Her Boss

"Another day more money to make" were the words of Nathan Cross. Those were his exact words he said as soon as his eyes could focus on the ceiling when he woke up every morning. People would say a prayer when they woke up, but how would that motivate him? Making money was his motivator and that wouldn't stop any time soon.

He would get up and drag his feet all the way to the bathroom. Spend six minutes on his dentition and then step into his grand bathroom to take care of his body which would take quite a while because he was thorough.

His friends always made jokes saying that he was effeminate in some sort of way. They could make all their jokes. Truth was it took time and effort to always look good. And that is why they would go get Botox before they were fifty. When he was done in the bathroom, he would walk into his closet to get the outfit that was already picked and prepared the previous day by his dutiful workers.

And when he was done getting dressed, he would sit before his dresser and style his hair however he liked it. Sometimes he liked it to the side, other times he wanted to be the Golden boy like Captain America, but today he wanted it to be slicked back. Then would come the accessories. He had the money, and when he was free he would shop. And he loved to shop. And they said money couldn't solve all your problems.

When he would get down, breakfast would already be prepared for him and he would listen to the morning news all about him. It was good as always.

"Perfect" he would say as soon as he was done. As he made it down the steps from his house, the car would come driving by. He would be silent the entire time. His eyes would be down on the phone until they got to his place of work. Cross Limited.

Just one of the many car companies that existed. How did he stand out though? He made his own tyres and his cars were environment friendly. No matter how much he said it, some people still wouldn't believe him.

Exhibit A. The environmental protestors dressed in their disgusting green every time he showed up. He had gotten tired of their nonsense and he had thought of hosing them down one time, but his publicist said that would be bad for his image. He wanted them off his property. This was private anyway. They were scaring his potential clients.

He could have some sprinklers installed.

As he entered he knew a lot of people would have a lot of things to say, but there was a new system now. He pressed on the button on the elevator and pressed his destination which was at the very top. The new system he dreaded seeing every day. The doors opened and he took in a deep breath of cold air. Breathing in the cold AC air was a secret comfort. As he stepped out there was the new system.

His secretary Darlene.

There was a time he thought he could do everything without anyone's help. It was going entirely well until he suffered something close to a heart attack. The doctor had said it was nothing. It was just anxiety. His friends said he should get a PA or a secretary.

He had decided to hold the interviews himself. He would not want anything but the best. But turns out he was too busy to do that. The ones that came before Darlene were...could he say fickle minded. He didn't know how word spread that he was in need of a secretary. Did they just let anyone try out these days?

There was one particular woman whose name was Charlie. Maybe Cherry. He had been able to see the bra she wore during her entire employment. He knew he was hot. He didn't need to be at the top spot of eligible bachelors to know that a lot of women wanted to get into his pants. But having them just all up in front of you was something else.

It was annoying.

Mr Cross do you want a cup of coffee?

Mr Cross I can do anything you want. Anything.

It had been creepy. Yes it was appealing, but he needed actual help and work done. So one would ask when he finally got a competent secretary, why wasn't he happy? Well that was because Darlene was the most sarcastic human being alive.

When he showed up to work and looked into her eyes he had asked if she was. She had replied by saying she was certainly not a clown. Her eyes were sarcastic, her face was sarcastic, her whole demeanour towards him. Even when she said good morning with that fake smile of hers. That was going to happen in a few seconds.

She would look up at him and act like she didn't see him. Then when he had walked past her, she would sit up and say...

"Good morning Mr Cross" she would smile so wide that her eyes would come together as if they would close.

"Darlene" he would say back stiffly.

"You have no calls yet for today".

"Thank you Darlene" and he would step into his office shielding himself for her negativity.

The woman would look back to her laptop and groan.

Who was she? Darlene Welch.

Why was she a measly secretary for a boss she hated?

Desperation.

Her routine was simple.

Wake up in the morning, have breakfast which was takeout sometimes. She would take care of herself in the bathroom which took six minutes. It would take thirteen if she wasn't in a rush to go anywhere. Then she would proceed to ransack her closet for clothes that went together and didn't need to be ironed. She'd always take the subway, but she could handle the bus when she felt daring. She would like to buy a car, but with her salary that would be too much to handle.

