Page 42 of Vows In Corruption

“Good Morning, Elizabeth.” He says as he passes my desk and sends a nod in my way.

Nobody calls me Elizabeth. Not my friends, not the little family that I still talk to, not a single person in my life. Yet, he does and I like it way too much.

You were the one that told him to call you that.

Yes, but at the time, I didn’t know how much hearing those syllables come out of his mouth like that would affect me.

“Good morning,” I answer, grabbing my notebook in the process and following him into his office.

As I walk into his office, my eyes stay on him as he puts something on his desk before walking over to the coffee machine that he has in the corner and prepares what I’m sure is his second cup of the day.

Black, one sugar. Sometimes a splash of milk.

I don’t realize that I missed him asking a question until he says my name a little louder.

“I’m sorry.” I shake my head to bring myself back to the task at hand. “Did you say something?”

Bennett gives me a smirk, and I try really hard to not stare at it for an extended period of time.

“I asked what was on the agenda for today.” He takes a sip of his coffee but his eyes never leave me.

A small blush crawls up my neck but I try to hide as I look down at the schedule I wrote down before he got here.

“I have you meeting with the head of the tech department this morning at ten, he emailed last night that he wanted to run a design by you and them a meeting with the Japanese car company at six this evening.”

It’s not until I say who the meetings are with out loud that I realize that even if I’ve been working here for a couple of weeks, I still don’t know what Bennett actually does.

His business cards and email say he is a senior employee that helps with acquisitions but tech and automotive seem so far away from each other, no way he has a hand in designing computers and cars.

Does he?

“And in between?” Bennett’s questions takes me out of the spiral of questions about him I was getting lost in.

“Um.” I look down on my notes. “I have you going over the information that was sent over from Tokyo and us discussing your travel plans for next month. You had on your schedule that you are going to California, but there weren’t any specifics attached so I didn’t know where to book the hotel or if I should rent you a car or not.”

Bennett gives me a nod. “Go ahead and clear your schedule so that you can attend both of today’s meetings with me and don’t worry about a hotel or car for the California trip. It’s a personal trip and all of those things are taken care of.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“Look over the design that the tech department sent over and gather your thoughts and I will send you over all the information for Japan that way you have a better idea as to what the meeting will be about.”

I give him a nod. From the very beginning, not only has be been defending me but he has also included me in everything. He doesn’t make me feel like I’m just another employee or beneath him, he makes me feel his equal. Something more than just an assistant that handles his emails and calendar.

“Anything else?” He asks as he makes his way over to his desk.

I look down at my notes, but I already told him everything that I have written down. The only thing that comes to mind to bring up is Charlie’s scholarship and asking if he had anything to do it.

But I don’t think I can make the question leave my mouth.

If he did have something to do with it, I’ll probably come off as ungrateful. What if he rescinds the scholarship?

I try to talk myself out of not asking him about it, but the need to do it is too strong.

“Actually,” I start, closing the distance between us ever so slightly. Why? I don’t know. “Can I ask you a question not relating to work?”

Bennett looks over at me, his eyebrows bunching up just the slightest bit. “Yes. Of course.”

I don’t know why, but I feel nervous. “I told you that my sister got into Saint Christopher and that she was living at home because we couldn’t afford for her to live on campus.”

---