Tempted By Their Promises

7 - We Have Proceedures

“Ugh; who gets out of bed at this time of the morning?” Amanda yawned, rolling over in bed and turning off her alarm. She had difficulty sleeping with everything that had happened and felt like she had only drifted off when her alarm sounded. “I suppose I better get ready to face the music.” She tiptoed into the bathroom and took a quick shower before getting ready in her navy skirt suit, and heading out the door, making sure she didn’t wake Chelsea. “Ramirez? I didn’t expect to see you this morning,” Amanda uttered, coming over to the black sedan parked outside the building and putting her phone away, since she didn’t need to order the Uber anymore.

“Mr Sommerville wanted to make sure you got to work safely,” Ramirez replied, opening the rear door for Amanda to climb into the car. Amanda looked through the door to see Toby sitting there in sunglasses over his chocolate-coloured eyes.

“Mr Sommerville, I have the phone you requested,” Amanda said, pulling the box out of her handbag and stepping into the car ready to hand Toby the phone

“Ugh,” Toby groaned, as Amanda narrowed her eyes at him.

“Are you hung over, Toby?” Amanda asked, placing the phone next to her before putting on her seatbelt.

“I fell off the bandwagon last night,” Toby murmured quietly, laying his head on his hand against the car window while Amanda gave him a side glance.

“Did I cause this?” Amanda whispered, handing Toby the new phone. “I’m sorry, Toby.”

“I’ve already said this to you once; never sell yourself short, even to me. I did this to myself, and I am paying the price for it this morning. I need to explain a few things to you,” Toby said, putting his arm around Amanda as Ramirez pulled onto the road and headed to the office.

“There’s no need to explain any…” “No; I want to. Firstly, Penelope accused me of doing something I would never dream of doing. I had never even threatened it, until last night when I made the threat to Joyce. I wouldn’t have followed through on it, but I hated myself for it; hence the hangover,” Toby said, stopping Amanda from speaking as her mouth gaped open in surprise. “I was so angry she thought you were like that,” he continued to explain, glancing at Ramirez who was keeping his face neutral.

“Really Toby; I understand. I’m sorry I left; I should have talked it out with…” “I haven’t finished,” Toby interrupted again, placing his finger over Amanda’s lips. “Yes, I do see you as my future wife. I not only shocked you, but I also shocked myself because we haven’t known each other for that long. I can’t explain what I am feeling because I have never felt this way about anyone. You make me want to better myself. You are my world, Sweet Pea, and I don’t want to pressure you into anything. You know where I stand and when the time comes, and it will come; you have to ask me,” he continued, stopping himself going back to a time before Amanda or even Penny and the hangover didn’t help his cause, because that’s how it started.

“You are so sure of yourself, Mr Sommerville,” Amanda remarked, cuddling into Toby’s chest, stopping his thoughts going to a place he wasn’t sure he wanted to enter, while Amanda’s thoughts of telling him they need to remain professional, went out the window.

“What can I say? I’m an optimist and I know what I want,” Toby chuckled, leaning his head back on the headrest, willing himself to stay in the moment. “Your first assignment as my PA, you need to cancel my appointments for this morning. I need to get rid of this hangover before my father finds out.”

“Is there anything else, Mr Sommerville?” Amanda responded, pulling out the organiser that was given to her by Sarah.

“Yes,” he said, leaning over and giving her a kiss on the side of her head. “Put in the diary, dinner with Miss Frost; 7pm. I didn’t get to finish my night with her last night.”

Amanda smiled, opening the organizer, and scanning the entries Sarah had in it. “Um, Toby. I can’t cancel your 10 o’clock. It’s with Cameron Davison and your father. Sarah has a note here; dinner for next Tuesday was changed because Mr Davison was heading back to Fortitude. It’s coded red. It was in her notes, all things in red can’t be cancelled.”

“Holy, mother f**k…” Toby muttered to himself, putting his forehead in his hand again. “I forgot all about it. But after last night, I would forget my own address.”

“That’s why you have me,” Ramirez chuckled, listening in from the front seat, understanding why Toby went off the deep end at Joyce. “We’re here.”