She had always had a passion for singing. From singing along to the musicians she adored through the screen, to kicking it during karaoke with her friends. Then graduated to singing in bars where no one actually gave a shit. That was an eye-opener. She wished it had happened earlier than later. She had a dream that someone would recognize her talent. But nobody did. And with her dad MIA and her mum in the hospital she had to work.

She knew Nathan Cross. Everyone knew the man who inherited everything from his dad and made it better with environment friendly cars. She wanted one of those when she had the funds. She admired the guy and also admired the fact that even though he was handed the riches, he still worked for it. When she started working for him it was quite a shocker.

She hadn't been expecting the proud, boastful, disrespectful and arrogant. She remembered a lot of things she had heard from his mouth. 'Tell them to contact me when they remember who I am'. And there were rumours that he slept with his employees. She didn't believe at first. But she tried out multiple times for the position of secretary and she had seen underneath a woman's coat and there was just fishnets. She didn't see bottoms. Just fishnets.

And when she worked he did get visits. From male and female companions. They girl who she could always see a bra was a regular. And they did spend quite some time in there with him. She wondered what they were doing. And then they would leave with pleased smiles on their faces.

So yes she didn't like her boss.

And she would guess that the feeling was mutual because she had already told herself that she wasn't going to be like the rest. That she was going to stand out and not mindlessly fawn over him, and agree with whatever he said like the past secretaries had done. She would not be playful with him and worship the ground he walked on. She would never like him and sleep with him.

A man that was used to that type of attention, when they didn't get it they couldn't just accept it. That was the highlight of her job.

She perked up when an email came in.

She picked up her phone. "Mr Cross".

"Yes Darlene" he always replied.

She smiled again even if he couldn't see her. "You have a lunch meeting scheduled by 2. With a Mr Yoshimada. At the track".

"Thank you" and he dropped the call.

Nathan sighed. His secretary did her actual work and sometimes that of a PA. He didn't see the need of hiring someone else when he didn't see the difference of the two professions. Point was that he was going to be spending the entire afternoon with her. And that fake smile of hers. He shivered. Such joy, he thought pitifully.

"Ah Mr Yoshimada" he shook the man's hand.

The ride here had been so awkward. Normally he liked the silence, but he didn't like the type of silence he went through. There was nothing off, he just didn't know how to explain it.

"Please sit" the man gestured to the already set table in the boot he picked out for them. He had already ordered. Nice of him. The man and the person he came with sat down. Nathan sat down as did Darlene.

It wasn't her first time on a meeting like this with her boss. And when they served food she would eat. If she ate here all she would have to think of was dinner.

Yoshimada smiled at Darlene who wasn't looking at him and then turned back to Nathan. The man had wanted a meeting for a very long time and now that time had come. A business collaboration because he wanted to sell his tyres. Well he had a good team. The tyres were durable and good in any kind of environment. From the sandy, to the muddy and the city road. They didn't pack much dirt and they didn't give off that burnt rubber smell no matter how new it was.

The man had told him that he wanted to sell his tyres back home in his own company. But the price he had called had been ridiculous the first time they had met. He really hoped that this man was ready to do business and not just waste his time when he could have been doing something important. Like actual work.

"Hope you don't mind that we ordered without you. But I'm sure that you'll like it" the man who followed Mr Yoshimada spoke.

"No we don't" Darlene replied. She had to because her boss was getting that tick in the side of his eyebrow that always appeared before he turned into a very loud sort of narcissist asshole.

"Can we start?" Nathan asked.

XXXXX

She had to commend his effort. Mr Cross was a good business man and a bargain master. She was this close to begging on the behalf of Yoshimada, but it was all about him making profit. That was business. But Yoshimada would reap the benefits. She had read most of the company reviews in her free time.

Nathan Cross was a revolutionary. Too bad that his character wasn't revolutionary also. And Yoshimada was so nice to order again when they went further with their little meeting that was dragging on. She had asked for hers to go. She had dinner and breakfast tomorrow.

