Chapter 4

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Without turning to me Mr. Williams said, "Good morning Ms. Thompson. You're right on time. I knew I made the right decision in hiring you."

"Th-thank you sir. I'll be a hard worker and I won't let you down." I told him walking a little closer to him. Slowly he faced me and a smirk was on his lips.

"I have no doubt about that Ms. Thompson." He moved back over to his desk and sat down. I followed him there and sat on the other side of the desk across from him. "Are you ready for your first day?"

"Yes I am," I paused uncertain if I should ask or just let it go. It really wasn't a big deal but I was curious. "Sir may I ask a question?" Mr. Williams' brows furrowed but he nodded. "Where is Angie? She told me she would also be meeting with me this morning before she started training me for the day."

He stiffened for a moment then casually answered, "Oh Angie's always getting information mixed up. It's probably her age."

My eyes partially narrowed at his explanation but I couldn't think of a reason for him to lie so I let it pass. "Alright then...who will be training me?"

Mr. Williams leaned back in his chair with a smug look on his face and eventually answered, "Me."

That didn't seem right. Why would someone as important as him need to train his own secretary? He had to have other things on his schedule for today, not that I would know since technically I hadn't started yet.

Mr. Williams must have read my face and seen the wheels turning in my head because his face took on a challenging expression as if he were daring me to question him. Not wanting to get my boss angry within my first 10 minutes of working for him I cleared my throat, forced a smile, and asked, "Ok sir, where would you like to begin?"

The smile returned to his face and he practically oozed satisfaction. My eyes burned from the effort it took not to roll them. Standing up he directed, "We'll start with a tour of this floor and then we'll stop on each floor shortly to get you familiar with the people you'll be working with." I shadowed him as he walked out of the office and passed what would be my desk. We turned right, went down a small hallway and ended up in a kitchen. "This is the break room. You'll have your lunch here and also make me my coffee in the mornings. I like it with one cream and two sugars." Without waiting for a reply he turned on his heel and went down the same hallway we came through. Next he took me to a small copy room and then showed me a few offices that looked unused. I found that strange but he kept on moving so I didn't have time to question him.

Trailing him around proved somewhat difficult. I had to speed walk to keep up with his pace. I wouldn't consider myself short, I was 5'4", but he was at least six feet tall so his strides were longer than mine. I was so busy focusing on keeping up with him that I didn't have time to slow down when he came to an abrupt stop. I bumped into his solid back and made an 'oomph' sound before stopping myself. Mr. Williams turned around looking amused while I felt myself blush. I stuttered over my apology before being interrupted by him saying, "Ms. Thompson I'm surprised. You didn't come off as so forward in your interview. Normally I would oblige a beautiful woman's obvious invitation but we really have a lot to see before the day is over. You'll have to wait for another time."

My jaw dropped to the floor at his words. I couldn't form a coherent response. Mr. Williams began to laugh as he watched my reaction. "I see you can't take a joke Ms. Thompson," he said in between chuckles. Not finding his joke funny I gave him a strained smile. He was so confusing! One minute he was being professional and the next he was making inappropriate cracks at me. Looks like he would be the one keeping me on my toes.

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We finished our tour after about an hour and a half and were in the elevator on the way back up to our floor. After his 'joke' from earlier Mr. Williams reverted back to his professional self. Maybe my reaction turned him off. I really couldn't tell and it was stressful trying to figure him out. I suppose I would need more than just a few hours to read him. Once the elevator doors opened and we exited the elevator I remembered a question I wanted to ask Mr. Williams earlier. "Excuse me, Mr. Williams?" He slowed his stride to look at me but didn't stop. "I've met staff on the other floors but I haven't seen anyone else on this floor. Who else works up here?"

An unsettling smile appeared on his face and instead of continuing toward his office he spun on his heel and came towards me. Startled by his sudden change in mood I gasped and began to back away from him. I didn't get very far before my retreat was halted by my desk. Mr. Williams stopped close enough to me that I had to look up to see his face. Although he wasn't touching me I felt smothered by his proximity. Gazing down at me he spoke in a low tone, "Well Ms. Thompson it seems your beauty caused that piece of information to conveniently slip my mind." My eyes widened in response. That was the second time today he referred to my appearance. Surprisingly I didn't find it flattering. Regardless of the fact that he was a ridiculously handsome man he was my boss and those comments made me feel uncomfortable. His gaze remained steady on me even though he hadn't answered my question.

Mustering up a small amount of courage I lifted my chin and said, "Mr. Williams, I find your invasion of my personal space and comments about my 'attractiveness' highly unfitting for the workplace. Also, you did not answer my question."

Mr. Williams expression changed from admiring to shocked to outraged all in the span of three seconds. His fists clenched and he opened his mouth to speak but shut it and ground his teeth instead. I cowered in fear and regret for my words and tried to maneuver my body away from his. I managed to slide from between my desk and his body. During that time he had closed his eyes. I stood away from him waiting for him to blow when I noticed his fists and shoulders relax. His eyes shocked me when they opened. They were cold like they had been on the day he interviewed me but there was also a newfound hardness to them. Angie's warning about him being used to getting what he wants echoed in my mind.

He peered at me with those frosty eyes and gave me a mocking smile. I bit my lip in anticipation of what he was going to say next. My action didn't go unnoticed by him and his eyes glazed over as he stared at my lips. I released my lip from my teeth and shuffled from one foot to the other. This seemed to snap Mr. Williams out of the trance he was in. At long last he spoke, "Forgive me Ms. Thompson. I will refrain from any further remarks or advances that make you uncomfortable. There's no reason we can't maintain a professional work relationship. And to answer your question this is it. " He finished by waving his hand back and forth between the two of us. My face scrunched up in confusion but before I could ask what he meant he said, "You and I work on this floor. Alone."

As promised here is another chapter posted today! The story is really going to pick up from here 😎. I will try to update tomorrow. Thanks so much for reading!

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