With a grin Alex settled himself at
the island counter. “I’ll have what she’s having,” he told the servant, who had
been paying no attention to their conversation as he prepared Leah’s breakfast.
“Yes, Sir.” The servant gave a nod
and fetched more food. “Would you like something to drink?”
“Coffee for me, what about you,
Leah?” Alex asked.
“Coffee’s good for me too.” Leah was
a little surprised to see Alex sit himself at the island bar, something about
his demeanor suggested he was too proper to just sit causally with her. Her
eyes couldn't stop roaming over his long, well-toned form, and she felt more
than a little guilty for assessing him.
The coffee arrived quickly, a
quality French roast whose delicious aroma filled the kitchen, and they sipped
it in silence for a few moments. Leah was more than a little happy for
the distraction of drinking her beverage.
“So what kind of work do you do?”
Alex asked finally, deciding that he should make at least some effort to get to
know his friend’s fiancé, since they would be living together, even if only for
a short while.
“I just finished my Bachelors of
Science in Business, so at this point I'm looking for a job.”
The food arrived just then and Alex
smiled when Leah dove in without hesitation. Her lack of refinement was a
breath of fresh air to him. Most of the women he knew were far too concerned
with appearing unladylike and would have taken the smallest and daintiest of
bites. Her behavior with her food provided at least some hint as to what had so
drawn Rhett to her that he proposed. “So you’re looking to intern.” It was more
an observation than a question. “Is there any specialty you are considering?”
Leah crunched her way through a
piece of bacon, crisp, just the way she liked it, before she answered him with
a nod. “At this point I just really want to get my feet wet and make use of my
degree. I think I’d love to do something with promotions though. I think I'd
like the idea of putting together the ideas behind a project and then seeing it
become a success.”
“You could join me at the company I
just acquired,” Alex said, sipping at his coffee. Though he had requested the same
as what Leah was eating he wasn’t really big on breakfast and only picked at
the food before him. “It’s an advertising firm; there are plenty of
opportunities for advancement.”
The thought of actually having a job
filled her with excitement, but Leah also felt a hint of unease. “Wouldn’t it
be unethical for me to take a job since we know each other through a personal
relationship?” She flushed at the way that sounded to her ears. “Not that we
have a personal relationship, but you know what I mean, you are friends with
Rhett and he and I are engaged.”
He laughed good-naturedly at her
embarrassment. “More often than not, that’s how you meet business associates.
Networking is something that no-one should consider unethical.” She was
definitely unique, he thought; most people of his acquaintance wouldn’t even
consider why they were getting a position, or if the reason was ethical, only
how fast they could start. He was starting to like his friend’s fiancé more and
more.
“Well if you’re sure it’s not
against the rules, then I would love to discuss it with you.” She hoped Rhett
wouldn’t be upset about her considering a job offer from his friend, after a
moment though she forced herself to stop thinking like that. She was in charge
of her future, and even if Alex was connected to her, albeit tenuously, his
offer was an opportunity that would enable her to support herself.
“If you decide that this is
something you are interested in we can discuss details. Off the top of my head
I am thinking that you could start off as an intern at a base salary, spending
a bit of time in each department until we work out which one suits your talents
the best.
“I’ll tell you up front, you’ll get
a lot of grunt work during your first year; that will be the same wherever you
end up working, but if you work hard you could find yourself with a potentially
rewarding career.” He wasn’t just blowing smoke, he had started the same way,
and through hard work he had worked his way up until he had developed a very
successful name for himself.
“What type of clients do you take
on?” Leah felt her excitement grow, but was sensible enough to know she needed
to understand what the job might entail before she jumped into it.
“Well obviously there will be a
review of clients and current contracts now that I have taken over, but we deal
with all types of companies and are a firm believer in diversity. Product
advertising, more than people is our specialty.
“Why don’t you get dressed and I’ll
take you in, I can give you a tour.” He had spent many years gathering every
scrap of information he could about the company while he planned his
acquisition of it. He knew the employees that worked there were at the top of
their fields, but had yet to develop a personal working relationship with any
of them, something he intended rectifying.
Leah had been eating between
comments and took another sip of her coffee, to help the food down, before
answering. “Okay, I’d love to see what you’re about.” She blushed quickly at
her poor choice words and hurriedly rephrased herself. “What your company’s
about, I mean.”
Laughing warmly, Alex stood. “I
understood what you meant. Half an hour, can you be ready by then?” He needed
someone who could be available quickly, and he was curious to see what her
response to that time scale would be.
“Sure, I’ll meet you in the
reception hall as soon as I’m done.” Alex left his plate and cup on the island
as he left the kitchen but Leah, out of habit, picked hers up and made to grab
his as well so she could take them over to the sink and wash them. She was
intercepted by the servant, who had stood discreetly off to one side of the
kitchen in case he was needed.
After being assured that it was no
bother for him to wash the dishes, since it was his job, Leah turned to leave
the kitchen. She felt a little awkward and uncomfortable having someone clean
up after her, but that was quickly pushed from her mind as another thought
struck her, one that was far more important.
“Damn!” she swore in annoyance,
stopping before the kitchen door as she remembered why she was wearing the
bathrobe.
“Is there a problem, miss?”
Leah hesitated for a moment,
debating with herself, and then realized she had very little option but to tell
the servant what was wrong. She didn’t have a solution herself, but he might.
“Yes, I don’t have anything to wear.” She blushed as she said it, and
resolutely avoided revealing why she didn’t have anything to wear.
The response was a quick nod and an
apologetic look, which she didn’t understand until he spoke. “Forgive me, miss,
I was supposed to tell you the moment I saw you, several packages were
delivered first thing this morning for you. I haven't had time to take them up
to your room as of yet. I'll return in just one moment.”
