“Don’t you have work to do?” I questioned, my eyes squinting at the annoying dude who also happened to be my friend of twenty years. “I don’t think you’re paid to make small talk in my office, Vice-president McMahon.”
Ryan nodded, but still didn’t yield. “So where did you meet her? Is she one of our employees?”
I chuckled. “No, but coincidentally she is the creative director whose interview I sat in today.”
“You should definitely hire her,” Ryan said instantly, his grin filling up his face now. “Anyone who can call out Ian Maxwell’s bluff is always welcome in my corner. And looks like she got you quite good. Would be nice to meet her.”
“Get out!” I deadpanned, my face stern and eyes intent.
“I mean, think about it, it’s the first time any woman has made you feel any sort of emotion at all. You are usually dead when it comes to thoughts of them. So even though it is rage, I’ll take it,” Ryan explained, looking dead serious suddenly.
And somehow, I didn’t feel like admitting the fact that she had made me feel more than rage. The reason I had found her so annoying on the first day when she bumped into my car was because of the way those blue eyes of hers stared at me. They held so much emotion that affected me in ways that had never happened before, and it angered me to no end.
I shelved that particular thought aside and glared at my favorite but most annoying human on earth. “Thought you hated my moodiness; now you want me to be outraged?”
“I’d take your outraged side over that emotionless side any day.” Ryan stood up. His grin now turned into a fully blown laugh. “I left some files on your table. You might want to sign them and send it with one of your secretaries. As you know, I’m a busy man.”
With this said, Ryan strutted out of my office, his blonde hair whipping around behind him as he walked out the door. My hands squeezed the nearest file as I mulled over everything that happened. If I leave it as is, that would mean someone somewhere had the guts to insult me and get off scot-free. Formulating a beautiful plan in my head, I gave a call to the HR manager.
“Barry, you can go ahead and hire Ashley Lane as one of our Creative Directors; we will really have a good use for her expertise.”
Barry sounded way too glad about the prospect of hiring Ashley, but I ignored it. There was an undeniable exhilarating feeling surging through my veins too as I thought of her and what I planned to do with her.
I’d make her see that Ian Maxwell wasn’t someone to be messed with. She was going to rue the day she insulted me and the day she stepped into my company. I was going to make her pay in unimaginable ways. Ashley Lane is definitely going to hate herdays at IM, but I was going to enjoy it so much. I was looking forward to it.
Chapter 4
Ashley
So much for getting a well-paying job and also having a good work relationship with the boss. I scoffed, my hand pushing that far-fetched dream aside. That dude was as infuriating as he was intimidating and pretty much more annoying.
When I got home that morning, I discarded of my clothes, feeling absolutely disturbed with how the events of the day turned out. When I left the apartment this morning, I had hoped that I’d be coming home with a job and glad how well the interview turned out. I hated the fact that my day has turned out to be so unproductive.
I sat at my PC, checking out different jobs application and looking for what company to send my resume to. My mind was reeling with the events this morning and as I scanned throughmy PC, it felt like I could still see those calculating green eyes watching me with hawk-like intent. It sent shivers down my spine and changed the whole course of my thoughts instantly.
And somehow, my hands must have followed my thinking because staring back at me was the homepage of Ian Maxwell. When did I type his name? It had to be the work of some kind of ghost. I thanked the ghost and checked through his page.
Who would have thought that the rude man would turn out to be the great Ian Maxwell Justin always spoke of? If only Justin knew just how obnoxious his great boss was. That doesn’t nonetheless change the fact that he was great. I couldn’t take away this fact because every single thing I read about him proved just how great he was.
A great business strategist, an even greater philanthropist and all these he managed to have achieved at the age of thirty-six. The fact that he started up IM Corps as a small tech company at the age of nineteen was enough to leave me in awe of the man. He had been a college student who had created an app that threw the world in a frenzy when I was still only a kindergartner.
This clearly proves that he was a one of kind man, but having had several encounters with him, I thought otherwise. I moved over to the images section. There were several images of him at different business events, meetings and there were even two images of him walking on the road with his eyes on a tablet. Looks like his bad habit was quite frequent.
That wasn’t what interested me the most in everything about Ian Maxwell though. I couldn’t quite wrap my mind around the fact that he has never been associated with any woman before. There were even several rumors that he might be gay and that he had some kind of romantic relationship with his best friend and vice-president of his company, Ryan McMahon.
I scoffed, closing off the PC as the realization that my stupid attraction towards the annoying man was way out of place. I remembered that sharp feeling of arousal that had sprung through me when I had shaken his hand. Was it possible for someone who was gay to make me feel that way?
“Ashley Lane, you’ve really outdone yourself this time.” I laughed at my plight because Ian Maxwell was someone I hated, he was also thirteen years older than I am and he could be gay. Yet somehow, my stupid mind is attracted to him. It wasn’t something I could deny any longer because the mere thought of him had me feeling this weird way I couldn’t and didn’t want to understand.
I shook my head furiously, trying to shake away every thought of that man. There was no reason to keep thinking of him so much if we’re never going to meet again. I decided to resume my job hunting but was stopped when I came across an email notification. The sender of the mail had me clicking on it instantly and was quite surprised at what I saw.
“We will get back to you, Miss. Lane.”
The way his deadpan voice had said this particular sentence and the way his eyes had remained impassive had clearly given out the message that I wouldn’t get hired and I had been quite content with that fact. How then do I explain this surprising news that I just got hired as one of the creative directors at IM Corps?
Maybe he realized my expertise was much more needed than his anger towards me. As much as I found the thought of my indispensability amusing, I was going to reject this job offer. No way in hell was I going to work for a man that annoying and somehow keep my sanity. I needed to retain my sanity to enjoy the rest of my life.
Justin didn’t seem to like my idea though and he made this fact known the moment I told him this when he got back from work. “I know you’ve made up your mind and it's quite hard to change your mind when it’s already made up, but I have to say, you’re losing an opportunity of a lifetime here.”