Just Maybe...

CHAPTER 19 - DARREN GRACE: "The Awkward Meet"

I was in the middle of an important phone call when I heard my office door open and then shut. I immediately knew it was the new assistant who had taken Sarah's place. Sarah applied for a transfer to a different office due to some personal reasons. Sarah had just stepped in to let me know she was here and if I could see her now. I told Sarah to send her in because the client's call was about to conclude. If she was going to work here, I needed to clarify a few things. The board approved her hiring, but if she was to work for me, she needed to get a few things right, one of which was being on time, and she's already late on her first day. Once done with all the formalities, I finally hung up and turned around to address her.

Holy Crap. Ivana. Asher's best friend. Is she going to be my new assistant? Fuck. This is going to be really awkward. The last time we met, which was perhaps also the first, it was just formal introductions. Darren, stop overthinking. Just be professional.

Even before I could come up with the words to say, she just blurted out my name "DARREN", and her facial expression clearly indicated that she didn't intend for it to come out so loud. She tried to straighten herself up, startled and embarrassed by her demeanor, in the hopes of seeming professional, but the shocked and concerned expression on her face clearly revealed she wanted answers about everything that was going on. The way she looked at me with those big blue eyes of hers, it was evident she wanted me to respond, but to be honest, I didn't know what to do in a scenario like this.

I brought my finest professional self to address her in order to keep the situation from becoming any more awkward and to break the silence that had surrounded us. "Please have a seat, Ms. Ivana Peters. We have a lot to discuss." She glanced at me, wondering what to do, or perhaps she was taken aback by my rejection of the evident fact about us by me pretending that we were strangers.

Getting a hold of herself and putting aside her bewilderment, she went confidently towards the chair, pulled it and sat down. The sudden change in her behavior surprised me but witnessing how she could switch between personal and professional so eloquently pleased me. I was impressed but not as much as I was taken aback when she proceeded to speak.

"It's a pleasure to officially meet you, Mr. Grace. Is it okay if I call you Mr. Grace, or would you like to be addressed differently? "

"No, Mr. Grace is fine."

We began to go through the specifics of the job and what she would be expected to do as my assistant. On the surface, the discussion appeared to be very formal and wonderful, but if you took a close look, you could see Ivana constantly fidgeting with her hands while putting on her best business face. I could tell since I was continually staring at her, hoping she was too focused to notice me eyeing her. I'm not usually like this, but I was intrigued by how she could speak business like that while the circumstances were getting even me agitated. For a college graduate, it was very admiring.

When we were finished, I asked Sarah to come in and accompany Ivana to her office, which was directly next to mine, and hand her all of the paperwork and data. I also asked her to assist her in understanding all of the ongoing projects she was working on because Ivana was supposed to take over responsibility for them starting tomorrow. It wasn't until she was gone that I realised how exhausted I was from being stiff and how much energy it took for me to act so formally in front of her. I have never had trouble putting on a face in the most difficult situation. It was then that I realised how difficult this was going to be, but I still didn't understand what it was about her that piqued my interest to the point where I was focused on her every move and word. This is not me.