Chapter 1 What's his problem

(Rachael)

Working for Xander King could have been pleasant if he could stop screaming orders at me. I've been working as an investment banker for a company called Arctic Circle Investment. ACI. here in Manhattan, New York.

I have been here for seven years now, and yes, the pay was great, plus I got weekends and holidays off. What more could a girl ask for?

I didn't attend college like everyone else once they reached the age of eighteen because I got pregnant. My now nine-year-old son is so energetic that I had to be watching him carefully. He has a nanny, Mariah, who loves him a lot, and sometimes I would leave him with his grandparents. His father ran the minute I told him that I was pregnant, so I had to step up and take care of my child.

I have been to so many interviews that I had failed miserably, but luckily, Lawrence King saw something in me at that time and hired me. I had proved him right, and now I was still working here, even after so long. It was when Mr. King got sick, his son Xander took over, and believe me, he's the devil in disguise.

During work hours, Xander found a lot of different ways to annoy me, and that's what he's doing now.

My coworker Emily chuckled, and Brady rolled his eyes as Xander's voice could be heard calling for me.

"You should go. Don't keep him waiting." Brady said. I sighed and got up from my cubicle, then made my way toward his office door. He might be my boss, but that didn't mean that he gets to shout at me all the time like a spoiled brat.

Opening the door, I was greeted with a cold stare from the man behind his desk. The way he acts, you would have sworn he was eighty, but he's only thirty-three years old.

"You called for me, Xander?" I asked in an inpatient tone. His glare had turned even colder from the way I had spoken to him. I often called him by his first name, something I did to irritate him.

"I have been calling for you for the past five minutes, Miss. Hale, I would think you would have been here sooner." He snapped, making me roll my eyes.

"I had a lot of work to do. If you had lessened it, then maybe you wouldn't have to wait that long and stop acting so cranky. Five minutes is nothing." I replied, and from the way he was looking at me, I knew that in his mind he was plotting my murder.

"Whatever. Take these files to Mrs. Abraham, and tell her to give me an update as soon as she's done going through them." He pointed at the files, but I folded my arms defiantly. He wasn't going to get away with talking to me as if I was beneath him.

"I think you might have forgotten something there, Xander. Where are your manners?" I made a tsking sound and shook my head. He narrowed his eyes at me, then stood up and made his way toward me. I backed up a little, not liking the fact that he was so close.

"Look at you, not so tough now, are you?" He asked as he continued to make his way toward me.

"I just don't like it when people invade my personal space. You're getting way too close for my liking." I replied as my back made contact with the wall.

It's not the fact that he was unattractive. Oh no, he was once named the sexiest man alive. It's not the fact that his cold blue-green eyes were staring into mine, as if he could see through my soul. It's not the fact that his hand was slowly making its way towards my face, gently pushing a Strawn of my jet black hair out of the way.

The reason why I was backing away was the fact that with him being so close to me, I could hardly breathe. I hated to admit that I wanted to be with this cold-hearted man. He would tease me constantly, making me squirm nervously as his eyes held mine.

It's the fact that he is so attractive that I found it hard to stand on my feet, which would turn to jelly at the sight of him.

I couldn't allow him to be so close to me, so I backed away each time. This wasn't the first time he cornered me. He would often do it when I wasn't listening to him and when he would call me out for it. I hate it when he does that, I can't seem to think straight sometimes with him around.

"If it wasn't for my father, who threatened me not to fire you, I would have a long time ago. Stop fighting me and do as you're told." I jumped from the tone of his voice and moved to the side so that I could get away from him.

Then, I moved quickly toward the stack of files and ran out as fast as I could. Why was this man affecting me so much?

I took a deep breath as I made my way toward Mrs. Abraham office. My heart was beating so fast that I found it hard to breathe. Never in my life had that happened to me before.

I can't help but feel like something else was going on with Xander. It's his company now so he can fire and hire whomever he wants. He didn't have to listen to his father anymore, so why was he still keeping meeting on?

When I arrived at Mrs. Abraham office, I knocked on her door, and when she told me to come in, I did. I handed her the files and told her what Xander had said, then left.

Seeing that I still had a lot of work to do, I went back to my desk. Drew and Emily had already left, so it was just me for now.

Looking at the time, I realized that it was time for me to leave, seeing that it was 6 pm. so I started packing up everything. This day went like every other day. Hopefully, tomorrow will be different.