by Melody Anne
“I have to be honest,” Amy said with awe. “This is all a little overwhelming. I mean, the history of this wealthy family, the amount of business to keep track of, even the building itself. I don’t know how one man keeps track of it all.”
“Oh, it takes a whole team, sweetie, believe me. Don’t let yourself get worked up over nothing. The way to keep sane in this chaotic place is simply to do one task at a time. Look at the smaller picture, and before you know it, the day is done and you’ve accomplished far more than you ever imagined,” Esther reassured her.
They walked down the hallway and through a large oak doorway into a huge office. Was everything in the building done on a much grander scale than your average place? In the middle of the room was a huge three-sided desk. On the surface sat a top-of-the-line computer and an overflowing In and Out box. Two chairs were placed in front of the desk and one large chair behind it.
A bookshelf took up most of one wall, its shelves lined from top to bottom with many titles. Amy hoped she wasn’t expected to read them all in a short time period. Hopefully, they were only there for either decoration, or for when she needed a specific answer, though with the Internet, it was much faster to search online for whatever a person needed nowadays.
Natural light flooded the room from the floor-to-ceiling windows lined up on the back wall behind the desk. Amy was grateful for the uncovered windows, knowing if she got too stressed, she could take a minute to face the amazing city of Seattle while her stress had a chance to diminish. It really was an ideal office.
“Come in and have a seat. Make yourself comfortable while I show you what you need to get started. Before you know it, you’ll be excellent on your own, no longer needing my help at all,” Esther said kindly.
“I have my doubts about that, but I’m sure glad you’re the one training me. You seem very nice.”
“Thank you, Amy. Do you mind if I call you by your first name? I’ve never been huge on the formality thing. I feel that an office environment should be enjoyable, and really knowing who you’re working with makes a big difference in making it so. Joseph became a dear friend of mine, and so did his beautiful wife, Katherine. I’ve watched their children grow into fine young men and have been treated like a part of their family. It’s a good thing, too, because there are weeks you’ll see far more of this office than your own place. You need to have a healthy working relationship with your boss.”
“I’d love to keep it informal. Joseph said the same thing to me during the interview, and I didn’t know how to respond, but I’m beginning to see this place isn’t what I thought it would be. I was expecting a rigid staff and endless work,” Amy replied. As she realized what she said, she quickly tried to correct herself.
“I wasn’t trying to say hard work is bad, or being professional is a negative thing. I was just…”
“You don’t need to explain, Amy,” Esther interrupted. “I understand exactly what you’re saying. Before I was fortunate enough to get a job with Joseph, I worked for a large developer on the other side of the city. He was rude, to me and his clients, never smiled at anyone, and didn’t care about those who worked for him. He only cared about the bottom line. There are a lot of corporations like that, but this isn’t one of them. They expect a great deal from you, but they’re also willing to compensate you for your work. They treat their staff, from the lowest positions to the highest, with respect. The benefits are almost mind-boggling, but you’ll soon learn why they can do this. They save a lot of money by having an incredibly low turnover rate, and they never hurt for more business, because they have repeat business in all their divisions. Even in bad economic times, they not only survive, but thrive.”
Amy relaxed as she listened to Esther. The woman should be a recruiter for the corporation, not that it looked as though they needed to recruit. Before that moment, Amy hadn’t realized quite how lucky she was to have gotten her job. It didn’t matter, though. She’d work hard no matter what; she didn’t know any other way.
Amy felt slightly overwhelmed as the two women worked together the rest of the morning. By the afternoon, she was starting to pick up on some of the tasks, though, and she really enjoyed Esther’s company. They worked well together, and Amy wished she had more than one week of training with her. Amy didn’t have a mother and tended to enjoy the company of older women, especially when they were open and caring.
Esther put Amy on a project as she cleaned out her email. Amy was glad to find she was able to do the assigned task without asking for help. They sat in a comfortable silence as they worked for a few hours before they were interrupted.
“Esther, can you cancel my appointments for the rest of the day. I need to go to my father’s. Before I leave, I also need the Niles reports if you’ve finished them.”
Amy looked up as the most stunning man she’d ever glimpsed walked through a connecting door on the south wall. He was looking at a piece of paper in his hand, which gave her a few moments to secretly observe him.
The first thing she noticed was his build. He had to be at least six-foot-four, with wide shoulders, a full chest, and a flat stomach. As his arm moved, stretching the obviously tailored dark business suit, she could easily guess he was solid muscle, not an ounce of fat daring to attach to his body. The white shirt clearly accentuated his golden tan. The outfit was complete with a loosened tie, making him look like he’d just stepped off the closest movie shoot rather than his office.
He reached up and ran his fingers through his dark brown hair, causing the short strands to stick out in a few places, making him even sexier, in her opinion. In the next moment he looked up, and his deep azure eyes met her startled green ones.
“I’m sorry, Esther. I didn’t realize you had a client in here.”
Amy was shocked by his words. Why was he calling her a client?
“Lucas Anderson,” he said as he held his hand out to her. I’m in trouble, big, big trouble, was her only thought as she looked at his hand as if it were a snake. Skin-to-skin contact would feel far too intimate, even though it was simply shaking hands, but when had she ever touched a man of this stunning caliber? She also knew full well she couldn’t refuse to shake her boss’s hand.
As she hesitated an awkward amount of time, she saw him raise his eyebrows at her questioningly. Her face turned a nice shade of red as she finally broke eye contact.
She snapped out of her trance, realizing he was waiting for her to introduce herself. Finally, she stood and gave him her hand. “Hello, I’m Amy Harper.”
Amy was rooted to the spot as his fingers closed around hers, her breath instantly held prisoner inside her lungs.
The Billionaire Wins the Game is available at Amazon as a free download.