by Melody Anne
That was a bit ironic now considering he’d lost his business. Why wouldn’t he talk to her and explain what was going on?
Jasmine walked into her office, to find several strangers there, looking through her computer and files. “What is going on in here?” she demanded.
“Who are you?” an extremely attractive blonde asked her in a snotty voice.
“I happen to be the Human Resources director and this is my office. Who the heck are you?” she replied.
“I’m Amy and we're the current HR team, working on who will be staying or going. The president asked us to escort you to his offices immediately, once you returned,” the snide woman said.
“It would be my pleasure to see the man,” Jasmine spat, as she turned on her heels. She’d give the man a piece of her mind. It was rude to have people going through her stuff without consulting her first. She figured she was getting fired anyway, so she’d say what she wanted to.
She knew the floor well and stormed towards her father’s old office figuring the man would choose it for his own. After all, it was the largest in the building and the guy seemed to have some serious power control issues. Amy was running behind her, trying to catch up.
She stalked past the secretary, who gave a surprised expression, then looked confused. Jasmine didn’t even bother knocking. She threw open the door and stalked towards the desk. The man was sitting with his back to her but she didn’t care. He’d hear her just fine.
“Who the hell do you think you are, sending a bunch of strangers into my office to go through my files? I would’ve been more than happy to show them anything they’d asked for but the way you’re running things is a complete invasion of privacy to both me and the employees,” she shouted. She rarely raised her voice but she was so angry, she couldn’t control herself.
“I’m so sorry Mr. Titan. She returned from lunch and then stalked out of the offices before I could stop her,” Amy said a bit breathlessly. Jasmine’s whole world seemed to come to a standstill as the woman said his name. He slowly turned in his chair and their eyes connected.
She couldn’t breathe, as she realized the man who had turned her world upside down again, was none other than her ex-lover. Her knees would no longer hold her up and she sank down into the chair, which was thankfully positioned behind her. They stared at one another as the seconds ticked by.
“Thank you Amy, you can leave us now,” was all he said, in his cold, controlled voice he had developed.
“But sir, you said you wanted one of us in here as you let people go…” she began protesting.
“I said leave,” he told the woman. She looked at him with surprise and then glared at Jasmine, before heading out the door, which she slammed behind her. Jasmine could see the woman thought of Derek as more than her boss.
Jasmine wouldn’t put it past him to be sleeping with his employee’s. He was loaded now and apparently thought he could do anything he wanted.
“I didn’t realize you worked here. I guess I should have spent more time studying the personnel file,” he finally said to her. He’d figured the princess hadn’t worked a day in her life. He was sure she didn’t really work here either but more likely played at the office all day while collecting a huge paycheck. That was all over for her.
“Why would you do this?” she asked him. She didn’t understand why he’d want to destroy her father. Derek had been the one to walk away, why would he possibly come back into her life in such a horrible way?
“It was a good deal,” he answered her with his cold eyes. She felt her anger rising again at his dismissive attitude. He really was a cold hearted bastard. They sat, staring at one another. She refused to be the one to break the silence.
“What position do you hold here?” he asked her with a smirk as if he couldn’t imagine she’d know how to work. His tone infuriated her even further.
“I’m the head of personnel and I do a great job at it,” she said between clinched teeth. He didn’t say anything as he pulled her file up on his computer. He sat there, going through the file for a full ten minutes, while she sat in the chair fuming.
“You have worked here for six years it seems. I’m surprised you went to college,” he said with a derisive look at her.
“I graduated at the top of my class and I’m excellent in my position. If you fire me, I will sue you for wrongful termination,” she spit out at him.
Derek smiled at her words. His initial thought was to fire her but the idea of being her boss seemed far more appealing to him. He’d control her paycheck, which meant he controlled her life, because her dad wouldn’t be able to bale her out, anymore. The man was bankrupt and just about as poor now as Derek had been as a child.
Derek looked through her file some more and was surprised by how low her salary was. If she’d been working at the same position in his main company, he would’ve been paying her almost double what she made here. Her father was a selfish man, even with his own daughter, it seemed. Derek didn’t realize why that surprised him.
“You’ll soon find I don’t take well to being threatened, Ms. Freeman. I’m not firing you today but you’ll only remain on the staff for now on a trial basis. If you don’t work to my far stricter standards then you’ll be let go,” he said as he leaned back in his chair.
She wanted to stand up and slap him across his smug face. She had never in her life been so angry. How could he look at her so coldly? How could he have turned into this cruel hearted man? She was so grateful she’d never told him about her son, because she was sure he would’ve tried to acquire him the same way he acquired his businesses.
“I do my job very well. I will expect to be treated like any other employee here. I also don’t want to speak with you anymore,” she said as she stood up to leave. She needed to find a bathroom quickly, where she could break down in private.
