Bound To My Charming CEO Boss

Chapter 3 My honeymoon was a disaster

　　Isabella POV

　　My honeymoon was a disaster.

　　After our quarrel at the island and we came home, Raphael basically withdrew from me. He wouldn't talk to me in complete sentences, he spent most of his nights in his study room. The times when he came to the bedroom were only when he wanted a change of clothes or he wanted to pick up a blanket.

　　Either way, I would lay down every night, my body howling with needs, unable to do anything, sometimes, I would console myself with that first night, other times, I would cry myself to sleep. So, you can imagine how glad I was when our two weeks leave was over.

　　I trudged into the office that morning, in a bad mood while trying to look like someone who just got back from honeymoon.

　　"Here comes the latest bride," Lilian my friend at work announced clapping her hands in delight.

　　"Hey," I managed a convincing smile "How are you today? What's going on?" I asked going to my desk.

　　"Not much," she leans against the partition between me and her desk, "You look exhausted, but I'm hoping it's for good," she winked at me.

　　"For Pete's sake, Lilian," I chuckled "Don't you dare ask me about it, I won't tell,".

　　"But I tell you mine," she whined "On a scale of 1 to 10, how good is he?" she leaned in, making puppy eyes at me.

　　My mind flits back to the first night and a soft smile settled on my lips.

　　"10," I said softly "He's a 10, Lilian,".

　　"s**t!" she leaned closer ‘I told you; Nerds are always good in bed. I think it's their archaic approach to almost everything that gives them that edge. You my friend, is lucky,".

　　"Everyone, gather around," Mr Barnabas, the head of our department hurried inside our workspace motioning for all of us to come to where he was standing at the centre of the office.

　　"I just heard that the CEO himself, Mr Dominic Harrington will be visiting all the departments today and someone close to him said, ours would be the first he visits, so I want you all to brace yourself, okay and...".

　　"Who's in charge here?" a steely voice broke into our tete a tete, causing us to separate immediately.

　　The atmosphere filled up with the commanding presence of the man who looked like he was fresh out of a magazine cover except he wasn't smiling or staring at the screen in smoky seduction. Instead, his brows were arched in annoyance as his gaze flitted around the room.

　　"I am sir," Mr Barnabas came forward bowing down politely. "My name is...".

　　"Can you tell me why your account has a lot of errors and is not balanced?" Dominic cut him mid-sentence boring his eyes into him.

　　"W-Well, sir," Mr Barnabas stuttered as he turned back to look at all of us standing behind him. My gaze was fixed to the ground, it was my way of bracing myself for the worst.

　　"Miss Sterling, could you please explain answer the boss's question,".

　　My head flew up immediately as I stared at Mr Barnabas wondering why he was setting me up like this. I didn't work in accounts; neither was I aware of that mishap. As I opened my mouth in protest, my gaze caught with that of Mr Barnabas and he mouthed for me to help him.

　　This was fast becoming a tradition. Whenever there was any problem in the department, I was always asked to take the blame. And all this was because I was the least person in the department.

　　Sighing, I came to stand in front of Dominic lowering my head in shame.

　　"I'm sorry sir,".

　　"You're sorry?" he scoffed "You think this is a charity organization and that you can do as you like and be forgiven when you ask for forgiveness?"

　　"No sir," I croaked hanging my neck my head still bowed.

　　"For the love of God," he hissed "Look at me when I'm talking to you. I am not talking to a child,".

　　Slowly, I raised my head up and our gaze met and held. Recognition flickered in his and for he raised his index finger and pointed at me, he wanted saying something but decides against it.

　　"Fine," he lowered his voice "What were you going to say?"

　　"The disparities in the account are due to a late arrival of one of our goods coming in from our suppliers. Once they arrive and it's confirmed, we would be able to balance the account and set it straight. I already spoke with the transporters and they promised, the goods would be here, latest tomorrow. We confirmed that today,".

　　"I see," Dominic nodded, much calmer than before now.

　　"Is there any project assigned to your team? Have you started working on it and how is the progress?" Dominic asked again.

　　"Yes sir. We've passed the review state and it's currently at the finance department for a final review and auditing on how the price can be cut without reducing the quality,".

　　Dominic's gaze bore into mine as he continued to probe me with questions. The hardness to his voice, his cold expression left me feeling exposed and vulnerable. I knew I was the scapegoat and if anything should happen here, my colleagues would blame me for putting the department in a bad light.

　　"But reports from the finance team that I got concerning that project states that it doesn't have any future. It won't stand the test of time against similar products. What do you say about that?"

　　He turns to Mr Barnabas who gave him a smile and lets his gaze rest on me.

　　"About that," I sighed "We're trying to make adjustments to it before sending it back to the audit team. We would be done before the end of the week,".

　　There was a long pause as his eyes ran through the room as if he was looking for something. Then finally, they rested back on me.

　　"How long have you worked here?" he asked.

　　His questions caught me off-guard and my brain blanked for a minute.

　　"More than a year," I said timidly wondering if my answers were not good enough and if he was planning to sack me.

　　"Do you have a specific number?" he asked.

　　"Three years now," I murmured.

　　"Good," he nods "I acknowledge your commitment and efforts towards the growth of this company and I've heard a few of our top management staff say good things about you,".

　　My eyes widened as I stared at him wondering how the management staffs knew me. "They did?"

　　"Of course," Dominic nods "Nothing goes unnoticed in this company. So, because of that, we've decided that your salary would be raised by 20%. It's little but we want to show you how much you mean to us,".

　　My jaw dropped. A 20% raise was a big deal. "Oh, thank you so much, sir,".

　　"It's nothing, Miss Sterling," he smiles "I hope you can continue to work harder,".

　　"Of course, sir," I nodded still surprised at the sudden turn of events. I hadn't expected the sudden turn of events.

　　For the first time, since I started working, this was the first time I was getting a recognition for the work I was doing and it gave me hope that finally, I had found a compassionate and understanding boss in Mr Dominic.

　　Before he left with his subordinates, he drew closer to my desk, a mischievous glint in his eyes that I haven't seen before.

　　"So, it was you, that night?" he arched his brow.

　　My brows shot up in confusion "What night sir?"

　　"The other night," he said warmly "And for what is worth, I enjoyed every bit of it. To think that someone as conservative as you could have so much warmth,".

　　My cheeks reddened as the meaning of his words dawned on me. Was he trying to flirt with me?

　　"Sir..." I tried not to snap "I don't understand what you want nor what your intentions are but I'm sure you've got the wrong person,".

　　"No, Miss Sterling," he gave me an amused smile "It was you alright and I don't know why you're acting up but I'd like to see you more and I want us to continue with that beautiful relationship born that day,".

　　Feeling cornered especially as he just increased my salary and also harassed, I shook my head again.

　　"I'm sorry sir," I said firmly "I am not interested in whatever relationship you're talking about. I think it's important we maintain a normal work relationship between each other,".

　　"Don't worry," he chuckled straightening, "You'll come around,".