At Her Beck And Call

Her devilish ex-husband had been sitting with his back to the door, facing the glass window, when she made her entrance.

For one fleeting moment, she hoped he would treat her haughtily and not even bother to turn around or something along those lines. Wishful thinking on her part!

Harrison spun in his chair. He looked better than he did the last time she had seen the man. He was no longer a zombie, and was back to his immaculate runway model appearance.

Her quick appraisal of him didn't go unnoticed, it would seem, for he said in a snarky tone, before she could ask him why she had been summoned, "I was just sleep-deprived."

"So did the doctor say," she nodded curtly.

"Although it was nothing really, would it have killed you to stay?"

"We are no longer a couple, Harrison, last time I checked," she retorted icily.

"You made sure of that, didn't you?" He scoffed almost bitterly.

She gritted her teeth together, and her hands clenched into fists. She was still standing in front of him, and had half a mind to leave. If this was what he called her for, she wasn't sure she had to stay.

"I want you working as my PA from now onwards," he then announced matter-of-factly.

"What?" She exclaimed. "No. You can't do that."

He regarded her levelly, and there was the ghost of a smirk playing on his lips. "The current PA isn't disciplined enough. I don't like insubordination."

"We're not in the damned army," she glared daggers at him. "Just because she isn't willing to open her legs for you doesn't make her less worthy of the job."

He chuckled heartily at that. "That's where you're wrong, my sweet Mandy. Most women would be delighted to open their legs for me, as you so kindly put it. And I simply don't need such women working for me."

Mandy averted her eyes at the reminder of how utterly devastatingly ravishing he was. She knew he wasn't joking, and she also knew she had close to no choice but to work for him, but she couldn't help but want to object some more.

"What about my current job? I can't possibly leave so abruptly."

"Of course, you can. I hate to break it to you, but you've only started here recently. You can't have become irreplaceable so soon."

Tears stung her eyes at that.

"I'm going to be blunt," he then said, "After taking a good look on the organigram, I believe there was no need to hire you at all."

"What are you implying?" She was positively murderous at this point.

"I believe you naively submitted your resume to David Corp, and that there had been no job opening to begin with. But someone must have known who you were to me. Otherwise, why would a newbie assistant have to take care of sensible documents, and so last minute too?"

At the realization of what had transpired, the breath caught in her throat, and a tear fell, and then another, and then another…

He rose to his feet and with three long strides, he was in front of her. He hugged her to him, awkwardly consoling her, and softly telling her it wasn't her fault.

She had been tricked into believing they saw something in her.

Well, they did see something indeed – leverage against a man who barely cared about her at all. Admittedly the man himself was doing his best to comfort her at the moment.

She wasn't foolish enough to believe he did it out of the kindness of his heart, but rather because he simply could not stand a crying woman.

When her sobs subsided, she pushed at his chest feebly, and he freed her of his embrace.

He was still standing too close for comfort, however, and looking at her with an intensity she had never seen in his eyes before, and that brought a blush to her cheeks.

"I also believe that after our small altercation the other day, you've been no doubt targeted and subject to a lot of gossip." 

She nodded at once. He was too perspicacious for his own good.

"Well, if they want to whine about something, at least let it be real," he shrugged, a small smile adorning his face, making him look less intimidating and younger at the same time.

"Harrison, we're divorced," she said in objection. "And while I appreciate your concern for me, I don't think this is the way to go about it."

"Here, with me, you're virtually untouchable," he told her softly, still trying to bargain with her. He raised his hand and wiped away the last errand tear.

The gesture, so simple, and yet so heartwarmingly pleasant, made her wish he had shown this kind of affection for her back when they had been married.

But then again, in hindsight, she realized, he had never been truly indifferent to her. There had been instances when he was putty in her hands – and not just in bed. He would try to please her with gifts, roses, and chocolates… and although she appreciated those as much as the next woman, she had yearned for something else, for something more – for his time and attention.

She leaned into his touch almost as if her body had a mind of its own, and she hated herself for such weakness.

"I will be on my best behavior," he promised her, trying to convince her still.

He was the CEO, and she was but a bottom of the ladder personal assistant. He shouldn't have to try so hard to convince her. And she was almost sure that had it been anyone else, he'd have simply ordered them to become his PA, and be done with it already.

He had always been a no-nonsense kind of businessman. Why was he trying so hard for her now?

Now that she wanted to forget him and move on, he wanted to become her immediate boss.

There would be no escaping him then.

There would be no stopping the gossip as well, she reasoned. But then again, it was bound to be that way, all things considered.

Inhaling deeply, she prepared herself to give him the answer he was waiting for.

"I'll be your PA, Harrison," she surrendered to his demand at long last. "On one condition."

"I accept," he said readily, with a small lopsided smile.

"You don't even know my condition yet," she couldn't help but giggle.

"I'll be accepting it regardless," he shrugged.

"I want you to find someone for me," she said.

"Who?" He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Sam, my best friend, is pregnant. She says the jerk's name is Liam, and that he all but vanished into thin air after she lent him some money."

He frowned briefly at that but didn't say a word, so she went on, "It's not about him taking responsibility or the money itself. It's about the fact that he played her." 

"The private detective is going to need more than just two first names," he told her in an impossibly soft tone. "But no need to worry. We will find this loser."

She beamed at him.

Divorced or not, she and Harrison could put their differences aside for the sake of someone else, she reasoned. He was reasonable like that. And she trusted him to follow through with his promise.