by K. S. Martin
“I’m just an assistant.” I say vaguely. I hope he doesn’t probe but he does.
“For who?” How am I supposed to listen to the room if this guy is going to start the inquisition? I have no choice but to answer him.
“I work for Mr. Williams.”
“We all work for Mr. Williams.” He says grinning at me. “Which section do you work in?” I wonder if he’s always this dense. Jake comes in then and a lot of people have filed in that I didn’t notice. He glances at me then at Bryan.
“For all of you that haven’t met her,” he gestures to me and motions for me to rise. Crap. I hate attention. “This is Jane.” He says when I finally stand. “Jane is my personal secretary. All correspondence will be directed through her as stated in the memo you all received this morning.” I sit and Bryan whistles low through his teeth.
“You weren’t kidding.” He says very softly. I give him a small smile. He sits back in his chair and since he’s on the side of me that has to look past me to see Jake, I feel like he’s studying me during the whole meeting. If I’m right, Jake will eat him for dinner. I might help, he’s a little creepy for my tastes. Jake drones on about some app they are almost ready to unveil. I’ve seen him on TV before unveiling an app. It seems a little over dramatic but he’s the billionaire so I he must know what he’s doing.
I take notes and listen. I watch two women on the other side of the room texting to each other. They keep glancing at Jake. I would normally assume that they were checking to see if they would get caught like in college. I don’t think this is the case. I think they are checking him out. He’s mine. The red head smirks at me. I raise my brows. I’m not going to call her out today but I will if this continues. That looked like a challenge. I have no fear of her butting into my relationship, Jake won’t allow that. He loves me and for the most part wolves are monogamous once they mate. I mean cheating happens but it’s rare. I see her nose flick and I wonder what she is. I will ask that.
Jake is issuing orders to the people around the table. Her name is Rhonda and she will be handling publicity with the media. So she’s either PR or Media Relations. I’m not sure of the titles yet. Bryan will be coordinating his staff to get the app perfected before the unveiling in two weeks. “Jane will help beta test.” Shit that’s me. I nod but I don’t know what I’ve just been given to test. Everyone gets up and leaves the conference room. I sit in my place. “Did you enjoy your first meeting?” Jake comes and sits next to me.
“The guy sitting next to me…”
“Will be dealt with. He was trying to see down your shirt.” I knew it. “Don’t sit next to him anymore.”
“He sat with me. When I sat down no one was on this side of the room yet.” Jake takes my steno and looks at my notes. I’ve highlighted his points, scribbled responses and assignments.
“You need a laptop.” I smirk. My handwriting is sometimes below par but I can read it. “Why does Rhonda’s name have horns over the ‘R’?” Jake grins.
“She and the blonde a few chairs up from me were texting about you.” He shrugs. “One of them has a crush.” He shrugs again. “Rhonda gave me a smirk and a challenge.”
“She’s had it bad for years but I was never interested. I like brunettes.” He winks. Looking back, most of the women he brought home did have dark hair like mine.
“Well, I can’t wait until she finds out who I am exactly then.”
“If you’re ready to announce that, we can.” Jake leans over and growls in my ear.
“No. You know how I feel.” He nods. “What is she anyway? She was too far to scent.”
“Human.”
“I saw her nose twitch Jake.”
“Maybe she has allergies, but she is human. Everyone in the room today was human.” Good to know.
“Is any of your staff besides security not human?” He thinks then shrugs.
“I don’t discriminate.” I chuckle. No, no one could accuse him of that. His cell rings. I tuck my steno under my arm and follow him. We are going to the elevator. He’s on the phone all the way up and into his office where he sits at his desk. I go to make him a coffee when I see him playing with the mug. He holds onto it and moves the phone away from his face.
“Water please.” I go to the mini fridge and grab a water. It’s the last one. I bring it back and go to my desk to check email. I check his first. Where do they all come from? He’s received nearly thirty emails and we were gone less than an hour. I go through them one by one taking notes. I think it’s better if I write them down and mark what I think I should do before I actually do it. He’s still on the phone so I check my email. I have two. One is from Bryan welcoming me aboard. He sent it one minute ago. I write back a hasty ‘thanks it was good to meet you’ “but not something I want to repeat.” I say quietly. The other is from security saying I need to come to the main desk and redo my thumb print. Jake is banging on his computer. I get up and go in his office with my steno.
“I think this is the best way to handle this.” He’s curious. “I jotted down your emails and what I think I should do. Let me know if I’m right or wrong.” He nods and I read them off one by one. I got most of them right. Good. I tell him about security and he says to go right away. I tell him about Bryan’s email and he lifts a brow but doesn’t say anything except to go get my thumb printed. He’s going over the emails while I do that.
I’m standing in the car headed down when it stops on one of the floors and a few men get in. They don’t pay attention to me. I think this is the law floor but I’m not sure. They’re talking about the new app. They think its designer copied it from someone else. I think that’s illegal. They can’t prove it yet and they think that it will be unveiled before their search goes through. The doors open into the lobby and they walk out ahead of me. I get my thumb print done again and head back upstairs.
