Chapter 49
Chapter Forty-Nine
Hunter
I heard the knock on the door and knew exactly who it was. I was just finishing up with my work for the day, catching up on all the issues that had been left waiting for me over the past few days. And of course, there were the updates from the media storm.
Our legal team had been completely confused with the instructions I had given them not to meddle with anything. There was no point. The second he had walked out of the office, I had made my decisions and gotten on with my life.
There would be no further response from the company, and none of the executives thought I was in my right mind, but I didn’t mind.
“Come in,” I answered, knowing exactly who it would be.
She headed in, and I could sense how nervous and exhausted she was. I truly wished that she would go home, but I knew that she wouldn't, and given the ultimatum that I had given her to give me a response before this day had ended, I understood why she would be reluctant.
I shut my laptop, then grabbed my coat and rose to my feet.
“Have you made your decision?” I asked.
She stared at me; however, she didn’t respond. Not until I was close to her and almost ready to leave myself.
“I, uh... I want to know what he asked for.”
I watched her, considered her request, and then I nodded.
“He wants shares. Rather than car payments. He wants a chunk of the cake, and I’d rather not do that. If he wants to buy it, he could. I can't stop that, but to give him that, I’d rather cut my arm off.”
“Oh,” she said, and I nodded.
“I’m leaving. You should head home too.”
I headed toward the door; however, she soon stopped me.
“I... I have shares. You could give him mine.”
I stopped in my tracks and turned around to face her.
“What?”
“A few months ago, I got some shares in the company. It's not much, but rather than you give any to him, you could give him mine.”
“You bought shares in the company?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she replied.
“Why?”
She smiled, and it made my heart flutter.
“What do you mean why? I believe in you. I mean, I believe in your company and what you do.”
I stared at her, and then I sighed.
“Come with me. Let's have dinner together.”
Her eyes widened in shock.
“Really?”
I didn’t bother responding.
She followed me, and pretty soon we were riding down the elevator side by side. A couple of employees were still loitering around, so I exchanged greetings on my way out, but eventually, we were in the privacy of my car and headed towards Oxygen Bar and Lounge.
It wasn't my favorite restaurant, but it was a bit far away, so I didn’t go as frequently as I wanted to. However, I felt much lighter, and I knew that for the day to be somewhat of a success, I needed to resolve my issues with her as well. I knew she was nervous, however, I remained silent until we arrived and were seated.
The waiter came to take our order, and while waiting, we started off with some scones and a bottle of red wine.
She took a sip and began to talk about her company shares while I watched her.
“What's the catch?” I asked.
However, she seemed confused by my question.
“What do you mean?”
“What's the catch to me using your shares to satisfy him?”
“Um...” she instantly sat up. “Nothing,” she said. “Absolutely nothing. It was my fault, and I don't want you to bear the costs at all.”
I watched her and shook my head.
“You do realize that you’re not acting like an employee, don't you?”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“Sometimes you act like you're in love with me.”
She stared at me, and then she lowered her head. I couldn’t believe I was doing this, but with her, I couldn’t be indirect, and this was the same generally across the board. What was the point? It was a waste of time.
“Are you?” I asked. “Are you in love with me?”
She lifted her gaze to mine and held it, however, she didn’t respond.
I smiled. I hadn’t exactly been expecting her to reply.
“Let me ask you something you should be able to respond to then. The woman in the hotel? You think I slept with her, right? Is that why you resigned? Is that why you’re no longer comfortable or confident about us?”
She continued to watch me.
“Don’t lie to me,” I said. “I know you want to act like you don’t care and that you’re unaffected by it, but don’t lie to me.”
She took another sip of her wine, and then she set the glass down.
“I... I know that I have no right to you personally. Officially or any way. But... seeing her hurt me deeply. I know that I messed up, and I know that you're technically allowed to date whoever you want but seeing that greatly decreased my desire to be around you. I respect you and what you do, but... I think it would be better for me to move on.”
