~Brie~

“Can you think of what he might want?” Megan whispered to Cynthia.

She shook her head and looked at me.

“I don't understand why he won't ask me to do whatever it is he wants you to do, Brie. I'm his assistant.”

I shrugged.

“You girls just go ahead I'll finish whatever he wants me to do and come find you okay?”

They nodded and sandwiched me between them in a quick hug. I smiled and watched them walk away.

“Good, you stayed behind” Aiden walked out of his office and said to me.

I thread a hand through my hair, glancing out the big glass window to my right.

“Did you have to do that?” I asked, looking past my laptop.

“What?” he asked, looking at me.

“Earlier today. Did you have to embarrass Steven like that?” I asked.

He frowned.

“I embarrassed him?”

“Yes Aiden. You embarrassed him.”

He scoffed.

“I didn't embarrass him by pointing out the one thing everyone else can see from a mile away,” he said I'm a disapproving tone. “It's not a secret. Even you know he likes you.”

Likes me?! So that's what this is about?

I frowned at his childishness.

“So?”

He gave me a look.

“Excuse me?”

“So what, Aiden? So what if Steven likes me? With all due respect, Mr. Corleone, I'm an adult. I can speak for myself. So canceling my dinner plans with Steven wasn't your choice to make.”

He scoffed again.

“I know you're an adult, Breanna. Don't get upset. You did give him your number and your room number so you can screw each other any day. Just not when you're working for me, you understand that?”

What?!

I folded my arms as he packed his bag. It was five thirty in the evening and I wasn't going to let him ruin my night.

“Since you made sure I couldn't go to dinner with Steven,” I said, catching his attention. “Please tell me what I can do for you.”

He stared at me and then nodded once.

“If you want to go for that dinner so bad, leave” he spat out.

I furrowed my brows.

“What? I thought you said you wanted me to—”

“Get out” he snarled.

Excuse me?

“Aiden—”

“Breanna, get out,” he said, clenching his fists and trying to stay calm, although I had no idea what he was upset about.

“But you—”

“Breanna!” he barked, startling me.

I jumped back and bumped into someone.

“Woah!”

It was Mr. Martin.

“Are you okay?” he asked me, holding me by the arm.

When I didn't respond, he looked between Aiden and me and sighed.

“Go get some rest, Ms. Nolan,” Ronbie said to me.

I stood still, staring at Aiden. Was he insane? One minute he was stirring feelings inside me, the next minute he was running away from me and then he had moments where I disgusted him. I frowned and moved over to shut my laptop and collect my things. Then I moved past Ronbie and out of the room.

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

“Mm, it was amazing. Thank you” I smiled at the woman.

She nodded at me just as my phone dinged. I pulled it out of my pocket and gasped at the time.

“Oh, no, no, no, no, no!” I ranted.

The one time I'd gone out into the city for breakfast, I was going to be late. I rushed out of the restaurant and flagged down a taxi. We arrived shortly at the office Aiden had rented out for us to do our work. I run inside and heard the elevator ding. I stopped and looked over just in time to see the door closing. I closed my eyes.

“You're kidding me!” I let out.

Slinging my purse across my arm, I ran, pressing the elevator button a trillion times. When I realized it would take too long, I took slow steps back and pushed the staircase door open, rushing up.

Our office was on the ninth floor of the building. There were other departments and other, smaller magazine companies in the building too. I was panting by the time I reached the lobby with my chest heaving as I breathed.

I pushed the door open and stumbled in, slowing down to a walk as I scanned around. Megan spotted me and signaled me over. Loud angry voices were coming from behind Aiden's office door.

“Where were you? I didn't hear anything from you last night and this morning you weren't in your hotel room” she asked angrily.

“I went out into the city to get breakfast. I decided to treat myself” I defended. “What's going on in there?”

“Mr. Herve. He's at it again.”

I rolled my eyes and they landed on Julio's smiling face. I smiled at him

“You look happy” I chuckled.

“I am happy,” he said. “That you for yesterday. You helped me avoid a lot of awkwardness.”

“Anytime Julio” I smiled.

The door to Aiden's office opened and Cynthia walked out, looking mortified.

“Oh,” Julio whispered.

She made a beeline towards us and Megan opened her arms to hug her.

“Cynthia, what happened?” I asked, caressing her hair over Megan's shoulder.

She let go of Megan and looked at me.

“The file containing the presentation for tonight is gone.”

I furrowed my brow.

“Gone? What do you mean gone?” I asked.

