Chapter 11
11
ELLA
I ’ve officially been Bennett Lane assistant for a whole two weeks and I truly don’t know how to feel.
I’m excited about the job, don’t get me wrong and I actually like it a lot more than I thought I was going to, but I didn’t think that handling someone life was going to be so draining.
He was right when he told me that there was going to be days where I’m going to want to quit and two full weeks in and I’ve already had three days where I wanted to cry.
Not because of Bennett though. Not fully anyways.
As far as bosses go, he’s one of the best ones that I’ve had and I’ve had more than my fair share of nasty bosses. Bennett is definitely a hard ass at times, he’s very meticulous about how he likes to file things, and on more than one occasion I’ve rolled my eyes at his demands, like his ridiculous lunch order, but he is easy to work with and for.
The tears threaten to come because some of the executives at this company can be brutal with their words. In the two weeks that I’ve worked here, I’ve attended a few meetings with Bennett to take notes, and whenever a senior employee is in attendance, I’m getting brought down at any given moment.
I can’t get someone coffee order right? I’m incompetent.
I can’t find a document fast enough? I’m a waste of time and space.
If I ask question about something that I don’t understand? I should have never been hired and fired on the spot.
Bennett has defended me each and every time, even got into screaming matches with the person voicing the jabs, but no matter how much he defended me, hearing those things hurt. Every time an insult came my way, I wanted to bow my head and walk out of the room and cry.
I didn’t though. I didn’t walk away. I took every single insult and continued to do my work the way Bennett told me to do. Which is was a big fuck you to the senior employee.
Though every time I see Peter Hill, the senior executive that apparently hate Bennett from what I can tell and hates me in association, I cower a little waiting for him to bring me down once more.
I hate that I do it. Maybe with time, I will grow enough back bone to not let his words get to me as much as they have and I will be able spew hate, that doesn’t get me fired back. Hopefully it will happen soon, I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
For now, it’s the start of week three of this new job and it’s already starting a bit crazy and the craziness has nothing to do with work.
As I was riding my third train in the morning to get to work, I got a bank notification. One that stated that a deposit has hit my bank account. I usually wouldn’t question a deposit, I’m all for more money in my bank account, but when the amount that hit my account is the same as what I paid for Charlie’s first semester at Saint Christopher, my signing bonus, panic flowed through my body.
I tried to call the school as soon as I saw the notification to figure out what the hell happened, but of course my phone decided that was the perfect time to not have service. I did think about going to the school directly, but then I was going to be late for work and even though Bennett is affable with a lot of things, I doubt this would be one of them.
So I ran to the office, thank god I wore flats today instead of my discounted heels, and the second I land in my desk chair, I grab my office phone and call my sister’s school.
As I try to catch my breath, I look over at the time and see that I have ten minutes before my day officially starts. Good.
Thankfully my call is answered right way and within seconds I’m directed to the financial department and I tell them the situation.
It takes longer to get a response than it was to get someone to answer the phone.
“All right, Ms. Vincent. I looked dover Charlotte’s account and it looks like the reason that your money was returned because the balance was over paid.”
My eyebrows don’t hesitate shooting up. “Over paid? How? I only made that one payment.”
“Hmm, let me check.”
How can her balance be overpaid? There wasn’t enough money in my account for the balance to be over paid. And if it was over paid, why wasn’t the payment applied to the next semester.
“It looks like the scholarship that Charlotte received has taken into affect. So that trigger the over payment and you getting a refund.”
Scholarship? I try to remember Charlie telling me that she applied to one but nothing comes to mind. We did talk about applying to them when she first got accepted to Saint Christopher, but since I got my job, we didn’t need to yet.
Did she apply to one without telling me? But why?
My response comes out a bit confused. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t aware that she had applied to a scholarship.”
“Yes, it looks like was one from the Lane Foundation.”
No way I heard her correctly.
“Did you say Lane Foundation?”
My question starts to get overfilled with questions.
“Yes. The foundation offers scholarships to some of students every school year and it looks like Charlotte was on of the lucky recipients.”
I truly want to believe that my sister was indeed lucky in getting this scholarship, but given who by boss is, I can’t. I highly doubt this is part of my employment benefits.
I’m trying really hard not to freak out, but it’s becoming hard. In order to keep myself calm, I try to get as much information as I can.
As the words come out of my mouth, I feel as if ants are crawling all over me. “Would you be able to tell me what the balance would be for next year so I can prepare?”
