Total pages in book: 37
Estimated words: 37751 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 189(@200wpm)___ 151(@250wpm)___ 126(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 37751 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 189(@200wpm)___ 151(@250wpm)___ 126(@300wpm)
At least not right now…
He brings the mug to his lips, taking a slow sip while keeping his deep blue eyes on mine, and my body betrays me with a rush of heat.
“I want to ensure all the hotels have special gift bags to make our guests happy.” Mindy drones on, and I finally force myself to look away, but I can still feel Mr. Reiss staring in my direction.
By the time Mindy gets tired of hearing herself talk, it’s ten o’clock in the evening, and I’ve missed the season premiere of my favorite show.
I stuff my folders into a briefcase and head toward the door, hoping to make it home to catch the replay.
Mr. Reiss presses his hand against the doorframe as I approach.
“Can I speak to you for a moment, Miss Grey?” he asks.
“I think you and I have spoken enough for one day, sir.”
His lips curve into a smile.
“Do you need to speak with me about anything, Mr. Reiss?” Mindy clears her throat from the hallway.
“No, Miss Sterling. I don’t have any issues with you.”
“Okay, great!” She smiles and saunters off as if his approval can be put in the bank.
Mr. Reiss waits until the elevator pings before turning his attention to me.
“I’m shocked my car hasn’t experienced a flat tire on any day this week,” he says.
“Me too.”
“There wasn’t a stranger rapping outside my office about how much he hates me either.”
“I guess he’s having issues communicating with his scheduler.”
“Oh, I’m sure she is.” He smirks. “Anyway, Human Resources told me that you’ve requested to go home for Christmas. Something about introducing a boyfriend to your family?”
“No, that’s not it.” I can’t believe I told them the truth. “It’s because someone I know passed away. I need to pay my respect.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” He furrows his brow. “Who was it?”
“You don’t know her.”
“Tell me, please.”
“She’s the person I used to be,” I say.
“What?”
“She seems to have lost her mind and her way, so I need to go home and mourn her properly. Hopefully, it’s not too late for her to come back to life.”
“Please send her my deepest condolences.” He smiles. “Unfortunately, I’m not approving your request on such short notice.”
“Two months in advance is short notice?”
“It is for something trivial as a boyfriend introduction,” he says. “I’ll consider letting you go home for New Year’s, though.”
“You let Mindy take off for Easter because she wanted to pet some bunnies in the park.”
“That was her first time requesting off in five years.”
“That’s…tragic. But, that’s still unfair and I have every reason to get an approved week off from this place.”
“You haven’t been dating Dante long enough for him to meet your family.”
“Excuse me?”
“You met him four months after you started working under me.”
“And?”
“That’s not long enough.”
“Thanks, Dad.” I roll my eyes. “Didn’t I update your calendar with a holiday vacation for you and your girlfriend, Amy, yesterday?”
He doesn’t answer.
“Exactly,” I say. “So, what makes you think that some of your miserable peons don’t want to do the same thing?”
“Miss Grey.” He steps closer. “I apologize.”
“You’re forgiven, Mr. Reiss. I accept your apology.”
He stares into my eyes like he always does whenever we’re alone, like on the nights when we’re working late, and he sits next to me and temporarily acts like a human being while we talk until sunrise.
In those moments, I felt a bit delusional, like he had an angelic lining and saw me as more than an employee. Like he was actually my friend.
“I mean that I’m sorry for giving you the illusion that this conversation was a debate.” He returns to his Satanic form. “It’s not.”
“Have you ever looked into getting some personal therapy for your mood swings?”
“You’re behind on your work anyway.” He ignores my comment. “The last thing you need is time away from me.”
“You mean, work?”
“Same thing.”
“I’m not working on Christmas,” I say.
“We’re past that, Miss Grey. There are two other things we need to discuss now.” He pulls an envelope from his pocket and holds it out for me. “I received this from Webster’s Dictionary this morning.”
“So, they’re finally adding ‘unbearable-ass-boss’ to their vocabulary?”
“No.” He doesn’t deserve to be this damn good-looking. “They wanted to let me know that an anonymous employee has been sending them ten requests a day about adding my photo next to the word ‘bastard,’ and they were hoping that she would get tired of being rejected after her ninety-eighth time.”
“The ninety-ninth is the charm. I mean, how awful.” My cheeks heat as I take the envelope from his fingers. “I’ll be sure to mention this in the team email and hopefully that employee will focus on her work.”
“That’d be a first.” He looks amused as he opens the door for me. “Have a good night, Miss Grey.”
“Thank you.” I step into the hallway. “Wait…I thought you said there were two things you needed to discuss. What’s the other one?”