Romance: Working for the Billionaire's Pleasure (4 page)

He is so damn sexy…

But despite this being the most mind-blowing sex of my life, he has fallen to sleep like this is normal for him.

And of course it is.

He has probably done this a hundred times before…

Prick.

Chapter 7

Filled with nerves, I wait for Eva to arrive at the coffee shop early in the morning.  I slowly sip on my latte, thinking about my mistake.  Was it a mistake?  I don’t know and hopefully Eva will help guide me through what to do next.

She comes through the door of the coffee shop with a confused look on her face, “Are you ok?”

“I’m fine.”

Truthfully, I found it hard to walk this morning, but I don’t tell Eva that.

“Then why did we have to meet at the coffee shop rather than at work?” she asks.

I take a deep breath, “It’s…”

“It’s Mitchell,” she smiles.

I nod.

“Oooo…” she playfully teases me, “Tell me more.”

“We were in the office together last night.”

“And?”

“And he got drunk.”

“In the office?  That doesn’t sound good.  He didn’t try to do anything that he wasn’t allowed to do, did he?”

I shake my head, “He didn’t.”

“But?”

“But I did.”

Eva’s eyes almost pop out of her head, “What do you mean?  What happened?”

“I…” I struggle to say the next words, “I took advantage of him.”

A smile drifts across her face, “Go on.”

“He was drunk and asleep in his office.  I was working late on a file.  One thing leads to another.  And that’s it.  That’s the full story.”

“It is not the full story!  That’s not even close to the full story!  Tell me what happened.”

“Shhh,” I quite her down, “Keep your voice down.”

“You need to tell me what happened, or I’ll shout it from the rooftops,” she teases me with a smile.

“Well… um… like I said, he was drunk.”

“And you were sober?”

“I was working, so yes, I was sober.  I went into his office to tell him that I had completed the file, and he poured his heart out to me.  He looked so sexy and vulnerable.”

“And then?” Eva asks eagerly.

“Then I sat on him… without my clothes on.”

Eva laughs out loud in a celebration, and then puts her hand up, “I need a high five!”

I sheepishly tap her hand.

“How drunk was he?”

“I don’t know.  He was still very good in bed.  Not in bed, I mean, he was still very good on the couch.”

Eva laughs out loud again, “Will he remember it?”

“I think so, but I really hope he doesn’t.  What do you say to a boss after you’ve slept with them?”

“You start with 'good morning.'”

I shake my head, “But what else do I say to him?  What do you say to someone the night after you slept together?”

“Start with a nice good morning and then see where that goes,” Eva is a lot more experienced with men than I am and I want to take her advice.

“What if he fires me?”

“But you said it was a good time?”

“Does that matter?”

“With men, it always matters.  Their dicks guide them.  That’s why it’s on the front of their body.”

I laugh.

“And was he what you expected?” Eva asks.

“And more,” I smile mischievously.

“Oohh…”

“But I’m really worried about what is going to happen next.  What if he hated it?  What if he didn’t enjoy it all?”

“Is that what you think happened?”

“No, but… you never know.”

“With men, you always know,” Eva reassures me, “If they were hard, they enjoyed it.  It’s that simple.  So, was he hard?”

“Very.”

“Then he enjoyed it.  Don’t worry about it too much.  Go back to work and see what happens next.”

I sigh, “I have to go back, don’t I?”

“Absolutely,” Eva replies.

I take a deep breath before I finish my coffee and begin the trek back to work.

Chapter 8

I walk into the office and Mitchell is already there. 

My heart is pounding as I think about what I am going to say to him.  I take a peek inside his office as I walk past and see him with his head down, typing away at his computer.  His focus for work amazes me.  No wonder he is so successful.

He must love making money.

Walking into his office with a drink in my hand, I nervously place it at his desk, “I thought after the way you were last night, water might be better than a coffee.”

He looks up from his desk and his piercing glare cuts right through me, “What do you mean?”

“I mean… um…”

Oh no. 

I can feel myself blushing under his stare and I can’t do anything to stop it.

“I’ve had a big week and I had too much to drink last night.  That’s it.  Nothing more.”

That’s it?

Nothing more?

Last night was intense for me.

It was probably the most intense moment of my life and he is going to disregard it with a simple sentence?

“Do you remember last night?” I ask in hope.

He looks up from the desk with a steely glare, “I remember.”

