(Liam's POV - Tue. 27 August 2013)

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" I yell as I wake up with a start, completely drenched in sweat, and realize that I didn't hear the alarm on my phone. It says 7:29 which means I'll never be in the office by 8:00. I didn't fall asleep until very early this morning and I am now tired as hell. I mentally curse Shannon because of course, I couldn't count on him just for once to wake me up since he is not a morning person and is probably sound asleep in his bedroom. However, I immediately regret this momentary anger at him when I remember that my adorable best friend went to pick up my suits from the dry-cleaner's on his own accord yesterday afternoon, for which I am really grateful.

I rush to the bathroom for a very quick shower and to brush my teeth, I get dressed up in record time, grab a cereal bar from the kitchen cupboard and rush out. I am not really late as we are allowed to get in the office until 8:30 and as long as we do our eight hours and a half each day, but I don't like to be among the late comers. Once in the train, I think back about yesterday and how I messed up. I wonder what fate has for me today, but my feelings are not quite positive about it. I wouldn't be surprised if Elena was waiting for me in the hall, asking me to return my laptop and access badge. I actually believe that I am about to be fired so I already make plans to work on my CV this afternoon and get mentally ready to look for another job.

In the end, I am almost surprised not to see Elena waiting for me in the hall as I hurry inside the building, a bit out of breath because I ran from the train station. I quickly nod at the security guy at the entrance and at the receptionist, then hastily walk toward the elevators, skidding to a stop and almost bumping into a tall guy who is already waiting by the lift. I mentally curse him for not having pressed the call button - do I need to tell him that if he doesn't call for the lift, it won't come down on its own? - but instead I press the button and cowardly mumble an apology for slightly shoving him. My heart almost stops when the guy turns around and plants his electric blue eyes into mine. It sounds like another shitty day coming. First I don't hear my alarm and second, I have nothing better to do than bump into the CEO of the company. What the hell is he doing here at 8:30 anyway?  Ally told me that he usually gets in around seven! Whatever... I am so in trouble! My eyes automatically look down at my feet.

"Oh... Liam... Is this correct?" his deep voice asks as the door to his private elevator opens. I don't take the fact that he knows my name as a good sign. It can only mean that he and Mr. Jones have discussed my case yesterday, and I can only imagine how lowly he must have spoken of me...

"Y..Yes Sir... I sincerely apologize for bumping into you... I'm sorry..." What the hell is he waiting for to enter his damn lift?

"No problem," he chuckles. "I assume you didn't do it on purpose. Care to join me?" I finally raise my eyes and realize that he is holding the door of his lift with his right hand, carrying his laptop bag in the other one. Wait! What does he mean? Why would I join him in his lift? I'm just an intern and it doesn't take a CEO to fire an intern, does it? "Liam! Get in please!" he insists firmly, pointing his chin at the cage. I bite my lower lip and hesitantly step into his elevator.

As the doors shut, I can feel his gaze on my head, although we are both facing the doors, very close to each other; so much so that I can almost feel the warmth of his arm against my shoulder. He is much taller than I am and looks strong. His blue business suit adds to his natural elegance. The ride up to the 21st floor is quite short but tense and silent. I keep wondering why he has asked me to join him but unfortunately, I can't think of anything positive getting out of here. My stress is actually slowly turning into some kind of annoyance; okay I did mess up in his meeting room yesterday, but is that serious enough to get summoned by the big boss himself? Doesn't he have more important things to do? If he wants me fired, Elena should be able to do it, right? When the doors finally open, he gestures for me to step out first so I do so although I sarcastically think to myself: hey, it's not because I want to be a secretary that you need to behave like a gentleman as if I were a girl...

"Good morning Mr. Pierce!" Ally says, her eyes focused on her screen before they turn to us. "Oh hi Liam!" she cheers when she notices me. I give her a small smile in return and nod.

"Good morning Ally!" Mr. Pierce kindly says to her. "Liam got in just as I was waiting for the lift so I told him to join me directly," he then adds, as if this had been planned.

"Oh, I guess you haven't found the note on your desk Liam this morning?" Ally asks me. What note is she talking about?

"Hmm... no... I was a bit late this morning and only just got in..." I mumble.

"It doesn't matter," Mr. Pierce says heading to his office. "Liam, please follow me." What the hell does he want with me? I start to walk behind him until he suddenly stops and I nearly bump into him again. "Ally, can you please bring us some coffee?" His tone is so gentle when he speaks to her.

"I... I don't need coffee... thanks..." I say, as clearly as I can. My heart is already thumping in my chest; if I drink coffee, the whole building will get to hear it.

"Ally will bring you some water then. After you, young man," he says, once again gesturing for me to walk in first before he follows me and shuts the door.

