Mid-Thirties Slightly Hot Mess Female Seeking Billionaire: Chapter 8

Ethan

Sarah’s eyes are wide as she stares at me, and I internally ask myself why I asked her such a question. It’s not like I really want to see her dancing. As she stands dumbfounded by me, I think about the previous evening. I reflect on the fact that she looks so different with her glasses on and her hair up. No wonder I hadn’t noticed her before. However, I must admit I can still see her beauty. That’s undeniable.

‘What did you just say?’ she asks, her lower lip jutting out slightly. I want to suck on it. I dismiss the thought quickly. ‘Um, excuse me?’ she snaps, and I can tell she’s intrigued and annoyed. I half expect her to tell me off.

‘I was just joking, wanting to see if you were going to take that bait,’ I say quickly. She tilts her head to the side and considers me. I know she’s wondering if she should call me out for the obvious lie or not. I hope she does. I quite like bantering with her. It’s stimulating and something I haven’t indulged in since I took over the company.

‘Okay,’ she says slowly, and I’m waiting for her to tell me off. Or move closer to me. ‘Well, just so you know, I…’ The elevator beeps, and she pauses as it stops. The doors open and a petite blonde with a wide smile walks in.

‘Good morning, Mr. Rosser.’ There’s a sassy tone to her voice as she comes to stand next to me. I can see Sarah rolling her eyes, and I smile. I want to roll my eyes, as well, but I know I can’t.

‘Good morning,’ I say with a deft nod. Unfortunately for me, the conversation with Sarah is over. She knows it, and I know it. In fact, if I were a smart man, I never would’ve begun the conversation in the first place. ‘So, Sarah, will you come up to my office in about an hour?’ The words are out of my mouth before I can stop myself.

‘What?’ she says, blinking at me, showcasing the same surprise I feel. I have no idea why I’ve just invited her to my office. Maybe it’s because I don’t want the conversation to end. Maybe it’s because I worked too late last night, and now I’ve lost my mind.

‘Be in my office in an hour,’ I say, staring at my watch to check the time. I have two meetings I will now have to postpone due to this sudden appointment. I don’t care, and I’m not going to second-guess myself. ‘We have things to discuss.’

‘Um, okay,’ she says, nodding as if she knows what I’m talking about. I see the blonde looking at me furtively and then looking at Sarah and wondering what’s going on. I press my lips together and tap my foot. I don’t even know what’s going on. The elevator beeps again, and Sarah moves toward the door. We’re on the seventeenth floor. ‘Have a good day, Mr. Rosser,’ she says as she exits.

I don’t respond. I know that’s rude, but I don’t really know what to say. I can hardly say, ‘I’m going to see you in my office in an hour and then it will be much better.’ That sounds like too much of a proposition. Plus, why would seeing Sarah Kahan again today improve my mood?

‘Mr. Rosser, I was wondering if…’ The blonde touches me on the arm, and I stare at her bright red fingernails.

‘Yes?’ I’m irritated.

‘It’s so good to see you, sir,’ she starts again, and I look down at her big blue eyes gazing up at me. Pretty, but not the same violet-blue as Sarah’s. Sarah’s eyes are perhaps the most mesmerizing I’ve ever seen.

‘What’s your name?’ I need to see if I can have her transferred to another office.

‘Chantelle,’ she says, ‘But you can call me C-Money.’

‘Sorry, what?’

‘C-Money.’ She giggles. ‘I used to be a little bit of a rapper when I was younger and the name stuck.’

‘You were a rapper.’ I look over the petite blonde girl and frown. ‘Really?’

‘Well, I was in a dance group, and we had one rap song, and my name became C-Money. You know how it is, right?’

‘No, I really don’t.’ I shake my head. I don’t want to continue this conversation any longer. The elevator dings yet again, and I decide to get out.

‘But this isn’t the executive level,’ she points out the obvious with a pout.

‘I know, I needed to speak to someone on this level,’ I lie as I exit the elevator. I don’t want to deal with her this morning. I don’t want to deal with any more women trying to hit on me, especially those that work for me. ‘Just so you know, Chantelle,’ I say because I refuse to call her C-Money. ‘There is a no-fraternization policy here at Rosser International.’

‘A no what?’ she asks. ‘Don’t worry, I wasn’t in a fraternity. I was in a sorority.’