“It's gone” Cynthia sniffed.

“Missing gone?” Megan frowned.

She nodded.

“Wow. And I thought this trip would be drama free” Julio chuckled.

I shook my head.

“It can't be gone,” I stated, my hands on my hips. “I gave it to Mr. Corleone last night... before I went out for drinks with Steven.”

Cynthia stood up straight and looked at me.

“You gave it to him?”

“Yes.”

“Handed it to him, you mean, right?” she asked.

I flicked my eyes back and forth.

“I put it on his desk. He saw me put it there.”

“Oh my goodness, no Brie!” she groaned.

“What?” I asked.

“You never leave stuff like that lying around,” Megan said. “You hand it over to them and make sure they know what they're holding.”

I shrugged.

“Well he saw it. Why should anyone else be held responsible for their carelessness?”

“Breanna” Cynthia breathed.

I met her eyes.

“Miles Herve is going to deliver that presentation tonight... not Mr. Corleone.”

A knot formed in my stomach.

“Well then” Julio breathed out. “We better find that file before Herve—”

“Ms. Nolan!”

The four of us simultaneously craned our necks in his direction.

“Do you have any idea what you have done?!” he fumed, marching towards me.

Cynthia, Megan, and Julio simultaneously stepped several steps back.

“Where is the file?” he asked, a big scowl on his face.

I glanced over his shoulder at Aiden who stood there calmly.

“I gave it to Mr. Corleone,” I replied.

“You expect me to believe that?!”

I looked at him.

“Yes, because it's the truth. I gave it to Mr. Corleone last night.”

He leaned his head back a little.

“Last night?” he questioned.

I knew what he wanted to imply but I wasn't going to let that ship sail.

“Last night... before I went out for drinks with my friend, I handed it over to him. He was there, seated. He saw me bring it back” I defended, looking at Aiden.

He kept quiet and looked on.

Why doesn't he say anything when he has to?!

“Ms. Nolan!” Miles scolded again.

My eyes snapped to his face.

“You are going to reproduce every single word that was in that file before the program tonight. Is that clear?!”

I huffed.

“And how am I supposed to do that? Why are you mad at me? Ask him. He gave it to me in the first place for reasons that still make no sense. I'm the photographer, not the assistant. What would I have known about reviewing presentations? Yet he picked me to do it and I did and gave it back after I was done. Now it's missing and I'm to blame?!” I ranted.

Miles grabbed my arm and held me steady. My heart skipped from the surprise of his attack.

“You will take responsibility for your actions and reproduce the entire presentation before tonight, is that clear? And if I hear one more unprofessional word out of that mouth of yours, you are going to be sorry, do you understand?!”

I gulped. His face was so close to mine. If it were Fiona from Shrek, she'd have headbutted him hard and walked away fine... no concussions.

But me? I couldn't headbutt him. My arm was already starting to go numb. I swallowed back my outburst and nodded, praying he'd get away from me. He let me go and I stumbled back. Then Herve frowned at my friends.

“If I catch any one of you around her, helping her, I will forward your names to the board and have you all fired!” he threatened.

I felt Megan press to my side and take my hand. I looked at Aiden and anger filled me up. Was he terrified of Miles?

Mr. Martin looked at him and nudged him to say something but he didn't budge. He kept looking at me, then for what seemed like the longest stare, he flushed down every single hope I'd gotten that there could be something between us one day, by walking away.

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

I stared at the pile of work I'd completed and let out a groan. My neck hurt so bad and I was beyond tired.

Why me?

Every single time I thought about it, I felt like bad luck was following me around. I was starting to think the supposed charm from Roman's Lake Del Lago rock wasn't working. Herve was the evil ninja. My son had seen this coming.

Aiden.

The rumors I'd heard about him being ruthless when I started working for him seemed far-fetched. But now, I was accepting that he was indeed ruthless.

“I can't do this anymore. I need a break” I murmured and stood up.

I straightened my skirt and thread a hand through my hair.

“I need to go to the salon” I sighed when I watched my reflection in the glass door nearby.

Most of the lights had been switched off and I stood alone in the conference room, hungry and frustrated. I walk to the large windows and stared into the city.

“Ngggghbhh!”  my stomach let out.

My eyes widened and I quickly turned to check if anyone was still in the office with me. I couldn't bare any more attention that Miles had made sure I'd gotten this morning.

It was sad but I was a bit relieved I'm that moment that I had the whole office to myself. I stepped away from the window and walked to the coffee machine to pour myself a cup. The sugar tray was empty and so was the porcelain milk jug.

