In Love With My Boss

Seven

DPOV begins

It is already six when I get to the office and Rose is not here. I don't like it when people are late and I'll make sure that she is reminded of this.

I take her sparkly notebook, glitter gluing to my whole hand, and head to my office. Let's see what we have to do today. I read her curly handwriting and see my schedule. But who is Alexei Rudov? I have never heard of this man. Did I even agree to meet this man?

Oh, I get it now. This must be one of her little things. But the Starbucks coffee and her notebook are little babies compared to this. Is she really going to make me go to a restaurant and wait for this man or is she going to make someone come there and meet me? Does she really think that I don't know my associates? The thought that she came out with this amuses me.

This girl is something else, that's for sure. She is either completely foolish or extremely courageous, I can't decide. What is she going to do next, make me go to China? We'll see who is the one who is going to be played in the end. Maybe she will think twice about this and would cancel this imaginary meeting after all. If not, I am going to make sure that I am going to have dinner with her later. At least I'll have a reason not to meet with Tasha later.

DPOV ends

On Thursday, I get to the office five minutes later because some douche bag just thought that it would be fun to drive his damn car while being completely wasted and crashed into a STOP sign. Well, at least something stopped him. So, because that guy hit a sign, I had to take the long way around. And now it is five past six and I am still preparing that coffee. Damn it, I was already scared of my boss, I didn't need some special stress.

'Good morning, Mister Belikov! I am sorry for being late but there was this man-'

'I don't care.'

I roll my eyes internally. Well, then screw you Belikov. I place the coffee on his table and I see my notebook there. Did I forget it here? Probably not. I always take it back with me.

'You can take this and go do your thing.' he says pointing to my notebook. I could see that his right hand is full of glitter. 'I took the schedule myself.' I nod 'And next time don't be late.'

'Yes Sir, but you see-'

'I already told you I don't care.' Ugh! I turn around and head for the door. God, it is so hard not to punch him in these kinds of moments. Can't he f*****g listen for once? 'And the next time it happens, you are going to be penalized.' I am what?

I stop and turn around. I cross my arms over my chest and my voice turns into that thing kids do when they are upset over not giving them a cookie. 'Yeah? And what are you going to do to me?' s***k me? I continue the question in my head.

A smug smile appears on his face. 'I don't know. Why don't you try and see for yourself?' God, he is so full of himself.

'Yeah? Maybe I will.'

'Are you?' he raises an eyebrow and his hotness hits the roof in this second. No Rose. You are supposed to be mad at him, not to check him out.

'I am. Maybe tomorrow I'll be late again. Who knows? The possibilities are infinite.'

'That's completely fine with me, Miss Hathaway.' Who knows what ideas are passing through that mind of his now?

'Fine.' I say and leer at him. I can't help myself. He is pissing me off so much!

'Fine.' He says amused. Ugh!

'Fine! Jackass.' I lastly mumble under my breath and head towards the door again.

'What did you say?'

'That I was joking.'

'You know, I have very sharp hearing Miss Hathaway.' Well, too bad. Then listen to this.

'Bite me.' I mutter and get out the door.

Some hours after that, he calls me into his office.

'Here, take this.' I take the credit card from his extended hand. 'I want you to go to a Tiffany's and buy something, I don't care what. I don't care how much it costs either. Necklace, earrings, whatever. But no rings.'

Oh, are you afraid of rings? Do they smell like commitment, comrade? Maybe I should get Lissa's engagement ring and follow him around the office with it to see if he reacts like a vampire near a cross. That would be fun to watch.

'But I don't know what-'

'Miss Hathaway, go. You are a woman, you'll know what to pick. Just be sure that you bring it to me before five.'

What am I, his personal gift shopper? Going to Tiffany's surely isn't included in my job description.

I get my things and head to the damn shop. I park my car in front of it and get out. Wow, this shop screams expensive as f**k from the first second you lay your eyes on it. I enter it, and oh, the look the saleslady gives to me. It makes me feel like I am the poorest person on earth.

'Is there something I can help you with, Miss?' she asks into a high-pitched voice.

'Um, I am looking for a gift.' I guess. He surely doesn't wear Tiffany's.

She takes me on a little tour into the nice smelling shop, showing me all kind of jewelry, perfectly illuminated, just to catch your eye. I am completely overwhelmed. I don't know what to pick. There are too many things.

