Boss Undercover: Part 3 (Boss Undercover Series)

by J. S. Badham

  ***

  Claire

  Claire was digging into a breast of chicken topped with crispy bacon and potato wedges on the side. And she was also trying to compete with the basket of sadness sitting heavily on her shoulders over her current love life.

  She wasn’t even really eating, just moving food about with her fork as she debated whether or not to just throw it out or that magically her appetite would just appear.

  Would it hurt to try phoning Zack again?

  Claire sighed, placing her fork on the side beside her untouched food as she took out her mobile phone from her jeans’ pocket. Holding her breath, she dug through the contacts, deliberately disregarding the fact his number was in most recent that she had phoned, preferring that it gave her more time to debate whether it was the right thing to do and pretend she’d never phoned him in her life.

  It was now or never, she thought as she pressed down on the dial button, hearing immediately the dialling tone connecting to Zack’s phone. It went on, something she’d expected considering all the last had gone straight to voicemails.

  She sank down in her chair, knowing the automated message would chirp in, signalling that the receiver was unavailable. Claire expected it and dreaded it.

  Then suddenly, the dialling stopped, and then there was what Claire could faintly hear as steady breathing. She shot up, holding the phone close to her ear as she begged in desperation, “Zack, please don’t end the call! Please.” She almost imagined his finger hovering over the red telephone icon to cut their connection abruptly off. “I know I don’t deserve the time of the day right now, but I need you to hear this.” There was still not a word of reply, just the interference of background noises of what appeared to be late night traffic combined with his anxious state. “Zack.” Holding back tears, she gripped her fingers around the fork, turning her knuckles white. “I’m sorry for what I did. It was sly. I love you, Zack, and even if I was the best goddamn actress in the world, I couldn’t pull off lying to your face about how I feel. I know that. I…thought I was being selfless…but it was selfish. I was thinking about myself. You lied, yeah, and it sucked…but I know now that you hadn’t lied about how you felt…at least I hope that now you still feel the same. I’m so sorry, Zack.” Her voice croaked gently as she swallowed back a gulp of tears. “Don’t give up on me…p-please…I-I need you.” Claire was unable to stop the flow of tears as she pleaded desperately, wanting him to reply; it could have been a grunt or a sigh, anything, yet her anticipation was over when the call ended, leaving her in an emotional state with a deadline.

  Chapter Twenty

  Zack

  “I am Zack Benson.”

  Ah, no.

  “Well, hello folks, I am Mr. Zack Benson.”

  Definitely not.

  “I am the CEO, Mr. Zack Benson, of Benson’s Corporations.”

  Zack exhaled. Why on earth he was practicing his name in front of the bathroom mirror? It hadn’t suddenly changed. Bloody hell, he thought when he completely missed following through the loop as he adjusted his dark purple tie around the collar of his white shirt. So far, he’d already washed soap in his eyes, creating a few agonising seconds where he’d also nearly slipped on the pale white bathroom tiles searching for the towel. Zack’s day was not on the best start, which he knew had to drastically change before he arrived at work.

  Today was the day. The weekly business insider, pouring its heart out on Zack Benson, would be released, already stocked up in shops as briefed by his PA, Jay. But for those who he had worked with, they had not a clue; they camouflaged Zack. Like grass from the Savannah, they hid the hungry lion, unaware that the bigger threat was right beneath their noses.

  He’d also caught glimpses, actually, no lies; he read the entire interview and the piece revolved around him. The photo they used was breathtakingly good, not in a vain way of treasuring his attractive features, but for the fact it portrayed the fearless leader that Zack begged to be. It made him feel proud that hopefully the business world would now welcome him into open arms and register that Elijah Benson was retired. It was a big deal for him.

  So much shit would be uncovered.

  It made him anxious. On this dismal, rainy Thursday morning, he would be burying Zack Chase six feet into the ground, jammed tightly shut with nails so the lie could never return. He’d already seen the damage caused when he revealed the truth to Claire; only he expected he’d have little to worry about considering he wasn’t in romantic relations with the entire populace who worked for Benson’s Corporations.