Nathan just walked behind her. Just that meeting which just lasted three hours, he had gotten twelve hours of texts from Stella. He wouldn't call her his girlfriend. She was also a past secretary who was really eager to please. He wouldn't fight her off no matter how hard he tried. She just kept coming back and she was really generous.

How could he refuse?

There were others, but Stella was constant. She wanted to be the one so bad. Too bad he wasn't in the dating game. He had to pocket his phone because they were at the steps that would lead down to the parking lot.

He had wondered how Darlene had made it up here with her heels. The steps had holes and her heels were quite thin. They could go through the holes. He wanted to say be careful, but he was sure she would turn and give him that sarcastic smile. So he kept quiet.

They were walking and what he had dreaded happened. Her hell past through a hole. Her footwear left her foot and she was falling forward. His hands shot out catching her before she could fall. She turned quickly to him and hugged him.

She was shaking in his hands and she couldn't breathe normally. What would have happened if she fell on her face? Would she have died?

"Please don't let me fall" she was able to get out.

'Oh joy' he thought dryly. She just had to have a near death experience for her to talk to him normally. She stood just like that in his arms for a while before she finally let go. She brought her heel out from the hole and put it on her foot.

Then they continued to walk down the stairs. Good to know that things were back to normal between them. They sat in the car and it was back to that awkward silence. Her head was down, her curly hair was shielding her face. He brought his phone out and thought of replying Stella when he heard something.

He raised his head up thinking it was just his imagination. He was looking down again when he heard her audibly release a shaky breath before positioning her head up.

"Thank you" she said looking at him.

"It was no problem" he noticed that she didn't sound so sarcastic right now. Now wasn't the time for her to be so stuck up. Everyone will somehow be humble. It only takes time. In her case almost falling off a flight of steps.

"If you weren't there..." she looked away. Saying those things would be oversharing. Her boss already got praises from most of the population. She wouldn't add to it. "Just thank you".

He smiled a little and she cleared her throat. "Well there is nothing else for today. And there is also no way I'll be able to squeeze anyone in. This is the only day that you're aren't overbooked. You're actually free".

They went back to the office and went about their duties. Him in his office and her outside the door. Just reading and forwarding emails. Scheduling appointments and everything else. The usual jam for a secretary. There was no excitement for her. The only time that he had excitement was when he had girls come over. Well she could imagine what went on in there. It was just like porn. Only live.

The day came to an end and it was coming down. It didn't say that in the weather report earlier and she didn't have an umbrella. She really wondered how she was going to get home. She stood leaning against her desk, looking outside the window when she heard Mr Cross' door close.

He looked to her in question. She was always gone before him. She wasn't in the mood to grace him with one of her smiles. She quirked her brow in confusion. She was too tired to care what he thought. He was probably laughing at her in his mind. Today was really pathetic.

"I can give you a lift if you don't mind".

He would be nice about it. She had almost died and he could see the visible effects. She was not shaking, but she was still visibly shaken. This was now the time in her life she would go home and revaluate her life choices, then probably see that she was wasting her time as his secretary.

She mulled it over as she packed her things. It wouldn't hurt and he was a billionaire. Nathan Cross was a multibillionaire so there was no way he would think of remembering she owed him something. She could at least show her gratitude. "Thank you".

It was again silence. There was nothing to talk about between them. Where would they begin? How does it feel to be my secretary? How does it feel like to be a boss? When he looked through her papers she was quite young. Twenty-three maybe twenty-four. They were on different planes in life so he couldn't relate at all.

"I'll stop here" she said softly and the car slowed to a halt. "Thank you" and she opened the door.

"See you tomorrow Darlene".

She smiled this time, but it wasn't as sarcastic as it always was. She closed the door and walked all the way to her apartment building. She really couldn't think of anything worse than him seeing her apartment. She had seen pictures of his mansion. So she was sure the simple life was something alien to him.

She opened the door to her apartment and when closing it she had to jam it shut with the help of her shoulder. She used all her locks and dragged her feet all the way to her couch. She still had her takeout from the meeting, but she wasn't so hungry.

