Page 477 of Savage Bosses

Deja walked into her office and sat at her desk. She was answering emails when Jeff knocked on her door. “Good morning, Deja, could we get your input on this project?” he asked as he stood in the doorway of her office. She waved him in. “Come in and have a seat.” Deja said with a smile.

As Deja leaned in to examine the documents spread out before them, she noticed some glaring issues and started taking notes. After twenty minutes, she looked at Jeff and sighed. “I’ve outlined some issues. Once you’ve made the changes, email them to me and I will review them.” She gave the paperwork back to Jeff so that he could make the adjustments.

Deja walked towards the breakroom to get coffee when she overheard a hushed conversation nearby.

“Stephen seems really uptight lately. He’s not his usual easygoing self,” whispered one woman.

“I heard he's been giving the new woman, Deja, a hard time.” The other worker added. Neither realizing that Deja entered the room.

“Really?” the other replied, as she eyed her coworker with a mixture of pity and suspicion. “What did she do to deserve that?”

“I don’t know, but you don’t want to be on Stephen’s bad side. I don’t know if she will last that long.” They walked out without turning around. They didn’t even notice that Deja was standing by the coffee station.

Deja gritted her teeth, suppressing the urge to defend herself. Instead, she focused on the task at hand, determined not to let the office gossip distract her. She made her coffee and walked back to her office. Jeff was standing in the doorway with another person from his department.

“The revisions are done. I emailed them all to you, but we had a few questions.” Jeff said, as he looked at the other person.

Deja nodded before sipping her coffee. “Come in. I have some time before I have to meet with Stephen.”

They sat in front of her desk. She looked up at Jeff and the other employees. “So, what questions do you have?” They asked several questions, and she answered all of them before looking at her watch. “Alright, here's what I think,” she said, pointing to a section of the document. “We could improve our outreach by implementing a more targeted social media strategy.”

“Interesting. That’s a great idea.” Jeff responded as the other person nodded thoughtfully. Jeff hesitated. “Can you give these suggestions to Stephen at your meeting?”

“Sure,” she paused as she looked at her watch. “I need to prepare for my meeting,” she replied, straightening her posture as she stood and walked her coworkers to the door. She instantly noticed Stephen across the office, unable to avoid his glare. She walked back into her office and closed the door. After reviewing her notes for the meeting, she grabbed her laptop, took a deep breath and approached his office.

“Stephen,” she began, hesitating only slightly. “Are you ready to meet to discuss the marketing strategy I proposed earlier? The team and I worked up some new ideas that I believe could be beneficial for our campaign.”

Stephen's eyes flicked up from his computer, cold and unyielding. He seemed to regard her with an icy disdain that sent shivers down her spine.

“Have a seat. I’m waiting for Caleb so we can start the meeting,” he replied curtly, gesturing for her to sit in the chair across from him. “But let me hear your ideas.”

Deja swallowed hard, trying to ignore the knot of anxiety tightening in her stomach as she outlined her proposal. Stephen listened, his expression unreadable, making her even more aware of the tension between them.

A few minutes later, Caleb knocked before walking in. “It’s nice to see a beautiful face in this drab office.” He cut his eye at Stephen and smirked. “How is the job coming along?”

“It’s going great.” Deja tried to sound upbeat, but it fell flat.

“Is Stephen treating you right?” Caleb asked as he smiled at Deja.

Deja gave him a faint smile but didn’t answer.

Stephen looked at both of them. “Can we get this meeting started?” He growled as he stood and walked over to the conference table.

Deja connected her laptop to the wireless overhead projector and when through all the revisions and suggestions from her team.

“Great work Deja. I love the changes,” Caleb said.

“Are you finished?” Stephen asked, darting his eyes back and forth between the two, his voice dripping with impatience.

“Yes,” she replied, steeling herself for his response.

“Your ideas have some merit,” he conceded, though his tone remained icy. “But we need to discuss a few changes in more detail.”

Caleb stood and grabbed his laptop. “I have to head to another meeting, but I’m good with whatever you two decide.” He turned to Deja and smiled. “Thanks for all your hard work. We appreciate it.” He then turned to Stephen. “I will talk to you later,” he said before walking out.

Deja knew the revisions were good, so what the hell was his problem? She knew that beneath the surface of their professional interactions lay a dark undercurrent that fueled Stephen. She just didn’t know why and why it was directed towards her.

Chapter Five

---