Falling in love with the CEO's Assistant

New Horizons.

Elena's eyes were about to drop as she tried to finish reading the files right in front of her and she haven't opened the USB drive yet, but from what she could gather Stackhouse clothing had annual but minimal sales drop every year. The drop was so little that it was not noticeable, you had to have constant knowledge of past sales to notice it. She knew it wasn't her jurisdiction but if the sales continued dropping it probably won't be an issue now but it would be later.

She yawned loudly and glanced at the clock, it was 5 pm, she decided to get some sleep now and wake up by 8 so she could cover the USB. Just when she was about to retreat into her room she heard a knock on the door, she changed course.

" Hi, Elena. " Gabriel called from outside the house.

" Gabriel__

" Can I come in? " Gabriel asked.

" Of course. " Elena offered him in

Gabriel walked in, Elena wasn't surprised at his visit, she suspected that he had something to tell her after Linda shut him up at the office earlier today. She would give him a chance, she needed a friend after all.

" You didn't even change the decor. " Gabriel remarked as the strolled further into the house.

" We couldn't afford it. I would love to offer you something but I haven't uh__

" It's okay, I'm fine. " Gabriel saw papers scattered across the dining table. " Oh, I see you've been busy. " He moved over and took a seat, Elena joined him.

" Yeah well__

" Need help? "

" Um I haven't gone through the USB yet so I guess I will, but I don't think I can right now, I'm too tired. "

Gabriel nodded. " Okay, here's my number. " He handed her a card. " You can message me so I'll have yours. "

Elena collected it from him.

" Thanks. " She noticed how he tapped his hands on his laps and how unsteady his gaze was.

" Gabriel I suppose you have something to tell me? "

" Huh?__

" I can tell you do and don't worry I won't tell Linda. "

Gabriel sighed " Okay, it's about your job. "

" What about it? "

" Well, in two years or so Pete has had like three assistants, and they all kinda__ "

he noticed the concerned look in her eyes " They didn't die don't worry. "

" Oh good " Elena sounded relieved.

" They all quitted. "

" And I suppose Rachel is the reason, I've met her and she is not nice. "

" Not nice is an understatement, she's the worst. " Gabriel drew closer " I remember one of them broke down crying in front of everyone at the office while she begged Rachel to release her father from jail. It was horrible. "

Elena was convinced that Gabriel liked to gossip but she was interested in this story. " But why is Rachel so mean to all of them, what's her problem? "

" It's obvious, that she is a paranoid woman, she thinks one of them might take Pete away from her. "

" And Pete is aware of her claims? " She saw Gabriel nod in affirmation. " Then why doesn't he just get married to her? what are they waiting for? "

Gabriel paused for a while.

" Everybody knows Pete is not in love with Rachel. "

Elena arched a brow. " Then why is he engaged to her? "

" Probably because of her shares, hey.... you didn't hear it from me okay? "

Elena Chuckled " Don't worry about that, my lips are sealed. " She made the gesture. " So she's gonna make my life a living hell. "

" Pretty much, to top it off her father is a very well known politician, its__

" Thank you, Gabriel. I just lost my Mom, I don't have anything else to lose. "

" Really? what about the fact that you're an immigrant? "

Elena was stunned. " You think she'll want to have me deported? "

" Just be careful, and if you have any questions whatsoever about anything, feel free to call me, okay? "

Elena had a question she immediately pulled over some papers that were near her, shoving them towards Gabriel. " I realized that sales drop yearly, you noticed that? You are in charge of that department, right? "

Gabriel wore a surprised look.

" Yes, but sales are doing pretty good Stackhouse is one of the leading clothing lines in the tri-state area," he concluded with a smirk.

" Well, the drop is so minimal, I'm guessing you didn't notice. Here look at this. " she pointed at a particular chart and compared them with two others. " Sales drop 1.5 Percent in 2019, then look at 2021, it's dropped even lower. "

Gabriel replied " You're right, it could be a problem later, usually when sales drop that means the public is losing interest, I'll take it up at the next meeting. "

Elena was relieved, Gabriel seemed to be a nice guy, he appeared too nice in fact. Perhaps he is just looking out for her since he was aware of her mother's passing, he had shaggy hair, and a nice accent it would be hard to tell that he was Mexican, she figured he was born and raised in America.

They eventually got to converse about other aspects, Gabriel was a major help, he put her through Stackhouse procedures and how she would make her work easier. He left an hour later, after promising to come to pick her up in the morning, she, in turn, promised to text him when she was ready. Now Elena wasn't feeling sleepy, she might as well take a look at the USB while she was still awake. Once she inserted it she saw Pete's schedule for the week, she went through it intensely at the bottom she saw a number which was attached to a statement saying text me, luckily there wasn't too much on the USB so she would have enough time to rest.

She texted the number and she immediately got a call.

" Hello. " She said

" Elena? "

She heard a deep voice speak.

" Yes__

" It's me, Pete, I assume you've gone through the papers and you've seen my schedule for the week__

" Yes, sir__

" From next week arranging schedules is your job you know that right?__

" Yes, si__

" Well of course you do, be at the office before 8. "

" Yes__

The call immediately ended, she stared at her phone for a few minutes not knowing how to feel, here she was worried about the paranoid fiance Rachel but Pete's stuck-up behavior would be a problem.

Pete knew he was probably overreacting and being slightly rude but he couldn't stop, he had to create a wall between them. It was bad enough that she ended up being his assistant, he wasn't going to let himself get overly involved with this woman, he picked up a pen and scribbled a short note, and later stuck it to the edge of the small table which stood close to his bed. He didn't know why he did, It just seemed right to him.