“Come on, I’ll get you a cappuccino with an extra shot and two sugars,” Amanda said, glancing at the bible that tells her how he likes his coffee, as Ramirez opened the rear car door for them to hop out.

“Shoot me now; put me out of my misery,” Toby muttered, getting out of the car in the basement of the building and walking to the elevator with Amanda walking next to him.

“I’ll stop on the ground floor to get the coffee and head up,” Amanda said as Toby grabbed her arm to stop her, while she glanced down at it.

“Come with me to my office. We have a few things to do first,” Toby replied as Miranda, Karen and Henry follow them into the elevator.

“Mr Sommerville,” Karen cooed, before exiting on the ground floor, giving Amanda a dirty look as she stepped off the elevator.

“Morning, Mr Sommerville; Amanda,” Miranda muttered, smiling at the pair.

“Good morning, Miranda,” Toby replied, trying not to sound hung over, as Miranda stepped out on the 4th floor.

“Hung over?” Henry asked the moment the elevator doors closed again.

“You bet your balls, he is,” Amanda giggled as Toby gave a grunt of displeasure at the pair of them.

“What was the look Karen gave you?” Toby asked, changing the subject from his hangover while the elevator continued to head to the top floor.

“I’m not sure. She gave me the same look when I came in yesterday for my interview. I haven’t spoken more than a few words to her,” Amanda replied, giving a small shrug to emphasize she didn’t know.

“People talk. You are Toby’s favourite and she doesn’t like the competition. You will find a lot of ladies have been bidding for Toby’s affections around here, and it’s not a secret an outsider was requested by Toby. I wouldn’t look at the forum either; there is already a lot of speculation you slept your way into the position,” Henry answered as though it was common knowledge while Amanda’s mouth dropped open in shock.

“What? When?” Amanda asked, pulling out her phone. She turned off the notifications to the forum as it was going off constantly and she didn’t want to be disturbed while at Toby’s.

“I wouldn’t worry about the gossip there because it changes daily. Besides, Toby has eyes for one person, and it was noticed,” Henry responded, glancing over Amanda’s shoulder as she snorted at the comment on the forum by Miranda, stating Toby personally requested Amanda for the position of administration assistant, and the personal assistant position when Sarah asked for the time off was because she told Toby she wanted to challenge herself.

“My heart wants what it wants,” Toby said, shrugging as the elevator stopped on the top floor and Amanda rolled her eyes before stepping off and the three of them walked into Toby’s office.

“I’m just getting a coffee and will be out of here, so you can do the few things you need to,” Henry said, smirking to himself and going to the coffee machine in the corner of the office, which Amanda only noticed.

“You can get a cappuccino and whatever you drink from there, and then we can get down to business on what we need for our 10 o’clock. Did you cancel the other appointments?” Toby asked Amanda, placing his sim card into the new phone as several messages came through at once.

“They were already cancelled and rescheduled for Monday. Sarah freed up your time today to prepare for the meeting with Mr Davison,” Amanda answered, giving Toby a smile and walking over to the coffee machine. She was quietly thankful for Sarah cancelling the appointments, because she didn’t want to be running ragged on her first official day as Toby's personal assistant.

“I’ll see you both at 10,” Henry said, walking out of the office and shutting the door.

“Now, down to business,” Toby smirked, coming over to Amanda near the coffee machine and putting his arms around her waist. “Take notes, Miss Frost. We have procedures for a reason. From today on, I expect a kiss after you give me my coffee. One when you enter my office to give me paperwork and one before you leave, after you have given me my paperwork. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Mr Sommerville; but I think we need to keep things professional in the office,” Amanda said, turning to face him with a small smile crossing her face at his brashness.

“Then a kiss when nobody else is around,” Toby smiled, while Amanda turned back to the coffee machine, placing the mug in the holder and pushing the button to make a cappuccino.

When the coffee was done, Amanda turned to face Toby again, handing him his cappuccino, while giving him a peck on the lips. “How am I doing so far?” She asked, as Toby placed the coffee down on the bench.

“You call that a kiss, Miss Frost? I think you can do better,” Toby demanded, pulling Amanda closer and kissing her hard on the lips, while Amanda’s mouth opened, inviting his tongue in. “That’s better,” he murmured as they broke apart and he leaned his forehead against hers, sucking in a deep breath to let her know what she was to expect.

