by Anya Palvin
"It’s been a long time since I lose my interest about dating." The look in his eyes told her that he may be reconsidering that decision. "I have my nose on my work."
"Tell me about it." She sighed. "Work has been the hardest, but most rewarding journey of my life." Diana wondered if he could hear the implication that her work meant more to her than just a career. "I'm sure you can relate to that." She gave him a smile, and for the first time since she'd met this man, she felt comfort with him. He smiled back at her, and Diana felt a part of her melt. She tried to convince herself that it was because he had been with her through a fairly traumatic experience. Yes, that must be the reason behind her reaction to his smile.
"I'm Diana, by the way." She said with a proud voice andextended out her hand for him. He took it and shook it slowly, making the ordinary task feel like an intimate act, and she shifted as the thrill worked its way up to her spine.
"William? I'm so glad to finally found you. I was about to send out a search party."
Diana stared dumbly at her brother as he walkedforwardto them, his tuxedo perfectly fitted to his build and to his handsome features. "Hey, Cals, I'm happy you made it without missing too much." Connor gave her a peck on her cheek and angled his face so that William wouldn't see his questioning look. "I see you've met the reason we're here."
It took a full minute before Diana his words finally sunk in to her. "This is William King?"
"Guilty." The voice interrupted Connor's reply. "I was about to introduce myself but you got here before I could." William shook Connor's hand in greeting. Diana couldn't help but notice how much more efficient the action was now than when he had done it with her. "How do you two know each other?"
"Connor is my brother." Diana said before her brother could say anything that she wasn't quite ready to reveal.
"So you're here to support him? That's great." William smiled at her, but it didn't stir nearly as much interest in her as it had before. Earlier, he had been a possibility, something that she may have indulged in if things had gone well. Now, he was just the enemy.
"I'm sure you have plenty of socialising to do, Mr King." She said, and couldn't quite keep the coldnessin her voice. He tilted his head, and then nodded.
"You're probably right, I should get to it. Perhaps we'll get to speak later this evening, Diana?"
"Perhaps we will if you find the chance to escape the attention."
"If you're ready?" Connor said, the crease at his brow alerting Diana to the third degree she would probably receive later. William gave her one last galnce, and then squared his shoulders and followed Connor to the first guest he would have to woo. As soon as they left, Diana set her glass down on the table and made her way to the exit. She had only agreed to attend this thing because Connor had basically asked her to. Ever since she'd heard about him, Diana had known that the new general manager would mean trouble for her and her colleagues, no matter how her brother tried to spin it. William King had come to the Grace Hotel to trim down on staff, and Diana knew that she was on the list as one of the firsts to go. She groaned at the realisation of what she had done, and she started to drag her feet as she move her way out of the hotel.
Her new boss was going to fire her and she just flirted with him. If that didn't make for an awkward situation, she wasn't sure what would.
2.
Diana walked into her office and sunk herself into her swivel chair with a deep sigh. She had got very little sleep over the weekend, and with good reason. As soon as William's attention had been diverted on Friday night, she had taken the chance to run away. And that wasn't an exaggeration, she can still recall how she taken off her shoes as soon as she got out of the hotel doors and gone straight home with that ridiculous get up she had on.
Her mind had soon started playing reruns of the evening – the entire 45 minutes she had been there – and reminded her of everything she had said to her new boss. The boss she had pretty much flirted with. And the one who held the fate of her future in his hands.
She kicked the poor tiny trash bin in her side in her great annoyance just thinking about what she did last night. It tilted on its side in a pathetic attempt to fall over, and then settled again in exactly the same spot it had been. She stared at it blankly for a moment, and then giggled. It soon turned into outright laughter, laughter she hadn't experienced since she'd heard about the changes at the hotel. And once it started, she couldn't stop it, and she feared that the now uncontrollable laughter was a sign that she was going crazy.
"Did I miss the joke?"
Her laugh was put into stop by the same baritone voice which captivated her last night. Diana found herself tongue-tied as she looked up at William King’s handsome face. His presence alone could fill her tiny office and his tall and muscular frame didn't at all make the situation better. If she thought she'd imagined how gorgeous he was the night before, what she saw before her told her she hadn't dreamed him up. He was now wearing a navy blue suit, its jacket opened over a white shirt complemented by a thin black tie. He looked more like a model splashed across the pages of a fashion magazine than a ruthless boss and it made her wonder if he had a stylist. Jealousy ran through her spine at the thought of how someone could work with that kind of art every day, and it maddens her that he has the ability to summon such feelings in her when she'd barely known him for 24 hours.
"William," she said brightly, "what are you doing here?"
"I was actually looking for Connor. Although I can't say I'm disappointed that I've found you. I thought that after your disappearance last night, I would have to bribe your brother to see you again."
Diana flushed even though she knew he was just teasing her. "Stop that. You and I spent all of 40 minutes together."
"And what a 40 minutes it was." He grinned at her. "Do I have to be grateful for Connor to be seeing you here?" Diana's heart jumped out when he gives her his smile.
