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Alex

"Oh y'all definitely clapped cheeks, huh." Derek blurted out almost immediately after I exited the elevator to the third floor. I shot Joan a look.

"What happened to the "this stays between us" pact we agreed upon?" I demanded.

Joan gave me a shrug. "When you said "us" I assumed it was more of a you, me, and Derek type of situation."

My fingers gently rubbed the bridge of my nose as I sighed to myself. If Derek knew, the whole third floor knew. Derek didn't understand the meaning of a secret.

"We did not clap cheeks." I clarified. "He just spent the night because it got late. Now please, for the sake of my sanity, let's not ever say those words again."

Derek and Joan gave me a less than trustworthy nod.

I'd barely managed to make it to the employee clock in/out terminal before I felt my personal phone buzz in my pocket. It was a text from a number I hadn't recognized.

Unknown:
Where the hell are you?

I stared at the text for what felt like ninety years, trying hard to recognize the number.

As soon as I settled on not knowing who the fuck this was, I sent a message back.

Me:
Who dis?

My phone buzzed not more than a second later.

Unknown:
"Dis" is the guy who's impatiently waiting for those files you said you'd have on my desk this morning. Aka your fucking boss.

I outwardly groaned. After Christian had shown up to my home, it was only right to assume the man had all my private information including my cellphone. That's why this text didn't come as a surprise.

This wasn't exactly how I had planned to spend my break, however. The day had actually depleted all that was left of my energy and when noon rolled around, all I wanted to do was take a nap in my car.

I started to type something, but another text went through my phone almost immediately after the first.

Unknown:
I bought you Eddie Chang

That fucking bastard.

-

"I just want you to know this right now: I'm only here for the Eddie Chang." I announced as soon as I entered Christians office. He gave me sly grin in return.

"Our business trip for Mavericks Corp is in less than a week, this is crunch time." He explained as he started to open up those sweet sweet take out boxes. The smell of Chinese food flooded the office.

I kept forgetting that Christian was actually serious about taking me along for this trip. On one hand, I was ready to experience a different side of business relations and marketing... on the other, I was absolutely prettified. As much as I would like to think I could do this, just watching Christian during his meetings today made me scared shitless.

Our company website had uploaded some clips of the morning conferences to the intranet, and watching this vulture in action had me covered in goosebumps. Maybe it was his "I could run this company into the ground at any moment without a single fuck to give" type of attitude that left you gripping at the edge of your seat.

Today it could be billions.

Tomorrow it could be unemployment.

Christian had a way of keeping us guessing.

He lead a very risky but somehow sustainable (I use this word loosely) philosophy of high risk high reward. Working with him closely made me realize just how qualified he was for this position.. but his ability to throw logic out the window whenever he was slightly inconvenienced worried me. Shit, it worried the whole department.

And I thought I was unstable.

"I think we're ready for whatever Mavericks throws our way." I told him. It sounded like honesty, but really I was lying straight through my teeth. All it would take was one insult and Christian could very well lose his shit.

"We don't have room for error on this one." He replied. For some reason, those words held weight. For a fraction of a second, I saw Christian second guess himself, and I wasn't sure how to feel. His demeanor was so different, I couldn't help but wonder what had changed.

"You better have booked one nice ass hotel. I could go for a spa treatment before this hell." Christian answered.

I froze.

Then gave him the most reassuring smile I could muster.

Booked a hotel?

What?

I had completely forgotten about the fact that I was his actual assistant... and booking shit like this was my actual job.

"I got the best of the best." I lied.

I hadn't even looked at the flights yet.

Christian took his first bite from Eddie Chang as I laid out the files and documents we had gone over the night before.

"This stays between you and me... but Eddie Chang is good as hell." He mumbled as he took another bite of the fried noodles. "I can't remember the last time I spent so little on food."

Must be nice, Christian. Must be nice.

"I was thinking we could maybe stay a day later in NYC after the conference. There's a few things I want to take care of there before coming back. Also, don't make plans Sunday night." Christian spoke in between spoonfuls.

"Sunday?" I asked. He couldn't seriously want me to work the weekend too.

"My mother has requested my presence... and oddly enough, yours as well."

I stared at him blankly.

I mean, obviously I knew Christian had a mother... How else would he have gotten here? But the thought of meeting that woman shook me to the core. Call me crazy but I didn't exactly want to meet the woman who raised him. Every fiber of being in my body told me that this wasn't a good idea.

"You look like I've sentenced you to your death." Christian joked as he took another large bite.

I gave him a reassuring smile as I got to looking up flight details.

Something told me this man very well may have.

••


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