The CEO's Heart

Chapter 2 - The New Secretary

Joseph

Power and Money.

Those are the only things that make you invincible in the world.

I had neither of those only just a few years ago, and I was considered a nobody.

But through my own hard work, blood, sweat and tears, I gained both.

And nobody could deny me that anymore.

As I walked into the lavish hotel ballroom, the party already in full swing with the numerous guests milling about enjoying the party, I took in all the minimal yet tasteful decorations I selected myself, specially for this party.

A party to celebrate my dearest friend's retirement from my service.

As my personal secretary.

Gabriel Woods; he likes it when I call him Gabe, has been my secretary since the start of my business empire. The older man has been with me through everything.

Every deal, every merger, every contract signing and meeting, he guided me through it all. Even though he was as qualified to run the company as I am, and definitely overqualified to be my secretary, especially considering that he was about thirty years older than I am, he still refused to leave my side.

He's been loyal till the end.

Till he decided to retire.

This celebration is for him.

A guest walked up to me as I was admiring the decorations and trying to spot Gabe in the midst of the other bodies dancing to the soft music and mingling around. Most of these people are my employees, the rest are either friends and family of Gabe.

"Good evening, Mr Cole. What a lovely party." She said as she batted her eyes at me. She had on a red, slinky, low cut dress that looked odd for a retirement party.

Andrea. She works in the marketing department, and she's been trying to catch my eye since she got hired. Unfortunately, she's either oblivious to my indifference to her attraction towards me or just doesn't care.

"Yes. It is." I replied, not even bothering to put effort into sounding disinterested. Even if I was on the market for dating, which I'm not, I wouldn't even look at her. She reminded me too much of them. Always trying too hard.

"It's kind of sad that Mr Woods is retiring. Oh well, I guess we all have to retire eventually."

"Mhmm."

"So.." She said, trying to sound offhand about her question, "What are you going to do now that he's retired? Are you looking for a new secretary? Because I have a recommendation for you."

I could see where this was going.

"Oh really, who?" I said blandly, subtly scanning the crowd to spot Gabe and save myself from this conversation without having to resort to being rude. This was a party after all, so I didn't want to act too strictly with my employees. Even the annoying ones.

"I could do it. You know I have experience of being a secretary before. Granted that she wasn't nearly as important as you are, but I can do it." She said, smiling in a way that she probably thought was charming but only came off as desperate to me.

"Actually, I already have a replacement lined up already, so there's no need."

"Oh.." She looked deflated a little when she heard me say that" Okay then. But just in case it doesn't work out, I'm still available. To be your secretary I mean." She blushed a little at that last part.

Ugh.

I finally spotted Gabe. An excuse to leave this conversation.

"OK" I said as I excused myself and immediately made a beeline to him.

I heard her huff in annoyance before I was out of hearing range.

Whatever, if she'd like to keep her job she'd leave it at that.

Gabe saw me approaching him and rushed to meet me.

"Joseph, this party has been amazing! Thanks for making an old man feel special, yeah?" He crowed in delight. I couldn't help but smile a little. He was really enjoying himself.

"You're welcome Gabe, you deserve it." He of all people deserved everything good I do for him. Without him by my side, I might not have made it this far in the business world. His guidance and experience has been invaluable.

"Where's your wife? I haven't seen her around?"

"She's at the end of the hall with my family. You'll probably see her before the night's over. You know how she is. But anyway, that's not important, I have to introduce you to my protegè. She went to the bathroom, but she'll be back soon." He gestured with his hand towards the entrance to the ballroom.

Ah, his replacement.

Marie Johnson; twenty-eight years old and specially trained by Gabe to take over from him when he retires. She has all the proper qualifications that would make her a perfect secretary on paper, but Gabe hadn't let me meet her yet until tonight.

I only trusted her because I trusted Gabe, but if her work proved unsatisfactory, I'd make do without her.

"Oh, there she is." Gabe suddenly said, pointing at a woman that was approaching us.

A tall woman wearing an elegant, formal black dress strode towards me confidently, staring right at me as she came within speaking range.

' Is there something different about her eyes? ' I couldn't help but think as I looked at her approach.

As I thrust my hand towards her to introduce myself, she suddenly stumbled and fell towards me. With a quick step forward and a firm grip on her shoulders, I caught her before she could hit the ground.

This obviously clumsy woman is supposed to be my new secretary?

As I helped her steady herself, her earlier confidence had vanished, replaced with a red face and a small stuttering voice.

"Hi, um Mr. Cole. I'm Marie."

I noticed a faint smell of alcohol on her.

Is she drunk?

She's intoxicated, amazing.

She's so fired.

And she hasn't even started working for me yet.

Oh well, I couldn't care less. I'll just find another-

"Actually she just spilled a little wine on her dress, that's why she smells like she overindulged a little." Gabe said, patting her on the shoulder and chuckling a little.

A few people were looking over at where we stood talking, evidently curious. One glance at them from me and their attention shifted elsewhere. Good.

She looked at the ground in embarrassment, not daring to meet my eyes anymore. I couldn't confirm what I suspected when I saw her staring at me as she hurried over.

Really? What can Gabe say about her coordination then? She sure stumbled like she was drunk.

I'm starting to reconsider this whole thing.

"Well then, Good evening Ms Johnson. Glad to finally meet the person who would be taking over from Gabe."

She still kept looking at the ground but managed to mutter something despite her embarrassment.

"Yes. Glad to meet you too sir."

"Come on Marie, are you still embarrassed about what just happened? It's fine, don't worry about it." Gabe said, trying to encourage her to stop acting so timid.

She took a visible deep breath, straightened her shoulders and looked up at me again.

I was momentarily stunned.

Her eyes.

I guess I wasn't imagining it then, her eyes were really two different colors.

One a deep dark brown, the other a startling gray.

I was so struck by her gaze that I didn't seem to take in her remaining features till she blinked and looked away.

Short brown hair.

A strong featured face.

A lean, surprising tall figure for a woman.

But all of that didn't seem to register as strongly as her beautiful eyes.

She seemed to notice my fascination and blushed a little at my scrutiny.

I decided not to comment on that.

"So Gabe here has told me a lot about you, and I've read my dossier on you and know that you're somewhat qualified for the job, but tell me, what do you think makes you qualified to work for me?" I said brusquely, getting straight to the point.

She seemed to shrink a little again at my bluntness but answered.

"Because I've been specially trained to fill this important role by the only person that has held it for years. Also, like you said, I'm fully qualified and have the necessary experience otherwise. " She stated confidently.

She probably rehearsed this response.

"Sounds like you anticipated that question, you spoke as if you knew those words from heart."

Her face reddened again.

I was correct.

"Geez Joseph, this isn't an interview, it's a party! I brought her here to meet you so that you could get to know each other informally before she starts working full-time." Gabe said.

"I know. Plus, she isn't going to have a formal interview anyway, so I thought I'd just do one on the spot. Since you trained her personally, there's no need."

It's the spur of the moment interviews like these that are most effective anyway. From our short interaction now, I've deduced that she's prone to clumsiness, gets embarrassed easily and holds a high opinion of me; though that's just normal like everyone else.

"I'm looking forward to working with you, Mr Cole." She said.

"You mean you're looking forward to working for me." I corrected her.

She's going to be my secretary, not my partner.

Gabe chuckled again.

"Take it easy on her, she's new." He said as he patted me on the shoulder and left us alone.