𝕺𝖇𝖘𝖊𝖘𝖘𝖎𝖛𝖊 𝕰𝖓𝖊𝖒𝖎𝖙𝖄

รɦαω

Never before has anyone had the gall to admonish in the manner that Riel Summers did. Does he really think I won't be able to fire him from the company that I built?

I flip through the pages of the market research presentation he made. Even with the few innocent mistakes he had made, it's still a pretty decent presentation. Yet, tomorrow we'll see if his competence was a fluke or not.

As I reach to make a zwischenzung against my AI chessboard, a call from my sister interrupts my pastime.

"Felicity?" I answer the call."What is it now?"

Felicity's calls always revolve around two topics, either she's maxed out her credit card again or she wants my permission to go out somewhere.

"Hey, big bro . . ." she says in a sweet voice."I kind of went over the limit on my credit and I need you to have it fixed so I can this really neat shoe I just saw."

"Fine," I give in."I'll call the company to raise your limit for this month and this month alone."

"Thank you," she cheers."You're the best."

"Now, how are you doing at -"

She hung up the call before I could even get my question out.

I sigh, I shouldn't have expected that my indulging her would convince her to spend at least five more seconds on the phone with me.

I TAKE a minute to inhale some of the fresh crisp morning air before I walk into the office. A few of the employees break their necks so they don't have to make eye contact with me causing me to scoff loudly at their appalling naivety.

I agree to being a tough man to work for but I wasn't so unfair that would fire someone for just looking at me.

I head up to my office and find him facing away, standing at my desk.

I didn't expect him to be in this early.

I probably didn't expect him to come in at all.

"Mr. Summers," I say, dropping my coat on the couch."I have my first rule for you, don't you ever come into my office without my -" I no longer have the words to finish telling him my rule as he changes his focus to me.

This happened yesterday as well.

My words seemingly vanished when I caught sight of him for the very first time.

Felix and Charisma hadn't done him justice. Gorgeous is an amateur way of describing him. You could say that any random person on the street is gorgeous. The boy standing in front of me was a rare kind of beauty. He is so extraditionary yet so simple in looks that I would forget only to be reminded that he's possibly the most arresting person I had ever laid sight of.

"Yes?" he asks.

"Without my, umm - " I stammer as he refuses to drop his intent look on me so I can tell him my rule.

"Mr. Harlow," he calls, "What's your rule?"

"Don't come into my office without my permission," I find myself speaking again.

"Okay, I'll make note of that," he says despite the clear bother in his voice." I was just here to place morning coffee on your desk." He points to a steaming cup of joe.

"I don't recall telling you how I liked my coffee," I scowl ."So . . . you wasted your time trying to impress me."

"How would you know?" he scoffs, " you have you haven't tried it yet."

"Because," I rasp, "I don't drink from the grimy office coffee machine you used."

"I didn't use the office coffee machine that everyone else is subjected to," he whispers sharply."You'll see that if at least taste it first."

I usually didn't take lightly to anyone scolding me so I didn't know why I was letting a boy I met just yesterday do it.

I have had plenty of assistants lie to me about not using the coffee maker before, but it never ended well for them. And it won't end well for him either. I can tell exactly how a cup of coffee was made from the first sip.

"Fine," I grumble, lifting the coffee to my lips ready to spit it out as soon I taste that he's trying to run the same trick on me. But I don't because it's the best cup of coffee I have had in weeks.

"How did you - ?" I pause myself from gasping.

"I wasted my morning learning how to pourover coffee," he quips."But I'll take it if you're not impressed." He reaches for the cup but I stop him.

"Don't play smart," I smile but hide it behind pursed lips.

─── ⋆⋅☼⋅⋆ ───

I push the call button on the intercom.

"I have a meeting," I throw my voice at the microphone."Meet me outside my office and be quick about it."

I don't wait for an answer from him and go outside of my office to wait for him. I am not sure why I am waiting to walk with him but I do.

"I am here, sir . . ." a young woman waves to get my attention.

"Who are you?" I ask her.

A flash of hurt crosses her expression.

"I am Rina Sasaki, your assistant," she blinks."You said to meet you here."

I realize that I hadn't been clear with my instructions. While Rina seems a capable assistant, I find myself pining to be in the company of the ballsy Riel.

"Go and I tell Mr. Summers that I am calling him," I say to her." I thought he had answered.

"But, I am the assistant assigned to recording the minutes from your meetings." She frets.

"Miss. Sasaki, you're irritating me," I exhale,"Just go and tell Summers to get here right now."

She leaves and a few seconds later, Riel is moving towards me.

"I should fire you for making me wait on you,"

"You're the president of the company," he frowns."I don't see why you'd wait on me." He laughs softly.

He walks out ahead, then stop when he sees that I am not walking behind him."Well?" he cocks his head to one side."Let's go before you blame me for being late for your meeting."

