Henry (The Beck Brothers) (3 page)

Claire knocked on Henry's
open door. Henry glanced up from the papers he was looking at, already looking
irritated. He looked insanely handsome in his black suit and royal blue shirt.
When she didn't immediately speak, Henry gave her an expectant look. "What
is it, Claire?
”
he asked,
annoyed. Shit, shit, shit.

Claire took a hesitant
step into the room. She couldn't help but wring her hands together. She was so
nervous at what his reaction was going to be. "Mr. Beck...I...uh..."

"Spit it out,
Claire,
”
Henry snapped.

"I accidentally
scheduled meetings with two different clients for 11:00 am today,
”
Claire said, then swallowed
hard.

Henry's green eyes
flashed angrily. "What?
”
he ground out through clenched teeth.

"I'm sorry,
”
Claire whispered, not trusting
her voice. She didn't want to cry but lack of sleep and PMS had a different
idea. Her eyes welled up instantly.

Henry pounded a fist
on his desk, making Claire jump. "Damn it Claire!
”
he shouted, before scrubbing his face with his
hands, making an aggravated noise in his throat.

"I don't know how
it happened,
”
Claire said
quietly, quickly swiping the tear that leaked from her eye.

Henry stared at her
for a moment, his expression closed off. He took a deep breath and closed his
eyes. "Listen, I'm already having a shit day. Go tell Asher about the
mistake and let him handle it,
”
he said evenly before opening his eyes again.

Claire sniffed and
nodded before racing out of his office and down the hall to Asher's. Claire
knocked on his door and waited for him to call out "Come in." Claire
opened the door just as Asher was hanging up his phone. The smile on his face
slowly faded as he looked her over.

"What's wrong?
”
Asher asked, his brows furrowed
in concern.

Claire waved a
dismissive hand and shook her head. "I made a mistake. Mr. Beck told me to
have you take care of it."

Asher sighed.
"Did Henry yell at you?
”
he asked gently, giving her a sympathetic look.

Claire gave him a
watery smile. "It
’
s
fine. I'm just overly sensitive at the moment,
”
she said, swiping another tear away.

"Ah, got it.
”
Asher winced and motioned for
her to have a seat. "Tell me what you did."

Claire told him about
the meetings. Asher assured her that it wasn't as bad as she thought. It had
happened before and it will most likely happen again. No one was perfect, and
Henry was just in a bad mood today.

"I just don't
want to get fired, I like my job,
”
Claire murmured, finally getting her emotions under control.

Asher smirked.
"You're not going to get fired. You
’
re
doing a great job and Henry knows it. He's just being a dick today because his
bitch of an ex-girlfriend called begging him to take her back."

Claire was surprised
when she felt a bolt of jealousy. She didn't want to see Henry with his hands
on another woman. Not that she had any claim to him; he was her boss and they
would never be anything between them. But the thought just turned her stomach a
little bit.

"Oh,
”
Claire said, "Did he?
”
dreading the answer, but she
had to know.

"Did he take her
back? Fuck no, he's not that stupid.
”
Asher snorted.

Claire smirked.

"There
’
s that beautiful smile. I hate
seeing you sad. Don't let Henry get to you, he doesn't really mean it. He can
just be mean when he's pissed off,
”
Asher said.

Claire nodded.
"Okay."

"Alright, now let
me fix your little boo boo," he said sympathetically.

Claire stood and
headed for the door. "Thanks, Asher."

"You're welcome,
sweetheart,
”
he murmured as
he picked up the phone.

Claire shut his door
behind her and headed back to her office. She had just reached her door when
Henry called her name. Claire turned to see him leaning out of his office door
looking somber.

"Yes?
”
she swallowed.

"Can I speak with
you for a moment?
”
he asked
gruffly before he ducked back into his office without waiting for her to answer
him.

Claire's heart raced.
She really couldn't take being yelled at again without breaking down. She wiped
her suddenly sweaty palms on her skirt as she walked down to Henry's office.
She nervously stepped inside.

"Shut the door,
”
Henry said without looking at
her. He was shuffling same papers on his desk.

Claire's heart
dropped, she was going to get fired, Asher was wrong. Henry told her from day
one that if she couldn't catch on fast enough, he would let her go. Claire shut
the door with a soft click and went to sit on the chair in front of his desk.
She had to fight to keep herself from bursting into tears before he even got
started. What the hell was she going to do? She hadn't been able to save any
money yet. She couldn't be without a job. Her dad would help her, but he only
had so much money because he was retired. This was going to be the worst day
ever.

