(Liam's POV - Mon. 16 September 2013)

I wake up with a start as my alarm goes off at 6:00 am.

This is it. Today is my first official day as Mister Joshua Pierce's personal assistant, without having Ally by side. I am going to miss her terribly, almost as much as Mr. Pierce is going to miss her. Over the past two weeks and a half, I have gotten pretty attached to this sparkling woman. She has been so patient and helpful with me! I never thought I could learn so much in so little time, but we made it thanks to Ally's professionalism and perfect organization.

Now is my time not to mess up and disappoint her, and much less the boss. I need to prove them I can handle the job. As I get up and make my way to the bathroom, I remember last Friday evening before Ally and I left the office together. Our goodbyes were a bit emotional and she gave me a few last recommendations.

"So there we are, beautiful boy," she said as we were standing in the hall downstairs, ready to part ways. Ally has gotten that habit of giving me all sorts of affectionate nicknames, even in our boss's presence, which earned me quite a few blushes.

"Thanks for all your help... You take care of you and the baby, Ally... I'm going to miss you..." I said, hugging her as best as I could, considering her large protuberance between us.

"I'm going to miss you too, Sweetie. Do not hesitate to call me or to send me an email if you have any doubt or question. If Joshua gets on your nerves, if there's any problem or if you simply need to ease off from the pressure he's putting on you, do call me and we can talk it out, alright?" I nodded, hoping I won't need to do this too often. I'd rather leave her alone and let her enjoy her time off. "Don't forget that he's the big boss and that it requires a lot of patience to work with him, but don't let him walk over you!" she warned me.

"I'll try..." I mumbled. Pierce is much more pleasant than Jones, but he is still impressive.

"Don't try Liam, just do it. And I said no more mumbling! I am giving you two goals that you should achieve in my absence. One is to do your best and not to crack down. The other is to gain some self-assurance. When I return, I want to see someone stronger, self-confident and who stands proudly and at ease in his shoes!"

"That's a lot you're asking for..."

"I know, but I'm sure you can make it. I have faith in you, baby boy!"

I don't expect things to be easy in the coming months, but Ally's reassuring words will certainly help me, not mentioning all the work we have accomplished in two weeks.

This has been overly intense, so much so that most of the time, Ally and I had lunch at her desk and worked till rather late every evening. We have reviewed so many things and she has given me so much information that I almost filled a full notebook with remarks, comments, instructions and whatever interesting piece of information I got.

She gave me a detailed summary of all the current projects and development plans, and I have to say I am quite impressed by what the future of this company looks like. The most important development at the moment implies the creation of a new division dedicated to the construction of small-scale luxury hotels; which I already knew a little of since I made the presentation of the financial plan for Mr. Jones three weeks ago.

We also spent a lot of time on some of the most important contacts, both internal and external; this includes high level management people and the most important customers and business partners. She warned me about a few of them who, like Mr. Jones for example, are quite old-school and need to be treated with utmost respect, even if they are detestable, and yet without letting them walk over us.

I got to participate in the business review meeting that occurred on the first Monday after Mr. Pierce's trip to New York and I am glad to say that this time, I didn't mess up with documents or whatever, although my tension was at its maximum after Mr. Pierce asked me to sit between Ally and him. Each time his knee came to brush against mine - which happened quite a few times - I couldn't help this effervescence running through my body and it was driving me crazy.

During the first three days when Mr. Pierce was in New York, Ally spent a huge amount of time telling me about him, about his preferences and routines, and gave me much advice on how I should handle him. She said that once I get to know him better, I will be able to anticipate his demands and deal more easily with his moods.

When he returned to the office the following week and each time the glass wall was unfrozen, I discreetly watched him and indeed noticed some body expressions Ally had told me about. She was right saying that he keeps a blank expression on his face most of the time, making him hard to read, but he has a lot of habits which reveal his state of mind. Like leaning back into his chair and scratching the nape of his neck when he is in deep thinking; or pacing in his office when something bothers him; or swirling his pen between his fingers when his mind is bubbling with ideas; and many others.

Ally made me promise to never ever tell him about this because she uses these tics a lot to anticipate on her own behavior.

I quickly stop by Shannon's bedroom before I leave. It is only 7:00 am so he is till sleeping, sprawled on his bed, and I make sure not to wake him up. Last night, he went out on his own and I think I heard him come back around 5 this morning.