At his words, my feet start moving in line.

I shouldn't be this hopelessly obsessed with the way he has no qualms about rebuking me. That's why I have to win this challenge I set against him before I lose my rationality.

We reach the conference room, where the executive staff is gathered for our meeting. I push into the conference room and they halt the midway into their non-work-related conversation.

I am about to call for the start of the meeting when my thoughts get drowned out by Felix's goggle-eyed gasp.

"Riel," she cheers."I am happy to have you join us at the company, I am the one who convinced the boss to hire you."

At Felix's leadership, Charisma and Sebastian leave the seats to crowd him. Only the vice presidents of operations and product development stick to their seats.

I see Riel take a subtle step backward to the door as together they close in on him to ask questions about how he's settling into work, his hair, how he's finding New York (I didn't know he moved here for the job) among other things that should be his concern alone.

"How do you get your hair lay flat like

that?" Felix asks.

"Hairpins," he says.

"But, I don't see any." Felix considers.

"They're invisible," he mouths while shying away from the hand she is trying place on his hair.

"People," I fume at them when I see that he's uncomfortable."This isn't a social club, so I expect you to act like professionals."

I don't why but I couldn't stand to see him feeling uneasy.

I take my seat at the head of the table and Riel quietly takes his to the side of the conference table.

"Let's start," I voice as everyone gets back into their seats."Mr. Moore, the environmental specialist I hired, will be making a presentation over video conference on how we can implement measures to reduce the company's carbon footprint."

"Mr. Summers," I mouth to him."Start the video call." I give him the code to the conference call and point him in the direction of the TV.

"Okay," he nods.

He goes back to sitting after the call is answered. He not paying attention to what the man on screen was saying, so I decided to give him his first real task of the day.

"Mr.Summers," I say to him." I expect to have a transcription of Mr. Moore's presentation and our meeting on my desk at the end of the day."

"Shaw," Sebastian scoffs."You can't expect him to write down everything that happens in this meeting."

"Don't worry," I tell him."Mr.Summers likes to challenge himself."

I could see the disapproval written on everyone else's faces in the room, yet they remained silent.

"Oh, come on," Sebastian argues.

"Keep quiet," I shush him.

"Any, objections?" I tilt my head in question to Riel.

"No, sir . . . " he replies despite the wrinkle that's forming along his forehead.

As the meeting drones on, I get bored learning about different eco-friendly packaging and my attention wanders to Riel. The only time he ever pauses from his typing is when a lock of his hair falls to his face and he uses his index finger to push it back behind to his ear.

I find myself rooting for the pesty lock of hair that keeps curtaining over his profile, as it adds a pleasing softness to the serious expression he's wearing at the moment.

He squints over his shoulder as if he could feel my stare.

For heaven's sake, why does it feel so good to look at him?

He looks daggers at me, then returns to his typing. Women and men alike gawked at me either in love or angst; Riel outstared me. I have come to accept that I won't be able to unnerve him. I wonder if he too feels some of the same things I do any time our gazes chanced on each other; enmity, enticement, and all.

He closes his eyes and kneads at the top of his eyelids, causing a stray eyelash to fall to his cheek and his hair to come back out of place.

"Mr. Summers," I intone," Go on the outside and wake yourself up. I won't

stand to have you falling asleep in the presentation." I taunt him but it's just my excuse to get his all too distracting presence out of the room so I could focus.

He frowns at me, standing up from his seat."But sir," he says softly."The presentation has ended."

I finally think to look in a direction that he isn't occupying and see that the video call has long ended and everyone is moving to leave the room.

I check my watch to find that the hour and fifteen minutes I had allotted to this meeting is long gone.

"Are you okay?" my brother whispers under his breath,"it's not like you to get distracted."

It didn't get distracted from work but that was before Reil Summers.

"I am good," I gruff at Sebastian.

─── ⋆⋅☼⋅⋆ ───

From my vantage point over his desk, I observe him, Riel has his head hung low, not seeming to notice my shadow taking shape over him.

"Sleeping are we?" I announce my presence to him.

He forces his head up at my voice.

"I hope you haven't failed at the task I gave you," I voice."I would hate our little challenge to be over so quickly."

The truth is I didn't need a transcript of the presentation, I was just trying to push him to burnout so he would

realize how naive he was to challenge me.

"I sent it to your email, just now," his pouty lips form a tight line in reply.

"And, here is the printed copy," he walks to the printer at the edge of the office.

He hands me the warm paper that has the transcription of the meeting in Times New Roman size twelve font.

My eyes burn at him. He going to put up more of a fight than I anticipated.

"You can leave for the day," I tell him.

"Yes sir," he smiles.

On his way to the door, he pauses and turns to me."Have a good night, Mr. Harlow." He lets out in a soft voice.