46- I stay awake
I stayed awake late into the night, reviewing the materials for the event and examining the previous ones so that I can be of thorough assistance with whatever he will possibly need.
The elevator finally reaches his floor, so I wait until the doors slide open to step out. It does not however register that there is someone in front of it until it is too late.
My heart jumps into my throat as I all but crash into the person in my haste. “Oh, my God!”
Our bodies stagger dangerously backwards and it seems like forever before a hand clamps down hard on one of my arms. We are both brought to an abrupt stop and as I notice the magnitude of the damage that I have caused, the apologies burst from my mouth. “I’m so sorry,” I gasp, but I become so stunned by the brown stains that have soaked into his shirt that my heart just fails me altogether.
My boss glares down at me.
I can't keep from relating the rage in his eyes to that of a bull preparing to charge me. He remains silent but his grave annoyance at the accident is painted all over his face.
I have on a beige chiffon blouse underneath my dark suit and it is now pitifully soiled, but that is not my concern. The stained light blue dress shirt he has on is thoroughly ruined.
The higher concern however is that I have burned him. I’m too in shock to feel my own burns if there is any, so I focus solely on him. After putting the half emptied cups down, I pull my jacket off my body and begin to tap it against his chest. “I’m so sorry.” Tears sting my eyes.
He stops me with an impatient, startling tone. “You need that.” He pulls the jacket away from his chest and then turns around to return to his office.
I’m left with a soiled floor, empty cups and trembling knees.
When he sees that it’s me, he continues right on with whatever he’s doing with his desktop.
“I haven’t yet had the chance to ask how you like your coffee in the morning,” I say as I approach his desk, my gaze on the paper cup that he usually brings in himself.
“Don’t worry about it,” he says.
I try my very best to calm my annoyance at his snobbery. I place the folder on his desk and open it up. “Here’s the schedule for the conference at Breckenridge tomorrow and the lineup of speakers. I’ve also included the companies that will be present and the best potential prospects as major clients. The names of the CEOs that will be in attendance are also here.”
He doesn’t respond which is my cue to leave, but I’m not going to back down this easily. So I begin to circle his desk.
At my approach, he lifts his head.
I don’t dare meet his eyes as I come over to his side, slightly bending over to point out what I want his attention on from the schedule. “Here’s my recommendation for—”
“Step away,” he says.
The words are like the slash of a blade through my chest. Perhaps I have gone too far? I can’t help the burn of tears in my eyes, but in the following moment, I clear my throat and force myself to take the rejection in stride. “I have something to show you, sir.”
“You can do it from across the table. Please maintain your distance.”
“Why?” I ask, hating how he’s making me feel. In this moment, I have ceased to care whether I keep this job or not. “You’ve seen me naked and been inside me, and you didn’t seem to hate it at the time, so why are you treating me now as though I’m a leper?”
His eyebrows arch. “We’re at work Miss Tatum,” he says through gritted teeth.
“Good,” I reply. “Since we’re at work then award me the professional courtesy of at least looking me in the eyes while I’m addressing you. It’s alright if you say that you do not have the time, but don’t treat me like a fly on the wall.”
He leans back into his chair, and folds his arms across his chest.
Now, against my better judgement, my lower body is struck numb with arousal. It doesn’t help that he looks extra damn fine today in a dark green suit jacket, and a white dress shirt. His skin is glistening like satin, his hair swept smoothly away from his face, and the dark rimmed glasses that sit on his nose doing more damage to my heart than I can bear.
Why does he have to be so fucking attractive?
Once again, flashbacks come from that night, my clit in his mouth comes to mind and I quickly look away. I almost desperately want him to take me once again. I can see the problem now. How could I think that we could so easily work together?
“Are you done?” he asks.
I don’t respond and to my surprise, he keeps waiting. My gaze falters from his. “Yes, sir.”
“Okay. First of all, I'm not treating you like a fly on the wall, I’m treating you like your boss. Which means that I can choose to just listen to you rather than stop what I’m doing to give you the attention that you for some reason, feel you deserve. Secondly, before I hired you, you assured me that you could keep things professional between us. Therefore, this is my first and last warning to you, to not to breach my personal space again. If I call you over to point something out to me, then you do so, but if I don’t please don’t cross the line.”
I am speechless, and can no longer remain under his scathing gaze. My tone of voice dips till it's almost inaudible. “Yes, sir. Um, I included some suggestions on how to improve your presentation. I went through a couple of your old clips and I think that this will help us further engage your audience. The revised contract sent over by Bloom is also included in the folder so please go through it when you get the chance so that I can send it back to legal. I want to do more here than warm a seat, so I sincerely hope that you’ll give me the chance.”