Shouldn’t they be out by now?
I paced around not too far from the entrance to the conference room, constantly checking and waiting for the doors to open. The child in my arms squirmed, and I bounced him lightly, making soothing noises. I looked down at him, and he watched me back with eyes exactly like his dad’s and grandpa’s.
The meeting ran longer than I thought it would. It was only supposed to last an hour, and I’d been inside for nearly thirty minutes before I had to leave. It had been two hours since the meeting started, and the door wasn’t opening yet. I was growing anxious.
When were they going to come out? Earlier, the baby had been crying because he had a wet diaper, and I’d changed it. The secretary, Felicity, who I knew worked for Alec, had left me with the baby’s bag, but there wasn’t any snacks or baby food in there. I didn’t know the baby’s feeding schedule, but I did know children had to be fed several times a day, and since I didn’t see any baby food or snacks in the bag, the child had likely not been fed for a few hours. Going by his size, he looked about two years old, but it was getting close to lunch, so he had to be getting hungry.
He squirmed again, and I shushed him.
“Are you hungry, baby?” I cooed. “Your daddy will be out soon, okay?”
Finally, the conference room doors opened. I hung back as the board members walked out of the room, but I didn’t see either of the brothers. After the last person stepped out and no one else walked through, I hurried forward and stuck my head inside. I saw Carlton and Alec there, and walked inside, but before I could speak out to make my presence known, I realized they were talking about me.
Carlton hadn’t seen me, but Alec looked right at me as he insulted me to his brother. A crap intern. He wasn’t exactly wrong. Even I knew, if not for the close relationship between our fathers, I wouldn’t have gotten the position I had. I knew other people at the office thought it, and Alec had looked at me in disdain after finding out the reason I was working there. No one had outright said it to my face before, but this should count as the same thing. He might have been doing it indirectly, but he definitely meant them for me.
What would Carlton think?
It probably didn’t even matter, he clearly didn’t remember me.
Then, Carlton finally noticed I was there. I didn’t look up as he hissed at Alec. I would have run away, if I wasn’t holding his son in my arms.
“I brought him back, sir,” I whispered softly to the man in front of me. “He’s been growing a little fussy, so I thought he might be hungry and there wasn’t anything in the bag…”
Crap.
My voice started shaking towards the end, and I sounded like I might cry. I was never good at keeping my emotions out of my voice, and in my frustration at myself and the whole situation, I felt my eyes sting with tears. I ducked my head down lower and tried to blink them away.
Carlton came closer, and as he spoke, his tone was apologetic. “I hope Sam wasn’t any trouble for you.”
“Oh, not at all,” I said quickly. “He was fine the whole time.”
So his name’s Sam?
I looked down at the baby in my arms and decided he looked a lot like his dad. He was watching his dad, probably waiting for the older man to come and take him, and I urged him on silently.
Tell Daddy to pick you up, already.
I just wanted him to take his son back so I could hurry out. Since I was just an intern, and one that got in through connections no less, I actually had a lot of work to do, and I wouldn’t be spared for being late just because I was looking after the boss’s son.
He didn’t take the baby immediately, he just stood in front of me silently until I had to raise my head to see his face.
“I’m sorry,” he said, the words loaded with meaning. “I don’t remember you, but I feel like I’m supposed to know you. Your name is Lexi, yes?”
I nodded. “It’s fine if you don’t remember. My dad was an old friend of your fathers. We did meet a few times, but it was a long time ago.”
If it hadn’t been for that old friendship between the two of them, I’d still be jobless.
Of course, the whole thing was my own fault. I was definitely serious in my university studies, when I got the chance to go, but I couldn’t stop myself from getting distracted. My grades weren’t brilliant, not by a long shot, and it was hard enough to find a job these days. I couldn’t even get people to look at my resume because positions were hard to come by.
I wasn’t surprised people were looking down on me. Plenty of people used connections, and while I never thought I would be such a person, I was grateful. Enough to put up with all the heat I got from my supervisor and co-workers. People were calling me a crap intern behind my back, but all I did was make coffee runs, run off photocopies or did a bit of typing, grunt work, basically. At least I got a salary, and I’d been promised an employee position after I’d worked for some months. But that was before Alec and Carlton were forced to take over because their dad had a heart attack. Now I didn’t know if I would remain employed for long.
“I can see the two of you are busy,” Alec drawled. “So, if you would move away from the doors so I can leave, I’ll get back to my work now.”
I stiffened, having completely forgotten that he was still in the room. Carlton shot a glare at him, but Alec didn’t look phased at all.
“You could at least apologize, Alec,” he said through gritted teeth.
Alec shrugged carelessly. “For what? I didn’t say anything that wasn’t true. Ask her how she got a job here. I can’t believe you haven’t heard about it already?”