Pete glanced through the window from his office, he saw the sales manager, what was his name? Gabriel and Elena come down together from what appeared to be Gabriel's car. He noticed the smile on both faces, he saw how casually they conversed, he was wondering if he did pick her up? But that would mean he knows her home address. To top it all off he was helping her hold her papers, were they friends? or more than friends? he was becoming concerned.

Elena knocked briefly on the door before entering.

" Good morning sir. "

Pete suppressed the grin he wore on his face but she noticed it, she assumed he was upset because she was late, but when she glanced at her watch it was 7:58 am.

" Take this back to the design

department, tell em I don't like any of them. I dunno it feels like they're all the same. "

Elena clumsily took the files from him. " Sir, you have an 8:30 meeting with Wave modeling agency__

" Yes, be swift we're going together. "

Elena made her way down the stairs as the tried to catch her breath, for some reason whenever she faced her boss her heart race would increase, she would get nervous, and she'd have problems standing still. She took a long sigh as she entered the design department, she glared around, it looked like an art gallery. There were different pictures placed on the wall with sketches of clothes in them, before she spoke a young man with a pencil hooked on his ear came to her, taking the files from her hands.

" What'd he say? " he asked rushing back to monitor what the others were doing.

" He said he didn't like them. "

The man paused for a while looking distressed, he dramatically ran his hands roughly on his hair walking back to where Elena stood.

" Well, what the hell does he want? "

" He said it all looked the same__

" What! " He yelled now biting his fingers as he stared closely at the papers. " Do you know how much time we spent on these? it took us almost three months and now he doesn't like me? bloody hell " He pulled Elena over to a table and forced her to sit down then scattered the papers in front of her.

" Do... do you think it's the same? "

" What's going on here " Rachel's voice was heard as she stepped into the room with five girls who appeared to be models, their eyes met and Rachel gave her a menacing glare then completely walked past her.

" Pete said he didn't like me, all of them! he said it looked the same. "

" So what does it mean? " Rachel asked.

" What do you think? it means we have to go over it again. "

Rachel sighed and gestured for the girls to enter a small room inside, she walked over to the pictures and picked several of them.

" It looks different to me, Andy do you want me to talk to him? " Rachel asked him.

" Are you kidding me? talk to him about what? he doesn't like them, talking to him wouldn't make him like them. What the heck Rachel you're killing me. " Andy replied pacing around.

Rachel tried reaching to him. " Andy, would you please calm down? "

" What am I doing wrong? I followed the same procedure, urban, light, bright with a dash of sexy... " he looked at Elena " What do you think...uh " he snapped his fingers trying to recall her name

" Elena," she told him

" Elena! what do you think? "

Rachel arched a brow " You're asking her? What does she know about fashion? "

" Rachel shush "

" I think he's right, don't get me wrong but, they all emit the same style, the same patterns, the only thing that changed is the color locations. " Elena replied.

Rachel laughed in a mocking tone. " Andy the designs are fine, are you listening to her? "

Andy studied the papers for a few seconds and let out a loud gasp.

" you're right! "

Rachel's demeanor changed, Elena stood up and made her way to the door, before she exited she caught a slight glimpse of Rachel's evil eyes which sent chills down her spine.

The ride to Wave modeling agency was pretty quiet, Elena and Pete sat in the backseat, and she kept her gaze away from him as he did the same. She noticed him turned his gaze severally towards her but she wasn't strong enough to return them, that was the most uncomfortable she had ever been with him. Was he the man that gave her that hug? The person who saved her life? It was like he was a different person entirely.

" Elena. " Pete called softly.

" Yes sir? "

" How are you doing? "

she shot him a surprised look, why the hell was he asking how she was?

" I'm okay, is there any problem? "

" You seem so uncomfortable around me, how are you holding up? "

" Wait a minute, are you talking about my mother?

" Yeah. "

" I'm sorry sir, but I don't think I want you to talk about that, after all, you said you wanted us to act like it never happened. "

Pete's clutched his fists together as he bit his lower lip, well he did say that, now that he thought about it why did he even ask? He genuinely was interested in how she was doing, he couldn't explain how he felt but it was like he was just rejected.

He looked calm and collected outwardly but deep down he wanted to explode, he wanted to apologize to her but his pride won't let him, he felt like he was closer to her when she didn't know anything about him, and now that they both knew themselves they grew apart. He thought that he would be okay with that, but the more he set his eyes on her he lost control of his thoughts

" Sir, I would be leaving now, is there anything you want? " Elena asked as she entered his office

He wanted to offer her a ride home, to get closer to her for a little bit, he thought she hated him and he wasn't comfortable with that. But he couldn't get the words out of his mouth.

" No, you may go "

" Okay__

Her phone rang a few seconds later while she was still inside the office before she stepped out Pete heard her call someone's name and he wasn't too happy to hear who it was. He watched her closely as she packed up her bags and exited. He then stood up and assumed a position where he could get a clearer glance outside the building and just as he thought about 3 minutes later, Elena came outside with Gabriel, and yes they had broad smiles on their faces.

They were going to ride home together again he thought. She's been here for only a few days and she's already familiar with Gabriel or perhaps they knew each other before? That seemed even worse, he watched Gabriel open the door for her with an unpleasant look on his face. This scene made him feel funny, his short film was interrupted when someone entered the office.

" s**t! Andy, you scared the crap outta me. "

Gabriel had told her to give him a call the following morning so they could go to work together, it was a nice gesture from him to take and pick her up from work daily but it was starting to feel weird, she wanted to be close to him but not this close. And him opening car doors for her at work? What will people think? She just started working there, they would probably think she had something going on with him. Maybe it was a good thing, if people thought she and Gabriel have something going on maybe it will get Rachel off her case. It was a long shot but it was worth it, she gladly took a ride with him to work the following day.