“And that meant nothing to you?” I ask.

He shakes his head, “I had a lot to drink.”

“That’s it?” I can feel myself starting to loose control.

His stare cuts straight through me.

“Ok,” he concedes, “I remember last night as a very intense night.”

His voice softens as he avoids eyes contact.

“But?” I question.

“But right now, I have a lot going on.  I have just bought this company and I am trying to change the direction it is heading.  I have a lot of thinking to do about where this company is going.”

“Ok…”

“What I’m saying is that I don’t have time to do anything more than what is happening already.  My life is full and I can’t go around thinking about how I might have hurt someone’s feelings.”

“Hurt my feelings?  That’s all your worried about?”

“I’m regret if you think that last night should have lead to something else because for me, it hasn’t.”

I wait in front of his desk to say something else but he doesn’t.  He looks away from me and back to his computer.

He doesn’t even say thank you for the drink. 

What a bastard.

I can feel the anger burn inside me.

I want to throw the cup of water at his head…but I don’t. 

Instead, I turn and walk out of his office a shattered woman.

Chapter 9

I nervously sit at my desk all day waiting for Mitchell to come out of his office and say something to me.  I don’t care what he says, I just want to say something. 

Anything.

I want him to regret what he said earlier.  I want him to be sitting in the office thinking about how much he regrets saying what he said.  I imagine that he is sitting there thinking about a way to make it up to me.  It's wishful thinking, but I can't help but hope.

We spent a night together.  That must mean something.

The morning passes but I haven’t seen him again. I keep thinking about going into his office to discuss the night before but one rejection today is enough.

Lunchtime passes and still there is nothing. 

Most of the afternoon passes and I haven’t heard anything from him.

Then I get an email.

A direct, firm, blunt email from Mitchell, whose office is only a few yards away from me:

Chloe,

Cancel the contract of the band Waterworks.  I don’t see them making any money. 

Cancel their contract?

Is he serious?

He can’t cancel their contract.  That’s not what we do in this company.

I take a deep breath, put on my work demeanor, and walk into his office.  Even though I am nervous talking about the previous night, I know I can talk to him about work. 

Standing at the end of his desk, I wait for him to acknowledge my existence.

But he doesn’t.

He doesn’t look up from whatever it is he is typing.

He knows I’m here.  He knows that for sure.

I wait…

And I wait…

But still he doesn’t acknowledge me.

“I’m not cancelling the contract,” I state firmly, trying to attract his attention.

Finally, he looks up from his precious computer.

He stares at me, before leaning back in his chair, and looking out the window, “And why not, Chloe?”

“Why not?  Is says it in their file - or didn’t you bother to read their file before you decided you would destroy their career?”

“I read their file.  And what their file said is that are not likely to make any money.  That’s not the direction that we want to take this company.  You may have had a boss in the past that was willing to throw money away, but for this company to be successful, we need to manage the accounts better.  That’s the bottom line.”

“That’s not all the file said.  The file said that this band is cutting edge.  I know the file said that because I wrote their file.  They are trying something new with their sound and, although that might not be the most popular option right now, it is an honorable one.  We need to support bands like this.  Without them, the industry becomes one sound.  We need to protect the industry from destroying itself.”

“Let another record label sign them.  I don’t wish them any bad luck, but they won’t make any money.  We are a business, not charity.  The industry must react to what the listeners want.  We can’t go throwing money at people just because they’re different.  If you could see a way that this people could money, I’m willing to listen.  If not, cut them loose.”

His tone infuriates me.  How could I have fallen for him?!

He must see the anger on my face.

“That’s business,” he remarks flippantly.

Mitchell’s tone is firm and heavy.

“That’s business?  Are you serious?”

He nods, “I’m very serious.  Joel told me that you were an intelligent, quick-thinking woman, but I am yet to see any evidence of that.  You seem to think that money grows on trees.  As a company, we cannot afford to throw money away.  That sort of business model is outdated.”

“Our business model has worked in the past.”

“But it doesn’t work now.  Times change.  And right now, times are changing quickly.  If we don’t keep up with the industry, then we will be left behind.  This company barely broke even last year.  We can’t afford to keep running the business the way it was run in the past.”

“It’s not all about money.”

“It is.  It is always about money.  And the potential for this company to make money is massive.  You have only touched the tip of the iceberg.  If your previous owner had bothered to think about making money, this company would be huge.”