I am not sure about what I should do. For God's sake, I don't even know what I am doing here! His office is ridiculously huge as I had expected the first and only time I went to this floor. There seems to a private bathroom on the left and there is a long leather couch on the rest of the wall adjacent to the meeting room and a coffee table. The other two walls are made of windows with a beautiful view on Chicago. At the back right of the room, there is a long half U-shape desk with what seems to be a very comfortable office armchair against the window and two not any less comfortable guest chairs. Just in front of me, there is also a small round table surrounded by four similar guest chairs. It must be really agreeable to work in such an office...

"Please Liam, take a seat at the table," he says as he takes off his jacket and hangs it. I do so and drop my bag against the table foot. I quickly peek at his broad back but immediately lower my gaze when he turns around and takes a seat across from me. I fiddle with my fingers while he silently switches on his laptop and logs in. "So, Liam," he says with a gentle voice while typing onto the keyboard, "how are you doing this morning?" Really?

"Er... I'm fine Sir..." I reply but my own voice is barely audible.

"Liam, I want you to be honest. You don't look that fine. You look rather nervous and stressed," he says, looking up from his screen once he has apparently found what he was looking for.

"Hmm... Well... I'm not sure what I am doing here... If this is about yesterday's mess, I'm sorry Sir... I..."

"I haven't summoned you for a lecture Liam. And please, relax. What happened yesterday was nothing. I wanted to meet you because I have an offer for you. Just give me a second while I look at your HR file since I just received it." Wow, wow, wow... What is he talking about now? An offer? For what? Ally walks in at that moment, with a grin on her lips at my attention, and puts a mug of coffee and milk next to Mr. Pierce and a bottle of water in front of me. "Thanks Ally," he says, still reading on his screen. I whisper a quick thank you to her before she walks out of the office, winking at me when she shuts the door. "Good!" he then says, pushing his laptop to the side. "Your school and university records are pretty impressive, Liam!"

"Thank you, Sir..." I try my best not to stutter, but his eyes really affect me.

"Why didn't you pursue your studies? Did you really want to become an assistant?" he asks, frowning his dark eyebrows. "You could have followed much higher studies with such grades."

"I know Sir... but I really intended to become an assistant... at least for now..."

"What attracts you in this job?" That sounds like an interview...

"I like the idea of working closely with an Executive and helping him or her to best use their time. I like... the idea of assisting while I am being... guided into my tasks. I can take initiatives but I also like to receive instructions..." He arches an eyebrow at this, as if I had just said something weird... well that was just the description of my job...

"Why did you say at least for now?" he then asks, shifting on his chair and folding his arms.

"Hmm... because being an assistant is what I want to do for now... but I have other interests... like architecture and design... I might go back to school and take evening classes in a couple of years from now and why not... try something else later," I explain.

"This is interesting," he comments, nodding his head. "You seem to be a brilliant young man, Liam. For now, I have an offer for you. As you have noticed, Ally is pregnant and will soon go on maternity leave; in a little less than three weeks more precisely." He pauses for a few seconds, as if to let the information and his intentions sink into my head. "I would like you to replace her during her time off which should be about three months. Once she comes back, there will be some opportunities for you if we are satisfied by your skills. How does this sound?" For a minute I am totally speechless. Why would this guy want me as his assistant after my poor performance from yesterday? Moreover, from what Elena told me, Ally is the best assistant in this company; how could I compare to her? I'm just a beginner!

"No offence, Sir... but I... I've just started in this job and..." I stutter, shaking my head in lack of understanding.

"Liam, I already know that. I don't want you to worry about the Whys and the Hows. Ally is a great personal assistant and absolutely able to teach you the most important things in three weeks. Knowing her, I'm sure she will be available to help you from a distance if you need it once she has left. And as I said, you are a brilliant young man and I am confident that you will adapt very quickly." He shifts again on his chair and leans over the table, resting his forearms on the table; the shorter proximity of his face makes me blush even deeper. His grin shows off perfectly aligned teeth and I face palm myself for thinking that I would love them to bite me. Oh my God!!! What is happening to me? This is my big boss! A man at that! And who is probably married! I unconsciously glance at his left hand and don't see any wedding ring there... nor any mark of a ring... "Liam," Mr. Pierce says, almost startling me, "this is an offer; you may as well decline it of course; if you'd rather keep working with Mr. Jones, I'd understand," he adds with a smirk that means 'NOT'. "This is your choice to make, but I would need an answer very quickly... as quickly as now. I know this is a short notice, but Ally is leaving soon, and I can't afford to go without an assistant." Getting only my silence in return while my hands torture each other and while my brain tries to process what he just told me, he leans back into his chair. "I know it's an important decision for you to take Liam, but..."

