Chapter 1.
“Bloody hell Marc! Get me that file I asked you.”
Gabriel Seaborne appeared to be on a verge of a nervous breakdown.
However, Gabriel always looked like that while working. It was late Friday night and he ran into some inaccuracies in the contract draft his company was working on. His long-time assistant Marc did everything he could to accommodate his boss to avoid any further explosions.
“Coming straight up, Mr. Seaborne.”
“I can’t believe they managed to fuck up drafting a simple contract.” Gabriel was furious at his law department.
“Next time somebody tells me to take a break and leave it to the others…” Shaking his head in disbelief, he didn’t finish the sentence and focused on the files in front of him.
Marc nodded in understanding, knowing silence is the best option.
Patience was not Gabriel Seaborne’s strong suit. However, he learned how to hide it behind his emotionless face. It was the exact same face that made him who he was. In his late 30s, he already made it to the Forbes World's Billionaires list, was an esteemed philanthropist and a respectable citizen of New York. His company, Seaborne Consulting was a leading company in business development, accounting, auditing and tax planning. As a workaholic, Gabriel worked 24/7 and insisted to be involved in every aspect of the firm.
After he sent Marc home, he stayed late in the office. Running a successful business meant having a non-existent private life but it also had its benefits. In addition to his office, behind a small door was a bathroom and wardrobe where he kept extra shirts and suits. The couch next to his desk wasn’t only for receiving clients; it was also his bed in more than one occasion.
It was past 2 AM when Gabriel finally put down the papers and crashed on the soft brown leather. He had scheduled an early meeting for the next day with his audit department and it was pointless to drive home only to get a few hours of sleep.
The sun was about to rise when Gabriel stretched on the couch, got up and walked to the huge window. His office was at the top floor of a 15-story building, and the view of New York was breathtaking. While some people enjoyed silence, Gabriel loved the sounds of the city that never sleeps. Traffic, yelling, buzzing… it was a perfect harmony for his ears.
Realizing he was still wearing the same shirt he wore yesterday, he went to the bathroom to shower and change clothes. Steel gray suit, white shirt and a black tie made him look like a model for an expensive perfume ad. Adding his toned body, dark hair, gray eyes and strong chin with a dimple on it, he was a handsome man and aware of it. However, there was something dangerous about his appearance, almost haunting. At first, beautiful women were all over him but his uninterested look would usually make them go away. Unless he was in the mood for some distraction. That happened occasionally but he would always make it short, and with less emotions and problems possible.
At 8 AM, he was sitting in the conference room, waiting for his team to show up. Soon, seven members of his biggest department walked in. With a deadpan expression, he gestured them to sit down and continued studying some chart in front of him while resting his chin in his palm.
“Morning G.” Charlotte Miller, the head of audit department and Gabriel’s long-time friend nodded in his direction.
“You’re late. Therefore, wasting my time.” Gabriel said hoarsely. Realizing it was a bit harsh; he leaned in his chair and took a deep breath. Still expressionless, he turned to his old friend,
“You’re lucky I like you.”
Unlike Gabriel, Charlotte flashed his friend a broad grin.
“I think we’re all here. But first, let me introduce you to Lena Rylan. She is our junior analyst and did most of the work on today's presentation so I thought I should let her meet the big boss.” Charlotte turned to the young woman at the end of the table.
“It’s pleasure to meet you Mr. Seaborne.” Lena stretched her hand to Gabriel.
“Miss Rylan,” not even giving her a glance, let alone his hand; he muttered her name in some kind of acknowledgement and continued flipping through files.
“Let’s get started, shall we?” Gabriel finally put down the papers and turned to Charlotte.
“Can you do that or you need more time?” he asked sarcastically.
Charlotte smirked at him and reached for the projector remote.
During the next 45 minutes, all the participants were focused on Charlotte’s presentation. With his eyes on the slides and Charlotte, at the very end of the meeting Gabriel noticed a new face at the far end of a conference table, reading some text in front of her. Initial confusion dispersed when he remembered Charlotte introduced him to the young analyst. He didn’t know all of his employees because there were hundreds of them, located all over the building.
This one looked in her early twenties, with long side-swept brown hair and piercing green eyes. Wearing a white blouse and a black skirt, Gabriel concluded she looked like most of his young female employees - ambitious and focused. Judging by the way she buttoned her blouse all the way up, she was probably boring. That was a good thing in his line of work, though. There was another kind of these young employees - the ones who unbuttoned their blouses more than they should in an attempt to get attention from men on positions. They wouldn’t last long in his company. Gabriel surrounded himself with competent, straightforward and honest people. Skipping steps in order to prosper was not an option in Seaborne Consulting.
Giving her a second look, he realized she was beautiful in a way, with her elegant nose and soft lips who looked almost defiant. Then he noticed her biting her lower lip as she checked some data and found that unexpectedly cute. Unfortunately, besides Charlotte, he only met three kinds of women in business life: average looking and boring, good-looking and boring, good-looking and dangerous. He avoided every category.
After they all left the conference room, Gabriel focused on his next meeting, completely forgetting about the young woman.
*
“So what do you think?” Charlotte turned to Lena when they left the conference room.
“Is big boss as scary as people say?”
“Oh no, he seems to be a gentle flower.” Faking delight, Lena went to the elevator.
Charlotte hired Lena two years ago and even though Lena was almost half her age, they connected instantly. Both witty and kind, they quickly surpassed the boss-employee relationship and became friends.
