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11. Claire

The conversation between Julian and his father is barely audible, but I hear enough to know Julian"s kicking Charleston out of his office. I sit at my desk, going through my tasks for the day and trying to distract myself from the fact that Julian"s rejected me again. I wish I can make him see that I"m more than enough woman and he can let himself go. Although I understand our relationship looks problematic, and his father"s reputation doesn"t help, I do want us to be happy together.

Fiona heads toward the office and I have to stop her before she walks inside while Charleston"s still in there. Since she doesn"t know, she takes it personally, as if I"m doing it to annoy her.

"You do realize that I"m the Chief Financial Officer, right?" she says with a tone of superiority.

I try my hardest not to roll my eyes, but she makes it so hard to like her. "I do, but?—"

She cuts me off with a hand which, oddly enough, isn"t carrying her goofy binder, just a flimsy folder and manila envelope. "No. There"s no follow up needed. I need to see Julian and you"re stopping me from doing my job. As a matter of fact, I"m going to help you help me help you, Claire. Especially since you haven"t taken me up on my offer from yesterday."

"I"ve been busy all morning, fielding calls and rescheduling meetings. Mr. Blackwell has been busy. What is it that you need exactly?" I ask, confusion riding my face, I"m sure.

"Have Julian sign these documents. They ensure the properties he"s snatching up will get the inspections needed to turn them into low-income housing developments. So yay, we"re doing things for the community. Then put them in this envelope and take them to the address on this envelope."

"Fiona—"

"Miss Douglas," she corrects.

I let out a huff of frustration. "Miss Douglas, I"m already behind on several tasks as it is and don"t have time to run your errands."

"You are the executive assistant and I"m an executive. Assist me, Claire," she demands as she approaches the door to Julian"s office again. It"s like our conversation from yesterday didn"t even happen. It looks like she"s only willing to help me if it can serve her, or if no one knows she"s taking an interest in my career.

I get out of my seat to stand in her way. "I was trying to tell you he has someone in his office and isn"t available."

The door swings open just then for Charleston to come out, his energy causing Fiona to step back, and me to the side, back toward my desk. His loud booming voice makes him sound like he"s using a bullhorn. "Oh, is that my Fee-Fee? It"s been a long time. You should swing by my chambers."

Fiona"s mouth curls with disgust and rightfully so. Charleston Blackwell has the ability to make you feel dirty with a simple greeting. I hate speaking to him because everything he says has some kind of sexual undertone to it.

Fiona doesn"t stand for it as she tells the Blackwell patriarch, "Do you mean the same chambers they forced you to retire from early after revealing your inappropriate relationship with a certain judicial aide?"

"You watch who you"re talking to like that, Fee-Fee. I still have—" Charleston sneers, lowering his tone to insinuate something between them.

Fiona doesn"t care about the perceived power Charleston"s trying to wield over her, continuing on to say, "Oh wait, wasn"t it the scandalous interoffice messages to other clerks within the court offices that had you removed? No, I know, I bet it was the underage child you tried to solicit for sexual services."

"That"s a foul and vicious rumor which was unsubstantiated and you"d better mind what comes out of that mouth, Fee-Fee, before I give you something to come in it."

Fiona won"t back down, making me proud of her as she tells him, "Don"t call me Fee-Fee. As a matter of fact, don"t call me anything or I"ll slam you with so many sexual harassment lawsuits and criminal charges you won"t be able to sit until you"re locked inside a cell in Pelican Bay. You are a vile creature and I wish you a long excruciating life-ending disease which causes that little prick of yours to fall off."

I"ve never before seen the shade of crimson which across Charleston"s face the way it is now. I"m uncertain if it"s anger, embarrassment, or both. I cock my head to the side wondering if he"s literally going to blow his top like a volcano. It"s obvious they have history, but this exchange clearly highlights that whatever their relationship is, or was, the benefits weren"t mutual.

He snarls, balling up his fist and looks ready to swing on Fiona when Julian comes out from behind him, putting himself in his father"s path. Edward isn"t too far behind as he walks at a breakneck pace to get over to us, wanting to put out this fire before it has the chance to explode in front of any employees who aren"t already watching the shit show unfold.

"Thanks for stopping by, Dad," Julian says, with his eyes darting between his father and Fiona. "Uh, Edward is having your car brought around. I"ll see you on the 15th for the party. Remember to bring your gift for Claire."

"Oh god, he"s invited?" Fiona blurts out the question with her face still flushed from her interaction with Charleston.

"Woman, you"re going to pay for that mouth of yours one way or another. Some guy"s going to sock you good one of these days." Charleston warns Fiona as Edward firmly nudges him toward the elevator bank with a hand firmly pressed against his back.

Fiona can"t stop herself from getting in the last word. "If anyone I don't like puts their hands on me, they"re going to get a bullet where the sun doesn't shine."

"Fiona," Julian admonishes as he glances at me. I shrug. The way his brows push together with frustration lets me know I"m going to bear the blame for this fiasco. "Claire, I need to see you in my office now. Fiona, did you take care of those contracts for me?"

