Make Me (Editing)

eighteen

Tyler's POV

"Mr Baird," I greeted the older man with a simple nod. "Do you have a moment?"

"Absolutely, Mr Gray," he replied cheerfully, gesturing for me to take a seat. "What can I do for you?"

This was entirely unusual for the both of us. I had never really been the one to visit my workers, as I personally preferred the feeling of having them in my domain rather than the other way around. So even though Mr Baird's office was just across from mine in the hallway, I had only ever been inside on a few odd occasions.

"I ah- actually just wanted to thank you for all of your work last week," I stumbled over my words, clearly not the type to say such things very often. "You seemed to keep this place under control better than I do."

"Not at all, sir," he chuckled humbly. "I hardly did a thing."

"I also wanted to sort of check in with you," I continued, letting his modesty slide, "and see if there was anything you wanted to report to me from last week - absolutely anything I should be aware of."

"Ermm," he thought for a moment. "I guess the only thing that really comes to mind is to just tell you how much of a help Miss Carson was to me. I know she's not one to publicise her work too much, but she honestly ran the place while you were gone. I don't know how you managed to find someone like her, and I just hope that you find a way to keep her around."

"I get what you mean," I nodded, a smile covering my face as we talked about my stunning assistant. "God knows she's too good for her position here."

"She's incredibly loyal though," he commented, "and I think that might be your saving grace."

He was completely right; Ally was one of the only people I'd come across who truly understood what it meant to be devoted. Even though she had the title of 'assistant', she did the work of an executive, knowing just as much about the behind-the-scenes affairs of the place as anyone did.

On top of being a loyal employee, she was also a loyal friend and partner. It pained me more than anything that she refused to be these things to me, but I could also completely understand where she was coming from.

The last couple of weeks had been a complete and utter mess for me, which translated to complete and utter hell for Ally. I certainly wasn't proud of the way I'd handled myself, and regretted a lot of the stuff that I'd done and said, but kissing her was not one of those things. Holding her so close to me and tasting her lips had ignited something inside of me that I had hand-on-heart never felt before.

And, after four restless days and sleepless nights, spent at home alone, cycling through my thoughts, I'd finally come to the conclusion that I was determined to change, not just for Ally's sake, but also for my own. Sure, she would always remain my end goal, but for once this was actually about personal development as well, instead of just faking it to get the girl. I was fully aware that Ally Carson wasn't dumb enough to let me get away with playing games.

"Thanks for the chat," I stood from the chair, sending Mr Baird a genuine smile. "I'll let you know if I have any other questions as I get back into everything."

"No worries at all," he returned kindly. "It was a pleasure talking with you."

As I walked back out into the main work space, I noticed that Ally had just arrived and was now having a bit of a chat to some of the other ladies in the office. When I looked over at her, one of her friends gestured in my direction, drawing Ally's attention to me. She sent me a genuine smile, before turning back to quickly say goodbye to the girls.

As she made her way over to me, I couldn't help but study her sexy little outfit, which was definitely more flirty than usual, but far from overdone. She wore a strappy black bodycon dress, which hardly reached mid-thigh, and would probably have been borderline inappropriate if it weren't for the oversized plaid blazer that she wore on top. She also had her hair down, which was unusual for Ally. I could almost guarantee that it would be tied up within the first five minutes of her working, as I knew how much having hair in her face annoyed her. Nevertheless, it was nice seeing it down for once, and certainly added to her effortless sex-appeal.