She had almost died today. That brought tears to her eye but she didn't let them flow. She would have died if Nathan hadn't been there. And what would have happened after she broke her neck and destroyed her face? Her dad would never know. Her mum was still in the hospital and her mental health got worse every day.

She would just be gone. And what had she done? What had she accomplished? Nothing. She was just a secretary for a billionaire. Now her eyes was opened to the divide between them. She needed to get her life in order. How did they do it these days?

She was too old to start posting her talent on social media. So she would become a ghost-writer. With her mind made up she was ready to eat. She would work as a secretary and also do what she loved doing. She didn't waste her time in college studying music.

She went to sleep with a plan and a new attitude. Tomorrow would be a better day.

She woke up with a smile the next morning. She didn't care about her apartment that she loathed. No matter how she cleaned and decorated it just couldn't look beautiful. She didn't care for her bathroom door that couldn't seem to close. When she was done spitting out her mouthwash she grinned at the mirror.

She dressed her best. Spending time on you self really did stuff to your attitude. Today she would take the taxi. She didn't want to be among others and have to spray more perfume when she got to work because rubbing against other people made her feel dirty. There was a smile that wouldn't leave her lips and a spring in her step.

XXXXX

Nathan woke up and went through everything like he normally did. He decided to do his hair to the side today and maybe curl it messily. He liked that. When he sat down for breakfast the news wasn't talking about his business though. It was something else completely different.

It was about him, but there was someone else.

"What is this?" he asked his butler that stood by his side.

A magazine was dropped beside his plate. He picked it up harshly. One the cover page it was him and Darlene. It was a picture of them on the steps yesterday. Just after she had fell, when she had turned and was in the process of hugging him. So he looked like he had dipped her on the steps. And how they had took it looked so romantic. It wasn't meant to be that. She almost died. And they made fake news out of that.

He opened the page to the article about him. "Business Tycoon, billionaire, and most handsome Nathan Cross of Cross Limited is finally off the market. We were able to spot him yesterday after enjoying a race at the track, and were lucky to get this picture of the normally reclusive man so out of character. Who knew he was one for PDA. Who is this woman and how was she able to bring the lonely bachelor out of solitude".

And the article continued further about him but he wasn't going to read that. This was a problem. There was a magazine, it was on the news. Everyone was talking about it. That meant that people he didn't want to know would know. He wondered why Stella hadn't called yet. Well she lived in her own world. She never paid attention to the news. But there was someone who did.

He stood up completely forgetting his breakfast. Times like this he wished that she wasn't so different so that they could communicate at least. He would have her number and be able to talk to her before she talked to anyone that she wasn't meant to.

XXXXX

Darlene stepped out of the taxi to see less of the protesters. It seemed like they were getting tired. It was just a few steps left before she got to the front door when she was assaulted. Not physically but with cameras. The flashes had her stepping back and covering her face with her bag.

"What is your relationship with Nathan Cross?"

"How long have you two been together?"

"Is it true that you two are engaged?"

She didn't understand what they were talking. Why was she involved? What about her boss? Why were both their names called? She groaned suddenly feeling sick. She couldn't make sense of anything. As she stepped back the came closer and she almost fell again. She wanted to leave but they were all around her. All her sides. She couldn't escape. And she felt she was drowning in her own sweat.

It was all coming back. As flashed of their cameras went off. She had just landed her very first gig. At an event. An important birthday or a wedding she couldn't remember. She had been standing there in the middle of the room where all eyes had been on her. She had frozen and there were all flashes. Flashes that she thought were going to blind.

She literally couldn't breathe.

She stepped back and she was falling. But something caught her. Something strong and she was pulled away. She let herself be pulled away by the strong arms around her. She was all unfocused. She didn't know that now she was in a car panting in front of someone else.

She sucked in a deep breath when she felt something cold against her hand. She looked up to see an advanced woman before her. She looked around in utter panic. When did she get here? She wanted to scream.

"Water?" the woman asked. She had a warm friendly smile.

Thinking about it now she was out of breath and quite parched. She took the bottle and opened it never taking her eyes of the woman. She really shouldn't take things from strangers just because they were smiling.

"Poor thing" the woman said. "What did they do to you?"

