Chapter 31
Chapter Thirty-One
Raven
“Only one more week left up here!” I exclaimed to Joanne as I dropped off documents at reception to be mailed. “Are you excited to finally be the badass manager that’s going to keep us all in line?”
Joanne looked up from her computer and her eyes sparkled with excitement. “What are you talking about? I keep you all in line already.”
“You have a point.” I chuckled. “Your second official task, should you choose to accept it, will be to get Cassie’s new hire paperwork done and get her in the system.”
Joanne swiveled her chair toward me and crossed her arms over her chest. “If I didn’t already have the documents ready for Cassie to sign when she starts, I wouldn’t be your office manager, now would I?”
“Someone is sassy today. I love it. Don’t ever change.”
With a wink, I turned toward the hall before Joanne said my name and I looked back.
Her face had morphed into concern, and she lowered her voice. “Are you going to talk to Mia?”
I sighed. “Yes, I’ll talk to her this afternoon.”
As I walked back to my office, I added that conversation to the long list of things I had to do before the end of the day and shook my head at the cliche of having an HR meeting on Friday.
The week had been a whirlwind of catching up after my impromptu day off and subsequent weekend of debauchery with Ryan.
I had gotten some work done from home, but nowhere near as much as usual, and it didn’t help matters that he had crawled under my desk while I worked.
A smile crept onto my face at the memory as I sat down at my desk. He’d been skimming the script for his current job on the couch in my office while I ran numbers and reviewed files. I was in the middle of running checks when my chair was pulled backward.
“Hey! What are you doing?” I squealed.
Ryan smiled a wicked grin. “Nothing you don’t want me to do, boss,” he said before kneeling between my chair and the legs of the wood.
I watched with curiosity as he maneuvered himself into the small space and laughed at how funny he looked. If the desk wasn’t a modern one without drawers he wouldn’t have fit. Even so, he had to crouch to avoid banging his head.
My laughter died as he pulled the chair back into position with a swift jerk. “Lift your hips, baby.”
I would do anything he said when he used the Zander voice on me. Gripping the arms of the chair, I lifted my ass off the seat as he pulled my leggings down my body.
“Get back to work, boss,” he growled as he pushed my knees apart.
My computer dinged with an incoming email, and I was startled out of my daydream. I glanced at the clock in the taskbar. Fuck. I still had three hours before I could meet him.
Ryan spent the majority of the weekend at my apartment, but we hadn’t talked much since.
I was buried under a mountain of accounts, and he neglected his own job to occupy the underside of my desk.
He said he would have to pull some all-nighters to finish the book he was working on, and I admitted to myself it was probably for the better that we kept our distance.
I still had a business to run, even if all I wanted to do was cuff him to my bed and never let him leave.
I was enamored with him. It turned out I liked to be both dominant and submissive, a true switch.
I wasn’t sure that would be the case with anyone else, but it was with him.
Relinquishing control was easy since he always had my best interests in mind.
Above all, he was safe, and I could finally let go.
An email notification with Mia’s name flashed in the corner of my screen as I clicked back into my database. A pang of sympathy pierced my chest. Since she’d rushed out of the bar a few weeks ago, she had been more subdued than usual. More often than not, Mia always lit up the room.
This week was different all together. She had been in her office with the door closed all day, every day, and she hadn’t said more than a few words to Joanne or me.
A few times when I walked past her door, I thought I heard her crying softly.
I assumed whatever was bothering her would probably pass, but as the week wore on, it was clear that it was serious, and I suspected it involved her boyfriend.
A few hours later I knocked on Mia’s door and was met with silence that stretched longer than normal. “Mia?” I called.
Her voice was barely audible. “Come in.”
I pushed open the door and was taken aback by folders scattered everywhere. “Whoa, what happened?”
Mia didn’t look away from her computer. “I couldn’t find a file. I had to go back through everything I did last month, and I haven’t cleaned it up yet.” Her voice was gruff, like she had been crying, but it was laced with anger and frustration that gave off a menacing aura.
Walking further into the room, I closed the door behind me with a click. “I’m sure you’ll get to it when you can,” I said as I perched on the arm of the chair opposite her desk. “Is everything all right?”
