CHAPTER 15
DELLA
Carter wanted to show me to where I will be working, but I quickly stopped him. I have to do this on my own. I don’t want to be favored or hated because I know the boss.
When I step out on the twenty-fourth floor, there’s no one at reception. I’m thirty minutes early because Carter has a meeting. Not that I mind. It gives me time to look around.
Looking at all the offices, I start to get excited. I wonder where my desk is. Will I get along with my co-workers?
“Hey gorgeous,” a man says behind me.
I swing around and watch as a skinny middle-aged man with thinning brown hair and pale blue eyes walks toward me.
“I’m Stew Roberts. Are you new here?”
“Yes, it’s my first day,” I answer, hoping I don’t sound too nervous. “It’s a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Roberts.”
We shake hands but when I start to pull back, he tightens his hold on my hand. I can’t seem to keep eye contact with him, and it bothers me. I really want to make a good impression but instead an uneasy feeling skitters down my spine.
“The pleasure is all mine. Call me Stew. Welcome to the Indie Ink graphics team.”
I swallow hard on the anxious feeling swarming in my stomach and nod. Finally, he lets go of my hand, and I resist the urge to wipe my hand on my pants.
I get a feeling I need to stay away from this guy.
“Do you have any idea where I’ll be sitting?” I ask to speed things along.
A look of surprise washes over his face and then he smiles broadly.
“Yeah, of course. Follow me.” I follow him down the hallway, right to the end. He points to a desk that’s situated right outside an office. “You can sit here for now.”
He points at a desk that’s situated right outside an office that’s at the end of the hallway.
“The secretary is on vacation,” he says. “Make yourself comfortable until they show you where to go and get you loaded on the system.”
Disappointment washes over me. Carter said I would be working with the graphics team.
“How long is she on vacation for?”
“Two weeks. I don’t know where Mr. West is, but I’m sure when he’s back he’ll get you all settled.”
I force a smile to my face as I step around the desk. I tell myself it’s just temporary. It will give me time to get used to everyone and to brush up on my graphic skills.
The morning is filled with a haze of faces and names as Stew introduces me to the team. He’s constantly hanging around me and it’s making me feel uneasy.
I’m sitting at the desk in reception, contemplating whether I should go up to Carter so he can give me some work. I hate not having something to do. It makes the day so much longer.
When I see Stew walking toward me, my stomach starts to burn with tension. This guy is just too much. He walks around the desk and comes to stand behind me. When he leans over me, I freeze. This can’t be professional. I might not have worked in an office environment before, but I’m not an idiot.
He places a pile of documents in front of me, and when he speaks, his stale coffee breath wafts over me. “I can see that you’re bored. Let me go show you where the copy room is, then you can make us some copies of these documents.”
I lean to the side so that there’s more space between us. Right now this asshole is making Carter look like a saint.
When he walks around the front of the desk, I let out the breath I’ve been holding. I rise to my feet and pick up the stack of documents.
We start to walk down the hallway when he asks, “Have you lived in New York all your life?”
“No,” I answer not wanting to encourage him to ask personal questions.
“Where are you from?”
I suppress a sigh. “North Carolina.”
When we get to the copy room, I’m disappointed to see that he’s hanging around and not leaving me alone for a little while.
“You can go back up, I’ll be okay,” I try to encourage him to leave. Lord knows, I need some time to gather my scattered thoughts and emotions.
“Okay, just bring those to me when you’re done.”
Finally, I have some time to myself. I take my time making the copies, grateful that I have some work to keep me busy.
When I’m done I take it back up to Stew. I place it on his desk and I’m just about to turn around and leave, when he says, “Thanks that saves me a lot of time. Hey, we should celebrate your first day after work.” He smiles, and an unnerving smile flits over his face, making the uneasy feeling take up permanent residence in my chest.
“I can’t, “I apologize. “I have a three-year-old daughter waiting for me at home.” I’ve never used Daniele as an excuse before, and it doesn’t sit right with me that I’m placed in a position where I have to.
He stands up and shoves his hands in his pockets. It makes the material of his pants stretch over a bulge.
Oh, my God, I’m going to be sick. This man is disgusting.
I leave his office and walk back to the reception desk. This is not how I pictured my first day going.
Finally, it’s time to go home, and I quickly straighten out the desk.
“Your first day wasn’t that bad, right?” Stew says as he comes to stand in front of my desk and I realize he’s waiting for me.
Somehow, I manage to smile. “It wasn’t. Thank you for introducing me to everyone. I hope you have a good evening, Stew,” I murmur.
“Let me walk you down.”
Ugh, just what I need.
I’m thankful when we get to the elevators, and there are a group of people already waiting. At least I don’t have to be alone with him anymore.
It’s my first day and I’m already dreading tomorrow.
***
CARTER
I don’t usually leave the office before eight pm, but I can’t wait to hear how Della’s first day went.
I drove us to work this morning so I could leave the car here. I like to have at least one car here should I decide to go for drinks after work. I have Peter waiting out front with the town car. He moves to open the door when he sees me.
