His Lioness (Alan Rickman FF) ENGLISH VERSION

Chapter 12

Lionel now wanted to break off the situation, especially since he really didn't want to stand behind the corner any longer, like an eavesdropping rascal. He was just too old for that kind of thing.

"Deane!" he shouted loudly and stormed around the corner, "don't you have anything better to do, or why are you holding up my assistant with your ridiculous accusations!" He stopped in front of him and gave him a withering look.

Harry swallowed hard. Saskia was his new assistant? It shot through his brain. This was not good, not good at all! He didn't say a word and just walked quickly into his office next door.

Shahbandar looked after him with his piercing gaze, which could mean anything. But he turned away from Harry and looked at Saskia. She was still standing like a statue in front of her empty desk, perplexed by what she had just heard. She stared at her boss, taking in his presence and his gaze.

The latter stood before her in an expensive designer suit, his graying hair sticking out slightly in all directions. His brown eyes gazed at her intensely, but not unkindly. "Come, we have some things to discuss," he spoke, thus bringing Saskia back to reality.

Saskia just nodded, quickly picked up her bag from the floor and immediately followed him into his office. She was getting more and more nervous, had he just called her on first-name terms, or was that a mistake on his part? And most importantly, what did it all mean, please? His assistant? Saskia was still off track when they already stepped into his office.

"Sit on the sofa, it's more comfortable than the chairs," he said, gesturing with a sweeping gesture to the seat in question.

She immediately settled down on it and placed her bag on the side of the sofa, looking at her boss tensely but with a queasy feeling. The latter took the prepared water jug and poured two glasses of water. When he had finished, he looked up again.

"Let's get straight to the point," Lionel spoke, looking his assistant in the eye, "I've fired Evi, that incompetent creature, and decided to try you, since you've always done the reports in secret until now."

Saskia was amazed, Mister Shahbandar was apparently informed about everything and completely in the picture, only she looked stupid. She had expected anything, but certainly not a promotion! She took the glass of water poured by her boss and drank a few sips. He continued to watch her the whole time and even smiled slightly. But then Saskia finally decided to say something, not that he still believed she was as stupid as Evi.

"Yes, until now I had always done the reports for Evi. I will gladly accept the task Mister Shahbandar and try to satisfy you in all areas," she answered and seriously wondered what kind of bullshit she had just spoken. Satisfy in all areas?!?! That sounded more than ambiguous and Saskia already felt her cheeks getting hot.

Lionel didn't react to her statement though, at least he didn't make an embarrassing remark. "Lionel. My name is Lionel. Since there's plenty of work waiting for us in the near future, I'd prefer that we be a little more informal with each other, otherwise things will get even more complicated," he replied.

"That's fine, Mr. Shah... Lionel. I'll have to get used to it, sorry," Saskia spoke quickly, getting even redder in the face.

This reaction only cost Lionel a wry grin. He loved to fluster people, he had already taken a liking to teasing his assistant. This could be fun, he thought to himself. Even more so when she got such nice red cheeks. Expect the unexpected! The next few days would show whether she ultimately lived up to her current position. An unintentional sigh escaped Lionel as he continued to look at her, he'd better get back to the basics and not stare at her flushed cheeks.

"Good, then we've got that settled. We have a dinner tomorrow with an art curator who may become a new employee. I wish you to be there as well and take notes if necessary. By the way, the dinner counts as working time for you," he began to speak further, thus enlightening Saskia. "Oh yes, and of course I get the usual reports on my desk on time every day, you already know which ones anyway," Lionel added.

The conversation continued for a while until Lionel dismissed Saskia and she now took a seat in front of the huge desk in front of his office.

Finally she was alone and Saskia took a deep breath. She still couldn't believe everything that had already happened in the short morning. But what irritated her most was that Mr. Shahbandar wanted them to be on a first-name basis. Somehow she did not like that, but she could not yet fathom why.

When Saskia had calmed down a bit, she finally turned on her computer and typed in her passwords. Routinely, she created the usual reports and inserted the missing numbers. When she wanted to print the whole thing out, she realized that she no longer had a printer. Somewhat perplexed, she looked around but couldn't spot one. She would just take a chance and print it out anyway, someone would get back to her when the report came out of some printer.

Behind the frosted glass, she dimly saw her boss through. Partially, however, the glass was not frosted and she could see into the office. She watched Lionel move and stand up. He walked to the door and opened it.

"Convenient isn't it?" he spoke to her, waving her report, "I forgot to tell you. I'm afraid you'll have to come to my office if you need the printouts, otherwise I can take them myself."

Saskia just nodded and looked into the mischievously grinning face of her boss. What was that about! She now had to crawl to him in his office every time she wanted to get her printouts? With mixed feelings, she continued her work as soon as he had disappeared from her field of vision.