Five
Eshim
F lirting with a human was a very delicate process.
The internet had some good suggestions, but I'd realized you had to modify them to fit your needs.
My first full day at work without Carol's assistance, I'd tried one of the ideas: eye contact.
I was pretty sure Jerry had thought something was wrong with me. I might've overdone it a bit.
I'd also tried to casually brush up against him, but that was harder than it sounded when we usually had a giant wooden desk between us.
It was a new work week, and my third full day as Jerry's assistant, and I had some new ideas to try.
I started simple.
On my way to work, I bought a bouquet of colorful, fragrant flowers, and a simple vase. I made sure to arrive before Jerry—which wasn't easy because the man was a hell of a workaholic—and set up the vase on a small cabinet in the corner of his room. The flowers added a splash of color to the room, and it was the only way I could think to 'give my crush flowers' as the article had suggested.
Not that Jerry's office was drab by any means. He had a bookshelf behind his desk that was full of all kinds of books related to design and art, and one wall of the office was practically all window. I'd heard someone call it the 'corner office' the other day.
When Jerry arrived, I had his coffee and cookies ready. Over the weekend, I'd asked Matilda to teach me how to make them, and the cookies I gave Jerry were from my last and best batch.
Jerry's eyes lingered on the flowers as he came into his office, but he didn't say anything as he took his chair, though I got the sense he liked them.
"More homemade cookies?" Jerry asked with a smile when he saw them, and I nodded.
He picked one up and took a bite, humming at the taste.
"Is it good?"
He nodded, then swallowed so he could speak. "Your neighbor really outdid herself this time. This is the best cookie I've ever eaten."
My cheeks heated up at the compliment, and I resisted the urge to duck my head. "Uh, I made these. She taught me how."
Jerry blinked, then glanced down at the cookie in his hand. "Can I add making me fresh cookies every week to your list of duties?"
I grinned at him, then leaned forward, my thighs pressing against his desk. "I'll make them anyway, just because I—you're such a good boss." I winked at him, then took off before he could read too much into what I'd said.
I'd almost outright told him I liked him. That was not the plan. I had to ease him into the idea, or I might lose my job before I got anywhere.
I settled behind my desk, then shuffled some papers to look busy. My desktop pinged, saving me from my terrible acting, and I quickly checked the email before forwarding it to Jerry.
Kat and Archer wanted to meet up over lunch, so I added that into Jerry's calendar and also added a thirty-minute gap between lunch and his next meeting with one of the project team managers since his lunch with his business partners—aka best friends—usually ran over, according to Carol's notes. She'd left me a bunch of them, and they were quite useful.
I worked on a few other things, mostly dealing with the inane 'Help me; I misplaced my butt' emails that Jerry's employees thought were his responsibility for some fucking reason.
While Archer headed up the digital marketing department, and Kat was the face of the company—the person who usually dealt with old and new clients, as well as found new clients—Jerry was the artistic side of the equation. He was the designer, and he worked on each and every advertising campaign that passed through the company. His involvement varied depending on how big the project was, but he still personally oversaw everything. And that sometimes led to his employees assuming he was at their beck and call, rather than the other way around.
I didn't know how exactly Carol had dealt with them, but I was not going to let them run my mate into the ground.
I snuck a peek into Jerry's office, smiling when I spotted him squinting at his screen with a little wrinkle above his nose. Damn, he was so cute. I turned back in my chair before he spotted me creeping on him. That would certainly submarine my chances.
As I worked, I realized something strange and wonderful: while I'd applied for this job simply to be closer to Jerry as I worked on wooing him, I actually enjoyed the work.
Being an assistant was a lot of effort, and required thinking on the go, and I enjoyed the fast pace. I also liked that I could make Jerry's life easier.
I didn't mind interacting with other humans either, especially Jerry's friends and their assistants.
Lydia and Rita—Archer and Kat's assistants, respectively—were both competent women, and we got along well. They'd been close to Carol, but they didn't let that stop them from befriending me. They were also always happy to help when I had a question, and they'd also filled me in on all the office gossip.
While I knew there were some downright awful humans in the world, so far I'd only met the good, kind ones. I didn't think my streak would last very long, but it wasn't like humans scared me. What could they ever possibly do to me?
"Eshim," Jerry's voice piped up from the intercom, and I barely resisted the urge to jump.
For a demon who was very attuned to his senses, having a voice speak near you without any warning of their presence was... unnerving. Even though I knew it was just a phone, it still weirded me out every time.
"Coming!" I answered as I hopped to my feet, adjusted my vest, and then headed into Jerry's office. Even though he was my boss, I couldn't quite bring myself to think of him as Jeremiah or Mr. Cohen.
Jerry glanced up as I walked in, a furrow between his brows as he returned his gaze to his screen. "Remember that big client Kat was trying to sign? They've signed us on to update an old ad campaign, and if they like the work, they'll be signing their whole account with us."
