Nine
What woke me the following morning was the sound of my phone buzzing On the table by the bed. I forced my eyes open. I felt my head hurt and believed it was the alcohol from the former. I reached for the phone sluggishly trying not to wake Mark.
“ Hello.” I nearly bruit into my phone
“ Hey, my beautiful Elle.” I heard my father say.
“ Why are you calling me this early?”
I heard a mute laugh in the background and my father said “ your mum was sure you were over.”
I signed
“ She wanted to say hi and make sure you are fine.”
“ I appreciate that, hope you guys are great.”
“ We're youngsters, we're sad about your work thing and.”
“ Dad I do not want to talk about it now, let me call you back another time.”
He was quiet for a moment and also replied “ Okay youngster.”
“ Thanks for calling,” I said also hanging up
“ They miss me?” I heard Mark say. I turned to see him with his hands to his head looking at me. His hair was messy, his morning face looked all fluffy yet gorgeous. I had missed this and am glad he'd brought this reverse to us as a couple.
“ You wish, come on we will be late for work,” I said getting out of bed pulling a bed distance with me to cover my guts and my virgaina area. But Mark pulled them back off me.
“ Have seen it all, no need.” He also got out of bed as well and walked to the restroom butt naked.
***************
We were nearly late for work but luckily made it on time. Mark Kissed my forepart and said farewell while I walked to Cole's office to have a little discussion about everything like Edith said I should. It was only fair he knew how I felt and if he did what he did because of our first hassle, I wanted him to say it on my face and we concluded and put it behind us.
In the hallway leading to his office, I met Ryan, Steph, and Oli who were drooling and laughing as they changed stories. Oli did not feel he contributed much, he said little, substantially just heeded, laughed, or just smiled and did some lame stuff.
By the time my watch reads 815, I feel like I have known Stephanie ever.
“ Hey Steph, good morning.”
‘’ Hi Ellen, good to see you again.” She said mirthfully
I gestured at the two boys and turned back to Steph
“ Is Mr. Anderson free for at least three twinkles before his important meetings?”
She went over free lines and also said “ Actually yeah, but he should have some stuff coming over soon.” She smiled
“ Thanks, I need to speak with him.”
“ I suppose you can go ahead.” She signaled to his office door as they walked off with Oli and Ryan.
I take a deep breath in and decide to knock. No response. I knocked again when I raised my hand a third time. I heard someone walk behind me and he said.
“ No need, I'm busy.”
I was stupefied, firm in my tracks at how deep his voice was, how mesmerizing his eyes were over near during daylight, and at how handsome he was over close but at how arrogant he always came off.
Play it cool!
“ I just wanted to talk about commodity real hot.” I tried not to let my eyes loiter over his body that allured power, his impeccably fighting suit, and all just his whole being.
“We have a meeting in a lot of twinkles, whatever it is you have to say, Ms. Miller, it can stay.”
He called me Ms . Miller, by my last name, how neat.
“ Okay,” I replied and decided to follow Steph and the boys and join them.
****
We sat in the conference room staying for Trisha, who was to walk us over our assignment to come in. and Oli started an arbitrary conversion.
" So," Oli said confidently, leaning near to where Ryan sat. At some point, he came to sit next to me on the settee but also moved back to where Ryan sat ."I have heard that our new master is fabulous."
The curiosity must be apparent on my face. Staph, Stephanie, I have learned, is full of news and gossip. So she chimed in
“ Of course he is.” She kind of reminded me of my high academy days.
" Fabulous how? I did my exploration, but there's unexpectedly little information online about the editor-in-chief of the Press”. Ryan said
“ Yeah,” I replied
“ Like C.S. Anderson. A long list of credentials and publications. No film land for him at all.”
“ You guys suppose he is a fraud?” I heaved
“ No silly, he does a good job staying out of the press. Ha.” Seph added
"He is only the youthful editor-in-chief in the history of the assiduity ."My eyes widened with the riddle of it." It's fascinating. I have heard that is why there is no filmland of him online. He wants people to take him seriously, which is supposedly hard to do with a joe who is slightly thirty." Staph said, swaying her top.
Okay, the two of us were into our master.
I raise an eyebrow. I am twenty-five. Getting the editor-in-chief of one of the biggest news outlets in the world before the age of thirty is the stag. Incontinently, I am intrigued.
Cole was a big thing I should say.
Oli bites his lip, eyes foamy." I have also seen that he's ridiculously good-looking."
We all stopped to look at him precisely and make sure he'd been present during everything we had said.
Ryan and I laugh, and Steph shows little response.