‘What department are you in?’ I ask. If she tells me accounting, I will call HR to my office right away.

‘Oh, I’m in sales. I’m working on the new lingerie line for the Macy’s and Dillard’s collection.’

‘Oh, okay.’ That makes more sense. I can see people buying from her, people who aren’t me, of course. I would not buy anything from her, but I’m smart and CEO for a reason. I know when to spend my money and when not to, and I’m not won over by a pair of big blue eyes with an empty brain. ‘You have a good day, Chantelle.’

‘Thank you. You too, Ethan.’ She says my first name like we are old friends, and I walk away. I’m not going to tell her off, but I’m not going to acknowledge it, either. She doesn’t get to call me Ethan. No way. I’m her boss, and I don’t want her to think she has a shot with me. I don’t want it going around the cafeteria at lunchtime that she and Ethan, the CEO, are now a thing. I sigh as I head to the emergency exit and make my way up the steps. I’ve got twenty floors to go. It’s not like it will kill me. I’m in great shape, and sometimes, I even take the steps just for fun because I like to see how quickly I can get up several flights. Though, initially, today had not been one of those days.

Today, I just want to go to my office, sit in my chair, and think. Think about the previous evening and think about Sarah. I need to process what I’m going to do with an employee I’m attracted to who used to be a first-class stripper.

Right now, all I can seem to think about is ripping her clothes off. I can imagine her arriving at my office and asking why I’d called the meeting and me saying, ‘Oh, I want to see you dance for me, baby.’ I groan at my thought. It’s not that I would ever use those words. I don’t say baby. I’m not a baby sort of man. No woman has ever heard me use the term baby, honey, sugar, sugar plum, or… I pause my thoughts. This is not the time for me to be thinking about random pet names I will not be calling Sarah. I have actual work to focus on.

I set the timer on my watch and start running up the stairs. I am going to try to make it up within five minutes. I know Edith will wonder why I am sweaty when I reach the office, but she’ll just have to wonder. It’s not like I answer to her. She’s not a great secretary. She doesn’t actually do anything. So, it’s not like she can call me out, even though she does, indeed, call me out on stuff all the time, because she seems to think she’s my second grandma. To be fair, in some ways, she is my work grandma. Not that I would tell her that, even though she knows how much the Rosser family loves her.

An hour later, I’m sitting in my office when I hear a knock at the door. I already know that it has to be Sarah, but I’m going to pretend I forgot because I’m already regretting my impulsive decision to tell her to meet me in my office. ‘Who is it?’ I call out in a husky tone. ‘I’m quite busy.’

‘Mr. Rosser, you have a visitor,’ Edith says as she opens the door slightly. ‘There’s a girl from copywriting here to see you. I told her that you’re full for the morning, but she says that you have an appointment, though I don’t see it on the calendar, so—’

‘Send her in, Edith.’ I shrug and sit back. Of course, this is the one time Edith pays attention to my calendar and who comes in and out of my office.

‘Yes, sir.’ She shrugs nonchalantly, as if to say, if she tries to hit on you and marry you, it’s not my fault. I did my due diligence. The door opens wider, and Sarah walks in, looking slightly bemused and confused.

‘Hello, Mr. Rosser. I’m here for the appointment,’ she says, standing there uncomfortably.

‘Yes, close the door behind you and have a seat,’ I say, standing up. ‘Would you like some tea, coffee, water?’

‘How’s about a gin and tonic?’ She grins widely as she closes the door. I raise a single eyebrow, and she turns to me with a nervous giggle. ‘That was a joke. I don’t really drink in the morning, and I don’t drink gin and tonic anyway. It was just…’

‘It’s fine. Have a seat,’ I say, keeping my face even-tempered. She really is an odd one. She heads toward me and takes a seat in the chair on the left. I can see she’s playing with her fingers. I don’t know if it’s because she’s nervous or something she does. I remind myself that I don’t know anything about her, really. I didn’t even know she existed before yesterday, but for some reason, I want to know more about her. I want to take her glasses off. I want to reach up and take her hair ties out of her bun and let her hair down. I want to bring her closer so I can give her a morning kiss. I want to stare into her big blue eyes and tell her she’s beautiful, but of course, I’m not going to do any of those things because it’s temporary insanity that I’m even thinking them.

