(Rachael)
Working for Xander King could have been pleasant if he could stop screaming orders at me. I've been working as an investment banker for a company called Arctic Circle Investment. ACI. Here in Manhattan, New York.I have been here for seven years now, and yes, the pay was great, plus I got weekends and holidays off. What more could a girl ask for?I didn't attend college like everyone else once they reached the age of eighteen because I got pregnant. My now nine-year-old son is so energetic that I had to watch him carefully. He has a nanny, Mariah, who loves him a lot, and occasionally I would leave him with his grandparents. His father ran the minute I told him that I was pregnant, so I had to step up and take care of my child.I have been to so many interviews that I had failed miserably, but luckily, Lawrence King saw something in me at that time and hired me. I had proved him right, and now I was still working here, even after so long. It was when Mr. King got sick, his son Xander took over, and believe me, he's the devil in disguise.During work hours, Xander found plenty of different ways to annoy me, and that's what he's doing now.My coworker Emily chuckled, and Brady rolled his eyes as Xander's voice could be heard calling for me.“You should go. Don't keep him waiting.” Brady said. I sighed and got up from my cubicle, then made my way toward his office door. He might be my boss, but that doesn't mean that he gets to shout at me all the time like a spoiled brat.Opening the door, I was greeted with a cold stare from the man behind his desk. The way he acts, you would have sworn he was eighty, but he's only thirty-three years old.“You called for me, Xander?” I asked in an inpatient tone. His glare had turned even colder from the way I had spoken to him. I often called him by his first name, something I did to irritate him.“I have been calling for you for the past five minutes, Miss. Hale, I would think you would have been here sooner.” He snapped, making me roll my eyes.“I had a lot of work to do. If you had lessened it, then maybe you wouldn't have to wait that long and stop acting so cranky. Five minutes is nothing.” I replied, and from the way he was looking at me, I knew that in his mind he was plotting my murder.“Whatever. Take these files to Mrs. Abraham, and tell her to give me an update as soon as she's done going through them.” He pointed at the files, but I folded my arms defiantly. He wasn't going to get away with talking to me as if I were beneath him.“I think you might have forgotten something there, Xander. Where are your manners?” I made a tsking sound and shook my head. He narrowed his eyes at me, then stood up and made his way toward me. I backed up a little, not liking the fact that he was so close.“Look at you, not so tough now, are you?” He asked as he continued to make his way toward me.“I just don't like it when people invade my personal space. You're getting far too close for my liking.” I replied as my back made contact with the wall.It's not the fact that he was unattractive. Oh no, he was once named the sexiest man alive. It's not the fact that his cold blue-green eyes were staring into mine, as if he could see through my soul. It's not the fact that his hand was slowly making its way towards my face, gently pushing a Straw of my jet black hair out of the way.The reason I was backing away was the fact that with him being so close to me, I could hardly breathe. I hated to admit that I wanted to be with this cold-hearted man. He would tease me constantly, making me squirm nervously as his eyes held mine.It's the fact that he is so attractive that I found it hard to stand on my feet, which would turn to jelly at the sight of him.I couldn't allow him to be so close to me, so I backed away each time. This wasn't the first time he cornered me. He would often do it when I wasn't listening to him, and when he would call me out for it. I hate it when he does that, I can't seem to think straight sometimes with him around.“If it wasn't for my father, who threatened me not to terminate your employment, I would have a long time ago. Stop fighting me and do as you're told.” I jumped from the tone of his voice and moved to the side so that I could get away from him.Then, I moved quickly toward the stack of files and ran out as fast as I could. Why was this man affecting me so much?I took a deep breath as I made my way toward Mrs. Abraham's office. My heart was beating so fast that I found it hard to breathe. Never in my life had that happened to me before.I can't help but feel like something else was going on with Xander. It's his company now, so he can fire and hire whomever he wants. He didn't have to listen to his father anymore, so why was he still keeping meeting on?When I arrived at Mrs. Abraham's office, I knocked on her door, and when she asked me to come in, I did. I handed her the files and told her what Xander had said, then left.Seeing that I still had a lot of work to do, I went back to my desk. Drew and Emily had already left, so it was just me for now.Looking at the time, I realized that it was time for me to leave, seeing that it was 6 pm. so I started packing up everything. This day went like every other day. Hopefully, tomorrow will be different.(Xander)irritated. That's one way to describe how I felt whenever I was with Rachael. She makes me want to snap her neck whenever she opens her mouth, trying to challenge me, and is always getting on my nerves. but I couldn't stop myself from feeling like there was something between us. I would be blind if I said I wasn't attracted to her, damn I was. She is extremely beautiful with jet-black hair and the blackest pair of eyes I've ever seen. an hourglass figure that would make every man turn their eyes toward her as she walks by. I know that there couldn't be anything serious between us because I wasn't looking to settle down, and my father would hang me if I tried anything with her. He loves her a lot, I wasn't sure why, but he told me that he saw her as a daughter. At any other time, I would have said that something was going on between them, but I knew that I would be wrong. I've seen them together before, and they didn't act any different.looking at the time, I saw that it w
