Things weren't the same as they had been. Robert was a raving lunatic. He was insatiable, unappealing, irritable, and demanding. He was like a wet diapered infant.

All she did was wrong in his eyes, and he snapped at her for the littlest of things. Instead of yelling, he'd say one hurtful word. And whenever she tried to defend herself, he would refer to her as rebellious.

Nia let out a sigh as she refreshed her computer. On her desk, she had a stack of papers that needed to be sorted, courtesy of Robert. Only he could make such a mess.

A knock sounded and the door opened a crack. Beth poked her head through.

"Hey. It's time for lunch. Aren't you coming?" She asked sitting on the chair.

Nia exhaled.

"No. Mr McGregor gave me these a while ago. I need to finish sorting it before he comes asking for it. It will only give him another opportunity to ridicule me if he comes to ask for it himself," Nia said softly as she looked through the files.

"Aww you poor girl."

Nia suddenly felt like crying. The stress of the day was weighing down on her.

"I'm off to lunch now, but I'll help you when I get back," Beth said getting to her feet. "Do you want me to get you anything?"

"No thanks, I'm all set," Nia said showing her the packet of chips.

Beth nodded and silently left the office.

Nia rolled her shoulders and picked the first paper. She was going to get it done.

True to her words, Beth came back thirty minutes later to help her. But she had her own work to do so she left after some time.

Finally, after two hours, she was done with the back breaking work. Now all she had to do was give them to him.

Crossing her heart twice and taking deep breaths, Nia knocked on his door.

"Come in," she heard him say.

Oh man.

She hadn't seen him all afternoon, and she didn't want to, but she didn't have a choice.

Pushing the door open, she walked in. He was seated at his desk and had his feet up on the hard wood. His jacket lay discarded on the couch, and he had rolled up his shirt to his elbows.

Nia found that terribly attractive. Not him, his arms. It was something Dean did that she had always liked.

She stopped in front of his wide desk and looked at him.

"Where do you want these sir?"

Robert looked up surprised. He stared at the stack of papers in her hand like he hadn't expected her to finish so soon. His next statement confirmed it.

"You're done?"

Nia scoffed inwardly. Did he think I was lazy?

"Yes I'm done. Where do you want me to put them?"

He returned his gaze to the file he was reading and flipped to the next page.

Motioning to the drawer in his desk, he spoke, "You can put it in here. I need them now anyway, and I don't want to have to walk all the way there to get it."

Nia gulped.

"You want me to put it in the drawer beside you?" She asked for confirmation.

"Yes," he said and dropped his feet from the desk.

When she didn't move, he lowered the paper and looked at her. "Any problem Smithy?"

"No."

Bloody hell, he was sitting right there!

Biting her lower lip, Nia rounded his desk and opened the first drawer. It was filled with papers. She opened the second but that wasn't vacant either.

She opened the third. It had pencils and other stationary. She was going to have to create space for the papers.

Giving him a side glare, Nia dropped to her knees and pulled out the drawer completely. She turned out the contents and separated the pencils. She was just glad he didn't have any condom wrappers. Heaven knew she wouldn't have touched those.

As she worked, his cologne drifted around her and she inhaled deeply without meaning to.

God what a nice smell.

It was like a combination of musk and sandalwood. But God it smelt so good. She had half expected him to smell like the asshole he was.

"Hurry up Smithy, your noise is distracting me," Robert muttered.

"Asshole," she whispered.

"What was that?" He asked sharply. Nia tensed but didn't stop working.

"What?" She asked innocently.

Robert glared at her and for a moment, he considered giving her a heavy knock on the head. She probably won't feel it considering the amount of hair she had.

He'd always wondered about her hair though. Always wanted to touch it and see what it felt like. It looked soft and hard at the same time.

His hand hovered over her hair. She didn't notice. She was too busy sorting out his drawers.

"What do you think about investing in the Montana project?" Robert asked still staring at her hair.

He wanted to know her opinion, although he's already made up his mind about the deal.

Her reply was instantaneous.

"I think it's a bad investment. Their company is weak and failing. You can invest now, but that will only boost them for a few years. It's a lost cause really. They are hopeless unless they take a decision which I know they're not ready to take. Two years from now, they will have folded up."

Her reply was met with absolute silence.

Nia paused. "I'm sorry if I said too much."

Everything she said was true. He had thought the same thing when he'd first reviewed the company in question.

"It's all good," he murmured still staring.

When he couldn't take it anymore, he made up his mind. He was going to touch it. Touching her hair will satisfy his curiosity.

Robert inhaled in anticipation as he stretched out a hand and touched a single curl. It was soft. He didn't think he had ever touched any hair as soft as that. He twirled it around his fingers and pressed it.

It was soft, and brown, and curly. It was flexible in his fingers.

The door swung open suddenly and Robert snatched his hand back. Nia peeped over the top of the desk.

"Woah! What's going on here?" Gabe asked pausing.

He had entered the room in time to see Robert snatch his hand back and a girl peeping at him.

"Don't you know how to knock?" Robert snapped.

His heart was still beating fast from touching her hair and he had no idea why.

Nia got to her feet and smoothed her black pants.

"All done sir."

Gabriel raised a brow. "All done?" He repeated.

