" What's wrong?", Asher asked, brows furrowed in concern.
Claire waved a dismissive hand and shook her head, " I made a mistake, Mr. Beck told me to have you take care of it"
Asher sighed, " Did Henry yell at you?", he asked gently, giving her a sympathetic look.
Claire gave him a watery smile, " It's fine, I'm just overly sensitive at the moment", she said, swiping another tear away.
" Ah, got it", Asher winced then motioned for her to have a seat. " Tell me what you did"
Claire told him about the meetings. Asher assured her that it wasn't as bad as she thought. It has happened before and it will most likely happen again. No one was perfect and Henry was just in a bad mood today.
" I just don't want to get fired, I like my job", Claire murmured, finally getting her emotions under control.
Asher smirked, " You're not going to get fired, you're doing a great job and Henry knows it. He's just being a dick today because his bitch of an ex-girlfriend called begging him to take her back"
Claire was surprised when she felt a bolt of jealousy. She didn't want to see Henry with his hands on another woman. Not that she had any claim to him, he was her boss and they would never be anything between them. But the thought just turned her stomach a little bit.
" Oh", Claire said, " Did he?", dreading the answer, but she had to know.
" Did he take her back? Fuck no, he's not that stupid", Asher snorted.
Claire smirked.
" There is that beautiful smile. I hate seeing you sad. Don't let Henry get to you, he doesn't really mean it. He can just be mean when he's pissed off", Asher said.
Claire nodded, " Okay"
" Alright, now let me fix your little boo boo"
Claire stood and headed for the door, " Thanks Asher"
" You're welcome sweetheart", He murmured as he picked up the phone.
Claire shut his door behind her and headed back to her office. She had just reached her door when Henry called her name. Claire turned to see him leaning out of his office door looking somber.
" Yes?", she swallowed.
" Can I speak with you for a moment?", he asked gruffly then ducked back into his office without waiting for her to answer him.
Claire's heart raced. She really couldn't take being yelled at again without breaking down. She wiped her suddenly sweaty palms on her skirt as she walked down to Henry's office. She nervously stepped inside.
" Shut the door", Henry said without looking at her. He was shuffling same papers on his desk.
Claire's heart dropped, she was going to get fired. Asher was wrong. Henry told her from day one that if she couldn't catch on fast enough he would let her go. Claire shut the door with a soft click and went to sit on the chair in front of his desk. She had to fight to keep herself from bursting into tears before he even got started. What the hell was she going to do? She hadn't been able to save any money yet. She couldn't be without a job. Her dad would help her, but he only had so much money because he was retired. This was going to be the worst day ever.
Henry frowned across the desk at Claire. She looked like she was on the verge of breaking down on him. He had been harsh with her earlier but he didn't think it was that bad to have made her so upset. Asher had just called him as Claire had walked out of his office and informed him that he had been a dick and Claire thought her job was in jeopardy. Asher insisted that he should apologize. Something he rarely did with his employees. He wanted to be looked at as the tough boss who didn't take any shit. He wanted people to know that mistakes were unacceptable.
Claire's eyes were downcast. Her shoulders slumped and her hands squeezed together on her lap. His heart ached. He didn't want her to be so upset. He didn't think she was so sensitive. He had been firm with her before about a previous little mistake and she took it in stride, fixed it and moved on. But today she had teared up when he yelled at her, making him feel like a douchebag. But he hadn't planned on apologizing to her until Asher said something.
Henry knew he was in a shit mood. And he really shouldn't have taken it out on her. It wasn't Claire's fault that his ex-girlfriend Juliette had called, practically begging for him to take her back. That was so not going to happen. She was a spoiled rotten brat who wanted him to buy her everything. She had left him for another rich guy who was willing to spend butt-loads of cash on her. And now, that she found out he was married and would never leave his wife, she wanted Henry back. Well fuck her! She hadn't even treated him that well and she sucked ass in bed. She always would just lay there looking bored. She never wanted to suck or even touch his dick. Which she said she would do this time around. No fuckin' thanks.