8
MR DALTON
Chaos erupted at work due to the slight complication of the client’s lawsuit. The rumour of being sued caused a lot of disruption in the office. Talks of having to downsize our staffing after a few clients got wind and decided to pull out of our business, meant we had to make cuts across the board.
Angelina was working day and night, both on and off site, which meant Jennifer and I had to step up, deal with damage control for both colleagues and clients, while keeping the company running as smoothly as possible. It was Jennifer's day off today and Angelina was at an offsite meeting with our legal team which meant I was in charge. Angelina wanted to try and keep the lawsuit as far from the office as possible. She would regularly take meetings at head office to avoid adding more fuel to the fire.
With that, I had permission to work in Angelina's office on my projects, handling any business calls or client concerns in her absence. It was rare for Jennifer and I to do this as Angelina typically took care of all this despite it being in our job description. Angelina was a bit of a control freak and ran a tight ship, so it gave Jennifer and I time to be more face to face with clients and carry out individual projects rather than taking a more managerial side, which I loved, but sometimes I wanted that managerial side; to progress.
Today seemed to flow and calls to my work phone exploded this close to Christmas, with changes to campaign drafts and new ideas from my clients. Currently, I was on the phone to a client discussing a vision draft for his skincare range that we were in the process of starting, ready for the launch in the new year; my new focus now that the ‘Wild’ fragrance campaign was approved and ready to go. I was disturbed by a gentle knock on the door.
“Andrew, I'll get those details drafted up ASAP and email it over by Monday morning. Talk soon. Bye.” I jotted the final notes in my notepad along with the agreed deadline before putting the phone down and peering up to notice who I was inviting in. Gradually, the door opened to expose him. Nate.
Frozen, I admired the beautiful man before me and my pulse began to race as it always did when I saw him. I had only seen him a couple of days ago at Ivy’s parents’ anniversary dinner. He looked as confused as I did before it faded into a flirtatious smile, he marched in shutting the door behind him.
“You're not Angelina,” he jested, my heart twinged as he addressed her by her first name.
“She's at a business meeting.” I stated, giving him a soft smile, keeping as professional as I could. “Can I help you?” I asked, a little dominant, taking him by surprise. His Adams apple bobbed as he swallowed anxiously.
He chuckled, nerves radiating off him thanks to my authoritative presence, he scratched the back of his head for a split second composing himself; I had thrown him off.
“Well, there are many things you could help me with,” he seductively retorted, raising an eyebrow, causing my cheeks to heat up. He cleared his throat prompting himself to be professional and pulled himself together before continuing. “But I have a file from my client. Angelina needs to sign before the end of day.”
“I’ll call her and tell her. I'll get her to fax it over to you,” I smiled, keeping my assertiveness, my eyes staring into his as he placed the briefcase on the desk.
He passed me the document in a tan envelope, his hands making contact with mine. It jolted electricity all over my body and my dominant persona faded, suddenly turning submissive. He paused at our contact, not wanting to let go. He seized my wrist before brushing his fingers over it and followed the soft caress on to my knuckles.
Delicately, I swallowed, feeling nervous that any sudden movements would scare him a little. His touch gave me goosebumps, my cheeks changing to a crimson colour as his eyes locked on mine; hunger filling them. I liked being in his grip, this was wrong. My breath caught in my throat and I slowly parted my lips, focusing on my breathing. I watched his eyes drop to my lips before locking back onto my eyes.
Quickly, I dragged myself and the file away from his touch, positioning it on the desk in front of me. My brain decided to start planting steamy scenarios with Nate in this office. I felt as if it was getting harder to breath, to concentrate, to just exist.
It was like every time he was around me, every time a piece of skin had contact with mine, I wasn’t thinking rationally. It scared me as I was always in control of myself but now, I wanted to fuck him right here on the desk, not caring about everyone else the other side of the wall. I wanted to feel his hands on my body again, and I had since he left the hotel but even more so since our interaction the other night.
I replayed that moment; Nate pressing me against the car asking me if I was satisfied.
Satisfied it was him? Yes.
Satisfied with our interaction? No, I craved more.
