Chapter 3 – Greg
“Did you get the list that I sent over an hour ago?”
Tommy shook his head and handed me what it was that I’d asked for. I liked to know who it was I was going into business with, and that meant getting all of the information on the interns that I could. It helped me to get to know them and whittle down who it was that I was going to hire for an actual job. It didn’t take long once I got the ten working for me, so now that they were chosen, the next step was to check into their backgrounds and see who it was that I was working with.
The name that I went to first was the last one that I had hired. I didn’t really even know what was on her resume or what it was I wanted to find out, but information seemed to be pertinent and she was the first one I wanted to check out. I knew that there was something about her, more than just the sweet look on her face and the way she looked at me in the interview.
I’d had a lot of reactions from women, but never one that seemed to take over a person so quickly. She’d turned red with just a touch of my hand, and I couldn’t help but wonder what I could do to her with a real touch or kiss. I knew that I wasn’t supposed to be thinking that way, but it was hard not to. Desiree sounded and looked a little too much like ‘desire’ for me to ignore.
Looking through the paperwork in front of me, I was pleasantly surprised to see that she had gone to a good school and graduated at the top of her class. I hadn’t even looked at her qualifications when I had hired her, and I knew that there were more than likely many who were better fitted for the job, but I had wanted her near me and I had just said yes. I was feeling a little better about the decision when I saw that she was in fact qualified. She hadn’t been out of college long yet, but she was definitely prepared for the internship program.
Sifting through the background information was just as quick and rewarding. It appeared that she was a good girl. It wasn’t that I necessarily liked good girls, but it meant that the innocence on her face that I had seen might actually be real. She was twenty-one, and for some reason, I knew then that Desiree was going to become one of my favorite employees. I usually wasn’t very active with the program, leaving it to the accounting manager, but I was starting to think that all of that was about to change. It was my company, after all.
When I told Tommy about my plans, he raised an eyebrow, but knew better than to say anything. I was not somebody who liked to be questioned, and it would have been hard to figure out an answer anyway.
“I didn’t know that you wanted to get involved in the program, sir. You never have before, and now that you’re so busy because of the end-of-year reports, I figured that you would want to sit this one out.”
“No, I think it’s important to make sure that the team members, and even the interns, know that I’m responsible for how they work here. I don’t want them to think that we are just going to hire them and then throw them to the wolves.”
Tommy held his tongue. That was part of the reason I kept him around. He wasn’t nice to look at like my last assistant, but he knew when to shut his mouth and stop asking questions. This was one of those times that I didn’t want to have to explain myself to anyone. I didn’t have an explanation as to why the blonde-haired vixen was still on my mind, but so help me, she was.
***
The next day was even worse. I spent most of my morning in meetings, but what I was waiting for was the meet-and-greet that I had set up with Tommy. I told him that I wanted to get to know all of the new staff, a new initiative to help with loyalty. It was all HR crap, but it meant that I got to spend some time with Desiree and that made it worth sitting in a few boring meetings. I didn’t really want to know much about what their job was or would be; I had my mind on only one thing.
After the last meeting before lunch, I went down to the fifth floor and looked for the platinum-blonde hair that had caught my eye the day before. My eyes zeroed in on her, and it wasn’t long before I had urged her gaze up to mine. There was no way that it was just me. She stopped where she was, something in her hand, and stared at me like she was a deer caught in my headlights.
I grinned at her and she looked down. That innocent look was back, and it made my body rear up in response. I looked away before my eyes gave up too much information. I knew that I wasn’t supposed to be looking at any of my employees like that, but Desiree was different. I wasn’t sure how or why, but I knew that there was something about her that made her stand out.
“Sir?”
I turned to see Tommy standing next to me. I wondered how long he had been standing there. He was giving me a knowing look, so I figured he knew enough. Was I that obvious? Looking back at Tommy, I knew I was. There was just something about Desiree that made me wish I had met her somewhere other than at a job interview.
“What, Tommy?”
“You’re snippy today.”
I usually found his flamboyance fun; now I was just finding it irritating. I don’t know why, but his knowing smile bothered me. I didn’t want anyone to know what it was I was feeling for her. I didn’t even know what it was, but I was going to have to be more careful when I admired her from afar. If Tommy had seen it, that meant that others could have as well.
“What, Tommy? I have to get to lunch.”
“I know. That’s why I wanted to see if you would go ahead and take your one o’clock now. Gary called, and he doesn’t know if he is going to be able to make it.”
“Fine, tell him I will meet him at Bernard’s. I don’t know why he doesn’t just tell you ‘lunch meeting’ in the first place. That tightwad is just trying to make it so that he can write it off as an expense.”
Tommy didn’t comment, and that pissed me off worse. He would say something about Desiree, but not about my enemy.
“Anything else, sir?”
“Yeah, stop grinning at me like that, Tommy, or I will find another assistant.”
He flipped his head like he had long hair and told me that I wouldn’t find one as good. He was probably right, but I didn’t answer him. Tommy had been with me for years. He had come in as a temp, and it was only when he was hired on under me that I started to see what a hard worker he was. He may not have dressed how I would have liked him to, and sometimes I was reminded of our differences, but he was the best assistant that I had ever had. All of his personality made him aware of everyone else, and he’d become invaluable. I just didn’t want to have him giving me hell about her.
I made my way down to the parking garage and to the old Italian place that Gary always preferred. It was standard procedure to go there whenever we met for business. I wasn’t joking about his affinity for writing everything off. I had to admire him for his diligence. My accounting team was on me all of the time to get all of my expense receipts in, but I was constantly forgetting.
Gary was waiting for me with a bottle of wine when I got there. I never saw him at the office, and I sometimes wondered if his staff did.
“How have you been, Gary?”
He just kind of mumbled a little under his breath and slid the bottle across the table. It was going to be one of those meetings that I looked forward to. It would be a whole lot more drinking than talking, and that was the kind of lunch that I needed, something to get my mind off of the blue-eyed girl.