"You could do so." If you were asking why I have this job, "Would you like me to take you to him?"
He smiled at her again, and she wished that she didn't like it that much. "Yes please. They told me he'd be in the office around the corner from reception, which this is." William looked around and saw the flowers and lilac pillows on the chairs. "But somehow this doesn't fit what I pictured out to be Connor's office would look like." He moved towards her desk and she saw him reach for the frame that held a picture of her with her parents at her high school graduation.
"Good call." Diana said quickly, and placed her hand on his arm before she knew what she was doing. "Connor's office is around the other side. Come on, I'll lead the way for you." She turned towards the door and then froze when his hand gripped hers. She turned around. "What are you doing?"
"I'm letting you show me."
"No, you're flirting with me." Diana's heart hammered even as she said the words. She hated that he made her feel nervous.
"I am." William answered, surprising himself at how brazen he was being. He hadn't been able to keep Diana out of his mind since Friday. He had left the event almost immediately after his speech, much to Connor's dismay. But he couldn't bring himself to stay any longer once Diana had left, and he had spent the entire night wondering why she had. And why she had been so cold to him once she had found out who he was. After a few hours thinking about it, he began to wonder why he was even thinking about that so much.Finally, at about four in the morning, he came into the conclusion that there was something in her which he liked and that feeling itself is so strange and unfamiliar---enough for him to decide to explore about it. He couldn't recall the last time he had felt this urge to get to know someone and even though the shadow of the reason why he had closed himself off loomed over him, he refused to think about it. So he chose to put his focuson the way this dark-haired, unassuming girl he had met few days ago intrigued him---and attracted him.
Today she wore black slacks with a red blouse that once again contrasted strikingly to her hair. This time, however, it flowed in effortless cur
ls past her shoulders and softened her face so that she looked even more innocent than she had Friday night. She was slightly shorter than he remembered, but he attributed that to the flat black shoes that she had swapped the heels for today. He couldn't believe what a beautiful picture she made, and suddenly he was grateful for whatever had prompted him to ask if she was in a relationship when they were in the elevator together.
"Does the flirting makes you feel uncomfortable?" He asked, hoping her answer would give him some kind of clue as to how she was feeling about him.
A flash of emotion crossed her face, and William forced himself to release the breath he hadn't realised he had been holding. "I'm sorry, William, I can't –"
"Cals, where were you last night? I have so many stories to tell you! You will not believe what Miranda..." Kate stopped at mid-sentence when she came to notice the man she’s together with and unashamedly gaped.
"Hi, Kate." Diana said, and pulled at the hand she hadn't realised William had been holding. "This is William King."
Kate's pretty brown eyes opened to twice their size, and she cleared her throat. "It’s nice to finally meet you, Mr King. We're all very excited to have you at the hotel with us." Usually, Diana would have laughed at the polite tone Kate usually reserved for the hotel guests. But at that moment, all she could think about was that Kate could reveal her secret at any point in time.
"Lovely to meet you, too, Kate. How do you like working here?" William asked.
"I love it." She answered carefully, her voice slightly lower than a squeak. "I enjoy working with the guests."
"Kate's one of the concierges." Diana offered when she realised William may not know everyone and their positions yet. William smiled his thanks at her, and held out his hand for Kate to shake.
"Well, I look forward to talking to you and all the employees at the hotel, Kate. Which reminds me, Diana, would you take me to your brother? I don't want to keep you from whatever you were planning for the day."
"Sure." Diana said uncomfortably, struggling to ignore the questioning look Kate sent her.
She led the way to Connor's office, and prayed that none of her colleagues would talk to her. Most of them seemed occupied by something else, and she felt relief as soon as they finally got to her brother’s office. She knocked lightly on the door and opened it when she heard the muffled "come in". But she stepped back and gestured at William to walk ahead of her.
"Aren't you coming in?" William asked her, his hand braced on the door.
"I, err, no. I have to get to work." which is technically true.
"So did you see your brother before this? Or why are you here?" Diana felt her heart do a tribal dance in her chest when she realised she wasn't supposed to be at the hotel for any reason other than seeing her brother.
"I was actually here to see Kate." She lied, and felt her skin heat. "They told me to wait in that office for her." She followed up quickly, and hated herself for it.
"Oh." William smiled. "And you don't want to say hi to your brother?"
"No," she said. "I'm seeing him for lunch. I'll speak to him then."
"And what about me?" The words were so soft that Diana thought she misheard them.
"What?"
"When will you speak to me again?" William's voice had changed to a tone that caused the butterflies in her stomach to reproduce.
"I don't know. I don't think this," she gestured between them, "is a good idea, William." She looked at him now, and didn't know how to feel about the disappointment she saw clearly in his eyes. "You seem like a very nice guy, but I can't do this with you. You're my brother's boss." And mine.
William took her hand and squeezed. "I can't say I'm not disappointed, but I understand."
