“I was just going to get my jacket out of the van because I was a little cold,” I lie. I can see Tori holding back a smirk because she knows that isn’t true.
Chad looks over at her and asks her to close a window since I’m cold, and then I reluctantly follow him back inside his office.
As I sit down in the chair across from his desk, I think about what Tori said—his “tough exterior”. He wasn’t exactlywelcomingwhen I first ran into him outside his house, but he didn’t come across as mean. There are so many sirens going off in my head telling me this isn’t going to bode well. But instead of heeding them, I simply sit there and listen to him talk.
“Well, this certainly is awkward, isn’t it?” he says as he laughs about the twist of fate. “I guess I should have been nicer about being willing to help you fix up your place. Didn’t know you were my new employee.”
I shrug it off and pretend that it doesn’t matter in the least.
“No worries. The two things are entirely unrelated.”
“Good,” he says with a cautious smile. “Then we can move on with getting you settled into your first day on the job.”
“About that—”
“Did Tori give you a run-down of the position?”
“She did, but—”
“I’ll just go over the basics again from my perspective,” he interrupts for the second time. “I’mverybusy and I have way too much on my plate right now. I have things in my personal life that require a large amount of my focus and attention, and then I also have the matter of trying to run this company from my newly moved headquarters here, instead of DC where we used to live.”
I want to ask him why in the world he would have moved a tech company from DC to North Carolina, but I refrain since it’s really none of my business.
“I assume that Tori has completed all the necessary paperwork for you to begin today?”
I nod, even though I had gotten up to leave before I actuallysignedany of that paperwork.
“Great. I will need you to be ready to step in with whatever I need doing—notetaking on conference calls with my staff all around the country, clerical work that doesn’t require Tori’s hand, and possibly some errands when I am swamped and can’t leave the office.”
None of those things soundthatbad. Maybe Tori was right, and I can wing this and be okay.
“I know that you just moved here and that you’re still trying to fix up your house and get settled in, but I really need someone that I can count on to be reliable.”
“Of course,” I smile, thinking about how good it will be to have a steady paycheck.
So far, Chad doesn’t seem that difficult to deal with. Granted, it’s only day one. It honestly seems more difficult trying not to be distracted by Chad’s dazzlingly dark eyes and the way that the muscles under his shirt flex when he moves. I wonder if Tori is single and if she finds him as disorienting and intoxicating as I do.
“Where will my desk be?” I ask, noting that there doesn’t seem to be too many offices inside this building. I wonder how many other staff members are located here.
“I’ll have Tori move a desk in here for you.”
“Inhere? With you?”
“Is that a problem?” he asks with his brow raised.
Yes,it’s a huge problem.How will I be able to get anything done when all I will want to do is stare at him?
“No, of course not, I just thought that since this isyouroffice that you might need privacy to do your own work,” I say as I try to cover up how flustered I am at the thought of working inside a tight space with my handsome new boss.
“What I need is for my assistant to be close enough that I can toss her work at the drop of a hat without having to stop what I’m doing,” Chad says as he buzzes for Tori to come in. “Tori, have a small desk sent in for Seraphine please.”
Tori glances over at me as if she canfeelmy hesitation. But then she nods to go and take care of it. As soon as the desk is brought in, I am officially starting on the job.
***
My first few days areexhaustingbut nothing that I can’t handle.
All the tasks are things that anyone would be able to do. I take copious notes during several of Chad’s conference calls as I sit beside his desk trying to keep up with writing down everything that sounds important. Since I have no idea what most of the technical terms mean, I just try to write down literallyeverything. Chad is ultimately impressed by how “detailed” my notes are, but by the end of the week, my hand is so sore that I need to ice it. He offered me a laptop to use instead, but I’m even slower at typing than I am at writing. Besides, whenever there is a break in the conversation, I can doodle little flowers and animals in the margin. I’m not entirely sure how much he likes that part, but he hasn’t said anything about it so far.