That night when I got home, I ran with the fantasies. Despite the stigma that a woman has needs that even a cold shower couldn’t extinguish, I ended up giving into temptation but self-gratification just isn’t enough sometimes and him being present now wasn’t helping. I was addicted to him; my body reacting to his presence, his touch, his voice and now my thoughts were betraying me.
He cleared his throat again, occupying the seat opposite me, nodding to the phone in my hand.
“Right now?” I queried, irritated at his demand as he was making himself at home.
“Of course, sweetheart, I don't have all day,” he said cockily, trying to assert his control.
His hands grazed over his jaw, watching and waiting, placing his hands back together on his lap, signifying he wasn’t leaving until it was done.
Rolling my eyes at him, I picked up the phone with a sigh, to call her on his demand. Angelina answered almost instantly, thank God. I explained that Mr Dalton was waiting, needing the papers signed immediately. As expected, she said would get to them later so if he needed them now, she requested I sign them. If not, he can wait. He waved his hands to signify not to worry, he could wait. My eyes narrowed at him a little as he kept his amused smug expression.
“Okay, I’ll bring them to your house at 6. Thanks Angelina.” My blood boiled a little at his little game of control.
“Well, that's that,” he chuckled, lifting himself out of the chair, satisfied with the result. It was like a test, of course he didn’t need them signed now and he knew Angelina would sign them when she had a moment. He wanted to dominate me and was also impressed that I followed his instructions, even if I had met him with a little attitude. He clutched his briefcase making his way towards the door.
“Oh, I should punish you for rolling your eyes at me, sweetheart,” his husky voice added, before a smug smirk spread across his face at my flustered reaction. His eyes changed from playful to murky, his frame seemed significantly larger, muscles seemed bigger and more intimidating. “Don't do it again,” he scolded in the same tone before softening to playful again “See you this weekend, sweetheart.”
Shit, this weekend was Ivy’s engagement party.
My pulse was racing, my spine tingled at the thought of him punishing me for my attitude. It’s exactly what I desired; I wanted more of him even if it was wrong.
“And… nice shirt,” he teased, as he opened the door, chuckling as he left the office. My heart raced, my cheeks burning from his confession.
I looked down at my navy shirt to notice I may have had an extra button undone, exposing enough of my cleavage that it just hopped over the line of professional. I sighed to myself; this was my life, but I also couldn’t help smiling at the thought that Nate had the same reaction to me as I did him.
I threw my head back lounging in the chair, folding my arms over my chest and huffing in frustration that I enjoyed him, his game, his presence and his flirtatious comments despite him being my best friend’s older brother and now a lawyer for a client who was suing the company.
Technically that made him forbidden. How did I get myself into this situation?
At sundown I dropped the papers off at Angelina’s house on the edge of the city for her to sign.
“I see you had the pleasure to meet Mr Dalton today,” she sighed as she looked over the documents in her home office. I nodded in response as I checked out her immaculate home.
“He's a pain in my arse!” she chuckled lightly. Angelina seemed exhausted. I felt bad that work was now happening at her home too, but Angelina would never ask for help, she would always soldier on.
“You're telling me,” I muttered under my breath, thinking that as annoying as Nate was, he was also irresistible. She groaned in frustration as she picked up her phone to call someone and I assume from her tone she was speaking to Nate; there was something in this contract that she wasn’t happy about, and then she continued to scold him for being an arsehole, that this wasn’t urgent and could clearly wait as the deadline at the top stated Friday.
This was the settlement which would determine if the client would take the payout or if we would be having another long battle, only this time in the courtrooms.
From overhearing her conversation with Nate, it seemed the client had demanded a new NDA signed prior to the settlement meeting to ‘protect’ himself and his brand. I hadn’t caught the name of the client who was suing us but from what I could make out from the conversation at present was he had filed the lawsuit for contract disputes, misrepresentation and data breach of confidentiality, naming Francine as the representative.
This would explain why she hadn’t been at work, she was on suspension while the investigation was underway. I had worked beside her for years and not once had I seen that she would jeopardise her job, she loved it too much, we all did. Francine did have a bit of a mouth on her but she was harmless and knew the serious implications of breaching confidentiality, I did, however, wonder about the contract disputes.