  Steadying his hands on the sink, he took a single breath in, watching as lips drew out.

  Now or never.

  “Kyle?” he called out as he headed downstairs into the open layout of the central living room. As far as anyone would speculate, it would seem that not a soul lived within this complex, as everything was so neat and tidy. Not an ounce of dust, no discarded rubbish left lying about, and certainly no odd knick knacks—much credit to the maid. “Have you seen my phone anywhere? I’m pretty sure I didn’t leave it at work,” he asked as he adjusted the right black cuff on his shirt’s wrist.

  He’d offered Kyle the guest room down across the hallway from Zack’s after he had showed up with bottles of booze. At some point, they must have grown tired, so Kyle stayed the remainder of the night.

  Out of nowhere, his friend walked up beside him with an outstretched hand holding his phone. “Here,” Kyle said with a short nod. He must have only just woken up, the state of his shirt’s collar stuck up and his hair bedraggled from his tangle with the bedsheets. “You left it on the side table last night…I answered it.” He cleared his throat as his eyes quickly flicked to the floor.

  “Oh, who was it?”

  “Claire.”

  Zack slid his tongue across the bottom of his lip, tasting mint toothpaste. “Why?”

  “Why, what?” Kyle replied, his brows drawing into a state of confusion. His grey socks shuffled a little on the floor as he relaxed his right hand on his hip.

  “Why answer it?” Zack shook his head as he snatched his phone out of Kyle’s hand.

  “Why? Because she is ringing you to death. I thought you were ready to move on from all of this. Sort things out between you. Zack, you should have heard her on the phone. She was in tears. Begging. She—” He gave up midway because of the defeat in Zack’s eyes. “Dude?” he quietly muttered, patting a hand on Zack’s shoulder. “You two can’t keep going on like this.”

  Zack shrugged off Kyle’s hand from his shoulder as he slid his phone into his trouser pocket. “What’s more important today is clearing my name in the office. I need people to respect me. Know that I’m the boss and…as for Claire, that can wait. So…stop.” A final warning echoed through his stern tone as Zack headed over to the kitchen.

  Kyle sighed lightly, kicking his bare foot into the air as if he were tapping a football gently to the next player.

  Zack bit down on his tongue, glaring through the huge, double-glazed windows, rain meandering down the pane obstructing the city landscape. Part of him wished he was there when she rang, but another part was glad he didn’t have to listen to her voice, afraid that her sincerity was just deception mimicking the same case as that weekend.

  He had to shove it away from his thoughts, focus on getting today over and done with.

  ***

  Claire

  Claire was tempted to give up. She was trying to make the decision to cut Zack off, push him away as if he didn’t exist in her life, but that was terribly hard. So instead, she tried, and she did really try, to get on with her work, which was now updating a few sections of the company’s website. This was the attempt to improve marketing: update the old to bring in the new. And to save her job.

  Graves was up ahead doing his routine walks too, checking individuals’ screens as he perched a hand on their shoulder as he leaned in. If he hadn’t been doing exactly the same to the men as he was to the women, it might be construed as flirtin
g.

  “Hey.” A voice startled Claire out of the blue. “Sorry,” Jason apologised once she recognised it was him who had crept up behind her. “You doing all right?” He stole the empty chair beside her and sat down.

  “Y-yeah,” she replied timidly as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Just updating the website that Graves tasked me to do. You?”

  “I’m good…” Jason muttered, scrutiny written within his eyes, suspicious of Claire’s reply. “You sure you’re all right?”

  “Yeah, so hey, it’s getting closer to meeting your girl. Nervous? I saw you posted yesterday on Facebook that it’s only a week or—”

  “Don’t dodge the question, Claire,” Jason interrupted, his eyes locking with hers. “What’s up?”