Lena worked hard to prove herself worthy of a given opportunity to work in such company and Charlotte recognized that. She could have easily pass the presentation as hers but instead she invited Lena to attend and credited her in front of Mr. Seaborne.
Lena heard stories about Gabriel Seaborne. People said he was hard-working and fair man but brutal when it comes to business. One of his nicknames was “Soulless Seaborne” because he allegedly showed no emotions whatsoever. After meeting him, Lena witnessed that with her own eyes. Charlotte was his good friend and yet he was indifferent even towards her.
“Oh come on. He’s not that bad. He is playing a hardcore professional. That’s his thing.” Charlotte tried to justify him.
“Have you ever seen him on daylight? Or maybe flashed a cross in his direction? You should try. I have a strong feeling he is missing a vital organ in his chest.” Lena put a finger on his chin pretending to contemplate.
“That did cross my mind, actually. But I still think he is a great man.” Charlotte shrugged her shoulders as if he can’t help it.
“Well, unless he’s coming over to your place tonight and paints your toenails as a sign of apology for being a dick, I’m not joining a fan club of his.” Lena replied and Charlotte almost choked on her bagel.
“Oh God, we don’t want to traumatize him like that.”
Lena laughed and grabbed two cups of coffee.
“Still, thank you so much for crediting me over there,” she said seriously.
“You earned it kiddo.” Charlotte put her arm around Lena.
“Now, let’s do some work, shall we?”
Lena nodded, leaving Charlotte to make some calls.
Lena shared an office with two coworkers and they were on good terms, but not exactly friends. Soon after entering the business world, Lena realized she was different from most of her colleagues. They lived for their work, rarely having any hobbies or other preferences. She, on the other hand, did.
Studying business wasn’t something she dreamed of when she was little. Her mother was cleaning houses for a living and her father worked in a steel factory. They always had roof over their head, but there were times Lena went to bed hungry, and walked around in her older cousins’ clothes and sneakers. It wasn’t poverty that bothered Lena; it was helplessness about the whole situation. Her parents tried hard but every time things went for the better, the factory her father worked would close down or downsize. The vicious circle of poverty kept them trapped. Humor was the one thing she held onto during hard times. She could make a joke about anything. When kids made fun of her old clothes or shoes with holes in it, she would answer back something like,
“Oh, you narrow-minded people. It’s for ventilation purposes.”
When her parents suggested her to go to business school and sold their land to pay for it, she couldn’t say she wanted to study for kindergarten teacher. They thought business school would provide more opportunities for her and she took their advice. It turned out they were right.
Lena initially hated everything about business but was determined to succeed at it and make the most of it. As a top student, she got an internship at Seaborne Consulting and eventually a full time position with great salary and benefits. Being able to help her parents was the best part of it all. Soon, she even grew to like accounting, audit and numbers; finding some order in chaos.
Still, her life didn’t revolve around work. As a vivid reader, she transformed her tiny apartment in a walk-in library. She devoured everything from Shakespeare to contemporary authors. Besides reading, she enjoyed spending time outside, walking and discovering interesting parts of New York.
Traveling was something she could never afford so moving to a city that was a melting pot of all kind of nationalities and cultures was a dream come true for Lena.
All of her friends were back home and people would think she was lonely. However, Lena knew a person couldn’t be lonely in a city like that. She loved that she could be invisible, just a tiny dot in a mass of people. Every chance she got, she wandered the streets.
For a short time, Lena even tried doing some sports, but gave up. Sports, unlike business, couldn’t be taught and required some level of talent. And in her opinion, she had none. Thankfully, she had enough of other interests and that was something that differentiated her from the rest of her young aspiring colleagues at Seaborne Consulting. A drink after work was all that their social life consisted of and Lena would join them occasionally, so they were on good terms, but they never truly bonded.
“Lena, can you come to my office for a second?” A call from Charlotte interrupted her thoughts.
“Yeah, I’m coming”, Lena put down the phone and rushed to her.
Charlotte was sitting next to pile of files and folders, with both computer and laptop on.
“Oh hey. Listen, I need you to do something for me. I have to fly unexpectedly to San Francisco for an audit. However, I am supposed to accompany Gabriel for a meeting tomorrow morning.” She paused for a moment and added, “So you will do it.”
“What? Why me? Can’t Eric or Sasha go? They outrank me anyway.” Lena nervously walked to the window.
“It’s a passive role in a meeting. Gabriel needs someone from our department only to hand him data. Besides me, you happen to know all the numbers because you’ve been working on it. You don’t have to say or present anything in front of the clients.”
“Oh… Well, okay. If that’s all it is.” Lena felt slightly relieved but still tense.
“Don’t worry. Just show up, follow his act and slide him data sheets when he’ll need them. You’ll be out in no time. Lucas from law department will be there as well. He and Gabriel will do all the talking.”
“Oh, why didn’t you say so? I do feel better now that I know that there will be witness if Seaborne kills me.”
“Very funny.” Charlotte threw a piece of paper on Lena, as she couldn’t help but giggle.
Indeed, Gabriel’s look could kill. But Charlotte knew him for a long time. Freshly out of college, he started his career in a firm she was working. She took him under her wing and Gabriel never forgot that. After a few years, when her old firm went out of business, he immediately hired her in his newly founded company. They could both count on each other and Charlotte was one of the few people who saw his vulnerable side. So explaining his behavior to others was her additional job, sometimes more exhausting than the real one.