Page 5 of Once Upon a December
The view from the lobby was breathtaking. They were high up above the city and the morning sun was glinting off the surrounding buildings. The light was golden and warm, wiping out the chill of December he knew lingered outside. It just might be the best view he’d ever had the privilege of enjoying which of course meant that he didn’t get to enjoy it long.
“Mr. Michaelson.” A soft, familiar voice spoke from behind him and he turned quickly.
He’d only met Julian Hollister a few weeks ago when he’d first interviewed for the job with Frost Financial. He’d instantly liked the guy and he thought that with a little bit of work pulling the young man out of his shell that they could become good friends. Julian wasn’t his type but he had a friend or two that would definitely be interested in the shy, constantly blushing man who looked barely out of his teens despite his age. Felix gifted him with an easy smile that came naturally and wasn’t at all surprised the other man dropped his gaze.
Someone had done a number on the confidence of the man. That much was clear. If it was Mr. CEO then Felix would have something to say about that for sure. He’d take the temp of the relationship while he worked with the two over the next few weeks and if needed he’d ask Julian to drinks and politely remind him that nobody had the power to beat him down or rob him of his self-esteem unless he let them.
For now though, he simply smiled and moved towards the man to shake his hand and show him the level of respect his position as Personal Assistant to the CEO of Frost Financial deserved. Felix was sure most people didn’t see it that way. But he wasn’t most people, particularly not when it came to the roles that people were expected to assume in the heirachy of todays business world.
“Julian.” He held his hand out, “Please, I’ve asked you to call me Felix.”
“Yes. Sorry. Mr. Frost is ready to see you now.”
Felix didn’t miss the fact that the younger man hadn’t actually used his first name but he chalked it up to a win nonetheless. Julian was actually meeting his eyes now and he hadn’t called him Mr. Michaelson again. He knew in the business world it was simply a sign of respect, and respect was something he’d worked hard to earn being a mixed race, gay boy that liked to plan parties. But whatever level he’d have to hit in order to think of himself as Mr. Michaelson, he hadn’t reached it quite yet.
“Follow me, please.” Julian turned on his heel and headed down the hallway, utterly assured that Felix would do as he asked and of course he did.
This was just another meeting, he told himself. One of a million he’d had since he opened his company. There was nothing about this particular meeting that should have made him so nervous that his palms felt clammy, but no matter how many times he tried to convince himself of that, his brain called him a liar.
This meeting was different. It could make him. It could also break him.
“Right through here.” Julian held open a large door and Felix crossed the threshold into what he’d rightly imagined was a magnificent corner office.
It was huge and two full walls were floor to ceiling windows. The third wall to his left was painted a crisp, professional gray and on it there were framed diplomas and photographs of varying sizes. He wanted to move closer, to get a glimpse at the people in those pictures, people whose names no doubt graced the covers of newspapers and billboards and faces he would know from his television and the big screen. In his experience, the big wigs that made their way up to CEO liked to show off their equally big wig friends and he was just nosy enough to want to see who this guy had been brushing shoulders with.
The diplomas were easier to read with nothing but a glance. The names of Ivy League schools stood out in stark contrast against their grainy paper. Elite prep schools were followed by private schools, which had led to the most exclusive colleges and universities in the country. The sheer number of them surprised and confused him though because from what he remembered of the dossier his own assistant had put together for him prior to this meeting, the CEO of Frost Financial wasn’t some old, pompous, crony.
His gaze jerked away from the wall of fame and to the massive oak desk when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Just as he’d been briefed, the man standing there was young, very young for his position actually. He guessed the other man was probably no more than a handful of years older than Felix himself.
He was tall and well-built. The expensive navy suit he wore must have been custom made to cage those powerful shoulders while tapering down to the slim waist beneath. His hair was perfectly coifed, a coppery brown that was just a little longer on top than the closely cut sides. Just the beginning of a five o’clock shadow had begun to show on a jawline that could have been carved from granite. In fact, the man’s entire face looked like an ancient Greek sculpture had been breathed into warmth and life, hard and angular, softened only by a plump bottom lip that caused something insidious and unwanted to uncurl deep in Felix’s gut.
Then, a pair of diamond blue eyes cut up to him and every bit of attraction he’d felt at the first glimpse of this handsome, powerful man was knocked out of him as if he’d been sucker punched. Those eyes were cold and calculating, taking measure of him from top to bottom and then flicking away in dismissal. They were glaciers that dumped ice water in Felix’s veins and had him scrambling to keep his calm, professional façade even when the voice in the back of his mind was screaming at him to run.
Shit. Shit. Shit. He silently cursed his own stupidity. He hadn’t done his homework. He’d been too focused on getting past this perfunctory meeting and on to the task of throwing the best party this town had ever seen. He hadn’t given the dossier more than a cursory glance this morning after his assistant handed it over but even if he had, he wasn’t sure he could have prepared himself for this.
Because what the dossier couldn’t have told him, wouldn’t have told him, because he wasn’t in the habit of having his assistant include photos of his expectant clients, was that the gorgeous, stone-faced man standing at the desk, the man that was clearly the CEO of Frost Financial and therefore must be the one and only Gibson Frost… was also the man he’d called a rich, entitled, racist asshole just yesterday.
Ah mierda, he was in serious trouble.
All his life his sisters had told him that his temper would be his downfall. Roxanne had insisted his mouth was writing checks he couldn’t cash, whatever that meant. Even his mother had told him that she wished he’d held his tongue and not gone to confront the neighbor but Felix hadn’t listened to any of them because he’d known that he was in the right.
The guy was an asshole.
Just because he happened to run one of the biggest financial firms in the country didn’t negate that. He’d been rude to Felix’s mama. He’d been rude to Felix. And if he wanted to continue being rude, he could kick Felix out of his office right here and right now and probably ruin his career but Felix wouldn’t apologize for calling him out.
He tilted his chin up and held his back firm. He didn’t lower his gaze even when the man glanced back at him. Those cool, silver blue eyes met his again and his heart just about stopped when those full lips tipped up just a little at one corner in a shadow of a smile.
“So…” His voice was just as deep as it had been the day before but today it was filled with something new, something that had that warm, creeping heat spreading through Felix all over again and a nervous energy he couldn’t explain making butterflies swirl in his belly even before the man smirked. “Decide you wanted to continue that argument about outdoor décor after all?”
Felix couldn’t help it. He smiled, and when the other man’s smirk only grew, revealing dimples he hadn’t been expecting, those butterflies swarmed him again. Trouble, the voice in the back of his head reminded him, but his body was telling him it was for a whole different reason now.
Yesterday he’d easily ignored the good-looking man. Yesterday he’d been too angry to let himself get lost in those quicksilver eyes. Yesterday he hadn’t even known there were dimples on that chiseled face. But today…
“What? No, sir.” Julian fumbled slightly as he glanced between them, “This is Felix Michaelson. He’s your next appointment. The one who has been contracted to plan the company holiday party?”
A sharp eyebrow rose as Julian spoke and Felix tried to decipher the look that crossed the handsome man’s face. There was something in the look that he didn’t understand. There had been the immediate look of surprise, then confusion and then, shockingly enough, amusement, but he couldn’t read this look and more annoying than that, given his innate ability to read people, was that he really, really wanted to be able to read this man.
He couldn’t explain why or what prompted it but he couldn’t help himself any more now than he’d been able to yesterday when he’d faced off with the man. Yesterday he’d been angry. Today, he was… intrigued.