Then I see it: a long golden necklace, with little sparkly stones from place to place. And it has some kind of circle pendant that looks just like a ring, with a small diamond on it. The idea comes from nowhere in my head: I would put the necklace into that box so that only the ring would be visible, just so that I would f**k with him a little more. I am still afraid of him, yes, but I just can't help myself. It is the perfect occasion and I can't miss it.

'I am going to take this one.' I say to the woman.

She raises her eyebrows in response and asks: 'Are you sure?' I nod. She makes that face that tells you fine, do whatever you want and complies, taking the necklace out of its support and we head towards some counter.

How expensive can it be? Some gold and some little shiny stones. Nothing that his big fat bank account can't handle.

"It would be 5000.' The woman says and my face literally drops.

Like dollars? Are you kidding me? Maybe it is a little too expensive after all. I was ready to say that I wanted to take something else, but then I looked at that woman's face. She was having a smug smile on her face that was saying: ''I knew you are broke as f**k and you can't afford this. Go and buy some metal jewelry somewhere at the end of the street. I heard they have some stainless steel too.''

'No problem.' I say smiling and extend Belikov's card. Her face drops this time, as she reads the name written on it.

'Oh, would you like a nice box? It is free. And we can give you a nice gift bag with that. And we can give you some catalogs too, for further shopping' she says, being excited all of a sudden.

Oh, so now she is nice to me? I tell her yes and then I tell her to change the box two times because the others have some imaginary imperfection, just to pay her back.

When I get out of that shop I am totally disgusted. I never wanted to deal with people like this and now I had to on a daily basis. First Tasha and now this saleslady. Can't I find a single decent person around?

It is 4:30 when I deliver the gift. I enter the office and place it on his desk, along with his credit card. He just takes it and unpacks it. No thank you? So mannered, what can I say? I turn around and head for the door.

'Miss Hathaway?'

'Yes Sir?' he surely saw how I placed the necklace. It had only the pendant visible and it really looked very much like an engagement ring. I am so proud of myself right now. God, I think that I am going to write a textbook on how to f**k with your boss.

'I thought I told you not to buy any ring.'

'Yes, you did tell me, Sir. And I didn't buy any ring.' I say as innocently as I can.

Oh man, the look he gives me.

'So you want to tell me that this is not a ring?'

'Exactly.'

'Miss Hathaway, do yo-'

But I don't let him finish, because I come in front of him and take the little box from his hand. And our hands brush a little in the process. His skin is so soft and so warm, contrasting with my always cold hands. I can feel some electricity passing through the fingers that touched his skin too.

I take out the whole necklace and dangle it in front of his eyes.

'See? It is a necklace. It's not my fault that the saleslady packed it the way she did.' well, it is, but he doesn't have to know.

I could have sworn that he seemed amused for a second but instead of smiling, he clenches his jaw and throws me a glare as I put back the necklace.

'Go get my coffee.' He commands.

'But it's not five yet.'

'I need it now.'

Okay, mister grumpy pants. It annoys me so much when he gives me orders. I am a human being, not a trained chimp. And he could at least throw a thank you from time to time. Is it that hard?

Around six or so, that woman Tasha comes around. Again. Is she going to come here frequently? Because I don't want to see her face very often. One day I might make something I'll surely regret after I get to jail. But I will surely enjoy it too. I decide it would be worth the captivity.

I just greet her and don't bother much with her existence. I still want to smack her into that painted face, but I am controlling myself quite well. At least for now. I don't want to get fired soon. I still have some messing with Belikov to do.

She enters his office and about five minutes later she begins to act like a horny teenager again, laughing and squealing. Then she says:

'Aw, I thought you forgot, baby! This necklace is so, so, so beautiful! I love it! Help me put it on.'

Waaait a second. The necklace I bought earlier was for her? If I only knew, I would have taken her something cheaper and much uglier. Maybe I would have even picked something from stainless steel as well.

"What do you mean you can't go with me? What am I supposed to do alone then? What dinner? Oh, come on, Dimitri!'

Silence. I guess that he is saying something to her.

'Oh, really? You always say that, but we don't seem to get to do it lately. In fact, we haven't been doing it for quite a while.'

Another pause.

'Fine, babe. Then I am going to wait for you later tonight. Come around nine, okay?'

These were the last words she spoke before exiting, her face filled with a satisfied smile.

