"Apology for what?" Charlie repeated.
For impregnating me, you asshole! She thought to herself.
If looks could kill, he'd be dead. Sighing, Red responded, "For lying to me. She raised her voice, on the verge of stomping her foot. Yes, she had nothing in mind, so she voiced this childish thing in her brain without thinking how pathetic she had been. "For faking an American accent and telling me you were just an ordinary businessman. For—"
"Not that it's any of your business, Miss Patterson." Charlie lifted one hand, cutting into her stream of words. "And not that I will ever provide you with any more personal information, seeing as you're officially an employee, and my secretary one at that," he reminded me coolly. "Your two weeks are up, and guess what? I intend to keep you at my beck and call."
Fuck you! I wished I could club him over the head with a stapler, remove the grin from his face, and still keep my job. Unfortunately, I was pretty sure HR would frown on that.
He tugged at his collar, his smile wolfish. "I have a taste for simple, meaningless fucks. That's all we had... and right now. You work for me. So better do your job or you're fired. Is that understood?"
She nodded her head and stared at him blankly, "Yes sir." She had zero control over her voice at this point, and she thought he knew she was a step away from punching him square in the face.
He looked at her flatly. "Crazy is not a good look on you, Patterson."
"Well, consider yourself lucky, because I have no intention of exchanging anything with you, be it numbers, fluids, or pleasantries." She turned around, ready to storm out the door.
Wait, what the hell did I just say?
She took the first few steps, but Charlie grabbed her wrist and spun her in place. His touch sent a jolt of electricity straight to her groyne, which only proved that her mind was savvy and her heart was lonely, but her body was just a dumbass.
"Keep quiet; keep this between us; I don't want any rumours," he warned.
Red rolled her eyes. Like, letting her boss screw the living hell out of her was something she wanted to send a press release about.
"Yes, sir." She shook his touch away. "Anything else, sir?"
"Watch your attitude."
"Or else?"
"I'll make your life very miserable. And enjoy it, too. Not because we slept together, but because you stole my cash, wallet, and condoms."
To be fair, the condoms were inside his wallet, and she'd simply forgotten to discard them. Which gave the whole thing an extra layer of embarrassment. She knew she was skating on thin ice, and she didn't want to crash her way to the bottom of the unemployment ocean. She decided to change the subject.
Damn. "Am I excused now or shall I bring forth a mint ice cream so you could eat sweets and brush your teeth at the same time, sir?"
He frowned. "What the—" Charlie took a step back. "You're crazy. But I hope to see very little of you, Miss Patterson, but you are my secretary, so behave or I swear—"
"Duly noted, Mr. Cole."
She slapped her forehead the entire way back to her cubicle, thinking things couldn't possibly get any worse.
But really? A mint ice cream? Where the hell did it come from?
Oh God!
Her boss looked royally vindictive, regally pissed, and majestically explosive. Because of her. She knew he was going to avoid her at all costs, but that would never happen. And it embarrassed her that she was saddened by that, because his scent, voice, and the insanely inappropriate things leaving his mouth fascinated her no less than they infuriated her.
When Red got back to her cubicle after lunch, her first instinct was to drown herself in perfume samples. But as soon as she walked in, she realised she had some explaining to do. Gary and Eva sat side-by-side, cross-legged, staring at her like she was in a Discovery Channel Alien special. All they needed was popcorn.
Gary jerked his thumb in the elevator's direction. "Explain."
"There's nothing—"
Eva butted in. "Red, dear, what happened earlier at the meeting?"
"What do you mean?"
"Mr. Cole is your boss; I know that, but he never offers people eye contact, let alone talks to them."
He doesn't, now? Shocker.
"I'm his secretary, remember? And he is pissed because—"
"You better start singing like it's American Idol and I'm Simon Cowell, girl." Gary snapped his fingers, wiggling his ass in his seat. "I want to know how, when, where, and how long. Especially the long part. Inches and all."
What the—how the hell did he guess that? Am I that transparent? I guess I deserved this.
