{ #2 } I Would Give Him The Moon (MxM || 18+)

Chapter 45 - Where The Hell Is He?

(Joshua's POV - Thur. 27 March 2014)

"It doesn't sound logical Derek, the benefits should be much higher on this project... How come there are such discrepancies in the P&L between the forecast and the actuals?" I ask to my uncomfortable CFO with whom I have spent the last two hours deciphering tables and tables of figures. I may not be an experimented finance guy but I am not stupid and I have studied enough and have bathed in business management for long enough to see that some of the reports bear incoherencies.

"There have been some tax increases and it seems that the guys from the projects didn't quote the right amounts..." he tries to explain, not very confident about his reasoning. When he notices my narrowed eyes, Derek recovers his self-assured expression and adds: "I'll double check everything myself, Joshua. I'll work this out with the tax guys and the tendering department. They might have made some mistakes in their assumptions. I'll get back to you as soon as possible," he says firmly.

"I want your teams to verify all their data too. There must have been something going wrong there and I want some clear and exhaustive explanations," I reply even more firmly, as if we were in some kind of self-confidence contest. Well, I would win that one because after all, I am the boss, right? Derek's years of experience don't impress me. I am still his manager and the fact that he is more than fifteen years older than me doesn't change a thing.

"Sure..." he replies, standing up and I walk him back to the door of my office.

"Liam, would you please block two hours on Monday morning with Derek in my calendar?" I ask as both Derek and I reach his desk.

"You already have three hours with Mr. Brightman before he goes to his appointment with the new client for the whole afternoon, Sir," Liam says looking up from the documents he was sorting on his desk. "Would an hour be enough? Or else, I can schedule 5 to 7?" Liam proposes. I can't help the little smile on my face at how he has grown professional since last September. Only seven months ago, he would have needed to check my calendar and would have stuttered his answer; now my entire schedule, past and future, is in his head and he can confidently express himself, even in front of stricter persons like Derek. He will surely make a great personal assistant to whichever high-level manager will offer him a job and weren't I faithful to Ally or weren't she to ever return, I would definitely keep him as my personal assistant.

"One hour in the morning should be enough, I believe," I reply. Monday will be our last day just the two of us here before Ally returns on Tuesday, and I well intend to spend my 5 to 7 slot with someone else than Derek.

"That should be fine indeed..." Derek confirms, probably relieved not to have a late meeting on a Monday evening.

With that, Derek heads toward the elevators while I go to the meeting room fridge where my lunch must have been dropped by Liam. I am surprised to find the sandwich I asked for and a yogurt instead of an apple or a pear. I always get fruit when I go for the sandwich and Liam has never failed that rule since he started working for me. I walk back to his desk, expecting an explanation, and see that he has returned to sorting his documents. He is so concentrated that he doesn't even register my presence in front of his desk.

"What is this?" I ask him, prompting the Danone pot a few inches in front of his face, making him squint.

"A yogurt pot, I guess... strawberry it seems..." he replies with a smug smile. Is someone looking for a spanking?

"What do I usually get with my sandwich, Liam?" I then ask, narrowing my eyes.

"Fruit, Sir. However, since they had only bananas and you don't like them, I got you a yogurt. It still has some fruit in it..." he replies with a sarcastic grin. I think that he is really trying to push me, but he should know that I rarely lose these little games. I lean down to rest my hands on his desk and smirk back at him, my face only a couple of inches away from his.