by Lauren Wood
I knew Joseph, I had worked with him for several years now and I could tell he was meddling. But for what reason?
“I don't know, Joseph. It seems like a set-up to me.”
“Actually, it was more of a favor to an old friend of mine that I know from church. He said that his daughter wanted to move back home, since she had gotten a divorce. She has a young daughter and she needed a good job. She works well from what I can hear and even though she doesn't have much work experience, she will be a good investment.”
I was a little shocked by Joseph's admission. Joseph never asked for any special treatment. If he would have said anything about somebody needing to be hired, of course I would have told him that he was more than welcome to find them a job here. There was always enough work to go around, but I was surprised that he was actually taking advantage of it. There was more to the story, but Joseph was looking rather awkward and I didn't want to push it anymore.
“Did her father help you with something?”
“Yes, many times. He is actually the one that helped me to realize what I truly wanted to do.”
“And what is that?”
“Work with one of the greatest men in business.”
I waved him off, but I felt a little bit of wetness in my eyes. Maybe not wetness, but there was at least a little bit of stinging going on. I had known Joseph for a while now and it meant something when he said it, because I knew that he wasn’t a man that gave many compliments, and certainly not one that he didn’t mean. He wasn't just saying it to win my favor. He was saying it because he meant it and I was a little gob smacked for a minute. I didn't know what to say.
“So, you really think that you need an assistant?”
He shrugged. “It would be nice to actually take a few days off once in a while. You run a tight ship, Harvey. I know that you put yourself into work to stop thinking about everything else, but some of us would like to have a life.”
I knew that once again, he was right. I did bury myself in work, because sometimes it was the only time I felt normal. I didn't have to worry about all of the loss and the pain that I felt when I went to sleep at night. At work, all I had to worry about was making money and surprisingly, that was very easy for me. It was the other stuff, the real life that kept me shaking my head and wondering what the hell had happened.
“I never wanted to run you too ragged.”
“You didn't, but if I don't get a little bit of help in here, I might burn out and I don't want that. So, she can stay, right?”
My mind recalled the wisp of a girl with bright green eyes staring back at me. I wanted her from the moment I saw her standing there like a vision. For one reason or another, Ellie had made me feel almost instant desire for her. I don’t know if it was the innocence that mirrored off of her face, or the slackened need that I felt for her. Or the fact that she made me feel at all, something I hadn’t done since…
I shook my mind of those thoughts.
“Of course, she can stay, Joseph. I was just wondering what was up with her. She definitely doesn't seem like a regular candidate.”
“And why is that?”
“Because she's nice.”
That made Joseph smile and he had that look on his face again that I didn't quite understand. Once again, I felt like it was a set-up. What did he know that I did not? Did he know that I was going to feel this way for Ellie, and if so, how?
I went on a run the next morning because I woke up the way I was supposed to. The butler had the coffee ready for me in the kitchen and the paper was right next to it on the counter. It was going to be a good day. I was sure of it.
The sun was bright in the sky and it was little warmer than usual for October. My mind strayed from the usual for a few moments and I thought about the new assistant. I probably wouldn't have wondered so much about her, but Joseph had something up his sleeve and I knew that Ellie was part of it. I just didn't know what exactly that was yet.
My run was usually from six to seven and right on time, I was back in the house for my seven-fifteen shower. I don't know why I felt so anxious, but I knew that it probably had to do with Joseph. Most likely, he was doing all of this to mess with my head.
When I got to work, Ellie was already in for the day and I liked the fact that she was on time. It bothered me more than almost anything else, tardiness. I didn't think that there was a way to get much done if a person was always late or not coming in at all. The only way I was going to get what I needed to get done, was to be in early every day. I expected the same out of everyone else, but that was easier said than done. I had come in many days and fired everybody who wasn't at their desk. It gave me a bit of a reputation that I was still trying to get out of. I hadn't done it in a while. Joseph kept me from doing things like that now.
I told Ellie ‘good morning’ and she just smiled at me for a moment, before she looked back down at her work. I wondered if she was thinking about the day before and when she had walked in on me and the accountant. I'm not even sure if she had seen her, but I did know for certain that she had seen a bit more of me. I could tell that immediately after seeing her face, when I went down to find her. She had barely been able to look at me, and it wasn't much different than right now.
Going into my office, I shut the door and tried to pull myself together. I didn't have emotions and feelings, or at least, I wasn't going to let anybody see them. As much as I wanted to pretend like I felt nothing, that wasn't the truth.
Joseph came in a little bit later and told me that he had to go early today.
“Why are you leaving?”
“Because I have a doctor’s appointment. Do you want to know why?”
I waved him off and told him that I didn't.
“I'm not even sure why you would tell me, Joseph.”
“I just wanted to make sure that you knew I wasn't going to be here.”