The lady sounds confused as to why I would even ask a question like that. “There isn’t a balance for next year.”
“I’m sorry?”
“The scholarship not only covered this years tuition but also the next two years as well. Actually not only tuition but room and board as well.”
I don’t know whether to scream out or cry at what she is telling me. Everything is covered, but at what cost to me. I’m already in debt and owe one person when it comes to Charlie, with this, I’m going to drown and never come up for air.
You’re jumping to conclusions. It’s possible Bennett had nothing to do with this.
It’s hard not to jump into conclusions.
I hear the lady on the other Lind shuffling around paperwork, telling me that I’ve probably taken up too much of her time and that she has other things to do.
I let out a sigh and place a smile on my face even though she can’t see it. “Thank you so much for your time. I greatly appreciate you helping me with all of this.”
With that, the call ends and for a few minutes after I put the phone back on its base, I stare into space trying to digest the last few minutes.
Charlie not only got a scholarship, but one that pays for everything until she graduates. Everything is covered, I don’t have to worry about her loosing her spot because I can’t make payments in time. I’m excited but at the same time pissed off at the possibility of her only getting that scholarship because of who I work for.
Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.
It hard not to.
As soon as Bennett gets in, I’m going to ask him about it because this isn’t something to just avoid.
For the next thirty minutes or so, I concentrate on other things. Making sure the coffee machine is running, updating Bennett’s schedule, clean up the notes I took at a meeting he had on Friday, and scheduling a meeting with a Japanese car company that he apparently has been working with since his early twenties.
Every day I learn something new about Mr. Lane and yet he still seems like the biggest mystery in the world.
My morning tasks are enough to distract me and not think about anything but work. All that goes away though the second I hear the elevator ding and footsteps approaching the corner office. I don’t have to look up to know that it’s Bennett.
In the short amount of time that I have worked here, I’ve become somewhat attuned to the sounds that Bennett makes, the way his feet hit the floor when he walks is very much one of them. I noticed that when he wears certain shoes, his steps are more pronounced, like today, which tells me that he is wearing a pair of red bottoms.
Before this job, I’ve never seen a pair of the expensive shoes outside of a screen, and now I see them almost every single day.
When I look up from what I’m doing, I’m met with a sight I don’t think I would ever get tired of seeing. Bennett Lane in a suit that is made to fit him perfectly. My mouth waters a bit at the sight of him in a three piece suit and I have to reprimand myself for it. The man that is approaching is still very much my boss, no matter where he is on the hotness scale.
“Good Morning, Elizabeth.” He says as he passes my desk and sends a nod in my way.
Nobody calls me Elizabeth. Not my friends, not the little family that I still talk to, not a single person in my life. Yet, he does and I like it way too much.
You were the one that told him to call you that.
Yes, but at the time, I didn’t know how much hearing those syllables come out of his mouth like that would affect me.
“Good morning,” I answer, grabbing my notebook in the process and following him into his office.
As I walk into his office, my eyes stay on him as he puts something on his desk before walking over to the coffee machine that he has in the corner and prepares what I’m sure is his second cup of the day.
Black, one sugar. Sometimes a splash of milk.
I don’t realize that I missed him asking a question until he says my name a little louder.
“I’m sorry.” I shake my head to bring myself back to the task at hand. “Did you say something?”
Bennett gives me a smirk, and I try really hard to not stare at it for an extended period of time.
“I asked what was on the agenda for today.” He takes a sip of his coffee but his eyes never leave me.
A small blush crawls up my neck but I try to hide as I look down at the schedule I wrote down before he got here.
“I have you meeting with the head of the tech department this morning at ten, he emailed last night that he wanted to run a design by you and them a meeting with the Japanese car company at six this evening.”
It’s not until I say who the meetings are with out loud that I realize that even if I’ve been working here for a couple of weeks, I still don’t know what Bennett actually does.
His business cards and email say he is a senior employee that helps with acquisitions but tech and automotive seem so far away from each other, no way he has a hand in designing computers and cars.
Does he?
“And in between?” Bennett’s questions takes me out of the spiral of questions about him I was getting lost in.
“Um.” I look down on my notes. “I have you going over the information that was sent over from Tokyo and us discussing your travel plans for next month. You had on your schedule that you are going to California, but there weren’t any specifics attached so I didn’t know where to book the hotel or if I should rent you a car or not.”
