The CEO

VI

I made a cup of coffee for myself and sat on my couch. It was raining heavily outside. There was a knock on the door.
I opened it to see Ryan.

"I know I shouldn't have walked out like that in the middle of a conference and--" I started.

"God, will you stop talking and let me in because it's raining outside!" He said.

"Uh, sure." I said and made way for him to come in.

"My clothes are wet." He said. So what do you expect me to do, huh? Run and get your clothes?

"No, thank you. I came here to talk to you."

Shit I think I said that out loud.

"Yes, you did." He said. I blushed.

"How did you get my address?"

"Joe." He said.

"Um, one of my friends had left his clothes when he had come over. You can wear them till your clothes dry, you know?"

"Okay." He agreed.

I gave him the clothes and he went and changed. He gave me the wet clothes and I put them to dry.

"About today--" He started.

"I don't want to talk about it. I know you're gonna fire me."

"For God's sake, stop interrupting me all the time." He growled. I fought the urge to roll my eyes.

"I need you in my office. I'm not gonna fire you, so get that out of your head." He said.

"And the reason why I don't want you to talk about that kiss is because I don't do relationships, therefore, I don't want you to think otherwise." He added.

"Alright."

"I'll have to stay here for a while since it's raining, unless you want me to go?"

"Sure, whatever." I said. "Make yourself home."

"Your house is very--"

"Small. Obviously. You stay in a palace." I snapped.

"I was gonna say it was pretty." He said.

"I'm sorry."

His phone buzzed.

"Hello?" He said.

"Yeah, James. I'll be there later."

"Okay, bye." He said and hung up.

"So, why did you leave your previous company?" He asked.

"I didn't leave. I was sent out." I muttered.

"Tell me what happened."

"Okay, so I was a normal employee at Franklin's. One of my co-workers did something very terrible." I cringed at the memory.

"Go ahead." He said softly.

"I-I fell for him. We started dating, and then I realised that he was cheating on me with my best friend, who was the CEO's secretary. He threatened me. He told me that if I told anyone in the company that he was having an affair with the CEO's secretary. I don't know how, but it spread in the office. I hadn't said anything, yet people found out. He blamed it on me, and then h-he photoshopped my face on a lot of vulgar images and then spread it." I broke down.

"Bloody asshole." Ryan mumbled.

"After that, finding a job became very difficult. That guy from Foster's Inc.? Well, I went for an interview there as well."

"I think I've decided something." He said.

"I know--"

"Don't interrupt me. I'm saying that I want your job to be permanent. I'll start paying you from this month. You're perfect at what you do, so yeah." He said.

"You don't have to do it just because you pity me."

"I don't give jobs out of pity. It all depends on quality."

"Thank you."

"No problem. I'll leave. See you on Monday at the office. I'll send you the clothes after dry cleaning." He said.

"That's not necessary. You can keep it."

"No, thank you." He said and left.

..

I didn't realise how time passed by, since it was already Monday. I got ready and went to the office.

"Chloe." Ryan acknowledged.

"Good morning." I chirped.

He nodded.

"I'm giving you the files of the employees. Cross-check if the system has the same information." He said. I nodded.

"Ryan." A voice said from behind. I thrned around to see Claire. Ew.

"What are you doing here?"He growled.

"I need to make a deal." She smirked.

"No, thank you. My company is fine without you."

"Darling, we both know it isn't." She purred.

Ryan laughed.

"I have spent many years in setting this empire myself. Your partnership gets me hardly any money, so go shove up your partnership in somebody else's ass, because I definitely don't need it." He said.

"Fine then. I'll leave for now. I'll see you soon Ryan. And you too Chloe." She smirked and left.

"Don't mind her." He said and left.

"Chloe?" I turned around to see Ethan.

"Hey." I smiled.

"Hey, I was wondering if you um, wanted to go out for dinner with me tonight?" He asked.

"Sure." I smiled.

"Okay, I'll pick you up at seven. Text me your address." He grinned.

"Sure, I'll catch you later. I have work to do." I said. He nodded and left.

I was done with the work Ryan had given me, when I was told to go to his office.

"I was wondering if you wanted to have dinner with me and James today." Ryan said.

"Sorry, um, I'm going for dinner with Ethan today."

"Ethan as in that guy in the sales department?"

"Yes."

"Fine. Tomorrow then."

"Sure." I said.

..

It was seven, and I was eaiting for Ethan. There was a knock on my door.

"Hey." I smiled.

"Hi, you look great." He grinned.

"Thanks, so do you." I said.

"Let's go, yeah?"

"Sure."

..

I reached home at ten. I had a lot of fun with Ethan, but the only problem was that he wasn't Ryan.