  “Nothing.” She nervously chuckled, shaking her head. “I’m f—”

  She wasn’t able to finish off her sentence to convince Jason when Graves began to suddenly clap his hands, attracting the attention of the entire office. For whatever reason, it seemed important, and as the office gradually quieted down, with those returning to their seats, Claire could then make out a woman with a pair of spectacles propped on the end of her nose, meekly standing beside Graves.

  “Attention—”

  “That won’t be necessary,” a familiar voice cut in, startling Graves at the abrupt interruption. Claire’s heart stopped—a second maybe, maybe three—but it stopped. She knew, even if she wasn’t convinced herself, that it was Zack, and there he was heading for the front of the office, sending those beside herself into a pool of confusion. Confidence radiated from him as if he were God’s gift sent to earth.

  “Excuse me?” Graves laughed coldly, disliking how he had been cut off. “Don’t interrupt me. Get to your seat—”

  “That’s Mr. Benson to you,” Zack coolly responded, snapping his fingers that signalled Olivia to his side. She slid a copy of what appeared to be a magazine to his hand. He didn’t say a word for several seconds or so, just remained calmly quiet, an intimidating calmness that had everyone, even herself, anxious. Then he slid his free hand into his pocket whilst effortlessly balancing the magazine open on a page in the palm of his hand. “I know this may come to you as a surprise,” he began. “I’m indeed the CEO of this company. No, there are no hidden cameras. This is not a program in which I’ve signed to go undercover and is being broadcast on Channel Four. This was done purely out of speculation on whether my company is working to the highest standards.”

  There were a few mutters of shock, a gasp from Jason, who was still sitting by Claire, yet she was more concerned with trying to get Zack to at least look her way. A look, a wink, or some expression to show that he had heard her last night, forgiven her, despised her if it came to it, just something to show that he had been there. He refused to look over, his eyes staying stubbornly focused on everyone except her.

  “I must confess,” he continued, his eyes scanning the room. “I have mixed feelings. Some of you pleasantly surprised me, and others…” Claire wondered if that implied her. “…were a disappointment.” Then he paused, a hushed silence around the room. “Graves!” He snapped his fingers as he turned his head over his right shoulder, ushering the man forward, who was still shocked by the revelation. “Come here and look at this.” He held the magazine out and watched with some glint of humour in his eyes as Graves weakly took it. “Is that not me?”

  “N—I mean, yes, it is you,” Graves mumbled, not as hot on the wheels as he usually was when in the spotlight of the entire office. Instead, he seemed shy as a mouse, gobsmacked evidently. As Zack turned to talk with the rest of them, Graves’ eyes flicked back and forth hurriedly from the magazine to Zack.

  Zack’s smile broadened as he said nothing for a moment before he snapped, causing a few up the front of the office to jump as he barked. “Graves, you’re fired!” He clasped his hands excitedly before patting the man’s shoulder. “Pack your things and get out of my building. You’ve conspired against this company, and your behaviour will not be tolerated here.”

  Again, there was another chorus of gasps around the room. If Claire didn’t hate the man, she might have felt some sympathy for him, but this was the man who treated his staff with disrespect, was suspected of selling steroids right on the company’s doorstep, as well as using some funding for his own expense.

  “W-what? But, sir! What did I do wrong? I don’t understand,” Graves shrilled, panicking as he tried to reason with the man who was paying no attention to him at that moment.

  “Mr. Graves, do not embarrass yourself any further,” Zack replied, shunning him as he then motioned two men over she had not noticed till now to escort Mr. Graves from the premises.

  “As for the rest of you…continue with the great work. Under inspection, and hearing from some of your opinions, I’m creating a system to make it easier for those with younger children who are unable to get childcare, and I am increasing wages to reward your hard work. More discussion of these changes will be planned.” From the corner of the room, Zack nodded respectfully towards a woman who held a grateful smile against her lips. It was a promise he had made himself to ensure he could help those who had given real feedback for working at the company. “Now as for who will be taking over this department, I’m granting this to Miss Claire Winter.” He gave a confident nod but still refused to meet her eyes.

