It’s petty as shit, but I don’t give a fuck.
Penelope flicks uncertain eyes up at me.I offer her a reassuring smile before gesturing for her to walk with me.
When she gives Mr.Thomas as wide a berth as she can, I bite back a smirk and angle my body to protect her from wandering eyes.
No one here would dare harm her, but she can’t be certain of that yet, so I’ll happily be her shield.Her instinctual trust in me fills me with pride.
I escort her to the elevator and down to the second floor for orientation without a word.She thanks me and turns to the woman at the desk, but I lean around her until she lifts her chin and meets my gaze.
“I’ll see you in an hour or two, Ms.Miles.”
Her eyes round in surprise.She stares at me for a moment before blushing the cutest shade of pink and looking anywhere but at me.
“Yes, um, see you then, Mr.Sterling,” she says.
I smirk, enjoying the sight of her flustered, but peel my eyes off her and nod at the lady behind the desk before striding back toward the elevator.
Having spent an annoying amount of time earlier in the day remembering how to access the building’s security cameras—I’m not the best at tech but didn’t want to involve anyone else in the process—I return to my desk and pull up the feed.Despite her grayscale picture at the bottom corner of my screen, I call the orientation desk and request a notification for when the current class ends before jumping back into my tasks.Although I sign documents at my desk and complete administrative work on my computer, I spend most of my time out of my chair and on the main floor, discussing plans and current issues with different department heads.
Julie Kim, the secretary I hired a few months ago to streamline the necessary paperwork on the executive floor, also spends more time on her feet than at her desk near the elevator, but not for tasks that fall under her job description.I add another tally to my growing list containing her lack of professionalism as she openly flirts with my PA.
We have no policies against romance between coworkers, but Ms.Kim flirts openly and often.She may cause dissonance between the male workers if she continues to throw herself at every swinging dick in the office.
Especially Mr.Thomas.I never marked him as a player, but after he stole a blush from Penelope, I long to crush his skull with my bare hands.
I shove my fury aside and turn my attention back to my discussion with the man in front of me.
With my office door open, the ringing of my phone reaches the far side of the executive floor.I excuse myself and erase the distance in seconds with my long strides.I thank the orientation clerk and arrive at her desk a few minutes later.She waves me into the room with a polite smile despite the curiosity in her eyes.
Penelope sits at one of the long tables with her face in the employee handbook.
“Ms.Miles, you know you can take that with you, right?”I tease.
She lifts a brow but doesn’t look up.
“I won’t need to once I’ve read through it, Mr.Sterling,” she says.
The pride in her voice is so like the little girl who won my intrigue fifteen years ago, I fall back into the past.The classroom setup doesn’t help either.
“Keep gloating like that and everyone will think I hired a savant.Don’t ruin my reputation, pipsqueak,” I joke with a playful tug of her hair.
She flinches and curls into herself.Expecting her to retaliate, I stand like an idiot for a few seconds before realizing how badly I overstepped.She cowers as though waiting for a blow.
I drop into a squat and use the table and the back of her chair for balance as I lower myself further so her face is higher than mine.
“I’m sorry, Penelope.I—”
She swings cold yet haunted eyes at me while leaning away.
“Apology accepted.Do not repeat.Add distance between us.Now.”
I swallow an unexpected lump of emotion and drop my arm from the back of her chair.
Despite her forgiveness, guilt and worry eat at my veins like acid, so I stand, walk to the door, and wait for her without another word.
She finishes the employee handbook quickly—she only had a few pages left anyway—before calmly packing up her things and leaving the stack of handbooks and pamphlets at the corner of the table.
In the isolation of the elevator, I open my mouth to apologize again, but she holds up a hand and shakes her head.