This annoys me so much that I could barely contain it.
“Once again,” I told her. “You assumed.”
She watched me, surprised.
“What do you mean?”
“Based on all you know about me, you really thought I had picked her up at the bar and brought her to my room to sleep with her while you were in the next room?”
She seemed completely confused at what I was saying.
“I’m asking you a question,” I said. “You really think I did that?”
“She was in your bed,” she replied.
“Did you see me fucking her?”
“So... she came in, but you two didn’t go all the way?”
“I have no idea how she got in my room. I didn’t invite her; I didn’t know her... I barely even spoke to her. I was just as shocked as you were to see her in my bed.”
She stared at me, her eyes still wide, and I shook my head.
“I guess now you have to convince yourself that you believe me, but trust me, if you don’t know anything about this, you should know that I have no reason to lie.”
“I know that,” she replied softly.
“Then why didn’t you just ask me?” I asked. “Why feel hurt and lash out all on your own? Why conclude that it’s best to leave on your own?”
Her eyes filled with tears as she smiled.
“You’re allowed to sleep with anyone you want. We weren’t... We weren’t official. You’re my boss.”
“You wanted us to be official?” I asked.
She didn’t respond.
“You’re assertive with everything else except when it comes to this, and when it comes to us. Why?” I asked.
She replied, “Because you’re my boss.”
“That’s all I’ve thought of you as from the very beginning. It's been less than a week since the whole thing has been flipped on its head. I thought... I thought we'd have time to kind of find our groove. You know, maybe get closer, maybe even get tired of each other. By then, I'd probably be begging you to transfer me to another department.”
“I can do that now,” I said. “Is that what you want?”
“Doing that, I don’t think it’s within the company,” she replied. “From what I’ve heard, everyone wants to fire me. And it just got worse today.”
“These things happen. It’ll die down. You should see the kinds of mistakes the other departments make.”
“I’m your secretary. I do see them,” she smiled. “I... to be honest, I don’t know what the right decision is to make now. Continue to stay on or get transferred. I did get a third option today, and I think I might want to take some time to consider it.”
“What’s the third option?” I asked.
“Starting a lingerie company with a friend of mine.” I listened to her, and then I nodded.
“Interesting,”
This made her smile.
“You think it’s a good idea?”
“Why would I think that?” I replied, and just then, our food arrived. We focused a little bit on eating, and then I lifted my gaze to hers once again.
“You have an interest in lingerie?” I asked.
“Not exactly, but my friend is in love with it. She quit her job as a lawyer to handle it, but she’s getting burnt out and broke because while she loves the creative side, she really hates the business side. I’ve learned so much from you over the past few months. Maybe I can take it on. Out of all my options, this makes me the most excited.”
“And... I’m telling you this not as your secretary or employee.”
This amazes me.
“Why are you telling me this then?” I asked.
“I’m pretending right now that I’m on a date with you,” she said. “Since I don’t know if I’ll ever get to actually be on one with you. So, I’m telling you this so that I can remember us together and have the date we never had in Thailand.”
“You’re saying goodbye?” I asked.
She looked at me and then she shook her head.
“Life is long. New York is really small. Maybe it’s not goodbye?”
I thought about her words there and then. I stopped and put my fork down. She looked at me.
“I’m going to tell you things now that I haven’t told anyone else, so listen and do with it what you want.”
“Alright,” she replied.
“I never wanted to stop our relationship when we returned to New York. I wanted to keep going with you because of the way I feel about you... the way I feel when I’m with you... I really haven’t ever felt that way with anyone else before.”
“So if you do choose to no longer be my secretary and to go into business with your friend, then I’m happy for you to explore that. And of course, I’ll be willing to lend my support however you might need it.”
“Okay,” she said. “I appreciate that.”
She returned to her meal, and I did the same. I was very well aware that I still hadn’t said exactly what I wanted to. I would leave this up to her.