Assistant to the CEO

Chapter Seven: Resisting the Call of Europe

Come Monday morning I was pretty content with the idea that this company was my only priority until I sorted out Clarke and that was made easier when Elijah hadn't called. I knew two days with no phone call wasn't surprising but if I had been a magical date for him, he would've called me by now. Maybe dating just wasn't the cards for me at the moment. I was in my last year of college and needed to apply for law school, and my job was a little more demanding than normal....maybe my career was it right now, not romance.

I got to work a little early that morning and didn't expect to see Clarke in yet, but I was surprised to see him already sitting at his desk and he appeared to be working on something. I put my bag down and my coat and decided I would tell him I was here. I walked to his open office door and tapped it slightly. He glanced up at me and the expression of his face was serious, like he was focusing but also confused.

"Wow, you look you've been here all morning," I commented, stepping in.

"Not quite," he told me. "I've been working on this since yesterday too."

"Oh, I'm surprised you had time to work on the weekend," I noted.

That caught his attention. He let go of his pen to face me. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Well, I just know that you were out with Alicia Moore this weekend," I shrugged slightly.

"Read the tabloids have you?" he asked me.

"No need to. I was at the same restaurant as you too," I admitted.

"Wait, you were?" he said surprised.

"Yes," I nodded. "I just didn't have a fancy table like you."

He immediately rolled his eyes at me. "They put us there to keep us away from the paparazzi."

"Right course," I said a little sarcastically.

"You don't like that I'm dating her?" Clarke asked me, a little confused.

"I didn't say that," I shrugged. "I just...she's a model. So it just looks like you're turning back into bad boy Clarke."

Clarke didn't respond for a moment but when he did it wasn't what I expected. He smiled at me and then started to laugh a little.

"What?" I frowned.

"You don't know anything about Alicia, do you?" he guessed.

"No, why would I?" I asked him, shaking my head slightly.

"Because she the newest most talked about model in the industry," he told me, "but it's more than that, it's also because she's notoriously nice. She works with charities, donates, and does fund-raisers by selling the clothes she gets. She refuses to use animal products, and constantly helps with protests-."

"Okay, I get it," I interrupted him. "She's miss perfect in the eyes of the media."

"Right," Clarke nodded. "Making it perfect for me to be seen with her."

"Okay, well I still don't get it," I said, crossing my arms over my chest. "Unless of course PR team suggested it'd be a good idea to see you out with someone like her?"

Clarke sighed a little. "Yes, the public relations department of Watson International advised me to be seen with someone the public trust. If I'm seen with someone good, or even dating them they might trust me a little more as the CEO. They didn't pick Alicia, our families knew each other when we were younger. We've been friends for a while."

"So you're not dating her then?" I frowned.

"No, not exactly," he shook his head. "We're just friends, but to media sees it differently."