When Carlton still continued to glare at him, Alec just rolled his eyes in exasperation at his brother. I stepped aside, head lowering as he went to pass me by. Carlton cursed under his breath and finally took Sam from my arms, only to speak before I could make my getaway.
“I’m sorry about my brother.”
I winced, but I couldn’t just turn around and leave, it would be rude. “It’s fine, sir. You don’t have to apologize to me.”
“Please, you don’t need to call me sir. You know me, right? You can call me Carlton.”
I looked at him in surprise. “But… you don’t remember me.”
“It’s true that Dad helped you get your job here?”
“It’s the truth,” I said quietly, looking down, embarrassed.
“That’s not anything you need to worry about. If he gave you the job, then he had big expectations for you, or he wouldn’t have done it. He didn’t just give you a job, he gave you a chance to prove yourself. As long as you do your job well, then you’re fine.”
I bit my lip and wondered if I should tell him the extent of my duties since I stepped foot into the company. Anyone could do what I was doing. If his dad really did have expectations of me, then I’d probably failed them already.
Clearing my throat, I took a step back and clasped my hands in front of me. “If you’ll excuse me…”
“You can’t leave yet.”
I paused and looked up. “Did I forget something?”
Carlton smiled. “Do you mind getting Sam’s bag for me? I don’t know where it is.”
I blinked. “I left it just outside.”
I whirled around and went to the waiting area just a few feet from the conference room and pulled the bag out from under one of the plastic seats. I held it out for him, but he didn’t immediately take it.
“Do you mind carrying it into my office for me, please?”
What could I do but nod? He turned, and I followed him as he led the way back to his office. We passed by a few people who looked at us curiously, and I did my best not to look directly at any of them. These were people I’d been working with for over a month already, so I knew what their reaction would be to seeing me trailing behind the new boss just as soon as he’d arrived. I could just imagine the rumors that would be going around after this.
We walked into his office, and I looked around before letting down the bag on the long sofa in the office.
“Do you need anything else?” I asked without looking at Carlton.
“Could you stay?”
I looked up, surprised. “Excuse me?”
He smiled awkwardly. “I still have quite a bit of work to do. I don’t have anyone else to take care of Sam while I’m here, it would really help me out.”
“Um… I’m really sorry, but I do have some other work to do…”
Sam started fussing again, and Carlton looked down, rocking him gently to try and get him to calm down, but he was making sounds of discomfort. I was shocked to find him looking at me with puppy dog eyes, instead of looking up at his dad, arms reaching towards me, fingers curling over and over.
“Looks like Sam likes you, too,” Carlton said with a chuckle. “Look, Lexi. I’m really sorry about my brother. He can be a tyrant, but he doesn’t have the right to fire you because he’s not the boss, I am. I’ll put in a word for you with your supervisor, and you were right. I need to feed this guy, so maybe we can help each other out, if you have time for a quick coffee?”
I hesitated, but I was intrigued about what he meant. He could definitely help me, but I didn’t see how I could possibly be of help to him.
Before Lexi could give me her reply, the door to my office opened, and I looked up with a frown. It was Felicity, and I felt annoyance seeing her standing right inside the door, fidgeting with her fingers in front of her as she looked at me with a look that was almost fearful.“Sir, I came to apologize for interrupting your meeting today,” she said nervously.I blew out a rough breath before trying to calm myself down. It was hard, trying not to glare at her, but she interrupted at the worst possible moment.“You look like you’re busy,” Lexi said, taking the chance for escape. “Please, just wait a moment. Can you sit down with Sam while I talk to her?”She hesitated, and inside, I felt triumphant, though I didn’t let it show. Sam was doing his part, reaching out for her while making insistent noises to be carried. I felt stupid for forgetting to pack his lunch after I fed him this morning, just before I left the house, but I’d been in a hurry. It seemed like it was a good thing, thou
I followed Carlton as we left his office, with him carrying his coat and the baby bag, and me holding Sam. Even though he’d slowed down his steps for me, I made sure to walk just behind him instead of beside him. Not only because I didn’t want the people we passed to get the wrong idea, but also because I found Carlton intimidating.Even when he smiled, it was hard not to think that way. He was my boss, he was a few years older, and his sudden interest in me made me nervous, even though I was really great with his son. I think I’d have handled it better if he’d just looked down on me and ignored me like Alec did, since I’d expected that ever since I heard he would be coming to the office.Carlton was stopped several times on his way by employees asking questions. Every time, he stopped and talked to them, but didn’t take even a minute before we were moving again. He hadn’t been in the office for long, maybe a week or even less, but he still commanded more trust from the staff when com