Nia, not knowing what was running through Gabriel's mind, went ahead and wiped the corner of her lips with her finger. Inhaling Roberts scent had made her drool a little.

Gabriel's eyes widened.

"Hi Gabriel," Nia said as she walked past him.

"Hi," he responded.

They both watched her leave, Gabriel's eyes glued to her ass. Once the door closed, Gabriel whirled around to face his cousin.

"What was happening?"

"Get your filthy mind out of the gutter. She was organizing my files," Robert said scooting forward in his seat. "And what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in London?" He asked bitterly.

He was still upset that he didn't get to stay in London. He never wanted to come to America. It was one of the reasons he and his father never saw eye to eye on the business.

Robert subtly lifted his finger to his nose. It smelled like jasmines. Her hair smelt like jasmines.

Very nice.

"I came to say hi," Gabriel said taking a seat.

"We both know that's a lie. Now, what do you want?"

"It's about Sally."

Roberts head snapped up. "What about her?"

Sally was his younger sister. She was currently studying in Oxford.

"She's fine. She kinda lied to uncle to get some money out of him. He found out the money wasn't for school like she said, but for an entirely different thing. To cut the long story short, uncle's pissed, and he told her not to come home for Christmas, so she wants to stay with you," Gabriel explained. "Oh, and she wants you to call him and plead on her behalf."

Robert sighed and sat back. Just like his sister to get in trouble for silly things.

"So dad is pissed, I really don't care. Hell, I'll piss him off even more. But, she can stay with me as long as she follows the rules."

"Sure. I'll call her."

"And why the hell didn't she call me herself? Why are you doing her bidding?"

Gabriel shrugged. "She blackmailed me."

"You could have told me this on the phone Gabriel. Why did you really come here?"

Gabriel grinned sheepishly.

"I need a favor."

Robert narrowed his eyes at him.

••••••

Buzz buzz.

Nia glared at the buzzer.

"One of these days, I'm gonna cut out one of the wires so it won't work," she grumbled and got to her feet.

Buzzzzz...

"God he's probably leaning on it again."

She opened the door and walked in. He looked bored. He cupped his face in one hand while the other played with the buzzer.

Oh wow. I've turned to his entertainment, she thought grimly.

"You called?"

His gaze snapped to hers and he stared. She had ditched her jacket and now wore just her white long sleeved shirt. It was slightly tight at the bust. He wished it was transparent. He found himself wondering if she wore the hot pink bra from Saturday.

"Sir?" Nia prompted when his gaze on her became too intense for her liking.

As he stared at her, Robert realized he had forgotten why he'd called her into his office. So he blurted out the first thing that came to his mind.

"My shoes need shining Smithy, do you think you could do that?"

Robert regretted the words the instant they left his lips and he saw her face change.

Just why the hell did I say that? Robert wondered.

It was too late. He couldn't take it back. He watched as her face contorted in a frown.

"I am your assistant sir, not your errand girl. Shining shoes is not part of my job, and I'm not going to do it," she said firmly.

She had reached her limit. She was sick and tired of taking silly orders from him. It was time she stood up for herself.

He glared at her and she glared right back.

"Are you refusing Smithy?"

"Damn right I am," she responded.

"You better do as you're told or... "

"Or what? You'll fire me? That's what you've been dangling over my head since you came here. You know what, I quit!"

"Excuse me?"

"I quit! Consider this my two weeks notice," Nia said bravely.

Did she regret what she had just said? Absolutely. Did she wish she could take it back? Yes. Did she want to beg? Hell no.

She was just so angry! What kind of demand was that?

Robert stared wide eyed. That had been his plan all along, pressurize her into quitting so he could bring in another person of his choosing. That was what he wanted right? So why did he feel so panicked?

"I quit," she repeated.

"You can't quit," he said.

She couldn't leave yet. Where was he going to find another assistant so soon. And if she left, Connor would kill him. Besides she was a really good and efficient assistant, almost perfect.

"Yes I can, I just did."

"You can't," he said again.

"Why?" Nia asked puzzled. "This is what you wanted right?"

He ignored her second question. "Because if you leave now, I'll make sure you never get another job in the business industry or any other place. Not even as a house maid."

Nia frowned.

"You need my reference letter. No one would want to employ you when I write things like you're an insubordinate employee."

Nia gasped. He was threatening her whole career!

"You're a rebellious, flatulent, errant and wayward employee. The worst we've ever had... "

Nia cut him off sharply. "You can't do that! That's a lie!"

She scowled at him.

Robert got up from his seat and took slow menacing steps towards her.

Nia refused to step back even when he was standing right before her. The closest they'd ever been. She could feel him breathing down on her but she didn't look up. She stared at his broad chest.

"I can. And I will do that if you quit. So settle in Smithy, cause you're here for the long haul."

Nia swallowed thickly. She wouldn't cry in front of him.

Standing so close to her, Robert could study her face without her being aware. She had long lashes and a straight nose. He could perceive the faint smell of jasmines on her.

He heard her take in a shaky breath before she turned and walked away.

Robert stared at the closed door wondering when he'd become such a dick.

_____________

He is a real dick.
Do you think Nia should still leave? I mean, he has threatened her whole career.
Tell me what you think in the comment section.

Don't forget to vote and comment.
Graciás...