“We’ve made money in the past,” I defend our previous working styles, “The industry goes in circles.  We’ll make money again.”

“Not with that business model.  The industry has changed.  We can’t rely on previous working habits and keep expecting to make money.  You need to accept that the industry has changed and this business has to change to keep up with the changes.”

“You only care about money,” I make the statement as an accusation, but Mitchell barely flinches.

“I’m a good business man.  I can turn companies around and I’ve done it before.  I love that challenge and I love the thrill of taking a failing company and turning it into a successful one.  If you don’t believe that this company was failing then you are sorry mistaken.  Joel jumped ship because he knew that he couldn’t sustain the business model.  The quicker that you accept we have to change, the better we will get along.”

“The better we will get along?” I question.

How dare he bring us into it! 

He smirks arrogantly, “We could get along very well.” 

“Is that what you think I am?!” I ask as the rage burns inside, “Do you really think that I am some piece of meat that you can seduce with a smirk?”

“A smirk and a lot of money,” he grins.

“Then you have me figured out wrong.” I bite back, “I am not that sort of girl.”

“You are so cute when you’re angry,” he grins.

But his statement only infuriates me further.

How dare he treat me like this!

“I don’t know what your assistants were like in the past, but clearly there has been a misunderstanding here.  I am a woman.  That means I am tough, smart, and damn fiery. Don’t mess with me or you’ll end up with me angry at you.”

“What if I like it when you’re angry?” he smiles again.

“No.  You and I mean nothing,” I snap back.

Mitchell has pushed every button in my body to make me angry.  He has taken me from thinking we could work together to absolutely infuriating me.

“At least we have the business,” he smiles.

The angrier I become, the more he seems to smile.

His arrogance makes me want to punch his beautiful face.

“Stuff you business,” I shout at him.

“You don’t mean that,” he calmly replies.

“I do.  I’ve had enough of your attitude and the direction you’re taking this business.  I’m done.”

“You’re nothing without this job,” he is firm.

The statement cuts right through me.  It slices my anger and forces everything around me stop.

“You’re nothing without this job,” he repeats, “This is all you have.  Without this, you would not even know who you are. Do you know what you have without this?”

“What?” I whisper in reply, all my anger covered in shock.

“Nothing.  Without this work, you have nothing.”

My mouth drops open and my insides sink.

He’s right.

I don’t know who I am without this job.  I have never experienced life as an adult without thinking about this work. 

It defines who I am. 

Everything about this job consumes me. It is the first thing I think about when I wake up and the last thing I think about when I go to sleep.

Every empty space in my head is filled by this job.

The only people I can call friends work here. The only real social interaction I have is via this job.

“But…” I try to say something but I cannot think of anything to say.

“And as long as this job defines who you are, then I own you.  You are my employee.  You are my assistant.  You will make coffees for me and you will happily cut non-performing bands.  I own you, Chloe.”

“I…”

“Now, cut that band from our books and get me a coffee.”

Mitchell turns back to his computer screen.

“This job doesn’t define who I am,” I whisper.

His eyes land on mine.

“I am more than this job,” my voice rises, “I am a woman.  I am a strong woman.”

My head is going a million miles per hour.

“And you can stick your job,” I state.

He laughs at me.

“I mean it,” I reply.

“Then say it,” he grins, “Say those two words.”

The words are on the tip of my tongue.  I want to say it.

I want to tell him I’m through with this job.

I focus all my energy onto Mitchell…

“I quit.”

“Pardon?” he is genuinely surprised.

“I quit,” I state in defiance.

“You can’t quit.”

“I can and I just did.  If you want to run your business and focus on money, then you are welcome to do that.  But I can’t work for a person that is soulless.”

I can tell that my words have cut him.

He stands from behind the table as he uses anger to cover his pain.

“You don’t quit.  You will do as I say,” his words are firm and direct. 

I can’t argue with him.

He is too dominant.  He is too strong.

“You will go back down and sit at your desk and do the work that I have set out for you.  You are my employee.  You work for me.”

His voice controls me and I can’t fight it any longer.

His piercing stare cuts through every part of my soul, working its way deep inside. 

I feel a flush wash over me as I try to fight my way out of his stare.

But I can’t.

He is too convincing.

As I stand under his shadow, I nod slowly.

“Go back to your desk.”

Like a good little girl, I do as I am told.