Chapter 5
He walked in, set down my coffee and muffin, then stood there with his iPad and started to go over the day's schedule.
I stared. I couldn't help it. He was the first assistant to be in earlier than seven a.m. and he was the first to pre-empt my need for caffeine and sugar.
The fact that the man looked stunning, even at this time of the morning, also helped.
“Did I get something wrong?”
Busted . I coughed to attempt to cover my embarrassment.
“No. No, carry on.” I needed to avoid any more eye contact with him.
It felt like he could see straight through to my soul, and I sure as hell wasn't ready for that.
I got up, lifted my coffee, and walked over to the window, absently staring out onto the city street below as he continued to talk about the day ahead.
“You have a meeting with the manager of the thirty-seven houses you have in Dunstable at three p.m. and HR have forwarded his contract and highlighted the paragraphs that pertain to the responsibility he has for the maintenance of the properties, and the sections on how any breaches of this are dealt with.”
Ah, yes. The lovely Jim Harvey. That was going to be an ugly meeting.
“Thanks for that one. There should also be information coming in today from an independent housing inspector for those. Look out for an email from Johnathan Sparrow; he has your email address and mine. I will need the photos he sends over printed out, and I will also need you and someone from HR to sit in on the meeting.” Jim needed to be removed from the company.
It wasn't something I looked forward to doing, despite the reputation I had for being a prick.
I hated having to fire anyone, but my family hadn't built up this company to have some idiot steal from it and ruin its reputation for caring about tenants.
I had to admit that I pretty much zoned out on the rest of the diary.
I stood there looking out over the City of London and let his voice wash over me.
I tried to ignore the goose bumps his voice was encouraging out on my skin.
I tried to ignore the stiffness in my cock that was going to prevent me from turning around to face him again.
“Will there be anything else, Mr Munroe?”
Now I couldn't ignore him anymore. “Uh, no, thanks, Mr Baxter. That will be everything.” Dammit, I needed to get a grip of myself.
There was a pregnant pause. He was mulling something over; I didn't even need to be looking at him to know it. “Mr Munroe, if it’s all the same to you, I would prefer it if you called me by my first name. Ellis is fine by me.”
“Thank you, Ellis . That will be all.” I emphasised his first name, trying it out, letting it roll over my tongue.
He turned and walked out of the office. He was going to be trouble for me, but it was trouble of my own making.
Ellis Baxter couldn't help being the man he was, so I would have to suck it up, and keep myself at a distance.
* * *
This man was ridiculous. “Now, had it been that you had been just stealing, or that you had been just neglecting your duties, I might have been a little more sympathetic. You did both, and you did it with a flaunting disregard for Munroe Holdings’ property and reputation.
You treated our properties like a slum landlord would, and you treated our tenants with the same disdain.
You stole from Munroe Holdings for you own gain. ”
I tried to keep the anger out of my voice. I wanted to tear this man a new arsehole, but that would do nothing other than temporarily making me feel the tiniest bit better. I hated liars, I hated piss takers, and I hated people who wanted to cause embarrassment to my family's name and business.
A small knock at the door briefly interrupted me, allowing me the time I needed to calm down.
I gestured to the police constable on the other side of the glass door for him and his colleague to enter.
“Mr Harvey," I continued, "these policemen are here from the Met, and they would like to discuss with you several breaches in building regulations, and the missing four thousand twenty-nine pounds and forty-seven pence from your company credit card. Your employment with Munroe Holdings is terminated immediately, and one of our security team will call to your home address tomorrow to take back your company phone, laptop, and credit card. Or, if you have them with you now, you may surrender them before the police escort you from the building.”
He lifted the bag beside him and pulled out his company laptop, phone, and his credit card, setting them on the table.
“Valerie, if you would like to have Mr Harvey sign off on the return of those items and escort him with the police down to the lobby, please?” Jim Harvey was silent and the colour had disappeared from his face when he rose to leave with Valerie and the police officers.
I almost felt sorry for him. When the door closed behind them, I sighed inwardly in relief.
“Jesus,” Ellis murmured, almost too low for me to hear.
I stared. Did he think I had been too harsh? “Problem?”
“No. I just, I’m just astounded that he would treat an employer like that.”
I nodded, eased at the fact that Ellis wasn't judging me as being too harsh. “It’s rare, thank God, but it does happen. Unfortunately, it needed to be dealt with, and in such an extreme case, there is no option for any kind of leniency.”
“You wouldn’t have contacted the police?” He sounded surprised.
I shook my head. “That is a mess I can do without. If it hadn’t been as severe, we usually just let them go and take whatever it was from their last wage or take them to small claims court and sort out a payment plan for it.
But that…” I motioned to where Jim had been sitting, “…was a blatant disregard for everything my family built up and stands for.”
Ellis nodded, gathering up papers and his tablet, getting ready to leave the conference room.
I glanced at my watch. Four-fifteen already.
"I don't know about you, Ellis, but after that, I can't really be bothered dealing with anything else for the rest of the day.
When we get back to the office, call down to Jackie and have her take our calls, and we can knock off early. "
He looked at me like I had grown an extra head. "You would rather stay here, would you, Ellis?"
He laughed and shook his head. I stared again.
He caught me again. This time I couldn't look away; he was captivating.
His face lit up with his laugh, and again, the sound of him sent a shiver through my body.
Damn, I was going to have to work harder to keep myself from chasing him around my desk like something out of a Carry On film.
He licked his lips before saying thank you, and I almost came right there in my pants. Fuck . I stood there and watched him leave before heading back to my office. I was going to be in big, big trouble if I didn't get a grip of myself.