There was a moment of silence as he held her hand, and she could feel the heat spread through her body. Suddenly, she wanted to say screw it and indulge in whatever he was offering her. The feeling was intense, so much more now that it had been a few moments before in her office when he'd been flirting with her. Words of recklessness formed on her lips, and she was about to say them when they were interrupted by Connor.
"Diana?"
She turned and pulled her hand from William's.
"Hey, Connor. Mr King is looking for you so I lead him to your office. I’ll see you later for lunch, okay?" She went over to him to give him a kiss on the cheek, nodded farewell to William, and walked away before she was forced to lie again.
It was for the best, she told herself as her heart scolded her. She knew it won’t take too long for him to find out the truth and now, she hadn't made it worse by tellinghim she wanted to see him again. And though the words were partly true in her side, she still couldn't get rid of the feeling that her decision wouldn't make a difference either way. When William King found out she worked for the hotel he was sent to minimise, he would, without a doubt, start with her.
3.
"You have to tell me what I walked into this morning!"
Kate burst through the door to Diana's office and stood with her hands on her hips, demanding attention. But Diana merely finished making her notes for the guests she had just seen, and looked calmly up at her friend.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Kate rolled her eyes. "Oh, do I have to explain further then? I'm talking about the fact that I walked in on you and our new boss in a very intimate situation. Now spill it out!"
Diana looked at Kate as she was sitting comfortably on a two-seater couch she had squeezed into her office in case any guests would like to feel themselves at home. Emotions stirred inside of her like a mad tornadobecause Kate’s interrogation. She wished Kate hadn't come in and reminded her of the mess she had made. "There's not much to spill. We sort of flirted at the event on Friday – before I knew who he was – and when I found out, I left and hoped to never see him again."
Kate narrowed her eyes. "While that does answer where you were that night, it doesn't explain what I saw earlier."
"What you saw was me lying to our new boss." Diana picked up her bottle of water and drank until the rawness she felt in her throat subsided.
"What are you talking about, Diana?"
"He doesn't know I work here. He thinks I was at the event because of Connor. And I let him believe that because we got stuck in an elevator together and I told him things that I never should have." And because I kind of like him.1
Kate stared at her. "You were stuck in an elevator together with him? I think you're leaving out some important details about Friday's events."
Diana sighed. "No, it was only that. When the electricity went out, we got stuck in the elevator. We had to wait about 30 minutes before we could actually get out, and we talked about things."
"Things." Kate repeated. "You talked about 'things' while you were facing one of your worst fears?"
Diana almost groaned at how well Kate knew her. "Yes, he helped me keep my mind off that very fact. No, not like that," she said when she saw the expression on Kate's face. "He just asked things about me and whether I had a boyfriend." The last part came out softer than the others, but she may have well shouted it.
"Diana, what did you do?"
"Nothing. Nothing," she repeated more firmly. "Look, I told you that it was before I knew who he was."
"And now you're not telling him who you are." Kate shook her head. "Come on, Diana, I know you're smarter than that. You know he's going to find out you work here."
"You don't think I know that? But it's complicated."
"Really?" Kate's tone clearly let Diana know that she wasn't buying it.
"We had a moment."
"Oh no," Kate breathed. "Oh, Diana."
"But I stopped before it turned into anything. I said we couldn't do anything about our feelings because he was Connor's boss." Diana saw the look in Kate's eyes. "I know I made it worse. But at least I stopped it."1
"You like him."
Diana knew it wasn't a question. "It doesn't matter. It shouldn't matter." She sa
id forcefully. "He is our new boss, and we all know that he's going to downsize and where he’s going to start."
"You don't know that." Kate said softly.
"Connor created a job for me at this hotel, Kate. Have you ever heard of a 'Specialised Concierge'?" She pushed up from her desk in frustration. "Even if what Connor did was considered ethical, the fact that it’s an unnecessary role here should give William plenty of reason to fire me."
"Connor wouldn't let that happen."
"Connor's part of the reason I'm in this situation, Kate. No, I have to look out for myself here. And I have to start by telling William King that I work for him."
There was silence as each of them processed what that would mean. By telling William she worked for him, Diana knows she will be the direct target. And she had to admit that it scared her. She would be drawing his attention to herself, which would probably mean lessening the time before she was fired. And she would have to accept that. For the first time since her parents died, Diana would have to look after for herself without anyone’s help and aid because it’s obvious that Connor couldn't swoop in and save her this time.
She hadn't lied when she said Connor was part of the reason she couldn't get involved with William. She knew her brother was concerned about the fate of the hotel, and maybe just as concerned about his own job. Connor cared about the people here, and she knew that he would never forgive himself if he didn't find a way to save as many of their jobs as possible. She couldn't expect him to worry about her as well. She couldn't, and she wouldn't.
"You don't have to tell him you know."
"What?"
"You don't have to tell William you work here." Kate repeated, and leaned forward in her chair. "We'll cover it up. I'll speak to some of the others, and we'll come up with a plan to save your job."
"How?" Diana shook her head. "There's no way it’s possible to do that – none that wouldn't jeopardise all of your jobs anyway. I can't ask that of you, or anyone else."