Jake is staring out the window when I get there. I go inside and stand beside him. “There’s a problem with the new app.” Jake looks down at me. “I heard some guys in the elevator, they think it’s a copy of someone else’s work but the search thing isn’t done yet. They don’t want to tell you because you scheduled the unveiling too soon.” Jake’s jaw muscle works while he thinks about that. “Also, where do I get more water bottles? You’re out.”
“My secretary takes care of that.” He grins.
“Okay. Where does your secretary get more?”
“You can bring them down from the pantry, same with the coffee.” I go over to the elevator and ride up. The painters are finishing. It looks nice. The door is plain white and looks metal. The walls have been painted my least favorite color, beige. I have to admit though it looks nice. I think we should hang pictures or put out plants or something though because it’s a little boring. I’m not sure how I get in. There’s no handprint thing like on Jake’s office, or a keypad like the elevator and I don’t have a key. I’m waiting for the elevator to go back down, when it opens, Jake is standing there grinning. He holds up a keyring and waves it at me. “Sorry.” He says and goes to open the door. I’m standing behind him wondering if I will need him to escort me in and out of our apartment for the rest of my life when he gives me the key. “That’s yours.” I look at the keyring. ‘Hers.’ Is etched into the metal tag that I suspect is not steel but probably white gold. When did he buy this?
Inside I go straight to the kitchen and open the pantry. Two cases of water are stacked in the bottom. I see the coffee on a middle shelf. I didn’t notice all of this the other day because I was focused on cheese curls. Jake leans in and picks up a case. “Do we need a whole case?” I ask. It seems silly to take the whole thing down at once. “You should get this delivered. The water company will bring it to you.” He puts the case back.
“Set it up. For now bring as many as you can carry.” I look around in the pantry. If Jocelyn is like everyone else in America she has a stash of grocery bags somewhere. Bingo. In the bottom and stuffed into one bag are more spare sacks than I’ll ever use. I g
rab one and fill it with loose water bottles and a box of coffee. Jake is standing in the living room on his phone. I roll my eyes and go out the front door to the elevator. I get in and go down to the office. When I get there Rhonda has her butt perched on my desk. I see her when I get off the elevator in Jake’s office and cross to the coffee bar. She sees me and follows. I open the fridge and start lining up the bottles.
“He’s mine you know.” She says behind me.
“Who is?” I turn and look up at her.
“Jake Williams. I have dibs. I’ve been working on him for a year and you aren’t coming in here and stealing him.” I chuckle. I finish with the bottles and stand.
“Really? Is that what you think?” She looks mad so I decide to play with Rhonda. “Let me clue you in honey, I’m more interested in you than him.” I cock my head and she looks horrified. I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me sooner. If word gets around that I’m into women, it takes care of the developing Bryan problem and throws the rest of these bitches off the scent. Rhonda backs up. Rhonda backs away from me.
“I’m straight.” She stutters.
“Are you sure?” I ask playfully. The elevator doors open then and Jake comes out. His face changes when he sees Rhonda and I squaring off. “Mr. Williams, I’m glad you’re back. Rhonda has something urgent to meet with about, it’s a matter of life and death.” I wink at him and go toward the door. Rhonda snarls at me. For a human, she is pretty good about that. I close the doors and grin wickedly at Jake. He knows something is up but he’s not sure what. I text him quickly and tell him what she said. I can’t hear them but nobody is yelling ‘Jane come’ either. I think I will turn the speakers up on his computer and close the doors to test his sound proof theory because I don’t believe it. The doors open and Rhonda hurries out.
“I’ll get you for that.” She hisses as she passes my desk. I watch her go then I go to Jake’s office and close the door.
“You belong to her.” I say and plop down in the visitor’s chair facing him. He scoffs. “I don’t get to come in here after she’s worked on you for a year and steal you away.”
“She said you made a pass at her.” I smile and think about it.
“I did tell her I was more interested in her than in you, oh and I called her honey.”
“I want you to go to HR and file a complaint. Did she threaten you?” I shrug. “I know you don’t feel threatened by a human but did she?”
“I guess. She stomped in here when I got off the elevator and yelled at me.” Jake picks up the phone and dials.
“Carol, my office right now.” He listens. “Now.” He hangs up. I wonder who Carol is. “HR is coming up. Sit there and look upset. You should feel very threatened. Today is your first day and she just came in here and screamed at you. Now you don’t know if you can keep working here.” I narrow my eyes and try to school my features. When Carol breezes in on a cloud of perfume, I sneeze. She sits next to me and I wonder if I will survive this chemical attack. She could be a weapon with that stuff on.
“My name is Carol and I’m from Human Resources.” She puts her hand on my shoulder gently. I sniff and look up at her with what I hope is a watery sheen but I don’t know if she’ll fall for it. “What’s happened?” I explain about the meeting then about Rhonda’s attack and how I really like my job but I don’t know how I can stay here if she’s going to act that way. Carol pats my hand and assures me that Rhonda will be dealt with. Carol leaves after a few minutes of consoling me.
“How was that?” Jake nods.
“It’s on record in case she decides to file a sexual harassment suit.” I roll my eyes. “Keep that up and I will paddle your ass.” I recoil.