She stared down, her toes squirming in her shoes. "You're making a big deal out of nothing. We've met before. Briefly. At a... social function. Um—my best friend's wedding. B-but we aren't acquainted, okay?" Red paused to close the drawer door before adding, clearly ignoring their intense gaze, "He didn't even recognise me in the interview, so this—is nothing to do with this. He is pissed because he is just being a jerk."
The way the lie slid effortlessly from her lips scared her. Charlie Asshole Cole sure brought the worst out of her.
"So you're saying you don't know each other?" Eva tilted her chin down, inspecting her like she was a spy.
"He didn't even recognise me at the interview, I mean—can we not talk about this?" This was actually true.
Gary raised one brow before asking, "Okay, now, question—did you listen to anything he said in that meeting?" Gary raised an eyebrow.
"I…" She searched for words. "Well, of course, he is my boss."
She sighed and thought that normally she was far more eloquent. But just like any woman determined to be taken seriously, she had an Achilles heel. Being caught getting freaky with the boss and salivating all over him was going to make her career freefall like a shooting star.
"Let me help you with that, dear, because clearly you weren't." Gary waved his hand. "Mr. Cole said they're slicing the budget from programmers and our specialists by at least ten percent, which may not seem like much, but our IT blog is virtually running on fumes as it is. I thought this was the extent of it. I was wrong."
"I'm not sure I'm following." Red frowned.
Gary leaned forward, catching my gaze. "I'm going to ask again—how do you know the two?"
"Who?"
"Our bosses, Justin and Charlie."
"Nothing much! Why?" Red felt her heart thudding against her chest. Aside from... Well, the two started this company from scratch without the help of Charlie's famous billionaire father.
"I just got this email." Gary motioned for Red's monitor and typed some keys, then he turned it around so the three of them could huddle in front of it and take a look.
A few minutes later, "What's going on?" Red swivelled Gary's chair, grabbing his shoulders.
He pouted, "I have no idea. Mr. Cole has never addressed me in person. I wasn't even sure he knew my name, but then when we were talking earlier he called me; that was a miracle, by the way, because he used to address me as Justin's secretary." Gary rubbed his forehead, looking disoriented.
"You think it's got something to do with Justin's issue with accounting?" Eva asked.
"I don't know," Gary replied, closing the email.
"I don't understand, Red groaned. "What does that email say?"
"He wanted me to train you," Gary said.
"That—I mean, well, aside from the fact that Charlie wanted Gary to teach me everything, I don't get him. One moment he was so pissed I swore he killed me in his mind, then the next he—hell, the man is fickle-minded." Red bit her lips. Really, Charlie was about as readable as a blank sheet. He was a mystery wrapped in an enigma. He'd seemed pissed at her, sure, and he'd been clear he didn't want to see her again, but then he was demanding Gary train her.
"I think he just wants you to learn from me; after all, I've been working as Justin's secretary for three years now."
Eva smiled and said, "You're not convinced by that."
"Yeah, but he seems to genuinely want Red to learn more. I mean, being an executive secretary is not easy.
"Doubt it. As I said before, we don't know each other," she parroted herself.
He wanted to punish you; first he wanted you to like that job, and then he'd fire you.
Damn it! Talking to myself is crazy. She thought.
Gary darted up to rub her back. "It's okay. You'll be fine. Charlie made a name for himself as the cruellest man in the business, which is why we've actually been living in hell to eat dust the last couple years. But at the end of the day, there will be people around. He can't maim you."
A ping sounded from Gary's computer, and their eyes shot back to the screen.
Miss Patterson,
You were expected to send me my schedule for London two hours ago. Unless you're fond of long unemployment lines and downgrading to a poor apartment with unreliable electricity, I would advise against testing my limit when it comes to punctuality.
They're called deadlines for a reason. If you fail to deliver the piece on time...
C.J
Red double-clicked the little X on the right-hand corner of her monitor, closing the email programme.
"About the maiming thing... Gary cleared his throat, looking skyward and shaking his head. "Wear a helmet tomorrow morning, just in case."
"Why?"
"His mood went from red to black."