“Thanks Lily,” he said again.
“Also, she was wondering why you’ve taken an interest in her, and if there’s a problem. She was worried that she might have made a bad hire,” Lily continued.
“No, Not all. There’s no problem and please tell Susan that she’s made a great hire. I like Belle, she seems enterprising and bright,” Devon said and with that he ended the call and sat down on his chair.
He steepled his fingers on his desk and narrowed his eyes as he thought about it some more. He couldn’t put a finger on the exact reason why he had taken an interest in Belle. It wasn’t just her looks was it…? Because he knew he could have any number of beautiful young women he wanted, in fact he tried to keep his distance from them as much as possible, so that a relationship didn’t come between him and his work. Besides, wasn’t Belle a bit too young for him?
There had to be something else about Belle that he had noticed. Just during their five minute conversation in the elevator, he was instantly drawn to her. To her smile. To her innocent confidence.
Devon shook his head, to drive the thoughts out of his brain. He had an entire day’s worth of work to get through and he wasn’t going to allow a girl to occupy his mind.
He pressed the buzzer again and got through to Lily in an instant.
“Set up the board room for the first meeting, I’ll be there in five minutes,” he said and with that, he took two large gulps of his scalding coffee.
Belle
She was nervous as she walked towards Devon Rymer’s office. Her team leader, Susan, had informed her that Mr Rymer wanted to personally meet with her at quarter past eleven, and Belle had no idea what for. Susan couldn’t give her the details of the meeting either, so Belle had spent most of the morning fretting over what she had done wrong.
As far as first days at work go, Belle assumed that it had been going well. She had been given the task of conducting some simple market surveys, and she had spent the morning doing that; completing her task well before the eleven fifteen meeting with Devon Rymer.
So, now she walked self consciously towards his office, as directed by Susan and found his secretary sitting at the end of the corridor behind a desk.
“You must be Belle,” the middle aged woman said, looking up at her from over her crescent shaped spectacles.
“Yes, I’m here to meet with Mr Rymer,” Belle said and stuck out a hand to the woman.
“I’m his secretary, Lily. Nice to meet you Belle. Mr Rymer will be with you shortly,” Lily said and shook Belle’s hand weakly.
“Sure,” Belle said and took in a few deep breaths. Try as she did, she couldn’t shake off the feeling that she had conducted herself wrongly in some way. That Mr Rymer wanted to talk to her to tell her off. Maybe it had something to do with the way she was staring at him!
“Don’t be nervous. He told me that he thinks you’re an enterprising young woman,” Lily interrupted her thoughts. Belle looked at her and forced a smile on her face.
“Really?” she asked, surprised to hear that. Lily shrugged her shoulders and smiled.
The phone beside her on the desk rang and she pressed a button.
“You can send Ms Freedman in, if she’s arrived,” the deep voice said and Belle instantly recognized the voice to be Devon Rymer’s.
“You can go in now,” Lily said kindly and Belle nodded.
She took small slow steps as she walked down the corridor towards the only door that was located at the end of it. Devon Rymer’s office was isolated from the rest of the floor in one corner. She couldn’t even imagine how wonderful the view had to be from that room.
She knocked softly on his door, and heard his voice asking her to come in.
Belle turned the knob and pushed open the door. Devon Rymer was sitting behind his desk, signing a sheet of paper. He looked up at her, and she was struck again by how intensely attracted she was to him. Belle gulped.
“Take a seat, Ms Freedman,” he said, straightening himself in his chair.
Belle closed the door behind her, and walked nervously towards the desk. His office was made of only glass walls, so bright sunlight flooded the room. She noticed the sleek, minimalistic decor of the office, the eggshell white leather chairs, the large oak desk, the potted plants. He had a pretty simple room, with no paintings or additional decor. It seemed like Devon Rymer was a no-fuss kind of man.
Without a word, Belle took the chair across from his desk, and realized how intimidated she was in her surroundings now. Despite what Lily had told her outside, she wasn’t feeling too confident. She couldn’t think of one good reason why he had called her into his office.
“How has your first day been going so far?” he asked, breaking the silence. His clear blue eyes were trained on her, and he was looking at her with an intensely fiery gaze. Belle could barely find the strength to keep looking at him without blushing. He seemed to be the kind of man who knew everything about everything.
“It’s been going well. I’m learning a lot. I’ve been conducting some market research for clients who sell teenage magazines,” Belle replied, shifting in her seat. Her hands were clasped together on her lap and she was pressing her fingers together.
“Good. What would you say has been your one major finding?” he asked, sitting back in his chair. Belle gulped before answering. She noticed how broad his shoulders were, he didn’t have his suit jacket on and she could see the muscles rippling under his thin white shirt.