"Actually, I put the assistant on it." Fiona says with a nonchalant sigh. "As a matter of fact, she can handle all of the correspondence deliveries for the executives this morning. It makes sense to have her interact with all of the departments if she"s going to advance her career."

I turn toward Julian, waiting for him to debate this with her, to tell her I belong to him, but he doesn"t. Instead, he nods in agreement. Fuck this.

"In my office, Claire. Thank you, Fiona. I apologize for Charleston. He"s always an ass." Julian dismisses Fiona as I slink into his office like a kid being called into the principal"s office. He shuts the door behind him and unleashes fury in a deathly quiet tone. "Do you have any idea why I have Charleston Blackwell on my Do Not Allow list?"

"Yes, but what was I supposed to do?" I ask him.

"Call security," he says, running his hands over his face. "I don"t want him in this building let alone in my office this early in the morning and without an ounce of alcohol in my system to stomach it. What the fuck, Claire? Why aren"t you doing your fucking job? My instructions are clear enough, aren"t they? Or did I fuck the common sense out of you last night?"

"Wow, woah, okay. I apologize, but I"m not going to put myself between Charleston Blackwell and any door. I will lose that fight no matter what I try to do."

"You don"t have to lose it when you push that big ass red button on the phone, at your desk, that says security on it. You tell him to wait and I"ll be right with him. You get Edward up here, and YOU DON"T LET THAT FUCKING PERVERT IN MY OFFICE!"

Julian"s now turning shades of red and I"m practically shaking in the corner. I didn"t realize I"d been backing myself into the wall, and now I feel like an idiot. His prey, with my hands quivering. The sound of the manila envelope and documents shaking in my hands fill the silence.

Julian storms towards me and snatches the pages out of my hand. Once again, I feel the sting of tears threatening to fall and I fight them with everything I have. I will not cry in front of this man. I"m grateful for the menial task Fiona just gave me because I won"t have to suffer through the rest of this god-awful fucking day with Julian in this mood.

He signs the pages and pushes them inside the envelope. I hesitantly step toward his desk and grab them before retreating in silence. At my desk I can feel myself hyperventilating, desperate to regulate my breathing until anger consumes my anxiety and fear.

I jot down three names on a sheet of paper and push myself to walk back into Julian"s office. He"s sitting in his chair, facing the window with a view one should marvel at, but all I want is to fling something through it. I want to break something the way I feel he"s broken something inside of me.

"This is my guest list. Bonnie"s not working my birthday, she"s coming as my friend. Her sister will be there too, and Devon"s coming as my date. I'll be out for a while making these deliveries, Mr. Blackwell." I turn to leave when I hear him sigh. I think he"s about to apologize, but nope, he"s as dismissive as ever.

"Devon"s not coming to your birthday. He"s not invited and I don"t want him around you anymore. You can invite anyone else. You don"t even need my approval, but don"t push me on this, or I"ll have him fired," Julian says.

"You promised me I could invite people to my party I can actually talk with, and that"s what I"m doing. Or did fucking me senseless suddenly make you lord over my social associations? If it did then I"m happy it won"t be happening again. Get over yourself, Julian. You just toss me aside and expect me to function like any of this shit is normal. That"s my guest list. Will you for once, just give me something I ask for without fighting me over it? At least this won"t cost you anything."

He grunts but doesn"t respond. I take that as my cue to leave. With a deep breath, I straighten my back and walk out of the office to deliver this stupid envelope with whatever stupid contract is inside. The office the documents have to go to is in a government building Bonnie is happy to take me to. If it was up to her, we"d spend all day outside of the office and now I understand why.

It feels different when Julian treats me like everyone else. I never got the brunt of his temper before. He usually saves that for his other employees. I guess that"s all I am to him now. An employee. It fucking hurts.

Fuck him.

No wait, that"s what got me into this mess in the first place.

I try to focus on my job, plastering a smile across my face as I step inside an office after Bonnie rides in the elevator with me. She waits outside the door, but there"s a waiting area and a clerk who"s supposed to be behind the desk. No one is here.

The sound of someone speaking, yelling, and then storming out of a back office has me take a few steps away from the receiving desk. A man approaches me with a frown that shifts into a grin. There"s an aura of charisma around him I can"t quite put my finger on.

"Um, good morning, I"m Claire Anderson with Nuvola Scura Industries. I have to drop these contracts off with the Buildings and Permits department? Something about low-income housing conversions for a recent real estate development?"

He grins and lets his fingers touch mine as I hand him the envelope. "Good morning, Claire Anderson of Nuvola Scura. That"s very interesting. I"m actually here about the same thing, filing contracts about real estate, not Nuvola."

"Really?" I ask him. "You don"t look like an intern or executive assistant. Is this your office?"

"You can say that. People do listen to me around here. I am definitely the man to get things done. Now, you said this is for who, exactly? I want to be sure these papers get to the right department."