"I accept!" I blurt out to him before he changes his mind. It seems like my neurons have finally reconnected! I can't miss such an opportunity! My eyes rise to meet his and I strive myself not to think about their beautiful dark blue. "I don't need time to think this over. I accept your offer... Sir..." His smile widens largely as my thoughts focus on this great opportunity I have been offered. I know this is going to be difficult and I know that I will need to work on myself but I definitely intend not to disappoint him.

"Perfect! Thank you Liam and welcome on board!" he cheers, standing up. "Let's go tell the great news to Ally."

"Thank you, Mr. Pierce..." I follow him to Ally's desk.

"Ally, Liam has accepted to replace you during your maternity leave. I'll let you two deal together for now."

"Don't worry, we'll manage perfectly..." Ally says sarcastically for his attention, as her phone rings. "Mr. Pierce's office, Ally speaking, how can I help you?" "..." "Sure, hold on a second, I'll put you through." She presses a button on her phone and looks up at her boss. "This is Mr. Cole in New York, he needs to talk to you about the current sale," she says in a concerned tone.

"Okay, I'll take him. I'll see you later Liam," he says with a smile and returns to his office while Ally transfers the call.

"Congratulations Liam!" Ally says warmly after he has shut his door. "I'm really happy for you!"

"Thank you... I'm not too sure if I deserve such an offer after what happened yest..." I mumble.

"Tsk... Liam, just between you and me, Derek can be a real asshole sometimes and honestly, it was really nothing... I'm sure you will be much better off here with Mr. Pierce. Now... we have a million things to do within three weeks so we'd better get at it. And Liam...? No more mumbling! Stand straight and speak up! Believe in yourself, alright?" she adds, making me chuckle. "Yes, I like that smile, Hun!"

Ally gives me a note with a list of things for me to do this morning. The first one sends me to the finance floor to gather my things there. I am a bit stressed to go there, not knowing if they are already aware that I am moving upstairs, but I take her advice and straighten my back. Mr. Jones' office is open when I land on the 19th floor, so, being well-educated, I stop by to greet him.

"Good morning, Mr. Jones," I say loud enough and clear.

"Good morning, Liam! Please come in for a second and shut the door. I was waiting for you!" My determination immediately fades away as I walk in and close the door. His expression is surprisingly calm when I turn back to him. "Liam, I wanted to apologize for yesterday. I know it wasn't your fault and I shouldn't have taken my anger on you." That leaves me totally dumbfounded, even if it sounds rather fake all in all. This day is going from one surprise to another. "By the way, I want you to know that you did a good job with the presentation."

"Thank you, Sir, I'm sorry it took so long..." I reply, slowly regaining a bit of confidence.

"HR told me that Pierce has asked that you replace Ally during her time off. Congratulations, this is a great opportunity you have here," he then says, but I decipher a smirk behind his smile. The bastard probably hopes that I will fuck up...

"Thanks... I hope they find a replacement for Carola as soon as possible..."

"They certainly will. Well, I'll probably see you upstairs sometime soon, so... good luck with the boss!"

"Thank you Sir... Have a good day!"

To be honest, I don't really care if he has a good day, because I am having a great day. However fake his apology sounded, it still feels good to hear. I quickly gather the few things I had left in Carola's office and then go two floors down to meet Elena. When I walk into her office, she quickly rushes to shut her door, squealing at me and even gives me a congratulation hug. This girl reminds me so much of Shannon and his energetic temper. She gives me an amendment to my contract and I almost have a heart-attack again when I read the line about the salary increase. Elena rejects my protest saying that this is adapted to my new function and only valid while I replace Ally and reminds me that people don't complain about salary increases in general. The last task is one floor below where I stop by one of the IT guys who gives a brand new Iphone with a professional number. It is almost 11:30 when I get back to Ally's office and my stomach growls, reminding me that I didn't have breakfast this morning and didn't even eat the cereal bar I had brought.

Ally tells me that Mr. Pierce is still in his call, which I had guessed, hearing muffled shouts next door. Seeing how thick the frozen window panes of the wall separating his office from Ally's are, I can easily imagine how the conversation must be heated.

"Alright, let's start with some basic information before we have lunch. As you must already know, everything that you may hear on this floor is confidential. When you deal with the highest level, secrecy is one major rule and Joshua is extremely strict on that. There are a some things that he does share with his second in command and most of his leadership team but this is for him to decide what can be said or not. This is why you will attend the business reviews, the next one being next week. There you will be introduced to the whole team but in the meantime, here's a document that summarizes everybody's names and functions and some personal annotations I have made. That should help you. Obviously, personal assistant also means doing some personal things for the boss. This other document is a summary of all the names that you will hear from at some point and this is extremely confidential. You have all the contact details of all Joshua's friends, his private personnel and so on... Know that Tony, that you met already, is also his private driver, and you might need to contact him yourself once in a while. There's also..."