He recently started a new job in a warehouse and works night shifts, which doesn't help his habits to sleep throughout the day and live during the night, but at least he is getting a good pay from that. Such a shame it is only for one month!

Since I usually don't come back home till 7:00 pm and he leaves at 6:00 pm, we haven't seen each other much recently, but we caught up last weekend with a fast-food restaurant and a movie on Saturday evening. However, I couldn't afford going out last night again since I needed to wake up early this morning.

This weekend, I was able to reassure him about my work because he worried quite a lot during the first two weeks, and he got to tell me about his, which obviously doesn't really interest him. How surprising...

Once I am seated in the train, I pull out the summary of my notes on which I worked last evening once Shan had left. There are so many things to remember but I go through the most important and basic ones.

Daily routine:

-          Prepare coffee (3/4 of the mug with coffee, rest with milk, no sugar). Same at 10:00 am and at 2:00 pm + whenever he asks for more

-          As early as possible, review his agenda for the day, amend appointments and meetings accordingly, and ask for new upcoming trips

-          Ask if he needs to order lunch, use the money he leaves in the drawer

-          Make sure the printer is filled with paper

-          Update his calendar with amendments and add as much information as possible

Various notes:

-          Never put a phone call through to him directly without asking for his permission, especially not his mother (lie if he doesn't want to speak to someone)

-          His food preferences go to fish and beef. Make sure there is no mustard (he's allergic!!)

-          Always knock on the door even if the windows are unfrozen

-          Make sure he has his lunch delivered by noon the latest, leave it in the meeting-room fridge if he's busy

-          Never leave the office without saying goodbye and asking if he needs anything before you leave

-          Always make sure the fridge is stocked with bottles of water and cans of Coke Zero. If not, ask Antonio at Purchasing Dept to bring some.

-          If he orders a salad, get a yogurt with it; if a sandwich, order some fruit (no banana!!)

Theoretically, there is nothing complicated here. All I have to do is remember everything, not panic and keep calm.

I then review once again the list of his contacts and that of his friends and private staff. The more I read about them, the more I will be familiar with the names. As far as the private list is concerned, there are not that many names. I would have imagined that this kind of man has dozens of friends and a large family, but this doesn't seem to apply to him.

I noticed that one of his friends owns some nightclubs in Chicago; maybe I should tell this to Shannon... or maybe not. Another of them owns some restaurants and the last one is an osteopath, but seeing where his practice is situated, I guess his clientele is among the wealthiest of Chicago. Apart from his mother and his housekeeper, it seems like there are no women in his circle, and I shamefully wonder if he is gay.

Oh my God!! What am I thinking about? This is none of my business and he honestly doesn't look like he is gay! He rather looks like a lady-catcher...

It is raining buckets when I reach the Loop, so I am glad I took my umbrella. I feel the tension building in my body as the lift rides me to the 21st floor, but I am surprised not to find my boss at his desk when I enter the open space. The windows are still unfrozen from last Friday, but he doesn't seem to be in at all since I don't see a jacket on the coat stand, nor his laptop on his desk.

I quickly switch on my computer, check the printer and start the coffee machine in the meeting room just in case; then I skim through my emails and Mr. Pierce's calendar. I see he has cancelled his first meeting, so I begin to work on the report he left with me last week and that I need to have ready for this afternoon. I am so concentrated on my task that I don't hear the elevator doors open at 9:45.

"Good morning, Liam!"

Mr. Pierce's deep voice startles me and as I turn to face him, I notice that he is standing by the main lift, in a position suggesting that he has been here for a few minutes already. His driver always drops him off in front of the building, so I wonder why his hair and business suit are drenched like they are, although I don't complain because it gives him a damn sexy look and I almost get to see through his damp white dress shirt. I don't know where these thoughts come from, but weird things are happening in my lower belly and I am soon feeling uncomfortable in my briefs. Holy molly!!! What is going on with me?

"Good... Good morning, Sir... I'm sorry... I didn't hear you arrive... Can I help you with anything?" I stutter stupidly as I stand up - even more stupidly since it might reveal the bulge at the front of my pants, which is why I immediately sit back down, blushing to the tips of my ears. I watch him put his bag on one of the guest chairs in front of my desk.

"No problem, Liam," he says with a smirk, making me wonder if he noticed anything. "How come you haven't called me to ask where I was although I was supposed to be in the office?"

"I... Er... I..."

