“This dress is art, treat it as such,” Valentina said. She spun Rio then and she yelped, the dress twirling around her. Valentina steadied her when she wobbled, a smile on her face, laughter tumbling out. “See. It needs movement. Don’t be stiff and awkward.”

“I’ll try,” Rio grumbled as Valentina stepped away.

“No, that’s an order. As your boss, you must follow it,” she winked.

Rio couldn’t help the smile.

***

Stupid fucking Women’s Power fifth anniversary celebration. So what their magazine turned five, did it need a whole evening about it? Why couldn’t they do cake and candles and call it a day? Agatha huffed, spinning in her chair as the London skyline blurred around her. Why the fuck did she have to lose the stupid toss-up?

Technically, it wasn’t that big of a deal, but Agatha knew her sister would use the free evening to do something diabolical. Maybe act out on some revenge ploy she needed to get Agatha back for, for something she did last month.

“Doing nothing as usual I see,” the most irritating voice on the fucking planet said.

Agatha turned to see her sister waltzing into her office, their new assistant on her heels. Different. Immediately, Agatha noticed it. Rio’s appearance had changed from this morning. Her clothes were the same: black tailored trousers that flared at the bottom and a brown pinstriped fitted button-up blouse that hugged all the right places. It was her face. The makeup on it.

Had her fucking sister given their assistant a makeover before Agatha could?!

“You look different,” Agatha commented.

Valentina went to reply before Agatha cut her off.

“Wasn’t talking to you. What’d she do to you?”

“Erm…I helped out at the cover shoot,” Rio replied.

“You did?”

“And she was brilliant,” Valentina jumped in.

Agatha glared at her, and her sister’s smile was shit-eating.

“Rio, could you grab us two flat whites, please?” Valentina asked.

Their assistant nodded. “Extra-extra hot?”

The sisters tilted their heads simultaneously.

“Exactly.”

“Yes.”

“On it,” Rio said, leaving the room.

They watched her do so.

“Did you tell her about the extra-extra hot?” Valentina questioned.

“Nope.”

“Huh. Anyways,” Valentina said, perching on Agatha’s desk. “Out with it.”

Agatha scrunched her face. “What are you on about?”

Valentina rolled her eyes melodramatically, collapsing on Agatha’s desk and knocking her things over.

“Oh my god! Get up! What’s wrong with you?” Agatha snapped.

“So sorry, got bored of you pretending you don’t know exactly what I’m talking about.”

Agatha pushed her sister to sit. “What-”

Valentina groaned. “You have a million and one questions about what I said to Rio, how I got in her head and made me turn her against you, yarder yarder and all your other bullshit.” Valentina swiped at her silver strands. “I know you, Aggie.”

“Call me that again, I dare you,” Agatha challenged.

Her sister’s grin was unwavering. “So ask me then.”

“Hadn’t even crossed my mind.”

It had, many, many a times.

“I’ll answer for you. You’ll be pleased to know I didn’t say a word about you.”

She was happy to know.

Valentina tilted her head back and forth. “Yet.”

Agatha rolled her eyes, and neither of them said anything for a beat until Valentina asked:

“Hey, is this a new suit? I’ve never seen it before.”

Agatha smiled. “It is.”

Valentina nodded her head in approval. “Cute.”

***

Alone time with Rio thank fuck.

It was finally her time to present her case, to show Rio that she was the better sister to work for. Tomorrow she was getting the entire day. Fuck toss-ups or pulling straws, Agatha Harkness was getting her way like she always did whenever she was persistent enough. She could be persistent. The payoff was most definitely worth it.

Agatha glanced at her assistant beside her in the limo, smirked. “Can’t believe you didn’t change.”

“I didn’t have time to go home,” Rio replied.

“And you didn’t think to bring clothes with you?”

Rio bit her lip, and Agatha laughed.

“What kind of assistant isn’t prepared for the unprepared?”

“A bad one,” Rio mumbled.

“Then why did I hire you?”

“You tell me,” Rio replied.

Agatha’s lips twitched. “I liked you. You were confident and shameless. Not many people are these days.”

“What about your sister?”

Agatha rolled her eyes. “I don’t have a clue what goes on in that psycho’s head.”

“You don’t get along?”

Agatha was full-on smirking now. “See. Shameless. And we do. I love my sister more than I love myself most of the time, but she’s still a bloody pain in my ass.”

Rio laughed, and Agatha hated the way her entire body felt lighter because of it.

“Do you have siblings?”

Rio nodded. “Mhm. She works for you actua-”

Agatha snapped her fingers. “Hela! Oh, yes. I remember her talking about you.”

“Did I live up to expectations?”

“Quite the opposite, actually. You were quite the let-down.”

When Rio smiled, it reached her eyes.

They pulled up outside the event, and Alexei opened the door for them. The cool night air hit Agatha’s skin, and she pulled at the Hermes coat around her shoulders.

“Bloody hell, it’s freez- what the fuck are you doing here?” Agatha bit out.

Her sister grinned. “What are you on about? I’m the co-owner of this magazine. I’m expected to be at these things.”

Agatha gaped at her. “But you told me-”

Valentina held her hand up for silence. “Come now, sister. I am very dedicated to my work; I would never say such a thing.” Her sister’s gaze shifted to their assistant. “Oh, Rio!” Valentina exclaimed. “So good to see you, come with me.”

Before Agatha could say anything, her sister whisked Rio away.

That lying, conniving, mother fucker.  Why couldn’t she let Agatha have one goddamn thing?!

Agatha’s back pocket vibrating had her pulling out her phone.

Val: Shouldn’t have slept with my ex xx

“Figlio di puttana.” Son of a bitch. Agatha muttered as she headed inside.