Before she’d taken more than a few steps he grabbed her arm and she was suddenly standing there, far too close to him. She cursed her traitorous body wanting to lean up against him. His smell was invading her senses, making the heat pool up in her core. No, no, no, she shouted at herself. She refused to let him affect her.
“It would be hard to treat you like any other employee since you’re the only one here I’ve sunk deep inside while you cried out my name,” he whispered to her, bringing his lips only centimeters from her own. “And I hate to tell you this but as head of personnel you’ll be working very closely with me as we have a lot of jobs to replace over the next few weeks. If you can’t handle the position please feel free to walk out now,” he growled.
Derek was supposed to be getting to her but was angry by his own body’s betrayal. The second he touched her arm lightening shot through his fingertips, straight to his groin. Her smell, which was so much more delicate than most women, surrounded him. He wanted to pull her into his arms and take her immediately on his new desk.
He was trying to play with her and instead he was the one who was getting burned. If it weren’t for her eyes widening in desire or the fact her breathing was getting shallow he would’ve completely lost it. Seeing her desire for him was giving him back some strength. He’d have her again but it would be on his terms and he’d be the one to walk away, leaving her wanting more.
It took every ounce of his control but he stepped back and casually propped himself on the edge of his desk. It would look like she hadn’t affected him at all. He was great at putting on masks.
She had her hands clenched at her sides as she got herself under control. His lips turned up at the corners in a mocking smile as he waited her out.
“First of all, what happened in the past is long over. I haven’t thought about you since the last day we were together. Had you not brought it up, I would’ve completely forgotten we even had sex,” she lied to him. She got some pleasure as his smile was wiped off his face and his eyes narrowed at her.
“Secondly, I can handle anything. If we need to work together I can stand being around you. I just prefer not to
since you disgust me,” she spat as she made her exit. She raced down the hallway and into the ladies room, where she emptied her lunch. She sat on the floor for several minutes as she regained her composure. She didn’t know how she was going to be able to handle working for the man who’d broken her heart so badly she’d been afraid to get involved in other relationships.
She’d try and work for him as long as she could, while she started searching for other work but she couldn’t go without a paycheck. She had her son to think about. She gathered herself together and then walked proudly back into her old office. Amy looked up to glare at her. She glared right back. She had zero tolerance for the jealous woman.
“If you would please move, I need to get to my desk,” she said, proud of the authority in her voice.
“He didn’t fire you?” Amy asked in shock, before she could stop herself.
“He has no reason to fire me, I’m excellent at my job,” Jasmine replied. Amy stalked out of the room, Jasmine assumed, to find out if she was telling the truth.
“I need to gather a bunch of things together to go over with Mr. Titan, can I please have some privacy?” she asked the people in the room, with steal in her voice. She may have been asking but if they refused to leave, then she’d no longer ask, she’d demand. This was still her office and she wanted it to herself.
The other two people left without a word. She was assuming they were running to the boss to find out if she could kick them out. She simply didn’t care. She had nothing to hide but didn’t feel she had to share her space with a bunch of strangers.
Derek sat back down at his desk after Jasmine departed. He was angry with her but far angrier with himself. He couldn’t believe he’d let her get to him. The whole point of his revenge was to affect her, not the opposite way around.
He was incredibly pleased to find out she worked for the company. He’d simply been planning on cutting off her cash supply by breaking her father. He would’ve been to the offices sooner had he known she was an employee. He should’ve done more research so he could’ve been prepared to see her that afternoon. Things were going so much better than he had hoped. He’d been expecting her to show up at his door, begging him to give her father some mercy.
Instead he had her working under him. That thought made his groin tighten once again. He really wanted her under him again. He wouldn’t take her until he was more under control, though. The whole point was to teach her a lesson for walking out on him, not falling for her all over again.
He ran his hand through his hair in frustration at how easily she got to him. There was a knock at his door and then Amy walked in. He didn’t like her personally but she was a shark when it came to business and a good addition to his staff.
She sauntered over to him, not quite able to control the fury in her eyes. “I thought we were going to be discussing everyone in the executive office who was going to remain on staff or be let go,” she said in her most seductive voice. It did nothing for him.
“I’m assuming you’re talking about Ms. Freeman,” he said.
“Ms. Freeman?” she asked in surprise. “Is she related to the previous owner?” she finished, losing some of her normally cool composure.
“Yes, she’s his daughter and I’m letting her keep her position for now,” he said in a voice that brooked no room for argument.
Amy stared at him, somewhat perplexed and more than a little angry. He could tell she was trying to figure out exactly what his and Jasmine’s relationship was. He didn’t have any desire to fill her in on his personal life. It was none of her business.
“Are you keeping her as some sort of power strategy?” she asked hopefully.
“Something like that,” he answered nonchalantly. The answer seemed to satisfy her. She once again put on her seductive persona. He sighed, as he thought he was most likely going to have to let her go. She was getting far too confident and starting to push boundaries.
