Part 18

Mia woke up in a cold sweat, body heaving as she gasped out into the still room. Her fingers were trembling as they clutched onto the sheets desperately. It was such a stupid dream. She thought, squeezing her eyes shut, breathing in shakily and then out. In and out. In and out.

When her breath evened out, she slowly laid on the other side of her body. Her head throbbed excruciatingly: another migraine. Mia slid out of bed and onto the floor, the hardwood cool beneath her bare feet. Rubbing her temples, she slumped in place, body swaying from dizziness.

Her stomach twisted uncomfortably as she took a quick peek at the bedside clock. It's still five in the morning, the dim light from sunrise shining in from the open window and casting a low glow over her tangled sheets. She had an hour before getting out of bed, so Mia laid back, closing her eyes and thinking about the first day she met Damon. That fateful day!

She was laughing about something with Jane, too zoned out to look around. They were talking about there will be the shift of power, and Mia remembered a great joke about it. And they couldn't hold their stomach.

Someone cleared their throat from behind. She froze in her seat at that.

The new boss walked and stood in front of her. All traces of laughter vanished from her face the moment she saw him.

"Damon Rossi!" Mia croaked, her voice all but a whisper.

He didn't look friendly at all.

In an attempt to lighten the mood, Jane stood up and held out her hand. A smile curved around her lips.

"It's a pleasure to meet you finally. I am Jane Linneti, the floor manager" The new boss just looked at her hand, without returning the gesture, and then raised one of his perfect eyebrows. Her hand dropped slowly, and she just looked at him, obviously bewildered. Something about his physical presence was so intimidating that it rendered everyone speechless.

Jane cleared her throat, her tone still smiling. "This is my friend, Mia Grace. She works as an intern while studying for her MBA, Damon."

"It's Mr Rossi or sir to you."

"Umm...we are not that formal around here" Her friend raised her brow, suddenly small. Mia glared at him. He could have been nice to her. Oh but he's the boss!

"That changes today" Damon cleared his throat and turned his attention on Mia. "Miss Grace. You will call me, sir. And I expect you in my office in five minutes to discuss the proper conduct for the office."

There was a seriousness in his voice which she didn't miss.

He didn't expect her to follow him. Mia almost fainted at the suffocating smell of Damon in such a confined place. She tried to breathe through her mouth, staring at the panels instead of her boss. The two stood in silence for a few moments; she feared that he could hear each breath that puffed from her lips. The CEO probably could and most likely also listened to her heart racing.

Mia faced her boss subtly; she could see his long locks framing his face. The CEO had such robust features, and the serious expression on his face emphasised his lips. Dominant, intimidating, and spicy. That's the only words she could use to describe his scent. His green eyes remained trained on the floor; his side profile was so flawless.

A loud thump signified that they reached the floor. Without any word, she followed him to his new office, which was all done by her. Maybe she should mention that to her boss.

Damon wrinkled his nose at the door handle but pushed in. Or maybe she should keep quiet.

As soon as he sat on his chair, Damon stared at her. There's no reason for her new boss to look at her as if she's something the cat dragged in. At first, when she walked into the room, he had blinked at her in a slow, confused way. Then when he seemed to realise Damon grew stiff and uncomfortable. What was his problem? She knew better than to ask that out loud.

Also, Damon's unfairly gorgeous, not that she was staring at him. Mia didn't notice how lovely his eyes are, or how the muscles in his arms make his shirt strain and the way he had a sharp jaw enough to break the glass.

"Good morning, sir" Mia smiled. "It's really lovely to meet you."

He scoffed something under his breath. "Do we really have to go with these?"

"We won't if you don't want to," She said slowly, breaking off to think of a good reason to not walk not. It's not like she had another full paid jobs lining up for her. For crying out loud, she's still a student. Who would hire her?

"Good" He licked his lips.

The next words from his mouth weren't good morning or something else a normal human being would say. No, instead he raised his head lazily, blinking at her empty hands and asked. "Where is my coffee?"

Umm, what? Was she supposed to get him one? Rossi Sr never drank coffee in his office. Granted he preferred whiskey with his clients instead-but Mia was never asked to do those things.

"Your coffee?" She drawled.

Damon let out a sigh, sitting up. "Yeah, my coffee which you are supposed to get me every day."

"You're loaded, right?" Mia snorted, forgetting about not saying anything unprofessional. She had enough of him running his mouth. "I would have thought you would have someone do your coffee runs for you. A personal assistant maybe?"

The CEO blinked at him, a smirk playing on his lips. "I think you have not read your new contract."

"What?" She asked, her voice squeaky. What new contract?

"It must be on your desk by now. The newly revised contract, as you will work for me."

Mia swallowed. "I need a moment."

"Fine. Get me my coffee on the way. Black coffee. No sugar."

Mia made a face at him but just walked away as he kept staring out of the window instead. Rude. When she got back to her desk, she read the contract it had all the clauses and terms from the first one but with additional ones added by Damon. He said that she should make sure to get Damon wherever he's supposed to be. To keep him happy by getting the things he wants, which might mean she should have brought him coffee.

***

Hoping to make things better, Mia went down and got him a cup of coffee. When she returned, her anxious knock on the door was followed by an abrupt "in", and she had to wait for a second—scared that he would start yelling from the other side.

She curved her lips in a friendly smile, trying to make a better impression this time. Mia opened the door and found him talking on the phone and writing furiously on a notepad while talking. For a few seconds, she kept staring at him, the way his lips rolled and pronounced each word. He hung up the phone, but he didn't look up to greet her. As soon as she stood in front of his desk, he spoke to her in the same stern tone as before.

"In the future, you should leave any non-work-related conversation out of the office. We pay you to work, not to talk. Am I clear, Miss Grace?"

Mia was speechless for a moment until he raised his head, looked into her eyes and raised an eyebrow. The employee shook her head to get out of that trance and, at once, realised the reality about her new boss: he was handsome than she thought.

"Yes, very clear, sir," Mia gritted her teeth, walking around his table to put the coffee in front of him. As soon as she took her first step, the heel got caught to her rug, and it twisted. A loud cursed escaped his lips as she fell forward, splashing the liquid all over his shoes and expensive trousers.

"Oh, my God, Mr Rossi, I'm sorry!" Her eyes widened.

When he looked up, she immediately strode to the sink in the nearest bathroom to get a towel and ran back, dropping on her knees in front of him. She was trying to clean the stain off his pants. Mia didn't think it could get worse when she suddenly realised that her hands were rubbing the towel, more like scrubbing it on his groin.

With a mock horror, she retreated her hands and stood back, her cheeks beating up at the intensity of his stare. Her eyes caught a glimpse of his pants before she quickly looked away.

"You need to leave Miss Grace. You have done enough now."

Mia nodded and hurried out of his office, horrified at having made such a terrible first impression.

Just then her phone pinged with a message, breaking her out of the trance. She sat up and stared at Damon's message asking her to get to the office a soon as possible. And here they are now. Mia thought.

***