Chapter 12 Arriving Early
Noah’s POV:
Sitting at my desk, I wait for my new assistant to arrive. It’s still early, not yet seven. I arrived early this morning because I couldn’t sleep. I’d thought I might as well not waste the time and try and get some work done. But I’ve not achieved much.
I’ve spent most of the last hour, staring at the clock, watching the hands move ridiculously slowly.
It’s surprising how nervous I feel at the prospect that Eden might not show. I hadn’t expected her to quit out right. I had anticipated she’d at least last the month. It’s infuriating. On one side, I’m worried that it might be my own fault. I was a bit of a jerk. But on the other, I’m angry that she’s only proving me right. If she didn’t like what I said she should have proven me wrong rather than run away.
In a bid to distract myself, I head down the hall to the staff kitchen and make myself a coffee. I’m going to need all the caffeine I can get if I’m going to survive the day on next to no sleep. Leaning against the counter, I resign myself to the idea I’m going to need to ask HR to assign me a new assistant.
I guess it can’t be helped.
They’re not going to be happy though. I’ve been through six assistants in as many months. It wasn’t all my fault. The first one had been sharing the details of my team’s projects with Lewis Artie. After that, I’d possibly been a little bit too quick to find fault on occasion but still my complaints had been one hundred percent valid.
Number two was always late. Number three was constantly forgetting important appointments and never hitting the targets I set her. Number four was just downright rude. Number five had seemed perfect until we learned that she was taking credit for everyone else’s work. Number six, Becky, didn’t even last a week.
With a sigh, I head back towards my office. There’s no point crying over spilt milk. Pulling out my phone, I search from Sally’s number. I might as well let them know that I’ve lost another assistant. She hadn’t sounded convincing last night when she told me she would see me today. If anything she sounded like she just wanted to get off the call as quickly as possible.
Before hitting the call button, I check the time once again. It’s just after seven. Turning a corner, I glance towards Eden’s desk and stop dead. I can’t believe it but she’s actually sitting there, rummaging around in the desk’s draws.
What if she just came back to collect her stuff? I find myself wondering. I shake off that fear quickly. No one collects their belongings at seven in the morning.
Tentatively, I approach her and she looks up to meet my gaze, before getting to her feet.
“Good morning sir,” she says.
“Morning,” I reply.
It’s awkward and neither of us seem to know what to say or how to behave. I glance around, rubbing the back of my neck. The department is still quiet, most of my team won’t arrive for another hour or so.
“Come in for a moment?” I ask before heading through the door to my office. I hold it open for her, waiting for her to follow me.
I have no idea what I want to say to her. I’m not planning on saying sorry. I take my time making my way across the office before taking a seat behind my desk, trying to bide time.
“Er…” I hesitate. It’s out of character and I don’t like it.
“We got off to a bad start yesterday,” she cuts in with a surprising amount of assertiveness. I normally make people nervous. Her composure doesn't look forced either. “I would like to apologise. I obviously didn’t give you a very good impression.”
Frowning, I’m at a lost for what to say. She’s completely right but equally I don’t think I came off smelling like roses either.
“I’ll do better,” she says confidently.
“I’m glad to hear it,” I say eventually. “I think we’d be best to just forget all about yesterday.”
“Yes sir,” she agrees.
“You don’t have to call me sir,” I say awkwardly. “Just call me Noah.”
She smiles slightly, offering me her hand across the desk.
“Eden Winters,” she says, her smile widening. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
I accept her hand, shaking it firmly. Perhaps I really did just misunderstand her.
“We’ve got a lot to do today,” I tell her, all business. “Take a seat.”
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