“As helpful as you are Joseph, I'm sure that I can handle a few hours without you.”
“But you don't have to be without an assistant, remember?”
It took me a few moments to realize what he was talking about, or rather who he was talking about.
“Ellie?”
He agreed.
“Yes, I think that it would be good to take Ellie with you. She already knows a thing or two about the business and I'm sure she'll be fine. All it's going to be is taking notes, remember?”
I agreed, but I felt a little ill about it. There was something about Ellie that bothered me. She brought emotions up into me that I didn't really want to think about. It would be easier if I was able to shut all of that off.
“Yeah, I'm sure that will be fine. Are you sure that it's necessary for me to bring anybody?”
“I do. I think that would be good if you brought her, Harvey. It is just a suggestion.”
I knew it was a suggestion, but it was a ballsy one. I didn't think that Joseph was bringing her up as an option because he really thought that I needed an assistant. Far from it. Like I have felt before, there was obviously something going on with my assistant. He had something on his mind, and I wasn't about to even try to guess what it was. There really was no telling with Joseph half the time.
He left the office and while I acted like it was not a big deal, it was. The truth was that I was trembling a little bit inside. I don't know why. It's not like I wasn't around women all the time, but just being around Ellie for a few moments, I had realized that there was something different about her. It was intangible sure, but it was definitely there.
Now I had to be alone with her for an extended period of time. I had to take her to a meeting with a couple other guys and Johnson especially, would have a field day with her. He always did like the dark-haired women and Ellie was definitely going to get attention.
I immediately realized that I didn't want that at all, but there was nothing I could do about it. I would have rather no one looked at her the same way I was. I had already mentally tagged her as my own, not even realizing what I was
doing.
7
Ellie
My second day at the company was going pretty well, when I got a bit of surprise and I wasn't quite sure how to react to it. I didn't really have time to react, because Harvey popped his head in my office and told me that he needed me to go with him to a meeting. Apparently, I needed to take notes, because he couldn't, remember? I'm not really sure. I had never been somebody's assistant before and it felt strange, because every time I looked at him, I was looking at him with just his boxers on.
And the problem with that was that the boxers hadn't left much to the imagination. They had been dark blue and molded to his body. I could still see them perfectly if I closed my eyes, but I refused to do so. Not in front of him. It felt like that would somehow be wrong and violating, even though I’m not really sure how.
“Okay, sure. Do I need to just bring a notepad and a pen?”
He agreed and out he went. He didn't say anything else, so I grabbed my jacket just in case it was cold and went out to the hallway. Harvey was already walking towards the elevator and I was under the impression that I was supposed to go with him. He held the elevator door for me until I got there, but I still felt rushed. I had been warned about this though. He was intelligent, genius by many people’s standards, but that came with its own mix of problems. Or quirks as people liked to call them.
“Thank you.”
“No problem. Thank you for coming with me. I know that it is short notice. Joseph didn't tell me about an appointment until an hour ago.”
I waved him off. “That's what I'm here for.”
He made a little smile and then he looked at a couple of reports that were in his hand. He didn't say another word to me and the few floors that we needed to go down in the elevator felt ridiculously long because of it. I don't know why, but I had expected something more. I know that he was attracted to me. I was attracted to him, so why was he acting like there was nothing there?
The elevator made a dinging sound and I was relieved to get out of there. It was hard to be stuck in such a small space with Harvey, especially when there was this awkward silence between us. It was like the air around us was so thick, that it could have been cut with a knife. I had never really gotten that saying, until now.
Getting outside, it felt like there was fresh air finally and I could breathe again. I don't know what was going on with me lately, but being around Harvey was more complicated than it should have been.
He opened the door and held it open for me when I got in a car. Waiting for me to be completely inside of it, he shut the door behind me and then proceeded to get in on the other side. Harvey gave directions to the driver and we were off. He was a complete gentleman, but it was almost cold how he was acting towards me. Professional. Too professional for my taste.
I tried to follow suit. I stared out my window instead of trying to make small talk. Small talk was where we had really thrived, but then again, maybe this was for the best.
It wasn't long before the car stopped and we got out. I was nervous because this was the first meeting that I attended as his assistant. I just wanted everything to go right. There was a lot banking on this job, and I knew that I had to make it work.
By the end of the it, I was tired and that was mainly because I was working at the speed of my boss. When I had thought of a boss before, it would have been someone you dictated what everybody else did. Harvey did that, even to people that didn't work for him, but everybody took it, because they knew he was right. They also knew he was doing more work than everyone else.
Working with him was like a whirlwind and it took some getting used to. I was not used to the working world, being a stay at home mom for so many years, but I knew that this was a unique circumstance. People could not possibly come up with so much information and process so much of it on a daily basis. There was no way. If it was the case, I had a feeling that a lot more would get done in a day.
