“Yeah, I think she is. She was pretty mad at first but I think she’s seeing reason now,” I reply.
“It could work out well for us,” Calvin says and I nod. “Although, she looked like she was ready to explode when you walked into the board room.”
I match his smile. It was kind of pleasurable to see Blaire that unsettled at the meeting. She is always so self-assured; her defense-mode is always turned on. Her reaction to finding me at the meeting almost made her more human.
“And if she does sign the contract, you want her to move offices into our building?” Calvin confirms.
“Yeah.”
“Because you want to work closer with her? Like, physically?”
“Because her current location doesn’t put her in the spotlight as much as our location would.”
There is some truth to that. Of course, I’m thinking about the contract from a business-point of view, but I do want her closer to me. I know it will make life a whole lot more complicated than it needs to be, but I can’t help myself. Not until I’ve got a taste of her.
“Hey, isn’t that your assistant? What’s her name?” Calvin alerts me to turn in my chair.
I look in the direction of the bar doors and see Erica step in with a cluster of other girls I don’t recognize.
“Erica. Yeah. I have no idea what she’s doing here,” I say in a murmur.
This bar is nowhere close to the office, and I have never seen anybody who works for me come here before. This is the place where Calvin and I can privately enjoy a few drinks without the fear of bumping into someone we professionally associate with.
“You think this is just a coincidence?” Calvin asks with a smirk.
I can see Erica walking to the bar counter with her friends, but her eyes are flitting around the place like she’s looking for someone. Me.
She’s dressed in a shiny silver dress. I hardly even recognize her with all that makeup on. I turn to Calvin again, and he shrugs.
“What are you going to do? Go talk to her?” he asks.
“No. When we’re not in the office, I have no need to interact with her.”
“Well, don’t look now, but she’s headed in our direction,” Calvin says while I drink the remainder of the bourbon in my glass.
“Mr. Davenport!” she exclaims when she comes up to our table, like she’s very surprised to see us.
The fact is that this girl is in her early twenties. She doesn’t realize that I have lived many more years than her and know every trick there is in the book. I am also her boss, and this is highly inappropriate.
I turn to her, but I’m not smiling.
“Hello, Erica. What are you doing here?”
She’s blushing now and throws a look at her friends over her shoulder.
“Oh, one of my friends lives near, and we thought we’d check out this bar.”
I nod. She’s my assistant. She’s seen the receipts from this place and probably has a pretty good idea that I frequent here. She looks over at Calvin, who offers her a smile. There’s something about the expression on her face that tells me she wishes we were alone.
“Well…enjoy your night. I’ll see you in the morning at the office,” I speak firmly.
She smiles nervously, a little disappointed. She didn’t expect me to dismiss her so easily.
“Yeah, of course, you’ll see me. I hope…I hope you enjoy your night too.” She looks fidgety, tucking her hair behind her ears continuously. “Or we could…” At this point, she throws a look at Calvin. “We could have a drink together. You know? Since we work together and we’ve never really—”
I have to interrupt her. This is getting out of hand.
I stand up, towering over her, and Erica has to tip her neck back to look at me.
“Yes, exactly, we work together. I’m your boss, and you are my assistant. We have no business having a drink together. My advice would be to keep your professional and personal life as separate as possible.”
Calvin stands up on cue too.
“Goodnight, Erica,” he says before we both weave our way around the tables and head for the door.
“What is it about you and pissing off all the women who come in your path?” my friend says with a laugh when we’ve stepped outside.
“It’s a gift.”
He puts a hand on my shoulder and squeezes before letting go. We