Not so much time later, he exits too and tells me that he is going to a business dinner and that I could go home. Yay to me! I got out early today.

'Do you have something to tell me?' he asks just before leaving. Is this some kind of a game he wants to play? What should I tell him?

'Good luck?'

No, not this. He is still looking at me expecting something.

'Um, have a good night?'

He nods and a teeny tiny smile escapes his lips. 'Have a good night too, Miss Hathaway.' He says with a weird tone and leaves.

What the hell was that?

*****

'Oh gosh Liss, you have no idea how much I dislike that woman. She just walks around like she is the most important person on earth. And oh,' I say while I fill my mouth with popcorn 'and the way she looks down on me like I am some sort of peasant. Yeah, I can't afford some Louboutins but I am sure as hell that I have much more brain in my head than this painted doll.' I continue with my mouth full. 'I swear to God that if she-'

My phone begins to ring. Who could call me at eight in the evening? I pick up my phone and see a number I don't know. I answer anyway. It may be something important.

'Rose here.' I say while munching on my popcorn.

'Miss Hathaway?'

I get to my feet from instinct. Some popcorn gets blocked into my throat as I was swallowing and I begin to cough.

'Mister Belikov.' I say, my eyes watering. 'Y-yes, it's me.'

Lissa's eyes widen and she asks: 'The tyrant?' a little too loud. I swear that she has no control over how loud she speaks sometimes. And she does that in the most inconvenient moments. Like now.

'Shhhh' I say while I kick her with my foot and give her an ugly glare. She makes herself little and doesn't utter another word.

'I'm sorry, what?' he asks. Oh, f**k! Him and his sharp hearing.

'Um, nothing, Sir. It was just my, um, my cat.'

'I have a question for you, Miss Hathaway.' he seems pissed.

'Fine, Sir. Say it.'

'Where is Mister Alexei Rudov?'

Oh my God. I totally forgot about the dinner thing. What should I do? Maybe if I play the innocent card he will leave me alone.

'Um, I don't know, Sir. He should have been there already. No one called to cancel or something.'

'Miss Hathaway, I have been waiting for over an hour here. I don't like waiting for people. And I don't like having dinner on my own either. I hope that in the next, let's say, twenty minutes someone will eventually show up, otherwise you will be the one regretting this.' he says and hangs up, not giving me any chance to say anything.

I am so f****d. Monumentally f****d. Where should I get this man from? How could I have been so stupid and forget about this? What was I even thinking when I made that appointment in the first place? Why didn't I erase it? He surely knows it was me. Good job, Rose. Your master plan just turned against you.

I throw myself on the couch, cover my face and growl.

'Rose, what's the matter?'

I tell her everything starting with the appointment I made since Monday.

'And he said that if someone isn't going to show up in twenty minutes, I will be the one who will regret this. Whatever this means. I don't want to find out what that means. He already threatened me this morning with that penalization thing. Oh! I know! What if I pay some hobo to go there and pretend he's that man? I'll even find him a suit. Hell, I'll give him a bath too if he wants to.'

'Yeah, sure, do that. And they are going to talk about the best garbage cans in town where you can find tacos, right?'

'I am so f****d, Lissa. What should I do now?'

'You go there.'

'I what? Are you insane? Do I even look like a man? Is all this lack of sleep messing with your brain again sweetie? Of course it does because you are talking shit.'

'He said someone, Rose. Not that man in particular. And you are a someone, right?'

If I think about it, this might actually work. I get up and take my notebook. s**t! Why did I make reservations at one of the fanciest restaurants around here again?

Five minutes later I am dressed into a midi dark red dress, with my makeup done flawlessly by Lissa, God bless her soul for these skills, and my hair put up into a nice high ponytail. I get into a taxi, telling the driver to take me to The Emperor. Another ten minutes later, I get out of the taxi and I find myself in front of the restaurant. What am I doing here? This damn place is so fancy just from the outside with all these lights and modern architecture. Inside, people are surely dressed in expensive clothes. And I look like a homeless person in comparison. Fine, not really, but I just got my dress from Forever 21, so you get what I mean. But I have to do this. I really don't want to find out how I am going to regret this. Some time spent in here is way better than anything this man would be capable of doing to me. And I have the feeling that he has a great imagination.