“Mandy, I have all of Sarah’s e-mails being diverted to your e-mail, and we got you a new laptop. If you have any questions that are not in the bible, please come and see me. Oh, and I expect a kiss after every question…” “Yes, sir,” Amanda interrupted with a giggle, while giving Toby a salute.

“I will show you to your desk. I also want you in here, taking notes at 10am,” Toby said, removing his arms from around her waist and ushering Amanda to the sofa, placing her on his lap. “This is better. Perfect hangover cure.”

“Ah-hmm; My desk, Mr Sommerville?” Amanda asked, deliberately clearing her throat as Toby laid his head on her chest.

“In a few minutes,” he murmured, closing his eyes as a call came on his phone and he glanced down at it. “Bloody hell!” he huffed, seeing his mother’s number come up on the screen and let it go to voicemail along with the rest of them he received last night. “I’ll show you to your desk. Mum won’t stop bugging me if I don’t answer her soon.”

“Yes, Mr Sommerville,” Amanda replied, giving Toby a kiss before hopping off his lap and opening the door to the office.

“You will be here,” Toby said, pointing to the desk where Sarah sat yesterday and handed Amanda the new laptop in an opened box, with a new laptop bag. “It is set with your password from yesterday. I had IT transfer it over from your desktop downstairs. The paperwork should be in your filing cabinet, regarding the ranch sale. Just double check all the notes are there and bring it in when you can,” Toby finished, giving Amanda a wink before heading back into his office, pulling out his phone to call his mother, Vanessa.

“Tobias Allan Sommerville the third; why have you not been answering your phone?” Vanessa screamed through the receiver as Toby moved it away from his ear, the splitting headache he had wasn’t being helped with his mother’s yells.

“Because I broke my phone last night and had to wait for my PA to get me a new one,” Toby answered, ignoring the inaudible shrieks down the phone.

“And when are we going to meet, Amelia?” “Amanda, mum. When she is ready to meet you. And keep Joyce away from us; I will not have her coming over uninvited anymore. Last night was the last straw and I will not tolerate her bitchy attitude towards me or Amanda,” Toby complained, rubbing his temple to relieve the hangover, hoping she couldn’t tell from the sound of his voice.

“She is your sister, have more tolerance…” “No mother, stop defending her. She has f****d up, more times than I can count. What does the Weekly Post call her? Oh, yeah; the heartache princess. She has broken more hearts than anyone else, I think the last article read. I had one woman falsely accuse me of physically abusing her, and I got the righteous act from her, no less,” Toby screamed, cutting Vanessa off mid-sentence as Amanda knocked on the office door. “I have to go. I am getting ready for the meeting with Cameron Davison,” he said quickly, hanging up the phone before Vanessa could argue he still needed to be more tolerable towards Joyce.

“Don’t throw it, I just bought it for you,” Amanda laughed, taking the phone out of Toby’s hand and handing him the paperwork he requested. “Is that all, Mr Sommerville?”

“Did you hear my conversation?” Toby sighed, looking defeated he was now going to have to explain what Penny did to him.

“I think the whole building did,” Amanda laughed, placing the phone on the desk. “I heard the last part when I was outside the door,” she quickly corrected herself, seeing the horror in Toby’s eyes.

“Do you know what it’s like to be accused of physically hurting someone? All because I told her I didn’t love her the way she wanted me to. I stopped drinking and realized I was in love with the thought of us being together, not in love with her. I was depressed for a very long time because of her accusations,” Toby whispered as Amanda turned to stare at him.

“I haven’t been accused of physical abuse. I have been falsely accused of selling myself on the streets; that’s why I left Bay’s Beach. Peter and Veronica spread the rumours to take the focus off what they did to me. I understand where you are coming from,” Amanda explained, heading back towards the door because it was clear he didn’t want to talk about what Henry told her the night before.

“Miss Frost, you are forgetting something,” Toby said, grabbing Amanda’s hand to stop her from leaving.

“Oh yeah,” Amanda smirked, giving Toby a kiss before leaving the office again.