Page 33 of Making Home with You
Nothing in my life has ever been this mortifying.
I can feel the heat creep from my cheeks and down my neck, and I know my entire face is bright red.
“I’m okay, thank you,” I say, slipping out of his arms and adjusting my jacket that had shifted in the ruckus.
Glad to hear that, Sarah,” he says, and any hope of him not remembering me has gone out the window.“I haven’t had an assistant for months now.The last thing I need is my new one out with an injury.”He winks at me and while I think it’s supposed to come across as casual, it just feels awkward to me.“This floor was a bad investment,” he adds, his tone joking as he smiles a little.“You’re not the first to slip on it.Gets slick as hell when it’s wet.”
I nod my head a little in agreement but I look away slightly as I pick up my bag and follow my new boss to the elevators.
I watch him scan his badge on a keypad beside the elevator and the door opens, and he steps aside letting me enter first.
“I’m glad you’re here early today.It’ll give me a chance to go over some things with you before it gets busy in here.”
I’m far more inarticulate than I usually am, but I quietly agree with him, again nodding my head.
“I’ll also have you meet up with my old assistant for a bit.She moved into a different role several years ago, but she’ll be able to fill you in.”
We exit the elevator and make our way to his office, which has a small adjoining office that will be mine.He leaves me alone while I put my things down and get settled.
I open the blinds to reveal two massive windows that overlook the Boston skyline, a view that people would kill for.
I’m standing there taking in the view when a knock comes on the connecting door and my new boss enters, standing in the doorway.
“You ready, Sarah?”he asks, his voice smooth, almost seductive.
“Yes, Mr.McGuire.”
“Please, call me Andrew, and you’ll have to forgive me if I leave anything out.I haven’t had an assistant for some time now, but the company is insisting on it.”
He takes me around the office introducing me to people and showing me where I can find the things I might need.Then he gets down to the logistics of the job, which basically is that I will be doing everything he does, but I won’t be the person who gives the okay in the end.
I’ll be responding to emails, taking phone calls, sitting in on meetings, reviewing sales contracts and pricing, forwarding sales orders to purchasing, and at some point, I’m sure I’ll be fetching coffee and ordering lunches.
“You are the first point of contact,” Andrew states, when we return to his office.“You work on the clients with your charming personality I saw during your interview, you make the sale, you get them to sign the contract.It’s all you until I need to sign off on it.”
“I guess I didn’t realize I would be so involved in the sales aspect of everything,” I say and suddenly feel like I shouldn’t have said it.It makes me sound lazy or ill-equipped to do the job.“I mean, I…”
“Don’t worry about it, Sarah.I’m training you to take over a sales role that will eventually come available.You’re far more qualified for the job, but I’m happy to take you on.”
He steps out from around his desk, standing in front of me, he runs a hand down my arm and I swallow hard.Without being obvious, I take a small step back and cross my arms over my chest.
I’ve never been a big fan of people I don’t know well touching me, and personal space is a huge thing.Right now, I want to walk out of the room, I want to give this guy my what-the-fuck face, but since he’s my new boss I’m going to stand here and tolerate this like he isn’t encroaching on my space, like he isn’t bordering on inappropriate.
“Oh, one more thing,” he says, and again he’s too close for my liking.“If my wife calls, always put her through to me.”He winks at me, and it’s getting creepier by the second.
“Got it,” I respond, moving toward my office door and away from this awkward feeling that has taken over.
I flop down at my desk, exhaling hard and a shudder runs through me.I can’t help but wonder if maybe I’m just being weird about the whole thing.Some people are overly friendly.I’ve dealt with them at the bar on a regular basis; I guess I just assumed the business world would be different.
I shake it off as much as I can and log in to my computer, signing in to my email and getting things arranged on my calendar.
The day is a little slower than I expected..I’ve taken a few phone calls and answered some emails, but Andrew did explain to me that some of his larger clients are still contacting him directly.He’s hoping to have all of that moved over to me in the next week or so.
I’m eating my lunch at my desk when someone knocks on my door.
“Come in,” I call out, standing up from my desk and walking toward the door to open it, but the person on the other side enters before I can get there.
It’s a woman a few years older than me; she’s blonde and thin and impeccably dressed in a pair of wide leg black pants and a crisp white button down.She looks flawless.
