ANNA LIVERMORE: THE BILLIONAIRE'S OBSESSION

My back was firmly against the door. My blouse was slightly unbuttoned at the top. I was moaning rapidly. "Go deeper, Eli" I whispered Eli was a long-time crush of mine. He is tall and muscular, with piercing blue eyes that seem to sparkle in the sunlight. His dark hair falls in disheveled waves across his forehead, adding to his rugged charm. A charm that has since caught hold of me, but I worked for his brother, as his secretary. I couldn't believe this was happening right here. I was ecstatic. Both of us began to breathe rapidly as the rhythm of our bodies began to synchronize. "Oh god Eli, oh, oh" The room was relatively quiet but something else protruded it. A beep sound. Bip...bip...bip. It was a particularly weird thing that I could pick up such a sound while this was happening. A particularly peculiar thing indeed. "What's that sound? " I asked him. "What?" "You don't hear that. " "No. What sound? Shut up" he said. He couldn't hear anything. The beeping was constant, a relentless reminder that reality was nothing like the dream I had been lost in. I awoke with my back pressed against a chair, the starchy hospital gown clinging to my skin. A dream; that's all. It had been a fleeting escape from the grimness of my current situation. Suddenly, I opened my eyes, and the machines were beeping louder than ever. A team of doctors and nurses rushed in. "My sister, oh god my sister" Dollar has been hospitalized for weeks now, and she needs a lung transplant. There was no place to go. I had contemplated asking my boss for help, but his incessant s****l advances led me to avoid him at convenient times. What was I to do? I was bundled out of the room by two persistent nurses, a man and a woman. I was pushed out of the room into the waiting area. They tried to compel me to remain calm, but I couldn't contain my hysteria. I went mad in fear and angst. Dollar, who had been my responsibility since the accident that took our parents, was now fighting for her life in the adjacent room, her lungs giving out, her time running thin. My hysteria engulfed me, Dollar is the only person I have in the whole world. If our parents hadn't died in that ghastly plane crash, I wouldn't have been forced into maturity at the tender age of fifteen. When the doctor came out, she told me that my sister was dying and in need of urgent surgery if she could ever stand a chance of making it. She had been clear. Without a transplant, Dollar wouldn't survive, and the cost was astronomical—$4.5 million. When I was able to gather myself again, I went up to get myself a cup of coffee, I rubbed my temples, trying to calm the storm of thoughts. Thoughts of the dream I had also kept hammering away at me. The dream about Eli, my long-standing fantasy, the one I never dared approach, given our professional boundaries, he is the brother of my employer. Yet, in my dream, those boundaries had dissolved into nothingness. But reality was unkind, it didn't care about one's emotional turmoil or the secret yearnings of the heart. I looked away from the coffee machine for a moment, it was there. I noticed it was already some minutes past 6 on a phone charging beside the machine. "Oh shit..." I flung my head violently upward. I picked up my cell and no notification from my boss. That was good news. I knew that he had not yet gotten up to call for the things he'd need upon arriving in his office. I had some time to get ready. My job's not the kind that one can allow a problem, regardless of how serious in degree it is to come before their duties. I knew I'd get fired on the spot. Nothing comes first when you're the secretary of one of the wealthiest men in the world and I Anna Livermore, considered myself quite lucky to have landed such a top job and to keep it was the ultimate. My mind was made up, I'd get ready, go to the office, and do it. I'll ask my boss for help. Whatever happens, happens. When I got to the office, everywhere was rowdy as usual. But I was able to find Mindy, my best friend. She is also a secretary to another official in our office. "Hey, I didn't get any notifications this morning. Have you heard anything?" " No! No one got anything, they are still here!" she replied without looking up. "You mean the meeting hasn't ended?" "Yeah, they've almost concluded, I guess. " I stopped there watching as she typed away. I felt a little disappointed that she hadn't asked me about my sister, but I tried shrugging off the idea, it felt like the weight of the whole world bore down on me. Mindy, my colleague and confidante, was absorbed in work. I found no opening to share my plight, no moment to seek solace in the shared concern for Dollar It's not uncommon, however, among us to not be subsumed in some work this week as a merger was being negotiated, and it's been all hands on deck for months, but this week, the deal was being finalized. I moved away and settled back in my desk. Shortly after, my boss came dashing out. He looked so captivating that even a full day's work hadn't any dent in his appearance. He is handsome and well-groomed, with a perfectly styled beard that emphasizes his chiseled jawline. His warm smile is infectious, and his hazel eyes hold a hint of mystery, but he was a rascal, a playboy through and through. As he came heading towards me through the hall, I could feel his gaze resting on my cleavage. He smiled a little when I caught his eye. "Come in here" he motioned as he walked past me into his grandeur office. "How's your sister?" he asked. My heart shut up in joy. Did I hear right? Did he just ask about my sister? I did say I'd leave early to see my sister yesterday, and he had agreed, but I had to come back early. He had never been so kind to me as to bother asking about my personal affairs, not after I had worked up the courage to let him know that I would never sleep with him. This I thought was the perfect time to tell him. *Sir, I ..." "Good" he cut me short, and my heart sank with enormous speed. "I've been working all night, and I need to get some sleep. Cancel all my appointments and huh... I'm not seeing anyone until dinner... okay?" He finished nodding his head as he crashed down on his sofa. I walked out of the room, but before I could close the door it dawned on me that I had to tell him, it was the only way I had to raise any money. I had avoided him, sidestepping his advances, prioritizing my dignity over an easy solution that whispered temptingly during my weakest moments. But now, with Dollar's life hanging by a thread, could I afford such pride? Mindy and a couple of people at the firm had put something up but none from the bosses. No one bothered them about such subjects. The only move I have left was to break this protocol. "Ashen..." I couldn't believe how confidently I had just pronounced my boss's first name. I knew I had to get his attention. His eyes shut up. "What did you just call me?" "Listen Ashen...sir" I continued almost unabated. "I am the only one, my little sister... Dollar...has left in the world, and she is counting on me to be able to save her. She's dying Ashen" He paused and looked at me as though he was contemplating how to respond, but I continued "I need 3.8 million, sir... please, sir" I implored, baring my vulnerability in a way I never had before. His countenance still hadn't changed, he rose from the couch and walked closer to me. For a moment, hope flickered within me, a fragile flame amid the shadows of despair. He reached out, his touch, gentle as his hand found mine, the warmth of his skin a stark contrast to the cold reality pressing down on me, and with the softest sotto voce, he whispered "I'll give you all you want...if you let me f**k you right here on this table