Up His Sleeve (BWWM)

1: The Boss

^^^Christian^^^

He had his chin propped up in his hand as I watched him on the other side of the glass, separating the meeting room from the hallway. If I knew any better, by the way his fingers tapped away at the grand table, Christian Manning was surely bored.

"Coffee?" A woman with blonde lochs offered, walking up to me with a million dollar smile that I returned.

"Thanks Jess." I took the lidded silicone cup from her before sipping.

"What's the deal?"

"Their thinking about expanding to another location but it would seem," I shifted a bit, "Mr. Manning could care less." I breathed, pulling down on my pencil skirt.

"how do you know?" Her eyes wondered over my expressions.

Taking another sip, I sighed deeply. "His posture is all off. One shoulder is slouched and all his weight is being put on one arm."

"Ah..." She nodded.

"Also, his eyes keep dropping to his Rolex." I looked over at her and found her snickering with her red lips pressed against her lidded drink.

Looking back at the meeting, I found it was already dismissed while people started gathering their belongings and exiting the door that Jessica was now holding open. I waited patiently, as people passed by me, for Mr. Manning.

He was still in the conference room, but now standing with a white haired man shaking his hand firmly. Looking so uncomfortable with his shoulders squared and lips pressed into a thin line.

'Rule #1: Don't touch Christian Manning.' My thoughts noted as I gripped the tablet in my free hand tighter.

He has high standards for personal space.

"Westbourne." His baritone voice reached my ears as he came through the door. He stood 6 foot 5 in a deep grey, pin striped, suit that screamed money. His hair was of the richest brown and combed back without a strand out of place. When he stood before me, he straightened his tie and gazed down at me with piercing embers.

"Sir?"

"Cancel my 3:00 meeting." He started to stroll down the hall and I quickly handed off my coffee to Jessica before pulling out my tablet to eye level.

"Done." I followed closely behind. "Is their a specific reason why your not meeting with Spark Corps.?"

"Because I said so." We took a turn towards the elevator.

'Well damn,' I wanted to counter but held my tongue as I rearranged his schedule.

"For lunch-"

"You want Cordon Bleu from your favorite chef, Louise Laire-"

"And-"

"Your afternoon mint mocha from L'amour." I tapped the screen to my device then looked up at him with a confident grin as we stopped at the elevator. He pressed the upward arrow before looking down at me with a flawless brow raised.

"Stop cutting me off." He spoke sternly.

"Sorry sir." I looked down at my onyx pumps. I was rather proud of my attire of choice. I wore a satin violet blouse tucked neatly in a black skin tight skirt with a blazer to compliment my heels. As usual my hair was pulled back in a tight bun and my glasses never left my face.

The door ringed open and Christian stepped in, holding the door for me.

"I have a few contracts to look over this evening, so make sure no one enters my office without legitimate reasonings," He ordered as I stepped in and the door closed. I simply nodded and reached into my pocket pulling out non-scented hand sanitizer.