Jessie Slaymaker's Rules of Engagement (The Jessie Slaymaker Series Book 2) by Jo Iles

like a hawk, and Jessie got the distinct impression her every move was under surveillance, possibly even being written down.
    Apart from her awesomely stylish wardrobe, Jessie didn’t really know what to make of her new boss, Ms. Rachel Horton. It wasn’t that she wasn’t nice, exactly. She just wasn’t very warm . All in all, Rachel seemed like a no-nonsense type of woman, which suited Jessie just fine. She came across as intelligent, hardworking, and ambitious. She spoke well, albeit in an upper-class British accent that Jessie had the feeling was cultivated rather than being a hundred percent genuine. So her only faults were being a little cold and having a penchant for speaking in acronyms whenever possible.
    Then why didn’t Jessie like her?
    Jessie went through life with a predisposition to like everyone. It was just her way. On present encounters she should like and respect Rachel Horton. But for some reason she just couldn’t. She knew part of it had something to do with the fact that Rachel was young, hot, and blonde with brains. She had her whole future mapped out for her. As far as Jessie was concerned, it was game over. She had no chance of ever catching up to someone like Rachel, which made Jessie fundamentally sad. Not particularly jealous, just sad that she wasn’t in Rachel’s position now. Especially knowing that if she’d made different choices in her life and taken different opportunities when they had been offered, she would now be living a different life. But still, she knew she had no one to blame other than herself.
    What a crap day , Jessie sighed to herself as she gave up on trying to do anything further under Penny’s ever-watchful gaze and headed for home. She decided to avoid the scrum to find a taxi, choosing to walk instead. It would give her time to reflect on her day and her time in Hong Kong so far.
    Her personal life was going so well, but her professional life had suddenly gone so wrong. As she weaved her way through the mass exodus of people in the city, the same question kept presenting itself to her: was it possible to have both things at the same time? Or was it a case of having one or the other, but never both? The news from Mr Chan this morning was completely unexpected, and had really taken her by surprise. Her dream of a promotion had evaporated before her eyes, and now she was effectively doing exactly the same job she had been doing back in England—just surrounded by taller buildings.
    She’d been demoted before her promotion had even taken effect. Twice. Six months ago, Mr Chan offered her the job of a lifetime: to relocate to Hong Kong, establish and run her own team, and make what Jessie considered to be an obscene amount of money. Six weeks ago, he offered her a role as a senior economist with added responsibilities and managerial duties thrown in. It hadn’t been as juicy an offer as the first one, but it was still considerable progress, and a move in the right direction. And then today, six hours ago, he offered her… her old job. No promotion, no pay rise. And a boss who’d had to be pressured into taking her on, who had done so only reluctantly.
     
    Through no fault of her own, she’d been forced to take a purely sideways step—which, had she known that was what awaited her, would never have been sufficient reason for her making the move to Hong Kong. Not really. She’d wanted a change of scene, yes, but she’d also been hugely looking forward to a fresh professional challenge. Something to really sink her teeth into.
    With hindsight, Jessie knew it had all been too bloody easy. When was life as straightforward as making a phone call and then having a job ready and waiting for you as soon as you could start? Life just wasn’t like that.
    ‘Oh how the mighty have fallen!’ Jessie moaned as she trudged up the steps to her serviced apartment building. She thought she heard a snigger, and quickly turned and searched the street, but no one was paying her