The paparazzi were absolute vultures. Before he arrived he had been told that they had been there hounding the office goers for questions. Coming out of the car he had to deal with the protestors and the paparazzi. He put his shades on and just kept his head up. It was good to be tall sometimes. He ignored all of them to get to his office.

They were all smart to stay out of his way. He tapped the button multiple times before it opened. During the entire elevator ride he was impatient. When it finally opened and he stepped out she wasn't at her desk. There was no one there. She hadn't come to work yet. That was good. He knew her place so he could go there and...

His phone rang at that moment. He slid accept before looking at the screen.

"What?!" his eyes widened.

XXXXX

He didn't even stop to acknowledge whoever opened the door for him. He walked with determination, taking long strides as he followed the path he could hear voices from. Singing voices. No a singing voice.

He walked all the way to the back where Darlene sat with his mum singing walking on sunshine. His mum smiled and clapped along. He would get to that later. What he needed to focus on now was that Darlene and his mum were together. What had they talked about? What had Darlene said?

"Oh!" his mum exclaimed when she saw him. "Nathan so nice of you to join us".

Darlene looked to him and she didn't look freaked out. The entire situation wasn't good for him. "Nice to see you too mum" he walked up to her already outstretched arms and he hugged her. She kissed him on his cheek. He would ignore the chuckle he heard behind him.

"So mum..."

"How long were you planning on hiding her from us?"

"Mum" he groaned. "It's not as big of a deal as you...and everyone else is making it out to be".

"How long have you two been together?" she asked again. "She has been awfully quiet. Seems like you made it clear that you wanted to keep it secret so that's why she's being secretive" she smiled wriggling her brows.

"Mum please stop that" he sighed.

"You can't do stuff like that in public and not expect people to talk Nathan".

"You don't just follow people around and take them off the street. We talked about this mum".

"Are the two of you engaged?" she asked innocently.

"Mum!" he snapped.

"Oh!" his mum clasped her hands. "I'm going to get something ready. Darlene said she hasn't eaten all morning" and she left the two of them to talk.

"What's going on?!" Darlene exclaimed letting all her frustration out with that question.

"I guess you have seen the news" he explained calmly.

"Yes. Your mum won't stop talking about it. She just took me away from the front of the company. Is this what you people do? Why is everyone making a big deal out of this?"

"Well I'm Nathan Cross. They just love to talk about me" he didn't sound smug like he usually did. He had been careful about this. Not being seen out with any woman. Not even Stella. But she just had to fall so this was entirely her fault. "You just had to fall".

"Are you implying that it's my fault?" she asked with disbelief.

"What gave you that impression?" he asked sarcastic. And she would know because that was the same way she always answered him.

"Your mum thinks were dating, everyone thinks we're dating just because you caught me from falling. And she wouldn't say it but it did look like they were about to kiss. She would not bring up the picture that they had also put up of him dropping her off. "She didn't listen to a thing I said when I tried telling her we weren't together".

"That's how she is" he groaned. "I'll fix that don't worry about it" he assured her.

"You do that. Even if I were to be fake married, I would like to be asked first".

"What are the two of you whispering about" they both turned to see his mum standing there. How long had she been standing there? What had she heard?

The workers walked past her with trays. Before she sat down she gestured for them to sit which they did.

"So you're thirty-three now. I have to ask when the wedding is going to take place. Your dad is retired now, he's never here. He'll be happy to hear that you're finally with someone" then she turned to Darlene. "He had never been with any woman..."

Darlene had to drink water for this. And she choked a little. Nathan gave her a nasty glare.

"And we were quite worried. He's an only child and he's getting older every day and still no children. I actually bet with his father that he would be out of the closet before his next birthday. But thank goodness for people with no boundaries and we got to know about you".

"Mum please" he covered his eyes with his hands red in the face.

"No please continue". He subtly pinched her under the table.

She thought she could play it off, but it really hurt.

"Can I use your bathroom?" she was already standing before the woman answered.

"I'll show it to her" he stood up, but before he could move his mum held his wrist. "I'm so happy for the two of you".

God he was in so much shit. He smiled back at her and followed where she walked off to.