As I enter, I can feel the stares people throw in my direction. I already know that this is not a place I have to be in people, you don't have to constantly remind me of that. I get to a little desk and I tell the man there, a short one, jowly and with a receding hairline but with a warm smile, that I came to meet Mister Belikov. Pity fills his eyes in a second. He feels sorry for me. Are things that bad? Does everybody around here know how pissed he is? God, I am so dead right now. The man tells me to follow him and takes me through tables with people eating.

DPOV begins

I spot her before she sees me. I am surprised that she actually came here. I thought that she would pull some other trick on me and she would actually find a man to impersonate this Rudov man. But I guess that even she has her limits. I thought about her not coming at all too. My ''you will regret this'' line was just something that I said in order to convince her somehow to come here, and it looks that it actually worked. After all, I want to pay her back for this little thing she did today. I begin to enjoy our back and forth game. It's fun.

As she is walking through the full tables, she is looking left and right, like an excited kid, admiring everything around the place, her eyes widened in awe. She is moving graciously, but under all that confident facade, she looks tense up too. What does she think that I am going to do to her anyway?

But at least now she is not wearing those dull clothes anymore. This dark red dress looks perfect on her, emphasizing every curve of her body. I was right about her. She looks amazing under all those baggy clothes. Her hair is still tied into a ponytail, like always, and it is moving left and right as she is making her way towards my table. To my surprise, she is now wearing makeup too. Not that she would really need any. She looks better than any fancy-dressed woman in here anyway. There is a certain appeal to her that I can't seem to resist. I want to know more about her. And I plan to study her all night long. Some time ago I called Tasha and dodged my way out of her bed once more, so I have all the time in the world.

DPOV ends

This place is superb. It has such an intimate air. And the colors are perfectly combined. Light brown, white, and dark purple. So much good taste. On the background, I can hear one of those classical songs with no lyrics that is perfectly completing the decor. The people around me are all dressed in fancy clothes and all women are having their hair done and are wearing a ton of jewelry. Me, on the other hand, I stand out from the crowd, just by not fitting in here. I am completely bland. But even though, I still catch some men staring at my ass as I pass their tables and I need to fight the urge to slap them. Of course, this feeling is surpassed by my anxiety that is reaching higher and higher limits as we get closer to his table.

We still have a little walking to do, but I spot him before we get there. And he is watching me as I get closer, his face undecipherable. His gaze moving up and down on me does funny things to me. I pretend to pull my dress down, trying to arrange it, in order to not make eye contact.

He is even hotter than three hours ago if that is even possible. It surely seems so. He is wearing a navy-blue Armani suit, with a white shirt, unbuttoned at his neck, letting his collarbones slightly visible, with no tie. He hasn't his coat on, and I can distinguish his toned muscles through the perfectly fitted shirt. But what shocks me the most is that his hair is untied, enframing his perfect face. It is the first time I see him like this and God, please keep me steady; I gulp as I think about passing my hands through his chocolate hair.

We get closer to his table, and I just can't look him into his eyes. I may have gone too far this time and I know that he knows what I did so I expect for him to snap at me anytime now. And it's perfect that we have some audience too. Double embarrassment. He rises when I get there and greets me, speaking calmly:

'Good evening, Miss Hathaway. I'm glad you could make it.'

What? He expected me to come? Okay, it seems that person played out here is me, not him. I mumble a ''Good evening'' in response.

Then, he comes beside me and helps me sit. As he is pushing my chair forward, I turn my head in his direction to thank him and I almost make contact with his face, that close he is to me. I take a deep breath in to calm myself and man, he smells divine. His scent is so fragrant that I feel like I am going to faint right on spot. He smells like wood, offering him a distinguishable earthy aura, combined with faint nuances of some spice. I just want to bury my nose into the crook of his neck and never leave that place. His scent persists around me long after he takes his seat, making me feel dizzy.

'May I bring you your food, Sir?' someone asks from my left and brings me back to reality.

'Yes.' my companion responds and he also orders a bottle of wine.

The waiter leaves and comes back two minutes later with the bottle of wine and pours some for us. The second he stops pouring into my glass, I extend my hand and take it, bring it to my mouth and drink like half of it. I am so going to need the booze. I predict a long evening. And the wine is so damn good. It is red and has a sweet cherry flavor, combined with some spice notes. And I can see that it is quite old too. Well, the older the better, right? My taste buds are practically in heaven right now, unlike the rest of me, who is surely in hell.

I already know how the dinner will turn out, but what do you think will happen next?