                                                 
~~~~~

Henry frowned across
the desk at Claire. She looked like she was on the verge of breaking down on
him. He had been harsh with her earlier, but he didn't think it was that bad to
have made her so upset. Asher had just called him as Claire had walked out of
his office and informed him that he had been a dick, and that Claire thought
her job was in jeopardy. Asher insisted that he should apologize. Something he
rarely did with his employees. He wanted to be looked at as the tough boss who
didn't take any shit. He wanted people to know that mistakes were unacceptable.

Claire's eyes were
downcast. Her shoulders slumped, and her hands squeezed together on her lap.
His heart ached. He didn't want her to be so upset. He didn't think she was so
sensitive. He had been firm with her before about a previous little mistake and
she took it in stride, fixed it, and moved on. But today she had teared up when
he yelled at her, making him feel like a douche bag. But he hadn't planned on
apologizing to her until Asher had said something.

Henry knew he was in a
shit mood. And he really shouldn't have taken it out on her. It wasn't Claire's
fault that his ex-girlfriend Juliette had called, practically begging for him
to take her back; that was so not going to happen. She was a spoiled rotten
brat who wanted him to buy her everything. She had left him for another rich
guy who was willing to spend butt-loads of cash on her. And now that she found
out he was married, and would never leave his wife, she wanted Henry back. Well
fuck her! She hadn't even treated him that well, and she sucked ass in bed. She
always would just lay there looking bored. She never wanted to suck or even
touch his dick, which she said she would do this time around. No fuckin'
thanks.

"Claire? Is
everything okay with you today? You seem overly sensitive,
”
Henry said gently, folding his
hands on top of his desk.

Claire glanced up, a
flush creeping up her cheeks. That's when it hit him; it was probably that time
of the month for her. Shit. No wonder she was so emotional.

"Womanly
troubles?
”
he asked, one
side of his mouth kicking up.

Claire nodded.
"Sorry. I'm not usually this bad, and I'm also still adjusting to getting
up so early,
”
she croaked,
swiping at the tears that ran down her cheeks.

Henry sighed and
leaned back in his chair. "I didn't mean to upset you earlier Claire, I'm
just in a bad mood. I shouldn't have taken it out on you."

Claire shrugged
helplessly. "Okay,
”
she whispered.

"Claire, look at
me,
”
Henry said and leaned
forward again, placing his hands together on his desk.

Claire's blue eyes met
his and he could see her apprehension and fear. She really was afraid that he
was going to fire her. Her eyes were bloodshot from crying. Her makeup was
forming black smudges under her eyes. She looked more beautiful than ever.

"I am not going
to fire you, so get that out of your head,
”
Henry said sternly. Claire's eyes widened slightly but she looked confused.
"You are doing a great job, and catching on much faster than any of my
other assistants. Everyone messes up now and then, and you are still learning.
So stop worrying about your job because it's secure. I swear. And I'm sorry for
snapping at you earlier,
”
he said sincerely.

Claire sighed in
relief. "Thank you. I'm just so afraid that I'm not doing a good enough
job. I don't want to lose this job. I like working for you."

"And I like
having you work for me. Believe me when I tell you that you are doing a great
job, and I couldn't have asked for a better assistant. So just relax, go take a
fifteen minute break, collect yourself, and then get back to work."

Claire gave him a
grateful smile and stood. "Thank you, Mr. Beck."

Henry groaned and hung
his head. "Claire, do me a favor?"

Claire froze halfway
to the door and turned around. "Okay?
”
she asked cautiously.

Henry lifted his head.
"Call me Henry. Mr. Beck makes me sound so old."

Claire's tremendous
smile just made his day. "Okay,
”
she agreed then headed out of his office.

Henry sighed. What was
this woman doing to him? She was making him soft. God dammit!

                                                 
~~~~~

Claire had a great
first month at work. Henry seemed to be pleased with her progress, which is
what mattered most. Claire was exhausted every day when she got home at 6:00
pm. Ethan was transitioning well to the new schedule. Her dad had him Mondays,
Wednesdays, and Fridays, while Claire took Ethan to daycare on Tuesdays and
Thursdays. Her father had offered to watch him all week, but Claire couldn't
burden her father like that; plus, he needed to learn to socialize with other
kids.

The second month went
just as great also. Henry and Claire were getting along great and had fallen
into a routine. Asher had been shocked that Henry was letting her call him by
his first name. Asher assured her that was something none of his other
assistants had been allowed to do. Claire had beamed with pride for the rest of
the day; apparently, Henry thought she was special. He usually called her,
"Darlin'." Claire liked the pet name.

One day, Claire was
sitting in her office, preparing for a meeting that Henry had with a client
when the phone on her desk rang. Claire answered it with the standard,
"Claire Russell speaking."

"Ms. Russell,
this is Tammy Jacobs, the director at Happy Times daycare,
”
the female voice said on the
other end.

Claire froze, her
heart sinking into her stomach. "Yes? Is everything okay?
”
she asked anxiously.

"Ms. Russell,
your son has been taken to the hospital. We think his appendix ruptured. He was
screaming and crying and clutching his stomach, so we called the paramedics.
They think it's his appendix and are taking him to St. Christopher's."

"Oh god, okay,
thank you! I'll leave right now,
”
Claire said with a quick goodbye and hung up.

Claire rushed to clean
up her desk, and then she grabbed her purse and raced down to Henry's office.
His door was open and he was sitting behind his desk looking over some papers.
He was so not going to be happy, but Claire could care less at the moment, her
son came first.

"Henry,
”
Claire squeaked as she walked
into the room. She was on the verge of a panic attack.

Henry's head shot up
at her tone, his face going from annoyance to concern in a matter of seconds.
"Jesus Claire, are you alright?"

Claire shook her head
furiously and tried to find her voice. She could feel the tears building in her
eyes. Henry frowned hard and got up from his desk. He stopped in front of her
and grabbed her shoulders.

"What's wrong,
Darlin'?
”
he asked softly.

Claire looked up at
him. He was a tall guy, at least six feet four inches. She had no choice but to
look up at him. She blinked and the tears fell, rolling slowly down her face.
"My...Ethan...the daycare called. An ambulance had to take him to the
hospital, they think he appendix ruptured. I have to go. I have to be with him,
”
Claire choked out.

Henry's jaw clenched.
"Dammit, of all days,
”
he bit out.