“It’s fine. I got a head start on things for next week, and you’ll have the reports by the end of the day on Monday.”
I sucked in a breath. “Mia, you know that's not what I meant. I know work is fine. You are a killer at your job. What’s going on? You have been distant and unlike yourself this week. Joanne and I have both noticed. We want to make sure you’re okay.”
She looked down at her fingers resting on the keyboard. “I’m sorry. I…I have issues going on at home. I won’t let it interfere with my performance.” She lowered her voice to the smallest whisper. “Please don’t fire me.”
My heart shattered for her even though I didn’t know what she was dealing with.
No one ever knew what others were going through deep down, and I knew that feeling all too well.
I recognized the isolating behavior and the change in demeanor among the host of other indications.
Standing, I moved across the small room to stand as close as I could with the desk between us.
“Mia, I’m not going to fire you. I just said you are the best at your job.
Now, I’m going from boss to friend, okay?
I don’t know what’s going on, and you don’t have to tell me, but please know that I’m here for you.
My door’s always open regardless of whether it's about work or not.” I flattened my palms on the hardwood next to her keyboard.
“I’ve been through some shit, too. I may look put together, but we all struggle.
It took a long time for me to get where I am and to be okay. ”
A lone tear slid down her cheek as she slowly moved her hand to cover mine. “Thank you,” she whispered before pulling back.
I tapped the desk in quick succession before moving to the door. “All right, now let’s close out the day right. I have a date to prepare for and you have a fucking mess to clean up, ma’am.”
I looked back from the doorway, and her jaw had slackened. “Wait, a date? Raven!” she squealed, but with a wink I closed the door behind me.
“I want to see your recording set up,” I said to Ryan over breakfast the next morning.
He paused mid-chew. “Why?” His face had turned from playful to perplexed at my question. I wondered what made him think I wouldn’t be interested in his craft.
We spent all night tangled in each other after I got home from the office, but we had done very little talking unless you counted all the coaxing each other to release.
I was disappointed when he said he had to work and wouldn’t be able to spend Saturday with me, so I tossed around ideas and finally landed on the perfect solution.
One screen would work, and since I’d gotten enough done through the week, I didn’t think I would fall too far behind.
I forked the last bite of my eggs into my mouth.
Ryan decided to make a simple breakfast so he could leave quickly.
“Reason number one is I want to see you work. For no other reason so I can drool from the sideline while I watch,” I said casually.
The fork clinked against my plate as I got up and moved behind Ryan’s barstool.
I ran my hands over his shoulders and down his chest, dropping a kiss to his neck and bringing my lips close to his ear. “Reason number two is that since you have to go record and can’t play with me all day, I’m going to bring my laptop and come with you.”
He reached up to grab my wrists. “Better watch it, baby. Keep saying things like that and I might fall in love.”
I squealed in surprise as he whirled me around and into his lap. “Ryan! We’re going to break the chair!”
He nestled his face into my neck, and his breath warmed my skin. “I’ll buy you a new one,” he purred as he ghosted kisses along my collarbone.
My giggles bounced off the kitchen cabinets and filled the open space with an unfamiliar brightness, something the dull walls hadn’t seen before.
I kissed his cheek and set to clearing the dishes from the island.
He didn’t get up to help, instead just watched me as I worked.
I stole glances at him, blushing every time I looked up and saw him still staring.
His face was a mask of stillness, concealing any thoughts that were playing in his mind.
As I finished the task, his mouth curled into a grin as he rose from the stool and caught me by the waist, pressing a kiss to my forehead.
“I’d be honored if you came with me, babe.”
An hour later, we walked into Ryan’s minimal apartment in the suburbs, and I smirked as soon as I took in the small, but open galley-style space.
I wasn’t surprised at the lack of decor as I looked around.
Ryan was a typical bachelor in his twenties when it came to the furnishings.
A tiny two-person table sat in the middle of the kitchen and beyond it, the living room boasted a couch, an end table, and a TV stand.
I rolled my eyes at the monstrous gaming computer setup that took up the other half of the living room along the far wall.