I thought back, remembering a heated conversation on the phone between her and her client weeks ago, before my trip to Barcelona. Was it something I should have picked up being a Deputy Manager?
My colleagues sometimes had to be a little forceful on calls when speaking with businesses or we would be walked all over. It resulted that we had the occasional client disrespect us. Angelina always encouraged us to reprimand them in a professional manner without taking bullshit, that it seemed normal to me when conversations became a little intense.
I twisted the hem of my blazer as I waited for her to finish the paperwork so I could fax them over to Nate in the morning; Angelina had another off-site meeting until lunch tomorrow. I assumed it would be part of Francine’s investigation with head office.
Angelina had switched on the fancy coffee machine sitting in the corner of her office on top of a white mini fridge. She poured us both a cup, placing it on a free space on her paperwork-filled desk before she sighed, taking her seat and guesting me to join her.
“So what's the update with this lawsuit?” I asked, curious and now up to date with the commotion. I was surprised Angelina had finally looped me in with the whole case.
“Nothing,” she sighed. “We are going round in circles. The client believes we leaked something huge that’s ‘damaged’ his sales and brand. The contract disputes seem to be fixed as well as they can be, but the misrepresentation and data breech is where we are fucked. He won't stop until he gets a vast pay out, he made that clear.” She took a breath, inhaling the fresh smell of coffee to ground herself before continuing.
“As you know rumours are spreading, not just in the office but outside too. I can’t contain it and it’s affecting business. We had 10 more clients terminate their contract with us this week alone. We need to try and dissolve this before it escalates. I need you and Jennifer to reassure our existing clients and staff that this is nothing more than an attention ploy. A con man.”
“Wow, that’s a lot.” I replied, watching the relief wash over Angelina as she got everything off her chest and out in the open. She leaned back and filled me in on all the details of the investigation and court case that she was allowed to share.
“Yep, and the client is threatening to sell the story and blacklist… you know… certain employees which could not only damage the company but the individual involved." She nervously laughed, shaking her head at the situation.
“Shit, thank you for telling me this Angelina. Please if there is anything at all I can do, please let me know. I want to help.”
We sat there in silence for a little while letting all the information sink in as coffee fuelled both our exhaustion. I began to think about different ways I could help, how we could deal with the damage. We couldn’t change the past but we could plan for the future.
“Erm…Why don't we make him sign an NDA which states that if he sells any information we can counter sue?” I suggested, I had no idea what I was talking about but I had seen enough law shows over the years.
Maybe we needed to play this man at his own game. Angelina looked up at me in amazement, quickly thinking over the one action I had proposed to help her and save all our jobs.
“You know what, that's a good idea!" She speed-dialled our legal team, proposing the idea to draft us up an NDA too, prior to the meeting, and see what else we could place in the clause. If any more rumours spread around, that could cost him more than it would cost us. For the first time in the last month Angelina looked hopeful as the legal team rolled off the idea, she placed them on speaker phone and looped me into the conversation.
“Any tarnishing of our company name could damage his reputation, as we can then sue for wrongful information. We can also put in a new clause with any new contracts about this too that way we have full protection going forward. Plus, we can send out to existing clients an updated contract with the NDA added section,” the legal team expressed, "Let me speak to John in the morning. We will send the draft to you tomorrow when you're back in the office to check over it and add anything else. Oh, and Miss Henley, Good work.”
Nate popped by the office on Friday afternoon to update Angelina on the decision from the settlement meeting after he and his clients had discussed the proposal terms. I assumed John was on the other line too. The client refused the settlement, calling our offer offensive, which meant we needed to buckle up; this lawsuit had revved up and court was on the horizon.
Nate strolled out of the office and stole a glance in my direction, smiling my way before leaving.
All week I couldn't stop thinking about him, the interaction in the office, his loose promise of punishing me for my attitude; it gave me a thrill. It was the highlight of my week to see him in yet another suit, even if it was just a split-second glance. I couldn't help but blush and think about him even more, he was drawing me in, driving me crazy. As much as I wanted to stop thinking about him, I couldn’t. He was implanted in every aspect of my life. He was impossible to shake.