(Rachael)"Mom, you're home!" shouts my son Cole, who came running down the stairs after I called for him. I laughed as he launched himself at me, hoping to get a hug that I awkwardly gave him since my hands were full. "I brought pizza, is that ok?" I asked him, and he happily nodded his head. "As much as I ate already, I can't pass on pizza," he replied, which was true. He has an obsession with pizza, and I'm not joking. something I knew he got from me since I'm the same. After we got to the dining room, I placed the pizza on the table and sat down. Then we started eating. I invited Mariah for some as well, so now she was sitting with us. "How was work? Is Mr. King still being grumpy?" Mariah asked, making me groan. I often vent my frustrations to her, letting her know how much I hated my job. Mariah reminded me of my mother in a good way. They are close in age, which is forty-seven. my mom had me when she was twenty. "He's getting worse, I can't concentrate without having to he
(Xander)"Tell me, how are things going with you and Rachael?" Dad asked in a suspicious tone that had me raising my eyebrow at him. We were now eating dinner together, in the dining room, which we always do as long as I have the time. "It's the same as usual. We bicker all the time as if we are married." I replied, which had him laughing. Every time I looked at my dad, I saw myself. It's a bit freaky the way we looked exactly alike. The only problem is that he is the older version of me. we both have the same eye color, which is blue with a mixture of green, and if it wasn't for his age, we would both have the same jet black hair. He might have gotten a minor stroke, but the way he was going made it seem as if he was stronger than before. "I don't get why you two can't get along. She's been working there for years now, surely there must be some part of you that likes her." I narrowed my eyes at dad after he said that and shook my head. "Hell no, I don't want to get hypertension at
(Rachael)ugh! I can't believe that asshole! ok, I need to calm down, but still. He's such a jerk. Sometimes, I can't stand him, and today was one of those times. I simply told him about donating to Cole's school because they needed some assistance, and that jackass said no. I made my way back to my cubicle and sat down, slamming my hand on my desk as I felt like going back to his office and strangling him to death. "It didn't work out?" Emily asked as she walked up to me. "No, he said no, and not in a good way either," I replied, making her shake her head. I should have known. He wasn't kind from day one, so why did I have so much faith in him? "I heard that he fired Kirk for suggesting something to him. something is going on with him. He's never acted like this before." Emily said as if I cared. "At the rate that he's going, I'm this close to resigning myself. I can't deal with that dickhead anymore." Emily laughed while shaking her head. "It's only Thursday, we have one more d
(Xander)I laughed to myself as I recalled the way Rachael was mad at me for telling her to stay in my office and take my calls. I wasn’t worried about leaving her there since I had done it before, and I could trust her despite our differences. It wasn’t hard to get her to hate me, I could have told her yes about donating at her son’s school, but how would I win the bet if I acted soft with her? My father had another thing coming if he thought that I was going to end up liking Rachael. I knew that the old man had a plan as to why I shouldn’t fire Rachael. It was easy to tell. He wanted us to be together since he saw her as a daughter, a person who could be a part of our family. I hated that idea more than anything in the world. Settling down was something that I had never thought about, I enjoyed the bachelor style I was living. I know that that sounded bad, but I can’t help it. I liked being free, not being able to answer anyone as to where I was or who I was with. It was better
(Rachael)I was angry. No scratch that, I was furious! I was angry to a point where all I saw was red. I can't believe that bastard isn't here yet. It's been two hours since he left me here and still haven't returned. Should I trash his office? I think I could get away with it since he isn’t back as yet. On top of everything, I haven't eaten, so I was also hungry. The noises that my belly was making sounded like an alien had found a new home there. I cringed so hard I felt like I sprained something. Ok, what am I going to do? I couldn't just leave here since he told me to stay and take his calls for him. So far, all the calls I have gotten were boring investors looking to have a meeting with him, so I wrote it down. I should be getting a bonus for this, I was not doing this for free. After a couple more minutes had passed, the door finally opened to reveal a smiling Xander who seemed to have gotten some sort of good news. "At least you're happy." I said while folding my arms and g
(Xander)when I left work, I drove home after I called Leon to see what he was up to. I wanted to hang out with him at the bar that we had visited often, so I was shocked when he agreed to go with me since he was still a bit busy. once I arrived home, I was happy to see that Lucy was there and Dad hadn't run her off like he often did. the two of them were talking and laughing while playing a game of chess in the living room. I was amused at the sight of them getting along, Dad thought that he was too old for a babysitter, but Lucy is his nurse and not a babysitter. "Hey guys, Dad, I'm going to hang out with Leon for a bit. I'm not sure if I'm going to be home tonight." I said as I sat down next to them. "gonna get some?" Dad asked, making me raise my eyebrow at him in question. he rolled his eyes and went back to focusing on his game. "I'm old enough to know about those things, Xander, so don't look at me like that. I used to get around before I met your mom. Maybe that's where you
(Rachael)“Come on, please? It’s tonight, and I don’t feel like going alone.” Emily begged for the tenth time already.“I have a son to take care of, I can’t just drop everything like that,” I replied, trying my best to argue my way out of what she was asking of me. “I already asked Brady, and he said no, you’re my only other option. My parents expect me to be there tonight and I don’t want to go alone.” I sighed, knowing that Emily wouldn’t stop bothering me until I agreed with her. “Fine I’ll go, but you’ll owe me, though.” That got a squeal from her, which had me covering my ears. She hugs me and nods her head. “Thanks a lot, babe! I promise I’ll pay you back somehow. I hate going to that hotel alone no matter if it belongs to my parents.” I nodded my head in understanding because I was the same. The Pearl Bay Hotel was one of the largest hotels here in Manhattan. It was where most celebrities would stay when they visited. It’s a five-star hotel as well and extremely expensive.