Page 2 of The Boss’s Obsession
“Good morning. I’ve rescheduled the meetings that had to be in person and arranged for phone meetings for the others. You have lunch with legal, and then your presentation at the university is this afternoon. I’ve uploaded the notes to your tablet.”
Sienna fell into step beside me, keeping pace, despite her high-heeled shoes. I recognized the ones she wore. They were one of a kind, and the red soles peeked out at me, as I held a door open, and she walked through it before me. They had been my birthday gift to her. She did impeccable work, despite her youth and inexperience, and deserved to be compensated appropriately.
“Good, now, I’ll be busy in the workroom with Giles for about an hour, I need you to make notes on our conversation and have them to me by the time we get back to the office.”
“Of course, Mr. Turner,” Sienna said.
We arrived at Workroom One, and I put a hand on the doorknob and turned to look at my assistant.
“We will eat in the car on the way back to the office.”
“Yes, Mr. Turner.”
“I’d like lunch option number 3 today if that suits you?”
“Whatever you’d prefer Mr. Turner.”
I nodded, satisfied with our arrangements. I often ate with Sienna. She was diverting company, on the rare occasion we strayed from work topics, and after, she never lingered. All in all, she was my favorite person to be around. I was a difficult man; I made no secret of it. My reputation proceeded me most of the time and weeded out those who couldn’t be bothered to accommodate my brand of laser-focused, social discomfort.
Sienna got me, however. She never asked for more from me, nor made me feel uncomfortable in my own skin, like so many others. Since she’d started working for me, I’d been more satisfied with my life than I could ever remember being.
“Mr. Turner-,” she suddenly said, as I stepped into the Workroom. I paused and looked back at her. She bit her lip, an uncharacteristically nervous gesture. My lips were drawn to her plump lower lip, the very place where her small, white teeth pressed into her skin.
“Yes?”
“Can we talk at the end of the day?”
“We always talk at the end of the day, and throughout it as well,” I reminded her, wondering at her sudden change in demeanor.
“Yes, but I’d like this to be a formal talk,” she said, only puzzling me further. Something uncomfortable moved in my chest.
“Mr. Turner!” Giles, one of my head engineers, appeared at the end of the corridor, hurrying toward me.
Sienna’s expression closed, and she straightened her shoulders and turned a slick professional smile to Giles. The moment had passed, and it seemed I wouldn’t be finding out what she wanted until later.
* * *
The thoughtof it weighed at the edges of my mind all day, an annoying distraction. When the end of the day finally rolled around, I checked off my calendar and was perplexed to see Sienna’s name as the last appointment. She hadn’t been exaggerating when she’d said she wanted a formal meeting.
An unfamiliar feeling crawled through my chest as I watched her approach the door from outside. I had cameras around my office and a live feed to my desk. I often caught Sienna busy at work on the feeds. It was a comforting sight.
“Mr. Turner?” Sienna called, opening the door, and poking her head inside.
“Come in.”
I braced myself for whatever she had to say. Maybe she wanted to take a holiday or had a wedding to go to. Maybe she wanted a raise. If so, she’d deserve it, and would get one unreservedly.
“Now, what did you want to talk about?”
She stared at me across my desk. It was a sight I was more than used to. Sienna was attractive, distractingly so, if I’d been the kind of man who was distracted by beauty. I wasn’t. Instead, I saw her attractiveness as one would a painting or sculpture. It was her keen mind and whip-smart insight that I admired most about her.
“I wanted to thank you for offering me this position after my father passed away.”
Her words stunned me. She never mentioned Richard, her father. He had been my mentor, and I’d learned everything I knew from him, from running a business to patenting innovations to dealing with employees. When he’d passed, he’d asked one simple favor.
“Keep my daughter out of trouble, can you, Ronan? You’re the only one I can trust with her.”
“I’m so grateful for everything you’ve done for me. In the first few months, if I hadn’t had somewhere to be, I never would have managed to get out of bed. Thank you.”