Bennett gives me a nod. “Go ahead and clear your schedule so that you can attend both of today’s meetings with me and don’t worry about a hotel or car for the California trip. It’s a personal trip and all of those things are taken care of.”
“Oh. Okay.”
“Look over the design that the tech department sent over and gather your thoughts and I will send you over all the information for Japan that way you have a better idea as to what the meeting will be about.”
I give him a nod. From the very beginning, not only has be been defending me but he has also included me in everything. He doesn’t make me feel like I’m just another employee or beneath him, he makes me feel his equal. Something more than just an assistant that handles his emails and calendar.
“Anything else?” He asks as he makes his way over to his desk.
I look down at my notes, but I already told him everything that I have written down. The only thing that comes to mind to bring up is Charlie’s scholarship and asking if he had anything to do it.
But I don’t think I can make the question leave my mouth.
If he did have something to do with it, I’ll probably come off as ungrateful. What if he rescinds the scholarship?
I try to talk myself out of not asking him about it, but the need to do it is too strong.
“Actually,” I start, closing the distance between us ever so slightly. Why? I don’t know. “Can I ask you a question not relating to work?”
Bennett looks over at me, his eyebrows bunching up just the slightest bit. “Yes. Of course.”
I don’t know why, but I feel nervous. “I told you that my sister got into Saint Christopher and that she was living at home because we couldn’t afford for her to live on campus.”
“You did.”
Just ask the damn question.
“This morning, I got a notification that the money I used to pay her first semester landed back in my account. So I called the school to see if there was a problem and they told me that the money was refunded because my sister had gotten a scholarship. One from the Lane Foundation that covered everything until she graduates. You didn’t have anything to do with that did you?”
The way he just slides his hands into the pockets of his slacks and looks me dead in the eye, tells me everything that I need to know.
“The foundation gives out scholarships to hundreds of kids every year.”
“But do they give scholarships out to kids that don’t apply?”
I get a shrug from him. “I don’t know. I’m not the one in charge of the foundation.”
Bullshit.
Tired of the none answers, I ask him point blank. “Did you give my sister that scholarship?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
He doesn’t answer right away. He just continues to look at me, his face unreadable. Eventually he lets out a sigh and answers my question.
“Because I wanted to help you out. You said that you needed this job. I don’t know what your financial situation looks like, but when you take a job so that you can pay for your siblings school, I’m going to take that as you need money. So I decided to help in any way that I could, which included talking to the head of the foundation and finding out there was still scholarships available and suggested your sister for one. ”
“How did you even find out her name?”
Charlie and I don’t share the same last name and it’s for good reason.
“You added her to your medical benefits.”
I did? I try to think back to when I filled out my benefit form and if I included Charlie, but I can’t remember. In the time that she has lived with me, I have never included her in those types of forms because I’m not able to. If I added her to my benefits was a huge mistake on my end.
I take a second to collect myself before I say anything else but my words come out sounding angry.
“Why would you want to help? I’ve only worked here for two weeks, I’m a practicable stranger.”
The distance between us closes some more, and I don’t notice until I’m within in a foot of him, close enough to touch. I should take a step back, but I don’t. Anger is rolling through me right now and I’m standing my ground.
Apparently I’m not the only one annoyed by all of this. The way Bennett’s nostrils flare out has the annoyance showing prominently.
“Who cares?”
“I care! Why would you do that?”
Our chest are almost touching, and neither one of us is taking a step back or putting any distance between us.
“Because I wanted to okay! I saw the worry in your eyes, I saw how had you were trying to hide the fact that you were struggling and I wanted it to go away. So I did the one thing that I could think of that would help you right there in that moment, that wasn’t giving you a one hundred percent raise, which I would do by the way if I the board would give me what I fucking wanted. I wanted to help my employee, I see nothing wrong with that and you shouldn’t either.”
I don’t know what comes over me.
Maybe it’s the proximity oh his body to mine.
Maybe it was the fact that he said that he wanted to take my struggles away as if they were his to bare.
Maybe it was the fact that he did something so big for Charlie that I know for a fact will change her life forever.
I don’t know what it was, but something comes over me as I slide my hand around his neck and bring his face down just enough for me to slam my lips against his.
The second our lips touch, is as if everything in my mind clears and the fact that he paid for Charlie’s school no longer matters.