Leah looked on as the servant
disappeared from the kitchen, reappearing almost immediately carrying three
boxes and two bags. All the items bore the logo of the boutique Rhett had taken
her to and she remembered him saying the previous day that he would arrange for
Delilah to send some things over. The realization that she had clothes, even if
she didn’t know what sort, was an immense relief to her and she blessed Rhett
silently for remembering and Delilah for having sent the clothes.
“I was given to understand that
there is an assortment in here to suit any eventuality, miss. Master Rhett also
asked me to tell you that if you wish to go shopping for more, Miss Delilah is
ready to assist you in any way she can, his account stands ready for your use.”
“Oh, um, thank you,” Leah said,
feeling a little overwhelmed.
“Should you desire to shop for
something other than clothes, Master Rhett asks that you telephone him at the
office and he will make arrangements for you to be given credit at any store
you desire. He wishes you to make yourself at home here, and suggested that you
might like to buy yourself a few things to make yourself more comfortable.”
The idea that Rhett would just
arrange for her to buy whatever she wished was stunning to her. Did
people truly live this way, she wondered. Apparently in his world they
did. Too amazed to speak right then, Leah could only follow the servant,
whose name she resolved to learn once she recovered the power of speech, as he
carried the packages up to the master bedroom.
When she examined the contents of
the packages, Leah found that there was indeed an assortment of clothes that
would suit every possibility. Thankfully, Delilah had thought to include
business in her list of possible needs, allowing Leah to dress respectably for
her visit to Alex’s new company.
Twenty minutes after breakfast,
Leah, dressed in a long, navy pencil skirt and a dress top in a lighter shade
of blue, waited for Alex in the reception hall. Though the outfit seemed more
than respectable enough to her, she was a little worried. Not knowing what Alex
was like as a person, let alone a boss, she had no idea what sort of outfit he
considered suitable for his employees.
Dressed in the suit he had been
wearing the previous night when he arrived in the dungeon, Alex was impressed
to see Leah already waiting for him, and attired in an outfit he found both
professional and appealing.
“I’ll have to stop by the hotel and
grab a fresh suit,” he said as he led the way out of the house, “but if you
don’t mind the wait, we can ride in together.”
Leah couldn’t think of a reason not
to accept his offer and nodded. Following him out to his sports car, she
wondered briefly if it was professional to be driven to a potential job
interview by the man who might just become her boss. She quickly dismissed the
thought however and settled back to enjoy the ride into downtown Chicago.
It came as no surprise to her when
Alex pulled up in front of the most expensive and exclusive hotel the city had
to offer. She couldn’t begin to imagine how much it cost to stay there for a
night, let alone for the month or more that Alex had been planning. She was
sure it was more than most people earned in several months though.
“Would you care to come up?” Alex
grinned at how that sounded and hoped she wasn’t offended.
“I think I’ll wait here if that’s
alright,” Leah responded. Driving in to the office with him was one thing, but
she was sure that Rhett would not be pleased if she went up to his hotel room,
even if Alex was his friend.
When he disappeared from sight into
the lobby Leah allowed her mind to dwell on the possibilities of having a new
job. Her first thought was to call Janie and tell her the good news, though she
remembered almost immediately that that wasn’t possible because the two of them
weren’t speaking.
That thought dampened her enthusiasm
somewhat, but it quickly returned as she considered the things she might get to
do and learn if she got the job. The idea that she might actually be able to
make use of the degree she had so recently gained, not to mention earn a
reasonable wage, was tremendously exciting.
Up in his suite Alex dressed
hastily, selecting a dark charcoal grey suit, a pale blue shirt and a silver
tie. His expensive Italian shoes, polished to perfection by the hotel staff,
gleamed as he made his way back down to the lobby.
He would deal with the hotel that
evening, he thought to himself as he returned to the car. There was no point in
him taking the time now, it would take too long to pack himself up and he
wanted to get into the office so he could show Leah around.
It wasn’t just that he wanted to
show off his new acquisition, he thought as he settled himself behind the wheel
again and drove them the few blocks to company he had bought. He found that he
was enjoying Leah’s company, despite only having known her for a short while,
and was beginning to get some idea of why his friend would have proposed
marriage after just a few weeks, when he had never been inclined to do so
before.
It was clear that Leah came from an
entirely different world than him, and the people he usually associated with,
and that gave her a different perspective on things. Their conversation during
the short drive touched on a variety of subjects and he found her both
knowledgeable and naïve by turns, a combination he enjoyed.
By the time they arrived and he had
parked in his reserved CEO’s space Alex had decided that he wanted Leah to join
his staff, she would be a good addition in his opinion, he just hoped she felt
the same. Very unprofessionally, he thought, it had little to do with her
skills and more to do with the fact that he enjoyed her company.
Over the course of the next few
hours she shared with him her history at college, and her impeccable grade
point average. They made their way through the company, visiting each
department in turn as he questioned her about what possibilities she might
bring to the staff with her knowledge. Alex took delight in explaining the
function of each department; some of them, like finances and human resources,
were fairly self-explanatory, but others were unfamiliar to Leah.
By the time they finished their tour
and made their way to his office so they could discuss salary, and other such
details, it was clear to Alex that Leah would fit in well, and not just because
he enjoyed her personality. It was also clear to him that he had a very solid
staff, even if the former CEO hadn’t got the best out of them, most likely
because he didn’t know how to treat the people beneath him. The way he had been
treated all those years before had shown him the former CEO lacked the skills
to treat his employees well.