“We’re waiting for someone,” I say as I turn around and lean back against the car.
My eyes search every face, as people start to leave the fifty-floor building. Glass Towers is an impressive building. The first twenty floors are made up of rental space.
My eyes zoom in on Della the second she steps out of the elevators. Her face is unusually pale and the dark circles under her eyes make them look huge. She keeps fidgeting with her watch as she rushes towards the exit. A man falls into step beside her, and when they reach the exit, he places his hand on her lower back.
I straighten out and frown darkly as he keeps his hand on her back. The man smiles broadly as they walk out onto the pavement.
I take a step forward as Della looks up, and our eyes meet. The last time I saw that look on her face was the night those guys were chasing her down the street.
My eyes snap to the man but Della rushes forward and takes hold of my hand. “Don’t,” she whispers as she starts to pull me away.
“This is our car,” I snap.
Peter quickly opens the door.
“Get in,” I grind the words out, as the asshole finally notices me.
There’s a look of dismay on his face so he obviously knows who I am.
“Please, Carter.” Della doesn’t let go of my hand but instead starts to pull me inside.
I’ll find out who he is and deal with him tomorrow. I slide in after Della and only then do I feel how cold her hand is. I place her hand on my thigh and cover it with mine so it will get warm.
“Who is he?” I growl, still seething from seeing his hand on her back.
“He’s just a co-worker. Please, Carter, I can handle him. I have to work with the man. Don’t make things worse than they are.”
I stare at her until she meets my eyes. “Who the fuck is he?” I grind out.
“Stew Roberts,” she whispers and just saying his name makes a look of disgust wash over her face. “He showed me around and introduced me to everyone.”
The name means nothing to me.
“Where was Jaxson?”
“Who?” she asks and it’s clear she has no idea what I’m talking about.
“You work under Jaxson, Della. He’s head of the graphic department. Where the fuck was Jaxson?”
“I didn’t meet anyone named Jaxson. Stew did mention that the secretary is on vacation and that Mr. West had to be in a meeting.”
I dig my phone out and call Jaxson.
“Where were you today?” I bark the second he answers.
“In the Bradbury meeting,” he says.
“Fuck,” I snap, closing my eyes for a moment. I need to calm down. I forgot about the meeting. It’s a huge deal for us. We might be taking over Bradbury designs. I need that company so our graphic and printing departments will be able to handle the workflow when we expand internationally.”
“I forgot. How did it go?”
“Things are on track. I’ll meet you at the office tomorrow morning to go over everything with you.”
“Great. Before you go, who is Steve-”
“Stew,” she says next to me.
“Stew Rogers, who the fuck is he?”
“He’s a designer. What’s this about?”
“I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” I growl, cutting the call.
I take a few minutes to calm down.
When Peter parks the car outside a clothing store, Della tries to pull her hand out from under mine.
“What are we doing here? I thought we were going home.”
Hearing her say the word home and knowing she’s referring to my place makes a warm feeling expand in my chest.
“What happened today?” I ask.
“Nothing. I made some copies for Stew, but that was all.” She looks upset and tired.
I frown at her. “What copies?”
“Some papers for Stew. I didn’t have anything to do so he gave me some of his.”
“You’re not his fucking secretary,” I snap. I’m going to kill that fucker.
“Carter, you’re scaring me.” Her beautiful features are drawn tight with tension.
“You were supposed to meet with Jaxson. Jaxson West oversees the graphics team. You met him in college. He’s one of the twins. He helped fix your truck.”
“Oh,” she finally understands. She takes hold of my arm. “Carter, I don’t want you to do anything. I don’t want people thinking that I can’t handle myself. Stew was just trying to be nice.”
I turn more in the seat and brush some hair behind her ear. I really like it down. It brings out the blue of her eyes.
“Babe, I can’t ignore this. Roberts had his hands on you. He fucked with the wrong female employee.”
Shock ripples over her features. “Please let it go.”
“No. You will only report to Jaxson. Jaxson is one of the directors. Do you really think I would have you making copies for some fucker?”
“What are you going to do?” she asks, her eyes wide on me.
“I’m going to fire his ass, and then I’m going to kick his ass.”
She scoots closer to me and I can see I’m in for a fight. “You can’t, Carter. What will my co-workers think of me if you fire someone because of me? He didn’t really do anything wrong.”
“I’m not going to ignore this.”
She bites her bottom lip and it only makes her look fucking sexy.
“I’ll make you a deal,” she says, a hopeful look replacing the upset one. “I’ll let you buy me some outfits for work, which I will pay back with my first paycheck, if you don’t fire him. You can move him. You can give him a warning. I don’t care, just don’t fire him.”
Fuck, she’s clever. She needs the clothes but she’s stubborn enough to wear the same outfit for the rest of the month just to have her way.
“Fine,” I say, a smile forming on my lips. “I won’t fire him, yet.”
“Yet?” She raises an eyebrow at me.
“Don’t push your luck. An asshole like him will make another mistake and I don’t give second chances.”
“Okay. So it’s a deal.” She actually holds her hand out to me and we shake on it before we get out of the car.