“No you will not.” I say. My fingers have curled around the arms of the chair. “That is definitely sexual harassment.”
“Not if you like it.” He grins. I shake my head and go back to my desk. I’m feeling anxious. I don’t know if he meant that but the prospect of him doing it felt…well naughty. All of my muscles in the deep dark places clench. I give myself a mental shake and wiggle my mouse. I have an email from my new friend Rhonda.
I will get you, you little bitch. You think you’ve won. You think you’re special because you’re his secretary but you aren’t. I’ll be waiting for you in the parking garage, or in the ladies room, or at the diner. You won’t know when or where but I promise you, I will get of you. Don’t think he will protect you because he won’t. He is a calculating bastard, but he is mine.
I forward the email to Jake. I hear him growl and pick up the phone. “Carol, I am sending you an email. Take care of this mess right now.” Jake slams the phone down. Wow. He’s mad. I don’t know which part of that email angered him most.
I check Jake’s email and calendar. He has a meeting in a few minutes with someone named Lyons. I go to remind him. He just nods and goes back to his computer screen. I wonder if he’s angry with me. It is my first day and there is so much drama. First Bryan and then Rhonda, Carol, then Rhonda again. Jeez when will this day end? It’s almost three now, so soon I hope.
I swallow and go back to my desk and check the wolf version of social media. Our Alpha at home thought we should have something that the pups could communicate on. He absolutely forbids any human social media because pups are not always the smartest people around. They make stupid decisions. The last thing the wolf community needs is for the world to get a selfie of someone in a shift. All of the pack masters have forbidden it but they all went along with our version to curb temptation. Jake helped set it up and to secure the network from any human snooping.
I type in the address and Jake is instantly at my side deleting it. I furrow my brow and look up at him. He is monitoring my computer. I grit my teeth and wait. “I’m sorry Jane but no one else needs that address and IT is always monitoring internet traffic. Stick to cat videos.” I cross my arms. “You can check later at home.” I raise my eyebrow. He crosses his arms over his massive chest and his biceps bulge. My inner muscles clench and a second later he grins. “I have a few minutes before the meeting.” He waggles his eyebrows. I’m furious and turned on at the same time. How is that even possible? I take a deep breath and exhale then shake my head. “What?” He’s clueless.
“You are watching my computer?” He nods. “So everything I do you are watching?” He nods again. “Don’t you think that is an invasion of privacy?” He cocks his head.
“I didn’t know that we had any secrets.”
“You know what I mean Jake.”
“I would watch no matter who you were. I always watch for a few weeks and then monitor throughout the year. It’s for my safety and yours.” The elevator pings and opens then and some men walk out. Jake greets them and shakes hands. He leads them over to the waiting area and sits with them. “Jane, I would like for you to take notes please.”
“Absolutely Mr. Williams.” I say evenly and join them. I sit next to the youngest man of the group. He’s probably a little older than Jake. Jake doesn’t like it. I hike my skirt up and cross my legs. He won’t look at me after that. The meeting lasts for a couple of hours and the men seem pleased when they leave. Jake is buying them out. I watch them load onto the elevator and the man that was sitting next to me gives me a little wave. I wave back and go to my desk. Surely it is time to go home now. As soon as the door closes Jake is at my side again.
“Turn everything off.”
“Is it time to go home?” My stomach growls loudly. I wonder what I can make for dinner. We will need groceries soon but I think the fish is still good that I saw in there yesterday. He doesn’t answer me. He’s pissed. Maybe I pushed things a little far with the wave. I didn’t mean anything by it, he waved and I waved back but Jake won’t see it that way. When my computer shuts down he grabs the top of my arm and leads me to the private elevator. “Jake I’m not going to run away. You don’t have to hold onto me.” I tell him but he doesn’t let go. He won’t talk and I have no way to gauge how mad he is but I think he’s re
ally mad. My cell phone whistles and I take it from my pocket. It’s Dad and I hope that I can diffuse this thing with Jake. “Hi Dad.” I wrestle my arm away from him.
“How are you?”
“I’m okay.”
“How was your first day at work? I’m assuming that you are working for Jake.”
“I am, I’m his personal secretary assistant person. It was okay. A man tried to look down my blouse, a woman told me that Jake belonged to her then threatened me then when I tried to check the chat board I got in trouble.”
“How did you get in trouble?”
“Jake doesn’t want me checking that from work. He thinks that the others don’t need to see that site. I know he’s right now that I think about it but he’s been really mean about the whole thing.” Jake growls low in his throat as the doors open to our foyer. “I didn’t help things either. I showed a little too much leg during a meeting because I was mad at him so now he’s pissed with me.” Dad starts laughing.
“He’s right there isn’t he?”
“Yup.” He laughs again.
“Jane you probably shouldn’t provoke him. He is your mate.” I smirk. “You should always do your best to put your mate at ease.” I roll my eyes. Jake is unlocking the door and I follow him inside. “I wanted to know if you guys are coming for Thanksgiving or not and if you’re staying until the funeral on Friday.” We haven’t discussed this, I forgot that was this week.
“Jake?” When he turns his eyes are amber. Shit. “Dad let me call you back.”