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I shake the thought from my head and push my chair away from my desk before I walk toward Nathan’s opened office door. As I tap on it with a knuckle to alert him, he spins around on his seat to face me.
He gives me a hard stare. “Yes, Arianna.” He addresses me abruptly, confusion causing a thick bump to form between his eyebrows.
I can’t work him out. One minute he’s nice and the next he’s… well… Nathaniel Hart. A grouchy volcano ready to explode.
With confidence I enter his office. “I’ve been asked to go out for drinks with Joseph and a few of the others from the floor below, and I am leaving for the day.” I come to a stop when I arrive at his desk. “I’ve rearranged your calendar,” I inform him, then list everything he tasked me with to do today and which I completed. “And tomorrow I will prepare the court forms for the upcoming Walker case. I can archive those for you too.” I point to the stack of boxes behind him that need cataloguing.
“We have someone who does that for us,” he replies dryly.
Shit. I knew that. After all, that is the position I was originally hired for. I need to figure out a way to gain access to the archiving, although I’ve been waiting for so long, another few weeks won’t make any difference.
“You may leave.” Nathan rolls his seat under his desk, his focus instantly back on his computer monitor.
I hate that he dismissed me without looking at me. “Thank you, and thank you for the promotion you gave me.” Maybe I’m a glutton for punishment but I’m enjoying my new job but the words get stuck in the back of my throat, and I’m annoyed at myself for being grateful for the pay rise.
My conscience is at war with itself, because the last thing I want is to feel grateful. I’m far from grateful for what his family did to mine.
I repeat my new mantra in my head…Get the evidence, take the pay rise, secure a deposit for a house.
“I didn’t hire you,” he states firmly.
I flinch.
He adds, “You were forced upon me.”
“Forced?” I question, feeling as if I’ve been slapped across the face. The sting of his words hurts.
Narrowing his eyes to slits, he leans closer to his screen, reading whatever is on it, practically ignoring me altogether, which is maddening when he couldn’t take his eyes off me the night we had sex and demanded me to look at him when he made me come all over his fingers.
What a fool I’ve been to think it might have meant something to him.
At the time, it sure felt like it did.
“Yes, Arianna, forced. I didn’t have a secretary, I needed one, Janice filled the position with you. End of story.”
He’s lying, he had the final say and he knows it. I got the job because I’m qualified and he knows it. That’s why he hired me. He wanted me here, but he’s too stubborn to admit it.
Screw him, I’m not lowering my manners to match his. “Regardless, thank you.”
“You may go.”
“See you tomorrow.” I try to sound cheerful about that.
“We’ll see.”
“What do you mean?” I ask, confused by his response.
He taps his fingers against his keyboard and replies without warmth, “Like I said before, Arianna, I gave you a week. And now I’m just waiting for you to hand me your letter of resignation. It’s only a matter of time.” Resting back in his chair, he lays his elbow on the arm of it, and with the other hand he smooths down his tie, which I’ve noticed he does a lot.
Sounding more confident than I feel, I say, “Well, I’ve lasted three weeks which I believe has broken a record, because according to the gossip I heard around the watercooler, I’m the only secretary that has put up with you for this long because you’re impossible to work for, rude to everyone, and have a habit of barking orders to get results. So if I do last another three weeks, then it will be longer than the last four secretaries you’ve had. I win.” Just watch me prove him wrong.
“You’re overstepping, Ms. Donovan.”
“And you’re an arrogant asshole who needs a lesson in manners, Mr. Hart.” I turn to leave but then spin back around. “Oh, and your first lesson is adding please and thank you into your vocabulary.”
My courageous words have him quirking a brow and I swear his mouth twitches at the edges as if he’s desperately trying to disguise a smile.
“Is that so, Ms. Donovan?” A playful glint dances in his eyes.