"I could have been sick... or badly injured..." he says, all too serious, as he lays his hand on my table, slightly bending over. I can smell his delicious perfume and this closeness leaves me voiceless. His expression suddenly changes to a large grin. "I'm teasing you, Liam!" he chuckles, leaning back up. "However, next time this happens, do not hesitate to call me for an update. I might need you to move some appointments or to order lunch for me." Huh... What about he could have called me...? "By the way, please do so and order me a salad for lunch while it is still time. I'll go change into dry clothes in the meantime, and then, we can review my agenda for the rest of the day."

"Yes... Sir. I'm sorry. Next time, I'll call you..." I apologize. He smiles and walks to his office, straight to his bathroom.

I quickly snap out of it, readjust my deflating manhood as soon as he has shut his door and I order his salad and yogurt to the receptionist. I then stand up to make his coffee and bring it to him when I hear the door open again. He is finishing with his tie when I walk into his office, with the mug of coffee and milk in one hand, and a notebook in the other.

"Take a seat Liam, I'll be ready in a minute," he says, walking back to the bathroom. I sit down at the round table and he joins me a few seconds later. "Damn rain! There was a huge crash half a mile from here that happened just a hundred yards ahead of us and we got stuck in the traffic with no possibility to turn back. I had to walk the rest of the way to the office," he then explains. "I'll be in a conf call shortly, so when Tony finally makes it to the office, please give him my suit so that he can take it to dry-cleaning whenever he can."

"Sure... I'll send him a text and ask him to let me know once he has arrived."

We quickly review his agenda of the day, which only consists of conference calls and one meeting this afternoon, talk about his upcoming trip to California for next week and he lets me go back to the report I was working on earlier. I am only interrupted by Tony's visit when he comes to get Mr. Pierce's suit and a Lync note from Elena a bit later. We agree to have lunch at 12:30 on the first floor.

Once I am done with the report, I quickly go get the boss's lunch and bring it to him together with a printed copy of the document. When I meet Elena in the lunch room, she is already with other guys from the Projects team, guys whom I have met before, and she calls me to join their group. I mostly listen to them talking about their weekend and hurry back upstairs.

The rest of the day goes rather uneventful as Mr. Pierce spends most of the afternoon in a meeting with Allan Brightman and the HR manager, starting the recruitment plan for the new division. At 6:00 pm, I stop by his office to ask if he needs anything else before I leave, and he dismisses me with a smile and a wink; a wink, that has me blinking. I wonder if the man has a single clue about how much charm he has.

As soon as I get back home, I change into more comfortable clothes, which means some sweatpants and a tee-shirt, and idle on the couch while eating some leftovers from yesterday. I am glad that this first day on my own went pretty well and that I didn't need to bother Ally on her first day off.

However, I suddenly remember this awkward moment when I got turned on by my boss's wet and see-through shirt. For some reason, I didn't think about it at all throughout the rest of the day, and I wonder why the thought had to show up just now.

I am feeling confused about what happened... I've never had that kind of reaction before, but I can no longer deny that Mr. Pierce does affect me in a way that nobody ever has before. I am ashamed by such emotions, but it fills me with hundreds of questions.

Why haven't I ever felt like this with other people? Am I going through some sort of late puberty? Does this mean I am gay? I don't think I am, but once again, what do I know? For God's sake I am twenty and still a virgin!

Reality strikes back quickly though...

Even if I am gay and even if I have some sort of attraction toward Mr. Pierce, he is way out of my league and we absolutely don't move on the same playground. However, there is this one question I know will bug me for a large part of the night: did he notice my erection before I was able to hide it and the embarrassment I felt consequently? I really wish I hadn't remembered this annoying episode because it will seriously affect the little self-confidence I had gotten recently.

Published on 31 Aug 2016

I warn you that you might find Liam quite naïve at some point, but don't worry, that won't last for long...

The picture above is the setting of the guys' apartment. Quite simple but good enough for two young friends.

If you wonder what Lync is, it is a Microsoft instant messaging and video chatting software that we use for quick conversations with colleagues worldwide. It is a bit like Messenger.

Quick dedication to another great reader, PrinceDel, because it is always so much fun reading your comments <3

And finally, I have been asked two questions quite often recently so I confirm that:

-          Yes, there will be a story for Camden and Noah (Twisted Moon) that I am writing at the moment, and one for Aaron and another guy (might be called "292 Moons")

-          The date at the top of each chapter is the date when the chapter begins in the character's fictional life, not the date when I wrote it or published it :)