She sidled closer to him. “Do you want to get some lunch, I’m starving. Or I could order in and we could eat here while discussing some more strategies,” she suggested as she sat on the edge of his desk.
Normally, he would’ve been turned on by the sight of a sexy lady propped up on the edge of his desk, deliberately showing off her uncovered thighs. He’d never been attracted to Amy, though. She wasn’t his type, in the least. He liked a far less power hungry type of person in his bed.
“Why don’t you and the other’s go out to lunch? I have a lot to get done before we start bringing people in. Besides, I will be going over some records with Ms. Freeman in a while,” he told her.
Her eyes narrowed again at the mention of Jasmine, and cemented his decision of letting her go. He wasn’t going to tolerate a jealous woman in his offices, especially when she had nothing to be jealous about.
There was another knock on the door and then his two most trusted employees stepped in, looking a bit frazzled. They weren’t easily shaken, so he was concerned. “What is it?” he asked them.
“Ms. Freeman basically kicked us out of her office and we weren’t sure of what you wanted us to do so thought it smarter to talk to you than cause a scene,” Greg said.
“I see, well you did the right thing. Ms. Freeman and I will be talking but for now go have some lunch and we will get things worked out this afternoon,” Derek said. He needed a break. It was always difficult when you had to fire people, especially when the takeover was a complete surprise to all those involved. He never enjoyed this part of his job. This company was his exception though and the ones who got fired were having it done because they deserved it.
The two men left before he could change his mind. Amy lingered for a moment and then followed them out the door. He called his head office and spoke to personnel there. He had them arrange a severance package for Amy and would have her employment ended before the day was out. Once she got back from lunch he’d send her over there. He hated when things got messy. He had a feeling she wasn’t going to go quietly, which was too bad.
He ordered some food to be delivered and then walked over to Jasmine’s office. He stood at her door and watched her for a while. She was engrossed in what she was doing and didn’t notice him standing there for several minutes. When she finally looked up and their eyes collided it was like he was being punched in the gut again. He really hoped that went away soon.
“Have you gathered together the files?” he asked her, proud his voice carried the cold note to it that had made so many people tremble in their boots.
“Yes, everything is together but it would be easier to do it here. There’s a lot and it will take several trips to get it to your office,” she said.
“I prefer my office. We have a large table we can lay everything out on, plus that’s where we will be calling people in,” he said, expecting her to cave to his wishes. She blew her breath out in frustration before standing up.
“Fine, we can do it your way but I’m not breaking my back to lug all these boxes over there,” she told him and then walked out the door with the stature of a queen, expecting her servants to follow behind her.
Before Derek could stop himself, he felt a smile tug across his features. She was definitely hot when she was angry and she’d been angry since she had walked into his office. He was now looking forward to the incredibly drawn out afternoon.
Derek grabbed several of the security guards to transport the boxes to his office. By the time they got everything over, his lunch arrived. He ordered plenty of food and offered some to Jasmine, which she refused. He smiled at her stubbornness.
“Can we please get started, I can’t stay late tonight,” she said to him.
He was instantly irritated she was trying to assert her authority. He decided it was time to put her in her place. She was no longer the daughter of the boss. She needed to understand that quickly.
“You need to realize during a restructuring of a company this size there will be many nights of overtime. I expect you to put in the hours needed to
make this place a success, if you expect to keep your job,” he told her, with no room for mercy.
Her shoulders slumped and he was surprised to not feel joy at her defeat. He couldn’t figure out what was wrong with him. He wanted to destroy her, so why was his little victory not pounding through his veins?
She pulled out the first file and they went through it. He had two different piles on the table. There was a stack with records of the employees he was letting go, with no chance at keeping their jobs. The other was a stack of files where the employees would at least get the chance to interview with him. If he liked what they had to say, they’d keep their positions. If the interview didn’t go well they’d be let go.
Amy and his men got back and he sent her to the main offices. She huffed as she went out the doors. He didn’t miss the look she shot at Jasmine. It just reinforced his decision to let her go.
He sent his men into the conference room next door, with a handful so they could start calling in employees to be let go. He could hear the yelling through his walls as some of those employees, very vocally, expressed their outrage.
It was six in the evening when Jasmine looked up wearily. “I really need to get home. I have something I have to do tonight,” she said to him. His eyes narrowed to dangerous slits as he wondered what it was she had to get to. Was she late for a date? He knew it was none of his business but he’d decided he wanted her again and he didn’t want another man interfering.
“We can work on this more tomorrow. I can already see it will take us all week,” he said to her. He was going to find an excuse to go to her place within the next couple of days to find out why she was in such a hurry to leave the office.
“Thank you,” she muttered, like it was choking her to say the kind words. She quickly left, needing to get far away as quickly as possible. Derek was exhausted himself and decided to call it a night.
He walked out of the building, which was pretty much empty, except for the security staff. He drove home, wanting the night to get over with so he could be with her again. He tried to convince himself it was for his revenge but the more time he spent with her the more the line faded.