  Oblivious to those clapping, she was only woken from her despair when Jason patted her shoulder, smiling and congratulating her.

  “As for the latest project, I’m recruiting a small team within this department, and the same will be made through all other departments to work on pushing this sustainable attitude forward,” Zack continued, drawing all attention back to the front.

  “I want to thank each and every one of you for your work under Benson’s Corporations. I can see that this company works at its fullest capacity to ensure work is done correctly. Feel free to relax for the remainder of the day and pick up a magazine with yours truly featured. Again, thank you.” He nodded, his hands spreading out as if he were about to cuddle each and every of one into his arms.

  Then the eruption of clapping happened; it seemed apparent that each and every one of them looked up to him and were notably impressed. Even Jason, who once might have despised the man with their earliest collision, had a look of admiration. And there was Zack looking pleased at the front, welcoming those who dared to get up and offer a hand to shake, thanking him.

  But even though she had heard her name from his lips, his eyes didn’t twitch towards her, and that made her stomach walls clench. Hadn’t any of those words she said last night meant a thing?

  “Can you believe this?” Jason gasped, grabbing Claire’s attention as the rest of the office shuffled off into conversation. “That guy!” He jabbed his finger to the front. “Was the fucking boss all this while? My god! What a man!” Laughing, he clapped his hands again with surprise.

  Amongst the office, she could also hear those voicing their own opinions on the matter.

  “That’s the CEO? God, I can’t believe he was right in our office all this while!”

  “Wage increases? Fuck yeah.”

  “I sat next to that guy.”

  “I had the hots for him. Boy, imagine if we were together.”

  “Thank god, he got rid of Graves! Too bad Monica left. He would have had a dig at her.”

  Claire sighed, feeling utterly vulnerable and certainly left out. If she hadn’t known Zack, hadn’t encountered him, and never put that ad up for a potential roommate, she might have shared the exact same feelings, content that some powerful man was making positive changes around the office.

  “Wait, Claire, you were living with the CEO!” Jason blurted out, slapping a hand against his cheek as he chuckled. “And this was…the guy who—man, mind blown!”

  At the front, she could see Zack discussing with several people surrounding him before finally it appeared it was time for him to make an exit. At a loss, her mouth gaped as she
watched him leave, Olivia beside him, hurrying to keep up with his stride. As far as her promotion came, she wasn’t entirely fixed into the position till further notice, so as far as she could see, the rest of the day wouldn’t need her attention.

  Getting to her feet, she ignored Jason’s query as she pushed her chair away and headed down the aisle, heading for the lifts. On her way, she was greeted with words of congratulations, pats on the back, and smiles before they returned to their erratic discussion on today’s revelation.

  Pushing past all of this, she reached the lift, pressing the button desperately more than once as she caught a surge of adrenaline with the need to find Zack immediately. Shuffling in, she pressed firmly onto the control pad to shut the metallic doors, hoping they’d comply quickly.

  Out of sheer desperation as soon as the doors opened to the reception of the establishment, she ran out, giving no thought that she might be bombarded with the rush hour of those returning from lunch. As she suspected, she was and made no apology as she pushed past a fairly plump man, who blabbered a few words of profanity at her abrupt shove aside.

  The doors were ahead, and she caught sight of a dark, bulky SUV parked momentarily before it drove away from the curb. Zack was in there. Claire just knew it.

  Crying out with protest, she yelled his name at the foot of the curb, drawing attention as she stood, holding her head in her hands with vexation.

  “Shit, shit,” she cried, biting down on her tongue as she paced around in a small semi-circle of space.

  “Claire?”

  She turned, panting as she dragged her hands through her hair. “Do I know you?” she asked, her expression painted still with anguish.

  “I’m…Kyle, Zack’s friend,” Kyle meekly said, angling his head to the side warily as he held his free hand that wasn’t holding the cup of coffee out as if he were petting a frightened bear cub.