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I felt such a total disconnect between who I was and the way I was behaving. I was the co-owner of a billion-dollar corporation with responsibilities to match the position, and I was actually creeping around like a naughty kid. I was recognizing myself less and less by the moment. But just the same, I peeked around the corner, looked down the row of cubicles…and there she was.
Corinne was sitting with her side to me, headphones on and talking away to some customer, putting the smile in her voice. I couldn’t make out what she was saying because she was using a normal tone and there was too much hubbub around her. But, I could see thewayshe was saying it.Whoever was on the other end of the line, I thought,must be having a nice experience just interacting with her.
I could only guess that Corinne was good to interact with in all kinds of ways. She had on a dark purple sweater, with her chestnut-colored hair tumbling down the back of it. The sweater just showed off the pout of her breasts, especially when she sat up straight,
I suddenly whipped myself back around the corner and leaned against the wall, letting out a heavy breath, even more startled by myself than I was before.I had just caught myself admiring the pout of an employee’s breasts, for God’s sake!The kinds of things I was thinking right now have been known to get employers and companies taken to court. I knew I’d better stop this.
It all made me wish I had splurged in the design of my office. I should have had a shower put in there because just now, I could use a cold one. The meeting where Leo was expecting me would have to do for cooling myself off.
Shaking my head, I walked back to the elevator, leaving Corinne to her work, blissfully unaware of the boss copping a look at her just now.
CHAPTER14
Corinne. Wednesday
For the first time, I was invited upstairs.
It wasn’t as special as it sounds.Everyonewas invited upstairs. The company was having a big meeting for all Human Resources and Customer Service team members, and that included me. There were a few conference rooms on the top floor, and everyone was gathered into the biggest one, where there were long tables, with chairs both there and along the walls, and a big whiteboard and drop-down video screen at the front. The room was packed.
My eyes went right to Elijah at the front of the room and lingered on him. He wasn’t the only good-looking man in the room, but he was without question thebest-looking man present. I couldn’t help thinking that if you had to have a job, Elijah Bennett was the kind of boss you wanted.
One of the other interns, a curly-haired guy named Steven, leaned over and whispered to me, “Gosh, that Elijah is nice on the eyes, isn’t he?”
I smiled and nodded in agreement while keeping my eyes on Elijah. The uninvited memory of how I’d shushed him the first time I saw him came into my mind, and I softly laughed at how nice he had been about it.
It wasn’t the most eventful meeting. It was mostly a way for the owners to introduce themselves properly to new people like me and for new people like me to be seen by those who hadn’t met us yet. There was a part when those of us who were new stood up and said our names and where in the company we worked, which was one of those awkward little moments.
Elijah and Leo talked a little bit about the history and culture of the company, which people who had been there for a while must already have known, but was enlightening for me. I learned that Elijah was the “business” end of the company and Leo was more the “creative” side; that is, he was the one with the expertise in coding, programming, and systems design. Their strengths complemented each other.
I also learned that Leo was married to Elijah’s sister, a personal tidbit I would not have picked up outside the context of a meeting like that. I found it interesting that the two bosses were brothers-in-law. It was kind of a family business.
After the meeting, Elijah and Leo called a collective coffee break. Everyone helped themselves to the hot drinks at the side of the room. I got myself a cup of coffee and was chatting with some other employees when a familiar voice over my shoulder asked, “Excuse me, am I interrupting this time?”
I looked over at Elijah. Once again, I flashed on that moment downstairs when I spoke without thinking and discovered I was speaking to the boss, and I reacted with a small laugh as sheepish as my smile.
“No,” I said, almost not wanting to look him in the eye, “you’re not interrupting.” I didn’t want him to see how embarrassed I still was about the first time we met. He didn’t seem to mind, but it really wasn’t what you want your boss’s first memory of you to be.
“I hope you didn’t find the meeting too dull. These things are always in danger of getting a little stuffy, and I don’t want this to be that kind of office. That is, I want us to be efficient and get things done — time is money, and all that — but for the amount of your life that your job takes up, it shouldn’t put you to sleep, at least.”
His attitude towards work culture was a refreshing surprise. Not that I was a veteran of the working world by any means, but I’d heard about so many workplaces where bosses didn’t care how stuffy it was — they caredonlyabout how much profit was being made on a daily basis. Elijah sounded as if he wanted to run a more “human” kind of organization. It was another thing I liked about him.
“You’re right,” I said. “You spend so much of your life working, there’s nothing wrong with it being…” I shrugged, not so relaxed that nothing gets done, but, well…not stuffy.”
“Exactly,” said Elijah, with the most adorable smile. I tingled a bit at that last thought and hoped I wasn’t blushing. I probably shouldn’t be thinking of my boss as adorable, even if he was.
Next thing I knew, Leo was there, eyeing Elijah and me in a curious sort of way that made me wonder if he thought something was going on. With both my bosses now in front of me, I hardly noticed that the other people that I’d been talking to had moved away.
“So…Corinne, right?” Leo addressed me.
“Yes,” I said. “Corinne Gordon.”
“This is what, your third time meeting Elijah now?”
Perplexed, I blinked at the question. “Third? Oh no, we have only met once.”
Leo seemed confused. “But, I thought you went down there earlier this week,” he said to Elijah.
That made me more puzzled than ever. I looked back and forth between them. “You did? I don’t remember seeing you again until this meeting just now.”