"End in what? End in blissful happiness? End in mutual friendship? Nat, you are an awesome person. I can see why these dudes are both interested in you. You're just plain amazing both inside and out."
Taking another sip I blushed at Diamond's compliments.
"This is just too good to be true, though. I'm not the kind of girl who dates Billionaires, let alone two."
"Well, I guess they don't know that." Diamond said, smiling at the waiter who brought us our drinks and watching him just a little as he walked away. "Now tell me. Joshua is the guy who got you the job with what is the runner-up's name?"
"His name is Marty Reid. He's the President and CEO."
"And you are the assistant to his assistant?"
"Yes, and let me tell you his assistant Denise is a ballbuster. She doesn't take any crap from anyone, she watches over Marty like a hawk and makes sure everything is just so or else be prepared for a lecture." I said, my eyebrows well up into my forehead.
"Is she mean?"
"No. I wouldn't say mean. She's precise. Very professional. But she doesn't seem to bat an eye when Marty asks me to stay late with him."
"How did that all come about?"
I thought for a minute and was almost shocked at how easy it had happened.
On about my third day at my new job I was still very nervous. Denise was rattling off instructions that I was scribbling down from the minute I got there in the morning to when I left at night. It seemed like everything that needed to be done had a specific procedure that had to be followed. That night she was leaving me to handle locking up her desk and Mr. Reid's. Except, when I went to lock up Mr. Reid's office he was still there.
"You don't plan on locking me in, do you?" He asked, scaring the daylights out of me.
"Oh, no. Well, you're not supposed to be here. Denise said I wa
s to lock up. Are you leaving?" even though he was the big boss I answered to Denise and I didn't want to screw anything up.
"Well, I suppose I could but I've got some Chinese food on its way."
"Okay. I'll just wait around until you go then." I said, not really knowing what else to do. You know how bosses can be. If you assume they are going to do something that requires common sense you'll get bitten in the ass every time. I should know. Every boss I ever worked for lacked the sense of the common man. If I left without locking up Marty would leave, not think to lock his own office door and that would be the night the place gets looted. Who would they blame? Not the dumbass CEO who didn't lock his door. The secretary who was told to do it, that's who.
"Would you like to join me for dinner?" he asked.
I looked around as if he might be talking to someone else and he chuckled a little. It wasn't a condescending or cocky laugh. It was like he was surprised I was so surprised.
"You said Chinese food, right?" I asked.
"Yup."
"MSG?"
"Loaded."
I smiled and walked into his office.
"And that was it? No sweeping everything off his desk to make wild passionate love under the fluorescent lights?" Diamond laughed.
"No."
"Your cheeks are as red as a stop sign. What the heck, Nat? You better spill it before I beat it out of you. What kind of job security do you have?"
"None. Really. I mean, yes, there is a connection with Marty."
"Above or below the waist?"
"Can you climb out of the gutter for just a few minutes?"