The Perfect Seduction

Neil Droviski listened to his PA, Amber, informed him of the happenings of the company, what meetings he had coming up for that day, and some loose ends that he needed to tie up. He could not believe that for the past two months, work had become a bore and all he ever wanted to do was to leave the office and fill his mind with anything other than work.   Nothing Amber had said had gotten through Neil; he began to feel suffocated so much that he had to loosen his tie, hoping that that action would allow him enough air to breathe.   “So as you can see here, the figures are evident and from the look of things we are ahead of our competitors by— Sir!” Amber called out to him but Neil’s mind was elsewhere other than in the office where a crucial and perhaps the most important part of the business was being discussed.    “Yes!” Neil answered his PA, hoping that she had not asked him a question that warranted an answer. Even though he was the boss, Amber knew very well how to put him in his place when matters concerned the company.   “Thank you for agreeing to hand over your properties to me” Amber replied with a smile on her face whilst Neil stared at his secretary stunned by what she had just said. Straightening himself from the chair, hoping that he heard wrong.   “I agreed to do what?” Straightening himself from the chair, hoping that he heard wrong, Neil asked his PA with shock evident on his face, perhaps in disbelief that he could agree to something as preposterous as handing over his company to someone else.   “Do not worry sir, I was just joking but you, on the other hand, seem distracted” Amber informed her boss, who broke into a smile once Amber had revealed the little prank she pulled on him.   “You know me too well Amber” Neil responded with a smile and just like a well-oiled engine train, he continued typing away on his lap, placed before him on his well-garnished oak wooden desk. With every day that passed, the workload had increased so much that Neil was practically buckling under pressure but one thing that even he could not shake was the look that Amber, his PA was giving him from across his desk.   Neil exhaled, stopped typing, and turned his attention to Amber whilst raising a questionable eyebrow at her.   “What is it with you?” Neil asked Amber in his boss like manner. Amber deposited her notebook onto the table, crossed her legs, and placed her hand underneath her chin as if she was studying the features of his face or rather looking into his soul. “I think you need a break” Amber suggested and her suggestion had Neil surprised. For as long as he could remember, his father had groomed him to take over the family Tech business, and ever since then he had never stopped working a day in his life.   Taking a break was more like a vacation and that was something he had not taken for over ten years, now that Amber mentioned it and as much as the word ‘vacation’ bothered, he could not help but feel that that was what he desperately needed now.   “As much as I would like to take a vacation, I can’t” Neil informed Amber but the saddened look on her face as he said that made Neil think that there was more to her suggestion than what she was letting on.   Now choosing to place both her hands below her chin, Amber looked more serious than she looked a few minutes ago, biting her lower lips as though she was readying herself to justify her previous remark.   “Why can’t you?” Amber asked her boss, hoping to get more clarity as to why he was refusing a vacation. For as long as Amber had worked for Neil, she had seen him work his back off, hundreds of hours put into his work, and the refusal to quit when the going got tough.   Neil looked around his big office, keeping in mind the question that Amber has asked him, he then turned his attention to the stack of files on the right side of him, placed on his office desk, and pointed at it.   “As you can see I have a lot of work to do and we have a launch coming up” Neil reminded Amber and she rolled her eyes at his response, irritated that all Neil could think about was work.   “Mr. Droviski—” she tried arguing with him but the stern look on Neil’s face, a warning that it was best that she stopped as quickly as she began.   “Please do not call me Mr. Droviski, I thought I told you repeatedly to call me Neil when we are far from the public eye” Neil reminded Amber who smiled at him. Many people around the office were not aware that both Neil and Amber had dated back in their university days.   Even though their relationships could not withstand the strength of time, the pair had remained friends and when the time came, Neil knew that there was no one better to be his PA than the well-organized Amber Morgan.    “I will tell you this again, I will not call you by your name because you are my boss” Amber reminded Neil and her response made him break into a smile. There was only one person that could speak to him in such a motherly manner and that person was none other than Amber.    “Yes I am your boss but you were my best friend before I became your boss” Neil reminded her, the smile on Amber’s face disappeared and this left Neil feeling concerned. Amber stood from her chair, walked over to Neil’s side of the desk, sat on the desk, and looked into his eyes. “Please take a break, you deserve it. You work so hard yet your siblings eat off all your hard work” Amber told Neil, deep down he knew that Amber was right and that his siblings needed to pull up their socks and join the family business.    Neil had lost count of the number of times that he had asked his siblings to help where needed but it seemed to no avail, they were simply not interested.   “You are always so concerned about me. You know with the way you worry over my health, you might make your fiancé jealous” Neil joked, hoping that a little light joke would lessen the unsettling atmosphere in the air but Amber still had the same concerned look on her face. Without saying anything more, he stood up from Neil’s desk and grabbed her notebook from the office desk.   “Please consider what I said, if there was anyone that deserved a break then that person is you, Neil” The softness in her tone of voice was evidence that she cared and Neil could only appreciate her concern for his health.   “Amber you know that we have a product to launch very soon and if I want the launch to be successful then I have to be here. there are thousands of workers counting on the success of this launch” Neil reminded Amber, his concern for his employees was astounding so much that Amber appreciated how selfless he was at times.    “But that is only in one month and whilst you are gone I will handle things here” Neil enjoyed witnessing the sheer passion in Amber's eyes as she reassured him that she could handle something as important as a company launch. Neil was well aware of Amber’s qualification and that she had far outranked some of his most experienced IT technicians but the thought of leaving his company to someone else was unthinkable to him.   “Thank you for trying to help me, I appreciate it. I will think about it” Neil assured Amber but his answer was not enough to put her at ease. She knew Neil like the back of her hand and asking him to leave his company in the hands of others was far too much to ask of her. She smiled at him one last time, hoping that her smile would shield her disappointment.   “I sure hope you will, bye” Amber responded, placing a kiss on Neil's forehead, Amber left his office. Watching Amber leave his office left him feeling empty, as he had just snubbed his old-time friends when she had done nothing but try to help him.   Amber was one of the few people who dared to tell him the truth to his face and what she had told him playing around in his head. Neil gathered his thoughts, tried typing on his laptop but he could not focus as his thoughts were elsewhere once again.   Neil, you need to get a grip on things before you lose your mind. He mentally told himself. After trying his best to work, he switched off his laptop; there was no use in trying further.   ** As if the long day at work was not enough, Neil’s mother had arranged for a rushed dinner party for the family and he hated such dinners. Neil remembered such dinners growing up, every time that his mother had lost her mind she would try to get the family back together and pretend that all was okay between them all.   The dinners were the least of Neil’s worry rather what bugged him was the continuous sheer fakery between them all, the world out there saw a united family but the inner walls of their once peaceful home kept crumbling as the days went by.   Luckily for Neil, it had been almost a month since his father had appeared on the tabloids yet again for cheating on his mother. The spiral had gone on for years, where his father would cheat on his mother and she would cry her eyes out, join some support group, drink some wine with her socialite friends and convince herself that all was well.   Upon arriving at his family home Neil killed the engine of his car and allowed himself to sit in his car for a while gathering up the energy he would need to play the happy song.    Many looked at the exterior of the Château de Droviski and assumed that it was a happy home, when in fact; this very home had scandals that were yet to escape the inner walls. Taking one last deep breath and exhaling again, Neil exited his car and walked towards the entrance. Before he could ring the bell, his mother unlocked the door and she was smiling.   Neil knew the smile on his mother’s face was all a faux, that smile concealed so much pain— the kind of pain that most women could not hold in.   “Hello my son, are you going to stand here all night or will you enter?” His mother asked him and Neil could not help but study his mother’s features. Before him stood his beautiful blond-haired mother, with high pink cheeks and blue eyes, contras from Neil’s dark hair, grey eyes, and profound jawline.   “Are you okay mother?” Neil asked his mother, hoping that for once she would tell him the truth. “Of course I am okay, why are you asking me this question?” His mother asked him, still smiling but Neil knew that beneath that smile was nothing but sadness.   He had so much to say so much to ask but he decided against it, the last thing his mother needed was him questioning her at the door.   “Nothing, I just thought that I should make sure that you are okay” Neil responded to his mother, she smiled and allowed him to enter the house.   The dinner with his siblings, mother, and father had gone like any other pretend happy family, they had made small conversation, tried smiling with one another, and then they all went silent.   “Neil, I need a new car” his younger sister Sasha’s voice broke through the silence. Just like clockwork, Neil knew that this would happen. He placed his cutlery back onto his plate and looked at his younger sister. “Sasha I believe I brought you a brand new car just three months ago” Neil reminded his sister, placing his hands onto his lap as a means of controlling himself.   “Yeah I know but the car I want is the latest model and I just need it” Sasha whined and truly, Neil was fed up with her constant demands. At the age of twenty-five, Neil had expected Sasha to be a little more independent and less dependent on him.   “No you do not need a new car, you want one” Neil corrected his sister but tried his best to control his anger.   “Oh, and I also need more money to—”   “Ash, you do not need more money. I clearly remember depositing ten thousand dollars into your account just this month” Neil reminded his younger brother who also had a knack for demanding money from Neil rather than standing up and working for it.    With only a five year difference between Ash and Neil, he could not for the life of himself understand how it was that he was hard working when both his siblings were set on leeching from him at every turn.   “Yeah but it’s almost done and I will need you to give me more money” Ash demanded from Neil.   “Just give them the money already, it is not like the company does not make money” His father jumped in and this only made Neil angrier than before. Neil pushed his plate away and stood up from the chair.   Neil turned his attention to his mother who looked at him with worry written over her face, her pretend happy family was falling apart and even she sensed it. Neil hated hurting his mother but pretending that all else was okay was hurting the family more… even worse; it was taking a toll on him the more.   “Where are you going, my son?” His mother quickly stood up from her seat and asked him. He knew what he was about to say was something that he would not have considered himself but he had to.   “Mother I am leaving for a vacation and until I am back, Amber will be working closely with Sasha and Ash” Neil informed his family but it seemed as though no one took him seriously.   “No way will I work,” Ash told Neil and his younger brother’s response left a smile on Neil’s face.   “Well baby brother, if you want money then you will have to work. I am done being your cash cow, see you all after my vacation” Neil said his goodbye and left them all behind.