Cravings For Her

We Meet Again

Eleven years later

Zoe’s POV

Everything was in order. I checked myself in the mirror one last time and bit back a hiss, I would be seeing the bastard today. I picked up my bag and car keys. I locked the front door behind me and made my way to my car. I adjusted my seat and rearview mirror and drove out of the driveway. The clock in the car said that the time was a quarter before seven. I was going to be early as he had ordered. The drive to the Everett building would take about twenty minutes, which gave me time to go through the details. I could not afford to miss a thing.

I entered the parking lot and parked my car. I pulled down the mirror to assess my face. Satisfied, I picked up my bag and made my way inside the building. I had been here a lot of times; for the interview and other things I had been called for. The Everett building was a modern glass cube. A skyscraper, more like, with white walls and black floors, a high ceiling, and a tall glass staircase leading up, well-maintained, clean, and gleaming in the morning sunlight. I greeted the receptionist who greeted me back with a smile. With my identity card, she saw no problem in me accessing the elevator. I was the first to report to the top floor. I was glad that there was no one else in the elevator; one of the perks of being this early. The elevator door finally opened, and I stepped out. There was another receptionist on the floor, and seeing me, she called out to me.

“Over here, Zoe,” she waved from her station. Her eyes had turned into cute crescents as she smiled widely at me.

“Morning, Ayaka,” Although she was not the type to quickly warm up to people, she had already taken a liking to me, and it was no coincidence.

“Finally, your first day,” she went on, her Japanese accent faintly present in her immaculate English. “Nervous?”

I clutched my bag and sprinkled worry into my tone. “You could say that.”

She clasped her hand over my shoulder. “You are going to be just fine,” she assured.

“Hope so,” I replied.

“He is in,” she whispered, eyeing what was probably the last door on the floor.

I knew who she was talking about, and I held back a scowl. “Expected,” I told her. “See you later.” I turned away from her.

“Good luck,” she replied.

I made my way to my destination. I knocked on the door twice and waited.

“Come in,” came a voice from the other side. I tentatively opened the door and slipped in. I kept my gaze on the marble floor and greeted, “Good morning, Sir.”

There was no reply to my greeting. Instead, he said, “Come here, Miss Pierce.” He said it in a sonorous voice that vibrated at the back of my throat. He had his back turned to me as he faced the window, making me realize that he had probably seen me arrive. I did as he said and came up to his massive table. I glanced at the name on the table; Louis Rodriguez (CEO).

“Sir?” I said again. I hated the taste of the word on my tongue. For the second time in my life, I had to be beneath him.

“Did you get it?” he asked.

“Yes, I did,” I replied, referring to the email I had received last night.

“What did it say?”

I took a breath. “It contained certain rules that you would like me to follow as your assistant.”

“Rules that you will follow,” he corrected instantly. “State them,” he ordered.

“First, I must be available at all times, day or night.”

His silence prodded me on. “Second, your orders are absolute and non-negotiable.”

“Remember that, Miss Pierce. There will be punishment for your disobedience,” he warned.

He was enjoying this too much, I thought scornfully. “The last one?”

“Our past stays unknown to others,” I said. That was the only decent thing he had asked of me, and I was more than ready to comply. I could do without the useless gossip.

Silence reigned, and the large office was starting to feel stuffy. His presence alone had such an unexplainable effect on me that it was ridiculous. It made me mad. The shitty bastard had his goddamn back to me, for Christ’s sake. I had not met with him like this for eleven years. From applying for the job to the interview, we had not met face-to-face at all. Only after I had been offered the job did I start to receive emails from the company. But it was very obvious from the content of the emails who they were particularly from. Even without his voice, his way of communicating through typed words carried his controlling and downright disparaging tone. The way I had dressed today in a pencil skirt that was inching up my thigh and the way my hair was not held up in a bun as I wanted but instead fell over my shoulders had been his doing. He wanted to make sure that I realized he was in control and how much damage that could do to me. I just knew that he had been holding himself back from calling me a w***e’s daughter like the good old days.

After what felt like an eternity, he turned around to face me. “Welcome to Everett, Miss Pierce,” he said, his voice falsely saccharine. He reached out a hand for me to take.

I looked back at the man the boy I had once known had grown to become. I had seen him in magazines and billboards, but that did nothing to prepare me. He now had a trim yet very athletic physique. His Spartan shoulders spoke of potency. He sported a white button-down shirt with its sleeves pulled above his elbow. Despite its simplicity, it hugged every muscle and contour to perfection.

His Greek nose complemented his cheekbones, which looked to have been sculpted by a master craftsman. His hair was a sleek, shiny jet black that matched his thick arched eyebrows. His eyes were the color of a dark, stormy night. They bewitched anyone who came under his steady scrutiny. Alert they were, yet something seemed haunting about them, as though they had seen unspeakable things. Like his mother slitting her wrist.

As quickly as the thought came, I shook it away. I took his hand and felt his grip tighten around mine. The simple gesture sent shock waves through me, and God knew I despised it. I felt it at my core; a warmth that was hellbent on melting the coldness that enraptured my heart. I pulled my hand away because I knew damn well that I needed it. It was all I had against his charm and my feelings that still remained. It was one that he had created with his callousness, and now it was back to destroy him.

“Thank you, Sir,” my expression remained carefully neutral. “I am honored.” I lied.