I grinned widely. I must've just gotten that email because I hadn't seen it. "That's great!"
Jerry glanced up, a distracted smile on his face, and hummed. "It is. Kat asked me to personally oversee the project. Do you know which team has the least on their plate right now?"
I squinted as I went over all the teams' schedules in my head, then blinked. "Martin's is just finishing up a project."
Jerry winced, then cleared the expression away before I could question what that was about. "Ah, that's good. His is one of our best. Could you please call him up? I'd like to discuss the project with him myself. I just need to make a few calls first."
"Of course. Just let me know when you're ready for him."
I went back to my desk and called Martin up, and he arrived a few minutes later.
Jerry was still on his call, so I waved Martin into the spare chair on the side of my desk. He wouldn't have a view into Jerry's office from there, and for some reason, that made me happy.
Martin was handsome in the classic sense, all toned muscles and pretty blue eyes, but something about him gave me the feeling he was about to break my streak.
"You're new, right?"
I nodded, then snuck a peek behind me. Jerry was still on call. Damn.
"Eshim," I introduced myself, and he shook my hand, lingering there for a moment too long.
Since I'd spent the weekend reading every article on flirting I could find, I got the message loud and clear. And I wasn't interested.
Pulling my hand away, I wiped both palms on my pants, then turned to my computer.
"You should be careful, you know."
What now?
I squinted at him, and he pointed toward Jerry's office with a thumb. "Jeremiah. He's close to Archer and Kat, you know. Very close."
I blinked, confused. Wait. Was he implying...?
I decided to play dumb. "Of course they are. Carol told me they're childhood friends."
Martin stared at me, clearly surprised I hadn't caught on to his very obvious implications. "Well, yes, but he's also," he lowered his voice, "fucked them both, I'm pretty sure. Carol was probably safe because she's old, but you..."
He eyed me like I was a piece of meat, and yeah, I did not like this human.
I also didn't like what he was implying about Jerry. I knew he and Kat used to be together, and it was possible he and Archer hooked up at some point. Fuck knew I'd hooked up with a bunch of my demon friends throughout the years. But that didn't mean Jerry would just go around propositioning anyone, especially people in his employ.
"Has he ever been inappropriate to you?" I asked, and he looked stumped.
"No, but—"
"Have you ever seen him being inappropriate to another employee? Or anyone in general?" I cut him off, and his mouth moved wordlessly for a moment.
"Well, no—"
"Then I'd recommend you keep your mouth shut and not talk shit about Mr. Cohen. He's done nothing to deserve it, and the fact that he isn't interested in you is not reason enough to go around bad-mouthing him."
Martin's face turned red, and he opened his mouth, but the door opened before he could speak, and we both glanced up at Jerry.
His face was set in a bland mask, but his eyes...shit. How much of that had he heard?
"Sorry about the wait, Martin. Please come in."
Martin nodded mutely, shot to his feet, and slid into the office without a backward glance at me.
Jerry lingered, and when I glanced up at him, he gave me a soft smile before stepping back into the office.
His smile lingered in my mind as I turned my attention back to my computer, and I kept an ear on their conversation, compiling together the details Martin would need for the project based on it. I was also listening in case Martin was inappropriate in any way, but our conversation seemed to have affected him enough that he was on his best behavior for the moment.
I had to rearrange some of Jerry's to-do list when their conversation ran late, but they finished up just in time for lunch, so I waited until Martin stepped into the elevator before walking into Jerry's office.
"Lunch time!"
"Give me ten minutes and I'll finish this up."
"Nope. Archer and Kat are waiting for you. The work will still be here when you get back."
Jerry sighed, but put his computer in sleep mode and stood up. I had a couple of inches on him, and I liked the slight height difference. I would be much taller than him in my true form, but even like this, I liked that I could shield him if I had to.
"All right, all right. The usual?"
"Yep. They said they'd order for you if you didn't show up," I checked my watch, "in eight minutes."
"Assholes," he muttered fondly, then shook his head. Then he glanced at me, and his expression softened. "About earlier..."
I winced. "I was hoping you didn't hear that."
"Thank you. For what you said."
I shrugged. "It was the truth. He was being an ass."
"Unfortunately, he's very good at his job," Jerry said with a sigh, and I nodded in commiseration. What was the point of being the boss if you couldn't fire people nilly-willy?
"I'll make sure he doesn't cause any problems," I assured him, and he smiled.
"Thank you, Eshim. I'm glad Carol hired you. You're exactly what I needed."
He means professionally, he means professionally , I chanted to myself as I nodded at him, trying not to smile too widely.
When he left for lunch, I magicked up a sandwich for myself, and ate at my desk as I mulled over my next course of action.
I was eager to get closer to Jerry, but this client they were trying to sign on was important. I didn't want to distract Jerry from his work, or be the reason they didn't get the contract.
It wasn't like I was in any rush, right? I could help Jerry with this project, and then once it was done, I could continue with my own project to get my mate to fall for me.