Lexi knew what I wanted from her–well, part of what I wanted from her–and it was obvious she wasn’t entirely on board with it. She hadn’t outright said no, though, and that was good enough for me.I took another sip of my black coffee, letting her have time to herself to think things through. I was confident I could convince her to take on the job, but I wanted her to do it willingly instead of through coercion, especially since I couldn’t say I wouldn’t get any ideas from hanging around her so much. I was attracted to her, I could admit to it. Seven years difference was a little more than I expected, but if anything happened later, I wanted this to be her decision or I’d just feel guilty for tricking her.My eyes never left her. She was obviously nervous, doing her best not to look directly at me for too long. Her eyes were either on her drink, on Sam, or flitting around the room, away from my general direction. I didn’t like that my presence made her so nervous, but she would get us
I checked the address on my phone to make sure I hadn’t gotten lost somewhere, then looked up at the building in front of me. Carlton had asked me to come in early to start my job properly, but now that I’d arrived, I was too scared to even go in.He lived in the penthouse of this large building, that had a guard at the entrance, and I could even see a reception desk through the glass doors. I’d mistaken it for a hotel, but the name in the text Carlton had sent me was definitely the same name on the building, so I knew I was at the right place.The security guard had glanced over at me a few times, since I was hovering outside looking up at the building, but he didn’t move to approach me or ask me to leave. I hesitated with my phone in my hand, wondering if I should just go in or what. If I could go to the elevator and just press the button for the pent house suite. Would the guy sitting behind the reception desk stop me? What if he didn’t believe I was here on invite?I was making my
The door to my office slammed closed, and I dropped my forehead into my hands with a groan.“What the fuck.”As if he heard me, the door opened again, and Alec walked back in.“Was there something else you forgot to say?” I asked, running a tired hand down my face.“We weren’t done talking.”I arched an eyebrow. “I wasn’t the one who walked out in the middle of the conversation.”He snorted. “You mean argument. I just wanted to let you know that I’m not compromising on this. Unlike some people, I still have work to do and I’m running myself into the ground for this company. I’ll be back after I’m done with my meeting.”Alec turned back around and left again, and I watched the door for a long moment. Then I let out a heavy breath and leaned back in my seat, closing my eyes.A week had passed. A week since that meeting, and since I convinced Lexi to babysit Sam for me. I came to the office every day and got back home late, and the only things that seemed to be happening was Alec and I f
I checked the time again and paced a little in the living room. I’d already put Sam to sleep, and it worried me that Carlton hadn’t arrived yet, when he usually got back in time to tuck Sam in bed.Where is he?He’d been staying out late more and more every day. I knew he had to be busy, he was a company president after all, but we hadn’t even talked about our deal and it had been a week already. I’d spent a few weeks at the company, and there was only so much time left before school reopened. I needed to learn as much as I could, as fast as I could.It’s hard to bring it up in the first place when he looks tired out every time he comes back, and this is the first time he’s been this late!Usually, I left for home by around seven so I wouldn’t get back too late. I’d cook dinner and eat early, then leave some for Carlton and take off after he got back. I’d eaten nearly two hours ago. I checked the time and cursed under my breath. It was nine already. I took the bus back, but the last
I heard my alarm go off, but that wasn’t what woke me up. Just before the alarm, I could hear Sam crying through the baby monitor. With a groan, I slipped out of bed and went to his room to pick him up.“Why are you crying, buddy?” I murmured. “Daddy’s here, so calm down, okay?”I brought him to my chest, holding him close as I rocked him gently to calm him. His wails petered out into sniffles as I soothed him. I did a quick diaper check, then carried him with me to the kitchen. I passed by the door to the guest bedroom, and my steps faltered for a moment. I stared at the door, then decided to leave it. If Lexi was still sleeping, then I wasn’t going to wake her up right then.“We can have some time, just the two of us, isn’t that right Sam. Let her rest properly.”When she got up, she’d have to divide her attention between Sam and what I planned to teach her, so it was going to be hard on her. Besides, since I’d been so busy with stuff at the office, and my arguments with my brother,
I’d only had coffee for breakfast, but I was too nervous to be hungry. With Sam gone, it was just me and Carlton in the penthouse.“We’ll be working in my home office,” Carlton said as he left the kitchen. “Give me thirty minutes to get showered and changed. I’ll leave the door open for you, so just come right in.” “Okay.”I watched him go, and the moment he was out of sight, I slumped against the counter, putting a hand over my beating heart. Anyway, I had thirty minutes to waste. I didn’t feel right, cooking in someone else’s kitchen while the owner was around, so I just got more coffee and toasted a couple slices of bread. I found some jelly to spread over the toast, and ate at the counter, making sure not to drop any crumbs on the floor.My thoughts kept trying to go out of hand, but I brought myself back to reality each time. So, what if we were alone? Carlton didn’t seem bothered by it at all. It was ridiculous that I felt attracted to a guy who didn’t even have the slightest