I watch him curiously from the corner of my eye as he slides a cutlet across the screen of his phone. I could not figure him out yet you know. I was not sure if he had a lot going on or he just demanded to get laid.
Steph was about to say more, but she cut herself off as an altitudinous, well-dressed woman walked confidently towards us. She has beautiful dark skin and thick black ringlets piled high on her head. She looks to be in her late forties, had I missed many birthdays that she had grown that important? But she still had a fineness that captured our attention. She saluted us with a big, bright smile. It's Trisha Maurice. The company's stylish intelligencer. She was a hard-working woman.
After the prolusions, Steph went off to join Cole as his clerk or enough much go where he does. Trisha guides us to a conference room with a spectacular view of the megacity, and we sit around a large table where they have laid out fresh fruit and muffins, and coffee.
She gives us a rundown of the day-to-day operations of The Press and describes what our jobs will be. Like I formerly know how to do mine.
"You'll report directly to your elderly editors"
She goes on to explain that we will substantially be working on leads that are handed to us, but there is still the occasion to follow our own ideas when we get the chance." Your elderly editors and other members of your platoon will be your primary support. However, you can also come to find me, understood, If you need some fresh advice on a piece."
She chortled, and the commodity about her reminds me of my mama, indeed though they look nothing likewise." I'll not be kind. Neither will your elderly editors. But you will get more pens for it."
I have decided that I do not like it now. Did I understand why Mr. Burns or anyone in the company had allowed Cole to let be a part of the freshers or him get my job to someone different? I had a lot to say. A lot.
“Ms. Maurice, why was I suitable to join them?” I signaled to Oli and Ryan with my head and Trisha sounded to get what I was inferring.
“Mr. Anderson claimed that we bring you back to this, he made intriguing points but it'll be temporary.”
The heck!
Still, that is what I am then for, "If you need anything." She raised an eyebrow. "But I'm also extremely busy. So if you can figure it out on your own, please do."
Ryan and I changed a look. He raised a dark eyebrow. Bring it on. Across from me, Ryan scribbled down Trisha's every last word. Oli sat back in his president, harkening still.
Trisha looked at her watch. "Our editor-in-chief, Mr. Anderson will join us in a couple of moments to give you further information. He also meets with each new staff member tête-à-tête to bandy your pretensions for your career with The Press. Those meetings are listed for this autumn."
Ryan gave my leg a punch under the table, and I hid a smile.
There is a knock on the door. Artificially, we all sat up straight." Speak of the devil," Trisha laughed
.We tried not to look too eager as the door swung open. Because we all knew he looked great.
Holy fuck.
Anderson's foamy blue eyes looked a lot brighter. When he saw me, they flash with vacillation for a moment before passing over me, so quick no bone differently would indeed notice.
But I did, hell yeah.
"Hi," he saluted me easily," Formerly again my Cole Anderson ."That same rough voice sends electricity down my chine as every last part of me fills with fear." Drink to The Press to the new bones joining us."
The others smiled back at him, and I listed my lips overhead mechanically, trying for professionalism. I suppose my brain is short-circuiting.
"I know Trisha still has a lot to get through, so I will keep this quick. "He didn't sit down. In those impeccably acclimatized watercolor britches and greasepaint blue button-down, he exudes confidence and power. The way he stood, straight and altitudinous and so damn handsome, it's like he owns this place. And he does. Shit, he does. From where I sat, I could fluently respect his damn god-suchlike features with the others noticing that and since he avoids looking at me, he was all for me to look at.
He gave a brief history of the magazine to make sure the freshers were over to date, he told us the story of how he first started writing and pushing. “ Doing a media content story is not easy.” His aspect met mine for half an alternate, and I tried to remember to breathe. I should have heard nearly everything he said, but my mind was running a million country miles an hour. As flashbacks of me being on all fours hit back. A crazy inky study came to my mind, and that was Cole giving my reverse shots, hard, presto.
His voice is the same bone that rumored dirty effects into my observance the other night as his hands floated across every inch of my skin. I felt the warmth deluge through my face. His speech is fascinating and motivating and funny but I must be featuring it right now.
"I will meet with each of you compactly this autumn to bandy your pretensions and ideas for The Press."
After many further inspirational words of hello to Ryan and Oli, he handed us back over to Trisha and left with a quick surge of his hand.
Oh, those fritters. I felt a small shiver across my neck as I recall the way they felt inside me.
All on, I've tried to fight these recollections but a moment, they came submerging back in, and now with how the situation he'd put me in, giving my job to someone different, I was not sure what the handsome man wanted from me.
