Page 11 of His Temptation
“You implied it, sir. It is completely unreasonable to expect me to understand the lingo in this industry within a couple of weeks. I don’t know about steel or how airplanes are built. I don’t know what the hell a nose cone or fuselage is. I have no idea what galvanized steel is. And not knowing those things without ever being exposed to them doesn’t make me incompetent.”
If looks could kill, I’d be falling out of my chair dead right now. The realization that I’m about to get fired dawns on me. I start to think about what that means. No more health insurance for Benny, no possibility of moving into a nicer place, no savings for college.
What have I done? I should’ve bitten my tongue and let him talk down to me all he wanted. This job could’ve changed our lives, and I had to go and ruin it with my big mouth.
I brace for the inevitable words to spill from his mouth. Two words that he has said to every assistant before me. I thought I’d be different.
“Is that all, Miss Ricci?” His voice cuts off the thoughts running through my head.
I blink rapidly as I try to understand what he’s saying. “I’m sorry, sir?”
“Is. That. All? Or can I get back to my phone call?”
“I … I …” I stumble over my words, not sure what’s happening. “Um, yes, of course. I’ll be right outside if you need me.”
He nods his head, actually acknowledging me for the first time. I spring from my chair and jog back to my desk before he changes his mind. Is he really not going to fire me after I just spoke to him like that?
My heart is beating out of my chest. Maybe he’s just waiting until the end of the day to fire me. That’s a thing, right? I think I’ve seen it in movies.
It’s just after five when he comes out of his office. His hair is slightly disheveled, as if he was pulling at it while working for the last couple of hours. It’s weird how it makes my stomach flutter a bit.
Ugh, my body is such a traitor. How can it be attracted to a man who is about to fire me?
Instead of stopping at my desk to send my ass packing, he walks straight to the elevators like nothing happened.
Did I just manage to keep my job despite messing up my meeting notes and talking back to my boss? The same boss who’s been through three assistants already this month.
The entire way home, I try to figure out why he didn’t fire me. Then it dawns on me. He’s going to have HR do it. I’ll bet he put in a call to them already. Great. Now I won’t get a wink of sleep tonight.
6
LINCOLN
Every morning, I make sure to get in my workout. Some days, it’s a five-mile run; other days, it’s a swim.
Today, I felt like lifting. It’s one of my favorite types of exercise. I love the pain I feel when my muscles are screaming at me to stop. That’s when I know each rep that follows the burn is when change happens. When my muscles say they can’t do one more, I push them that much harder.
I tossed and turned last night as my assistant’s words echoed in my head. I must admit, she had taken me by surprise. None of my assistants had ever talked back to me. As much as I wanted to put her in her place, I realized she had made good points.
I can’t expect her to take meeting notes at the level that I desire when she knows nothing about the conversations happening in those meetings. I plan to rectify that today.
“Meet me in my office in five,” I command as I stroll past Miss Ricci’s desk.
When she walks into my office five minutes later, she looks like she’s seen a ghost. I’m not used to my assistants being so afraid of me. She’s an unusual one.
“Yes, Mr. Monroe?” she says in a shaky voice.
“I’ve canceled all my meetings today.”
Her eyes open wide. “Why, sir?”
“Because I’m taking you on a little field trip.” I stand and button my jacket.
She raises her eyebrows. “Field trip?”
“Yes. You made a good point yesterday. I can’t expect you to take proper notes if you don’t know a thing about the industry. That changes today.”
“Where are we going?”
