Smitten by the CEO

Daniel Jacob Fernsby

~Daniel~

Aspen, Colorado; Wednesday, 6 AM

I turned the alarm off and hopped out of the bed. I looked at Jenna to make sure that she was sleeping with her face turned to the other side before I grabbed my cell phone and laptop. She insisted that I put work completely away and invested all my attention on her but she never woke up before 9 when on vacation. I slightly pulled the curtains apart and made coffee. 

The hotel room was located 13000 feet above sea level and came with a fantastic view of the snow-clad mountains. I hated cold weather and snow but not when there were tall mountains and gorgeous lakes. My staff loved that we never missed any conferences that happened in Colorado. The only place that I didn’t ever want to go back to was Fort Myers, Florida. I had too many upsetting memories there. 

I sipped my hot coffee while looking at the pine trees loaded with snow, with more flurries floating around them quietly.

I opened my work email and the first thing I saw was Mina’s email with a subject: Two questions. I sent it directly to the trash. That stupid Nathan must have taught her this strategy, to direct all questions to the boss and put me to work while they goofed off. I should probably fire both of them. What does he do anyway? And now he found another bullshitter who fakes sickness at the slightest mention of work. Someone who threw up just 20 minutes earlier in my office got herself a loaded bagel with extra cheese, one of those frappes with two drops of coffee and tons of sugar plus whip cream, a double fudge brownie, and a yogurt parfait. She could eat so many gross things at once. She found a perfect slacker buddy in Nathan, another glutton. They are like two peas in a pod, totally useless and waste of space. 

My uncle thinks that I am too tough on my employees but I think he’s setting these mediocre standards and hiring people that don’t belong to the company. Mark was too chill and went on way too many dates with employees. I’m sure he had covered every department on all floors by now and had no plans of settling down. He disrupted work in his own way, by being a ruthless heartbreaker who set back progress on several projects while his exes took time off ‘rediscovering their lost identity and hope in true love.’ How I missed my dad and brother! This was way too much responsibility that I didn’t ask for.

My eyes caught another email in my personal mailbox and my heart raced the minute I saw the name: Natalia Burns. I haven’t heard from her in a while. I was beginning to wonder if she was okay. I quickly opened the email and read it a few times before writing back. She was one of the best chance encounters that ever happened to me, and I really appreciated that she stayed in touch. If only she wasn’t so over traditional or embarrassed about us. I would have given up anything for her to be by her side. But her with her inane inhibitions, that was never going to happen.

“Ugh! Baby, why do you work so much? Come cuddle with me.” Jenna mumbled before going back to sleep again. I was in no mood to work on my laptop. I put it away and looked out of the window, thinking about Natalia.

I could never forgive or forget Emily and her betrayal, but Natalia definitely helped me get over her. It makes me mad that Natalia and I couldn’t be together. I could never get mad at her though, for she made my sad and aimless life slightly less painful.

It’s been eighteen long months that I have known her, and yet it feels like yesterday that I first met her.

Flashback: June 2016, Fort Myers, Florida

I was driving home after visiting the mental health center, frustrated and unconvinced with the patient’s situation. I was sexually frustrated too. Sleeping around, one night stands, and ghosting out became second nature to me after Emily. I hated all women, especially the gold digger kind that recognized me by my last name or dad’s fame. 

I went to a downtown nightclub by the river where I first saw her; the totally wasted bride-to-be at her bachelorette’s party. Her friends organized a lame fifty shades of grey scavenger hunt party and hid things like handcuffs and s*x toys in the private lounge but the drunk Natalia ventured out into the bar area adjacent to it.

“I like your tie. Will you tie me up with this?” She crossed her wrists in front of her face and asked me. I choked on my drink wondering if she was retarded. “I will pay you, come on man!”

She could barely stand straight and one of her friends apologized and took her away. I studied her from a distance, a nice butt, good body, wasn’t I here to get laid? I couldn’t see her face though, only her lips and eyes because she was wearing the most ridiculous masquerade mask among all her friends.

I was talking to another woman and was about to take her upstairs when I heard Natalia’s voice again. She was flirting with a sketchy looking guy, throwing herself at him. I shouldn’t care or interfere but she didn’t look the typical sleeping around type.

The way she asked me to tie her up was cute, not the floozy kind. And that mask on her face made me curious about her. I excused myself from my potential one night stander and grabbed her arm.

“Hey! Let’s go.”

“Who the f**k are you?” She asked me.

“We came together, remember?”

“Yeah, okay. Let’s go.”

“Why do you want to get laid?”

“Everyone wants to get laid. Are you stupid or what?”

“Really? Do you sleep around a lot?”

“No, but I want to do it before I get married.”

“Sleep around a lot before your wedding?”

“I want to lose my virginity before I do it with my husband.”

“Why? And why are you still a virgin? How old are you?”

“Twenty-five. And that’s why. It’s ridiculous to be turning 26 and still be a virgin.”

“Why don’t you do it with your fiancé then?”

“I'm nervous. We were in a long distance relationship for almost a year and he was a f**k boy in the college.”

“So?”

“I lied to him during our s*x chats that I did it many times. I wanted him to like me. And he said he doesn’t like little miss goody two shoe nerdy women.”

“Is that who you are?”

“Um... maybe? Who are you again?”

“I’m Jake. What about you?” I started using my middle name when I met random women like this.

“Okay, Jake, why don't you stop talking and kiss me?”

“What's your name?”

“Mina... um... Naaatalia.”