His lips are soft against mine and that is all that matters. And that is all I can think about until a hand lands against my waist and I swear I can feel his touch burn me through my clothing.
That should have been my sign to pull away, but I don’t come to my senses and realize what I’m doing until one of us makes a sound. Who? I don’t know because I start to spiral.
I’m kissing Bennett, my boss . Right away I pull away and put as much distance between us as I possibly can.
“Omigod. I’m so sorry.” I let out as soon as there is a good five feet between us.
Why the hell was I thinking?
You were thanking him for his generosity.
I could have used my damn words!
My eyes meet Bennett’s and for a second I forget how to speak. His eyes are slightly wide, and from the looks of it, he is just as stunned by my actions as I am, but there is something else rolling through his blue green eyes that I can’t pinpoint.
Is it anger?
Is it lust?
A combination of the two? I don’t know but right now, with all the embarrassment flowing through my body I don’t want to find out.
“I’m so sorry.” I repeat because that seems like the only thing I can say right now.
Bennett shakes his head, but I don’t know if he is doing it at me and the situation or to possibly clear his head.
“It okay.”
“It’s not okay. I just kissed you. I kissed my boss at our place of work.”
I feel like I’m having an out of body expericane.
Why did I do something so damn stupid?
Oh my god. I’m going to get fired.
Kissing your boss is a fireable offense, ins’t? I should have read my employee manual more throughly.
“Ella, it’s fine.”
My heart beats so damn loudly that I’m sure Bennett can hear from where he stands.
“Please don’t fire me.” The words escape without me even thinking about it, but I guess my mind is spiraling so much by what I did, it’s trying to find ways to keep me at the best job I’ve ever had.
The looks of confusing crosses Bennett’s face.
“I’m not going to fire you.”
“But I kissed you.”
“I know and it’s fine. We can forget that it never happened and move on. It was just a simple mistake.”
Forget that it never happen.
Those words shouldn’t sting but for some reason they do. Even more when you add the words simple mistake. But Bennett is right. It was a simple mistake and we need to forget that it ever happen.
So I push my feelings down and give him a nod.
“Right. A simple mistake that never happened.” The words sounds wrong but they are the only right words that can be said at the moment. “I’m still sorry for kissing you. I don’t know what came over me.”
Something that looks a lot like sympathy crosses Bennett’s face. Great, he pities me.
“Like I said. It’s okay. We both got caught up in the moment.”
Both of us? Does that mean that he didn’t want to pull away either.
No. He probably doesn’t want me to feel guilty about it, so he is taking some of the blame.
A small smile forms on my lips. “Right. Caught up.”
He gives me a small smile back. One that I’ve come accustomed to seeing since I started. Bennett doesn’t smile much, but I enjoy seeing it nonetheless.
We stand there, six feet apart just looking at each other. Neither one of us moving an inch to head back to our desk to get to work. We just stand in out respected spots, with a lot of awkward tension between us.
Apparently both of us are so damn lost in the way that we are looking at each other that neither of us notice that someone has come into the office until there is a knock against the door.
The second I’m out of the Bennett Lane cloud I was in and turn to see who has walking into the office space, I feel a lot more embarrassed than when I kissed Bennett.
Why?
Well, having the CEO of the company walk in while you are having a weird tension filled stare down with your boss will do that.
How long has he been standing there? Did he see the kiss and he is just now interrupting?
All I can think of doing is stare at Mr. Goldman as his eyes move between me and Bennett for a few seconds.
Thankfully, my boss is composed enough to fill the silence that is flowing though the air. I’m sure that silence was only for a few seconds, but it felt like a damn eternity.
“Gerald, what can I do for you this morning?”
The man in question, throws a smile in my direction and I try my hards to send one back, but I’m sure it looks strained.
“I hope I’m not interrupting anything, but I wanted to come and inform you of the news.”
“Oh, yeah? And what news would that be?”
Again Gerald smiles, but this time it’s bigger, like he is a kid on Christmas morning about to open all the gifts in the world.
“I’m calling a board meeting. I’m announcing my retirement and calling for a vote.”
My eyes move from Mr. Goldman to Bennett for some clarification, but Bennett looks a little too stunned to speak. So I insert myself.
“I’m sorry, but calling a vote? What for that mean?”
Gerald smiles and doesn’t take his eyes off of the man I just kissed.
“It means that everything goes how I think it will, come next week, the new CEO of Lane Enterprises will be Bennett Lane.”