I shake my head slowly from side to side, giggling softly. Looking into this man"s eyes is like looking at a toothpaste commercial. There"s a twinkle in his dark blue eyes, and an air of subtle dominance with his dark brown hair slicked back, and not a strand out of place. Streaks of grey pepper his temples, and a matching goatee make him devilishly handsome to look at.

"I was just told to deliver them. I shouldn"t have assumed anything. I can call my office and ask–" I stop myself, my stomach falling and hesitant to pull out my phone. After this morning"s display of whatever the fuck that was, I don"t want to talk to Julian or Fiona. That"s the side effects of dealing with Charleston Blackwell. He"s like an oil spill. No matter how long after he leaves, there"s always a trail of turmoil and destruction left to clean up after him.

"You know what?" I tell him, after some thought, "How about you hand those back to me and when I get a hold of my boss, so I can make sure they get to the right department?"

"If you don"t mind, I want take a look at the names on the documents. If they"ve done this before, I can have their information pulled up and we can get everything sorted without you looking like you"ve made an oversight. How does that sound?" he asks smoothly.

"It sounds fine. Great, actually. Thank you. My mind is all over the place this morning and don't have the stomach to call them back. I"ve screwed up enough, you know? Thanks again, you"re really saving my hide here."

"No problem at all." He opens the envelope to peek at the documents and makes a sound. "That"s odd. You said you"re from Nuvola, right?"

"Yeah."

He nods. "Okay, these are not from your corporation."

"I watched Julian Blackwell, the CEO, just sign them. Whatever documents are in there, they belong to his company, or maybe it"s his personal filings? You know what, on second thought, let me have them. I"ll come back when I"m sure about the person they"re supposed to go to. They wouldn"t want me to hand deliver them if the documents weren"t important."

"That is true, Claire Anderson." The way he says my full name is no longer attractive. It sounds downright dangerous. Maybe that"s the part of his aura, his charisma, I can"t pin down. He"s in a government office, but he doesn"t look like an employee. He looks like he tells people what to do on a daily basis. I could be overreacting from Julian blowing up at me. I want to avoid that again at all costs.

The door opens, and another man steps out of the back office. He"s visibly shaken and reacts as such when he sees me talking to the gentleman with my envelope in his hand.

"I"m sorry, what"s going on here?" The new face asks us.

"This is Claire Anderson with Nuvola Scura, Jeff." Mr. Charisma says, with an eerie grin creepily spreading under his thin mustache. "She"s here to deliver these documents for her boss, Mr. Julian Blackwell, correct?"

"Yes." I reply, slowly moving my head up and down nervously as Mr. Charisma hands the envelope to Jeff, the new face in our conversation. I hesitantly speak to New Face Jeff. "Um, I"m making the delivery on behalf of Miss Fiona Douglas."

"Oh, Miss Douglas, of course. Let me take care of that for you." Jeff speaks with his gaze on the floor shuffling over to his desk.

Mr. Charisma walks toward me and stops. "You know, it"s a shame when employees are scared to do their job, scared to ask questions."

"Yeah, it is. But hey, when there"s billions of dollars on the line, you want to get things right without having to call back in to check on something that was literally just handed to you thirty minutes ago," I tell him. Jeff glances up at me nervously.

Mr. Charisma ignores Jeff to focus on me. "Indeed. How about you come by my office and interview for an internship? I run Pro Point Defense and we specialize in private security contracts."

"Security contracts like stocks and bonds?" I ask with a smile, trying to lighten the energy.

"No, security like Glocks and arms. A pretty face like you holding an AR-15 is sexy and would be a phenomenal campaign. You know, rally the youth of America around their Second Amendment rights and all that. Come by, get an interview. I guarantee you"ll get the job."

"Absolutely not," I tell him with a nervous chuckle. "Julian would never let me go."

"I can talk to Mr. Blackwell on your behalf. It wouldn"t be forever, just for a few weeks in the summer. Perhaps, I can talk to him when I see him at the event he"s throwing on the 15th."

"Oh wait, you"re coming to that?" I ask him. "It"s actually my birthday party but you know how Julian is then, I guess. His mother is turning this into some sort of political and corporate networking function. It makes perfect sense for someone running a company like yours to be on Bianca Marzano"s guest list. Elaborate for the Elite Gala, is the name that"s being tossed around. If it"s good enough for them to market and network, I might as well participate too, right?"

"You are so right, Claire Anderson. I guess I"ll see you on the 15th. Oh, can you make sure my name"s on the guest list? I think I misplaced my invitation before I had a chance to RSVP."

"Sure thing," I tell him, my uneasiness settling. I pull out my tablet and pull up the guest list for the party. When I see Devon, Bonnie, and Danny"s names already on the list of attendees, delight washes over me. Julian"s not going to mind me adding one more name, especially if he knows this guy. He's already agreed to let me invite whoever I want without his approval. "What"s your name?"

"Carmine Scarpella. I"ll see you for your birthday, Claire Anderson. I"m so looking forward to this."

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