I accidentally married a billionare

Chapter12

Claire’s Point of view.

The next few hours of my day go by with angry looks from my manager. She blames me for her unacceptable behaviour. I keep my head down, ignoring her and work.

Break time comes and I go to the coffee cart for a refill. My stitches throb and pull at my hand as I press down the handle on the carafe. I’ve been so busy today that I did not notice the pain in my hand, which I guess is a good thing.

Betty steps out of her office. She no longer wrinkles her nose at me.

“Claire, the 34th floor has requested your presence. It looks like Mr. Henderson was not happy with your little display of insolence and needs to speak with you.”

Her tone is pure attitude.

I get up from my desk, grab my things, and head to the elevator. If Tyler has a problem with me completing payroll and not standing in his presence, he has another thing coming.

As I ride the elevator, everything I am going to say to him floods through my mind. Determined as ever, I march out of the elevator and beeline for the office Charlie is standing outside of. He smiles at me and opens the door.

Tyler sits at the desk, working on his computer. I have never been in the CEO’s office, but it looks like a smaller version of James.

“You summoned me. Sir.” I say, ensuring that my tone does not waiver.

“Hi. Yes, I wanted to see you after that display on the accounting floor.”

Display? What is he talking about? I did nothing wrong.

“If you are going to scold me for not standing when you come in, forget about it. I did nothing wrong. Paying our employees is more important than due deference. Even for you.”

There is a slight level of anger in my voice.

“I agree.” He says, rising from the desk.

“What?”

He steps closer to me and plays with the collar on my jacket.

“I agree with you, and I like it when you call me sir.”

I roll my eyes at him. Although he just said he agreed with me, I am still frustrated. Did he interrupt my day to bring me here and flirt with me? That is inappropriate and I intend to stop it. This is our place of employment.

He notices the note from Gigi in my pocket and pulls it out.

“What’s this?”

“Garbage.” I say, reaching for the note.

His eyes furrow as he reads it.

“CHARLIE!”

His voice echoes through the room. He slams his hand on the wall with anger. Charlie opens the door. Nothing seems to phase him. He hands the note to him.

“Take care of this.”

“Charlie, she is young and vulnerable. James is taking advantage of her. All I ask is that you do not hurt her.”

Charlie nods, takes the notes and exits.

Tyler, still angry, says, “that is an actionable threat. How come you didn’t go to HR?”

He may not know me well yet, but he is about to learn that I don’t back down from a fight.

“Because someone interrupted my day. Twice. Look, this is my workplace and I take my job seriously. Just because you own the company doesn’t mean you can pull me off of my duties to flirt with me. Now, if you don’t mind, I will leave now and get back to work.”

I watch as Tyler breathes a few deep breaths in and out, to calm himself.

“Claire, sit. Please. I have a few questions I want to ask you.”

I cross my arms before sitting on the couch. He sits next to me.

“First thing you need to know, Claire. I respect your work and the effort you put in. There is no way I’d interrupt you just to flirt. It’s not my style.”

He moves closer to me on the couch. Our arms are almost touching.

“Why are you working in the payroll department?”

I turn to face him and suspect by this question that has read my personnel file.

“It’s easy. Uneventful. That is until you barge in and make everything stressful.” This time I tease him a little.

He leans into me.

“I have a project that I need someone I can trust to work on. I’d ask Charlie, but he’s not good with number.”

“Good to know I was your second choice.” I tease.

“Claire.” He says with reverence. His hand comes to my chin as he guides my gaze to his. “You are always my first choice.”

As he moves his hand down, he unbuttons the collar of my jacket. His fingers move to the zipper as he pulls it down, using his thumb and pointer finger.

At first I allow him. The warmth of the moment taking over. Then I realize where we are. We are in an office at work. This is not the time nor the place for him to be undressing me.

“Tyler. Stop.” I say, pushing his hand away.

His eyes go wide and cheeks red.

“No, you are right. Sorry. It’s not the right time.”

I look him dead in the eyes, so he knows I am not upset or ashamed.

“I guess it's time to have that chat about boundaries.” I say.

He nods with understanding.

“We can start with no public affection at work. I take my job seriously and I don’t want anyone thinking I slept my way to the top. Not that I am at the top. You know what I mean.”

He nods.

“I can respect that.”

I put my hand out, and he shakes it.

“Now, what is this secret you need to tell me?”

He lowers his voice to a whisper, being sure no one can hear him.

“Someone in this corporation is filtering money out of the accounts into a shell company. I am here to find out who it is.”

“Well, it sounds like you need a financial mathematician. Although I have to warn you, it’s been a long time since I audited anything.”

I am a financial mathamatician. His calling me to this floor makes a lot more sense now.

He nods. “I’ll arrange things with your manager. I want you working on it here in this office. No one is to know the purpose of your task. If anyone asks you, tell them you are my assistant.”

There is a knock on the door. Charlie opens it and loads sixteen banker boxes full of files into the room. I sort them into piles by year. They take up an entire corner of the office.

“I am going to need 5 highlighters of different colours, a red pen and a black pen, six HB #2 pencils and some noise cancelling headphones.”

Charlie brings me all my supplies and I take the first box out, placing it on the coffee table. The first page is a financial statement from the wrong year. I search through and the entire box is incorrect. Someone messed the pages up on purpose. They are delaying.

I dump the box out on the floor and make piles with the correct dates, putting them into the corresponding boxes. All math starts with the basics of organization. Time must have flown by because before I know it, Tyler taps me on the shoulder.

“Claire. It’s time for lunch. Do you want sushi or Greek?”

“Greek. No way I am eating raw fish.”

“Got it. No raw fish.”

I put my headphones on and he orders the food.

When the food arrives, Tyler commandeers it at his desk. I put my hand out for it. He shakes his head.

“No food unless you take your headphones off and join me for lunch.”

“Fine.” I say, tossing the headphones onto the couch. I take a few papers off the couch and place them on the table, then make a space for us to eat. He slides in next to me and hands me my food. It is a wonderful Greek salad with olives and the most delicious dressing.

“So, is it any fish you don’t like or just sushi?”

I turn to him and stare at him like he has three heads.

“It is the raw part. How anyone can eat meat that is not cooked is beyond me. The pathogens alone could kill you. Not to mention the cost. I mean thirty dollars for food that isn’t even cooked. Who would pay for that?”

We continue to chat about our food preferences and I find out he hates mango. It is nice to get to know one another. When lunch is done, I get back to work.

Tyler watches on as I place piles and piles of documents all over his office. Sorted in a way that makes sense only to me. I spent the rest of the workday sorting, organizing, and repacking the files as they should be. Just before it is time to go home, I leave, taking the elevator and walking four blocks to a side street where Tyler and Charlie said they would pick me up.