First day at work II
1081 Words
“A few times. Usually just in passing. He’s intense but fair from what I’ve heard. Why, have you met him?”
“Briefly. During the interview process.”
That was technically true.
“He’s single, you know.” Kelly had apparently been listening. “Every woman in this building has a crush on him. Rich, hot, powerful. The holy trinity.”
“He’s also our boss,” James pointed out. “Pretty sure there are rules about that.”
“Rules are meant to be broken.” Kelly waggled her eyebrows.
“I’m not interested,” I said quickly. Too quickly, judging by the way Melissa looked at me.
“Fair enough. Workplace romances are messy anyway.”
They moved on to other topics, but I couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling in my stomach. Being here, working in Adrian’s building, knowing he was somewhere in this same tower, it felt dangerous. Like I was playing with fire.
I made it through the rest of the day without seeing him. Small miracle. By five o’clock my brain was fried from information overload and I was ready to escape.
I was packing up my things when my desk phone rang. The internal line.
“Hello?”
“Ms. Carter, this is Anne from Mr. Rhode’s office. He’d like to see you before you leave today. Are you available?”
My heart stopped. “Um. Now?”
“If possible. Forty-second floor, corner office.”
“Okay. I’ll be right up.”
I hung up with shaking hands. This was fine. Completely normal. The CEO probably met with all new employees. It didn’t mean anything.
Except I knew it meant something.
The elevator ride to forty-two felt like ascending to my execution. I stepped out into the executive floor, which was even more intimidating than the rest of the building. Quieter. More expensive looking. The receptionist directed me down a hall to the corner office.
Adrian’s assistant, Anne, was a woman in her fifties with kind eyes and perfect posture.
“Go right in,” she said. “He’s expecting you.”
I knocked on the door frame even though it was open.
Adrian was standing by the windows, phone to his ear, looking out at the city. He turned when I knocked and held up one finger. Wait.
I stood there awkwardly while he finished his call, trying not to stare at how good he looked in his suit. Trying not to remember what he looked like without it.
“Sorry about that.” He ended the call and set his phone down. “Close the door.”
I did, my pulse racing.
“How was your first day?” he asked.
“Good. Overwhelming but good.”
“Sarah treating you well?”
“Yes. Everyone’s been really welcoming.”
“Good.” He moved closer, hands in his pockets. “I wanted to check in. Make sure you were settling in okay.”
“Is that what you tell yourself?” The words came out before I could stop them. “That you called me up here for a professional check-in?”
A smile tugged at his lips. “Maybe not entirely.”
“Adrian, we can’t do this. I work here now. You’re my boss’s boss’s boss or whatever. This is inappropriate.”
“I’m not your direct supervisor. I don’t make hiring or firing decisions for your position. Technically, there’s no conflict of interest.”
“Technically doesn’t matter. It looks bad.”
“Who’s going to know?”
“Everyone will know. Office gossip spreads faster than wildfire.”
He studied me for a long moment. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have called you up here.”
“Thank you.”
“But I still want to take you to dinner.”
“Adrian—”
“Not as your boss. As someone who can’t stop thinking about you. As someone who wants to know why you looked so sad that night at the bar.” He stepped closer. “As someone who wants to know if you ever figured out who framed you.”
I froze. “What?”
“That night. You said everyone was lying to you. That you couldn’t handle any more lies. I’ve been wondering what happened. What made you so broken that you’d sleep with a stranger just to forget.”
Tears pricked at my eyes. I blinked them back furiously. “That’s none of your business.”
“Maybe not. But I want it to be.”
“Why? Why do you care?”
“I don’t know.” He said it so honestly that I almost believed him. “I just do.”
We stood there in his office, the city sprawling out behind him, the air thick with everything we weren’t saying.
“One dinner,” he said quietly. “Let me take you somewhere nice. Let me get to know you properly. And if at the end of it you want nothing to do with me, I’ll respect that. I’ll keep things strictly professional. You’ll never have to worry about me calling you to my office again.”
I should say no. Should walk out of there and put as much distance between us as possible.
But I was so tired of being alone. So tired of everyone in my life abandoning me or betraying me or looking at me with disgust.
Adrian looked at me like I mattered. Like he saw me as more than just the woman in those horrible photos.
“Friday night,” I heard myself say. “One dinner.”
“Friday night,” he agreed.
I turned to leave before I could change my mind.
“Ivy?”
I looked back.
“I’m glad you’re here,” he said.
I didn’t know how to respond to that, so I just nodded and walked out.
On the elevator ride down, I checked my phone. Three missed calls from a number I didn’t recognize and a voicemail.
I listened to it with my heart in my throat.
“Ivy, it’s Natalie. I talked to Marcus. He examined the photos.” A pause. “Call me back as soon as you get this. We need to talk.”
Something in her voice made my blood run cold.
I called her back immediately, but it went to voicemail.
Whatever Marcus had found, it wasn’t good news.
I could feel it in my bones.
- Writer
