The Assistant(32)

I looked over at Adrian to find his jaw clenched as he threw a ferocious glare in the direction of the man on the screen, and my eyes widened slightly.

“Sorry, Mr. Kingston,” Mr. Evans muttered. “It won’t happen again.” The conversation steered back to business. The conference call ended about 15 minutes after that encounter, when I was already seated by the computer and ready to switch everything off. Once I was done, I looked over at Adrian for his next assignment.

“What do you think we should do?” he asked after a short silence, his voice coming out emotionless.

I tried to mask my surprise before answering. “About the improvement? Personally, I don’t believe what they’ve created is good at all. You want to convince the consumer that the hotel is a safe place to stay in with a family; for example, showing what the hotel has to offer children. I mean, there are tennis courts and swimming pools in the New Zealand one as well, right? You also want to show that an individual can relax during their stay there. Show the massaging places and spa resorts you have there as well.

“Sex appeal being the only aspect of the advertisement isn’t really going to get you anywhere unless you’re aiming the advertisement at horny teenagers,” I finished, biting my lip.

Adrian looked deep in thought for a few moments, rubbing his jawline and frowning slightly before I saw him nod slightly in agreement. “You’re right. Email what you just said, over to the New Zealand office and tell them I approve.” I nodded briefly to acknowledge his order while writing it down in my notebook as a reminder.

“Anything else?” I asked once I was done.

“Have you found a dress for tomorrow’s fundraiser?” he asked, slightly raising one eyebrow in my direction.

I got out of my seated position and nodded slightly as the image of the dress Amy had sent me from her phone this morning popped up in my mind. The dress was much more decent than the last one she had chosen, and I thanked her countless times during the morning rush before work. She told me she only bought it because she didn’t want any horn dogs to be perving at my deadly curves; although the dress still barely covered anything and looked like it would stick like a second skin from the top half. Amy had also bought a pair of nude heels to go with the dress, and I squealed in delight once she had told me they were Christian Louboutin’s.

“Good,” he nodded, before everything became silent again. I frowned as I realised that Adrian had started the conversation first this time, and spoke before I could stop myself.


“You spoke to me,” I blurted, instantly flushing all over in embarrassment.

He took in my flushed state thoughtfully, before speaking up. “I always speak to you?” he said, although it sounded more like a question.

“No… you haven’t really, uh, um… forget it,” I mumbled, going redder in the face as I looked down at my black skirt.

I didn’t hear him get out of his seat, but suddenly, he was standing directly in front of me, his towering form looking down at me as he hooked his index finger around my chin and pulled my head up to meet his gaze.

“Tell me,” he demanded, staring into my eyes. My mind blanked temporarily as the intensity of his gaze distracted me from my thoughts.

“Uh…” I tried to recall the events that occurred a few minutes ago. “It’s just… Well, I feel as if you’ve been avoiding me for the past week,” I admitted. I broke away from his gaze.

“I have,” he responded flatly, making my eyes snap back to his face in surprise. No one with a sane mind admits something like that so casually! I thought to myself as my frown reappeared on my face.

“Why?” I found myself asking before my brain could respond to the moving muscles of my lips.

He shrugged, suddenly pulling away from me. “You annoyed me last Friday.”

My eyebrows shot up in disbelief. “I annoyed you?!” I exclaimed, “Who was the one who was constantly nagging me to stay at their place overnight, even after the countless times I clearly said no?!”

“That’s why you annoyed me. If you didn’t say no in the first place, I wouldn’t have ‘nagged’ you to come over.” He shrugged.

“What-” I shook my head and closed my eyes as I tried to calm down. “Now you’re making it out like it’s my fault that you didn’t talk to me.”

“It is your fault,” he simply stated.

I started to smile, thinking he admitted I was right, before his words fully registered in my brain. “You’re impossible!” I declared, huffing in defeat.

He chuckled and placed a peck on my forehead before I had time to pull away, and I glared at his smirk. “You know, a synonym for impossible is incredible. So you’re saying I’m incredible. Thank you, but I already know that.” He boasted, pulling me into his torso by wrapping his arms around my waist with an iron grip.

I rolled my eyes at his arrogance. “Whatever you say, Adrian,” I said, mocking. “You’re the boss.”

The charity fundraiser suddenly appeared in my mind, making a small frown replace my mocking expression. “Adrian… I don’t want to go home with a stranger tomorrow…” I trailed off, biting my bottom lip at the thought of David Walter’s sickly smug smile violating me with his eyes as he put money on me.