‘So…’ she says, tapping her foot against the carpet. ‘This is a cool office.’ She looks out of the large window into downtown Manhattan and appreciates the view that I love staring at every single day. ‘Wow, what I wouldn’t do for a view like this.’

‘Oh?’ I ask her, leaning forward. ‘What wouldn’t you do for a view like this?’

‘Lots of things.’ She giggles nervously. ‘I mean, I wouldn’t give you a…’ She pauses, her face going red. ‘I mean, I wouldn’t do anything naughty, you know?’ She wrinkles her nose. ‘So, why was I summoned here?’ she asks, and I want to start laughing again because she really doesn’t have a way with words. I kind of like her awkward demeanor though. I kind of like that she’s not polished. I like that she says what’s on her mind. It makes me trust her, which is something I don’t often do with women, especially when these articles come out and I find clusters of them around me.

‘So, last night we were talking and—’

‘Oh, my gosh, you’re not talking about my nickname, Sarah the Slutty Stripper, are you?’ She makes a face, and I sit back.

‘Sorry, what?’

‘Look, I know we told you my nickname was Slutty Stripper because I’m really great at… never mind that. I know I said I love to wear a thong and dance around, but I’m past those days. Well, I mean, those days were never really true… I mean, I’m not a liar. I know it sounds really stupid that it would be a lie, but it’s kind of a lie… I was never really a stripper. I was never really called Slutty Sarah. I do wear a thong, but do not have a thong on right now. I’m not going to take off my clothes and dance around for you. I do take pole dancing lessons.’ She rushes out her words, and I have no idea what she’s talking about.

‘You take pole dancing lessons?’ I ask her because she has me confused by her conversation, but I did catch that part.

‘I mean, for fun. Not because I want to be a stripper.’ She takes a deep breath. ‘I have never made lots of money on the stripper pole or… Oh, I am just making this worse, aren’t I?’ She throws her hands up in the air and leans back in the chair.

‘Yes,’ I say honestly.

‘Long story short, I’m not really a stripper. Never was, never will be, never want to be. So, if you invited me here for a dance, the answer is no.’

‘Hmm, I don’t really know what to say because I don’t really know what’s going on here, Sarah. I didn’t ask you to come to my office so you can strip.’

‘Oh, so you didn’t call me into your office to give you a lap dance?’ She blushes.

‘I mean, are you offering to give me a lap dance?’

‘Well, that’s what you asked me earlier, and that’s why I thought you wanted me in here to…’ She pauses. ‘I should just stop. Maybe you can tell me why I am here and how it pertains to last night.’

‘You’re in the copywriting department, right?’

‘Yeah,’ she says. ‘Oh, please don’t fire me. I can’t afford to lose my job right now.’

‘No, I’m not about to fire you, Sarah. I want your help writing a jingle.’

‘Oh.’ She looks confused. ‘But yesterday when you came to the office, you didn’t want to speak to any of us. You wanted to speak to my boss.’

‘Well, now I do want to deal with you and only you. I want to see how good you are at copywriting.’ I’m not sure where the idea came from, but it’s a good one. I do need someone to write me a jingle, and she’s as good a person as any; maybe this will be a chance for her to shine and win a promotion. Not that I’m going to tell her that because I’d hate to tell her that her jingle sucked and the promised promotion was off the table.

‘So, that’s why you called me to the office?’ she asks, reaching up and pulling her hairband out unconsciously. Her hair cascades down her back, and I want to reach over and touch her silky tresses. Of course, I don’t though. That would be highly inappropriate.

‘I do. Do you think you’re up for the challenge?’ She nods slowly.

‘I mean, I know I’m up for the challenge. I’m always up for the challenge.’ She grins wickedly, and my stomach flips. ‘I am known as—’

‘Please don’t tell me you’re known as Slutty Stripper Sarah, the dancer that can also perform the best jingles in the world,’ I say, cracking a smile, and she laughs.

‘Huh? You’re kind of funny when you want to be, aren’t you, Mr. Rosser?’

‘Call me Ethan,’ I say, going against everything I’ve ever thought or believed when it comes to dealing with employees.

‘Okay, Ethan. So, when do we get started?’ She leans forward eagerly and clasps her hands together. ‘I think you’re going to be really impressed at my way with words.”