As we were driving back to the office, Harvey asked me for my notes. He was rather surprised I had as many pages as I had. The meeting had lasted almost three hours and since I wasn't quite sure what information needed to be kept, I just decided that a summary of all of it would be better. I tried to keep the key points together and I had actually been a little nervous. This was my first time doing it professionally.
I just wanted to make sure that I had all of my bases covered.
“It looks good. A lot of stats. That is mainly what I usually go back to look for. You have saved me a lot of time, thank you.”
It was a simple compliment, but it warmed me from inside my core, for one reason or another. I wasn't usually too much of a pleaser personality, but I wanted to make him happy. I don't know why the desire was so strong inside of me, but it was just like I knew that this was what I was supposed to be doing. Why, I had no idea. I just knew that it was so.
He dropped me off at my car and said something about seeing me tomorrow. The next thing I know, he's gone and I am filled with mixed emotions. I knew that I wasn't supposed to be attracted to him, that was a given, but I was. Even though he was going out of his way to keep things professional, it did not help the thoughts that were going through my mind.
“Are you going to tell me what is going on at work or not?”
Cousin Chauncey was in town for the week and I was glad for the break. Since I had moved in a few days ago, my parents had been over basically every single night. My mother, in particular, did not care for my cousin and that kept her away by default. Anna loved her Aunt Chauncey, so it really worked out well.
“Why do you think something is going on with work?”
“Because I talked to you this morning and you were nervous. Now you’re just getting back in and something is different.”
Chauncey knew that I was divorced recently, and she was actually surprised that I was going to move away. She had always thought that Michael and I would get back together, even though I knew it wasn't a possibility. She had always thought so.
I think in truth, Chauncey was thinking about her own life and the fact that she was in a marriage that she wanted to get out of. She was living vicariously through me, using me as a guinea pig. I think if it went well for me, it wouldn't be long before she was going down the same path.
“It was just my first real day at work, and it was a lot to take in. I have spent so much time taking care of Anna, and I haven't really worked in almost seven years. It's good to be back on the team and doing something that is completely different than what I've been doing for the last few years, but at the same time, it is definitely challenging.”
“Well I bet. I don't know what I would do if I had to go back to work.”
There was a hint of fear in her voice and I knew that it was because she was seriously thinking about it.
“I am sure that it has something to do with how bad you want out of the situation. I could have stayed with Michael, and he would have tried to make it up to me. I would have lived the life that I'm used to, and everything could have been okay on the surface. But I just didn't want that. I wanted to really be happy and I couldn’t do that with him.”
Chauncey was quiet for a moment and I poured a little bit more wine into our glasses. Anna was asleep for the night and I was bursting to tell someone about my boss. I knew that Chauncey was going to judge the crap out of me for it, but I found myself bringing Harvey into the conversation, even though I could have been free and clear not to say a word. Something inside of me wanted to bring it up, like I wanted to share it with the world, even if Chauncey may not be the best option.
“So, there is this guy at work…”
Chauncey smiled a lot bigger and leaned in closer, taking a sip of her wine. “I knew it. Do I need to make popcorn? I feel like there should be popcorn.”
I laughed and scoffed. My cousin really was a mess, but I was really glad that she was here.
8
Harvey
It was Friday and I was rather surprised at how quickly the week
had gone by. I looked forward to the weekends like most people, but it was most likely for another reason. I went to find Joseph, because I needed a few more things before he left for the week, but he was already gone. When I asked about him, Ellie told me that he had taken off for the day.
“If there is anything that you need, I would be more than happy to help.”
I know that I told Joseph that he could take some time off, but it was becoming quite normal for him to be gone an hour or two early. At first, I had thought that he really needed some time off, but now I was starting to think that it was something else.
“No, he should be here.”
“He was going to stay, but I told him that I would take care of anything that needed to be taken care of. I would really like to help.”
After a moment it became clear that I was going to need her help, if my real assistant had abandoned me. I made a note to myself to talk to him about it later, but at the moment, I needed a few more things picked up and I had one more meeting that I had to go to. If I could do it myself or it wasn't important, I would have never even asked.
“Would you mind going to the store and picking up a few things for me?”
Those green eyes flashed at me, beckoning me in. Her chest was rising and falling faster, hypnotizing me with her bosoms. The dress she was wearing was tight around the top and gave me all of the visual access that I needed.
I was at work. I wasn’t supposed to be thinking about getting myself in more complications. I had to shake it lose. Ellie had come out of nowhere and I still wasn’t quite sure how I felt about her in general. It just seemed a lot easier, when I wasn't too close. Then I wouldn’t feel this overwhelming need to bend her over my desk every time I saw her.
Fuck, those eyes. She had these bedroom eyes…