Mr. Pierce suddenly barges out of his office, his mood definitely not as light as it was this morning.

"Ally, I need to be in New York by 8 tomorrow the latest to meet with Cole. Tell Allan that I need him to come with me. Please ask Michael to have the jet ready at 4:00 am and book us near their offices."

"Return?" Ally asks as she is taking notes.

"I don't know yet; the negotiations might take some time. Cancel all my meetings and appointments on Wednesday and Thursday to begin with. I'll take care of the one I had with Camden tomorrow myself. Liam, take this opportunity to see how Ally organizes my business trips. Thanks." With that he returns to his office, ignoring Ally's dark scowl.

"Did he think I was going to do it on my own without showing you?" she scoffs in a whisper. "Alright, let's get to that. Allan is the Chief Operating Officer and Joshua's second in command; he's a nice guy and very kind." I listen to her conversation while she calls him. I remember meeting him on my first day here and he indeed sounded nice. "90% of the time he travels," she then continues, "Joshua will use his private jet to fly. Don't get that look," she chuckles when my eyes open widely, "it's only a small jet... So now we need to call Michael, who is one of the pilots. When he's not available, there is another one, but most of the time, it will be him."

"Hello beautiful! How are you and the amazing baby doing?" a voice answers.

"We are doing great, thanks! Mike, you're on speaker and I am with Liam, who will replace me during my leave."

"Oh hi Liam then! I guess we'll often talk to each other!" he says.

"Yes, I guess so...," I reply, trying to keep for voice firm enough.

"So Ally! When, where to and how long?" Michael asks; efficient guy apparently and straight to the point.

"Have the jet ready by 4:00 am, to Newark, and at least two days, but count on three just in case."

"Alright lady, I'll send you the details shortly."

Once we have hung up, Ally shows me how she books hotels, tells me about Mr. Pierce's preferences and we finally add all the details in his calendar. In the afternoon, after a quick lunch, she gives me a huge list of his main business contacts. This girl is really great! She has a file with all the contact details and some more personal annotations that she updates all the time. That is going to be so helpful! The rest of the afternoon goes uneventful and I mostly watch and listen to Ally postponing meetings and conference calls.

"So how was this first day upstairs, Liam?" Mr. Pierce asks as he walks out of his office, apparently ready to leave.

"It was good, Sir... Thank you again for this offer," I reply rather shyly, still impressed by his stature.

"If you're happy with it, that's perfect! Just make sure you get as much information as possible while Ally is here," he says with a warm smile. "I'll keep you updated on how things go in New York and if I need to postpone our return. Update Liam on the new division project too, although he already had a glance at it when he made the presentation for Jones. Provide him with the full details; we'll be working on that a lot in the coming weeks."

"Sure!" Ally replies as he is already turning around toward the lift. "Have a safe trip!"

"Thanks! You two be good, and if anything urgent, give me a call! Bye"

This evening, on my way back, I realize that it is the first time since my first day at Pierce Construction that I go home not feeling stressed or panicked. I am exhausted because it was an intense day, but it feels good that way. I am just a bit perplexed by the tension that I feel each time my eyes meet his eyes; I just can't explain it... or rather I don't want to.

Published on 27 Aug 2016

Hope you liked that one!

Quick note on the characters... I'm trying to remind often enough through the story who has which position and so on. The only new ones are Cole who is someone that you will sometimes hear about throughout the first half of the book, but he is not extremely important, and then Michael, the pilot of the jet, but he's not very important either.

Before we even imagine what would be the possibilities of a whole floor to themselves, frozen windows, a bathroom, a couch, etcetera, etcetera... let's just wonder how Joshua will enter the "seduction" mode and how Liam's naivety and innocence will slowly change into... something different.

And I am dedicating this chapter to my English neighbor, Kay, who was also one of the very first readers of I Was Shooting For The Moon. Thank you my dear Lady for all your precious comments! It's always great to see what the readers get from a chapter :)

Twisted Moon: Very slow progress as I realize that between the moment I thought about this story last January and now, things have changed a lot and having written two stories before, I have thought of new developments and things happening in the two previous stories served as settlements for this third one. The general plot of the story is completely different than it was in the beginning so I am redoing it from scratch almost. Though not completely. So I haven't done much than summarizing the first chapters and writing the prologue and the beginning of the first chapter. That's the bad side of a series... when you start a new story, you have to go again through the presentations and blablabla without sounding too annoying... At least I shouldn't have that problem when I write the 4th story since it will be completely different!