I sighed and set my coffee down. I had to go check the break room for some sugar and milk. Stepping out of the conference room, I heard the ding of the elevator. I furrowed my brow and looked around the office. I stood still and waited to see who was willing to put their neck on the line because of me. Then he stepped through the door. His eyes landed on my face and he grinned.

“Thank goodness you didn't rush to get a clothes hanger or anything” he chuckled.

I chuckled half-heartedly. I was mad at him but I'm not sure why I was expecting to see him.

“What are you doing here, Steven?” I asked.

He held up a big bag of McDonald's.

“I got a text saying you might need more than regular comfort” he smiled.

I let my shoulders sink with relief.

“Have I told you how much I'm glad to have you back in my life again?”

“Not really. But I'm sure by the time you finish this, you would have tattooed it into my brain”.

I laughed and hugged him before taking the bag from him. I moved back into the conference room with Steven following.

“Can you explain to me what the problem is with that Miles Herve dude?” he asks, pulling a chair and straddling it.

I rolled my eyes.

“Can we not, Steven? I don't want anything to ruin my dinner” I sighed, stuffing my face with fries.

“No. Because I wanna understand what his problem is with you, to be making you redo an entire presentation file.”

I frowned.

“If you want someone to be mad at, let it be Aiden. He's the real douch.”

Steven looked at me.

“Aiden?” he asked.

“Yes, Steven. Aiden. I brought the file back. He held it. He saw me bring it back into his offer. But when I was accused wrongly, he didn't even bother to defend me; that Aiden. He just stood there and stared at me. Then he walked away. Like it meant nothing. Like it was okay for that idiotic man to put his hands on me!”

Steven pursed his lips.

“He lets you call him Aiden?”

“Only when we're alone or not at work” I answered, peeping into the bag. “You didn't get me a milkshake?” I asked.

He reached into the other bag he was holding and slid the tall covered cup across the table to me. I smiled and caught it.

“You're the best Ste...” I trailed off when he was looking at me with a certain look on his face.

I looked around the room.

“What?” I asked.

“When you're alone or not at work?”

I slurped my drink.

“Yes. That's what I said.”

He leaned forward.

“What?” I chuckled.

“Oh my goodness, Breanna, you like him” he let out calmly.

“I like him?” I questioned.

He nodded slowly.

“You like him.”

“Pfffttt!” I let out. “I do not like him.”

“Hmm,” he hummed. “You only use words in full when you're trying hard to lie to yourself. Do not?”

I made a face.

“I don't like him, Steven. Drop it.”

“That's what you said about Beckett Lewis and you ended up marrying him right after high school.”

“And now we're divorced and he's married to my sister and they're having a baby” I added. “I should have stood my ground with the 'I do not like him' Steven.”

He chortled.

“Breanna...”

“I don't like him, Steven. He's a disappointment in every kind of way and he might be bipolar. I can't like him. And he's my boss. The company has a no dating policy and...”

“If they didn’t?” he chipped in. “Would you hit that?” he wiggled his brow at me.

“No” I laughed, shoving his hand away from my face.

He laughed and I finished my food.

“I don't think he's bipolar,” he said after a while.

“Well, I do” I scoffed. “One minute he's all caring and the next, he's asking me to stay away from him like I were a plague.”

Steven chuckled.

“He freaked out and called me a different name a month ago... can you imagine?” I shook my head.

“What?”

I nodded.

“That's like calling your partner a different name during sex” he frowned.

“You'd better never make that mistake because Mexicans can be crazy.”

He laughed. His phone dinged continuously three times and he picked it up from the table.

“Speaking of the hot Mexican” he smiled.

“You two are adorable” I chuckled.

“We wouldn't be if not for your quick thinking with the whole 'You should call me' thing” he smiled.

“Hey, that's what friends are for. This is just like sixth grade all over again. Except, the boy's wayyy hotter this time” I teased.

“Hey, Enrique was hot” he defended.

“But this one's hotter” I sang.

He blushed furiously and I laughed.

“I should really get going now” he smiled.

“Already?”

“Date night.”

“Ahh,” I whispered and stood up and hug him. “Tell Julio I'm fine and that you saved me.”

“I will” he replied and kissed my cheek before walking out.

I smiled to myself and cleared the table. Throwing away the coffee I'd poured earlier, I tossed the cup into the trash and settled behind my laptop again. Rolling my neck I sighed.

“I do not like Aiden Corleone.”

Thank you for reading! ✨