5. Clay
Chapter Five
CLAY
A short email suddenly popped up on my screen and the small note made my heart rate skyrocket.
Mr. Kort would like to have a meeting with you today at four-thirty.
Signed by his personal secretary.
“Shit,” I muttered and immediately pulled out my phone.
“You're glued to that thing lately,” Lloyd said glancing over at me from his screen. “Aren't you in enough trouble?”
“Doesn't matter,” I said heavily. “I don't think I'm going to be here for very long.”
I opened MoreThanTheHorns' chat because he had swiftly become my number one confidant.
Oh god, I'm about to get fired.
What makes you think that?
The boss wants a meeting with me later today.
Might not be anything bad. Don't worry.
You don't get it. This guy doesn't like me, and I don't like him. At the very least he's going to reem me out for being on my phone all day. He already threatened to dock my pay. Ugh... I should just leave now before I have to face him.
What? No... just stay strong. You're a big boy. You can handle this.
I rolled my eyes.
I was barely a big boy. I was five-foot-eight and had never grown out of wearing the cute colorful types of outfits my mom used to pick out for me when I was a kid. Whatever. He was still right.
Sighing, I set down my phone and tried to switch to work even though there was probably no point.
The hours dragged on and by the time I had to get to my feet and walk to my doom—aka, Mr. Kort's office—I was in a hell of a mood.
I wanted to go home and hide under my blankets, chat with MoreThanTheHorns while I ate chocolate barsand wait for my severance payment to come through before I had to look for a new job.
Mr. Kort's secretary was a nice blond girl who always looked prim and proper and nervous. When I approached, she gave me a look that clearly said she didn't envy me.
“Mr. Kort said to send you in straight away,” she said, forcing a smile. Then, under her breath, she added, “Good luck!”
Cringing, I went to the glass doors.
The blinds were closed so I couldn't see inside, so I knocked nervously and waited before entering.
“Come in.”
His deep voice carried easily, making my shoulders tense even more as I pushed the door open and went inside.
Mr. Kort was sitting behind his large desk, but instead of my attention being drawn to him the way it normally was, my breath caught at the view behind him.
“Wow,” I breathed before I caught myself. You could see the entire downtown from here and all the buildings with the sun shining down on them were breathtaking.
“Beautiful, isn't it?” he asked.
Blinking, I remembered where I was and bit my lip, forcing my gaze back to my green boss.
He was watching me with unguarded interest but quickly looked down, shuffling some papers on his desk before gesturing to a chair in front of him.
“Have a seat,” he said.
Swallowing, I did as he said, perching on the edge, ready to get up and leave the moment this was over.
“So, Clay,” he started. “You've been working here for almost a year now.”
I nodded.
“What do you think so far?” he went on when I didn't speak.
“Um.” For a moment I was caught off guard by the question, expecting a quick “this isn't working out” or something along those lines.
“I like it,” I finally said. “It's close to home, so the commute isn't bad.”
He nodded thoughtfully.
“Are you going to fire me?” I suddenly blurted and then clapped a hand over my mouth, eyes wide.
Mr. Kort stared for a moment, then his lip quirked in the most infuriatingly sexy smirk, and he shook his head.
“That wasn't my plan, no,” he said. “Actually, I was thinking that a raise might motivate you.”
I stared for so long that he raised a brow, clearly waiting for some sort of reaction.
“A raise?” I finally repeated.
He nodded.
“It should have happened sooner, to be honest. You're on our entry-level pay grade but you're not new here. What do you say?”
“I say...” I was too dumbfounded to think of anything to say. “Are you sure ?”
He chuckled and nodded.
“You're the first person who's ever argued with me against getting a raise,” he informed me, and I clapped my mouth shut. “Do you want it?”
“Yes. Thank you. I'll shut up now.”
“Okay. Consider it done...”
I nodded and for a minute, silence dragged on between us.
“Should I... go now?”
“Yes, I guess so,” he said hesitantly.
This whole meeting had been strange so far, but there was something in his tone that was even stranger. It was like he wanted to keep speaking to me but didn't know what to say. The way his gaze seemed to search his desk for a distraction and his hands fidgeted on the stack of papers again was almost surreal to see.
Mr. Kort was always smooth and confident. Or so I'd thought. What could possibly make him fidget ? Especially when it came to little ole me.
I stood up, still confused and went to the door before pausing and turning to look at him.
“Thank you,” I said.
He nodded and for a moment the stern boss I knew was gone entirely. His face was open and unguarded, and he almost looked sweet.
I stepped out into the main office area and had to just stand there for a moment, processing before I shook myself back to reality.
“How did it go?” the secretary asked in a whisper.
I shrugged helplessly.
“I don't know.”