Carl Hardman's POV

This woman was gonna be the death of me. Nobody, and I mean nobody has ever stood up to me and told me right to my face that I lacked the decent societal values.

Who the hell does she think she is?

She's right, you idiot!

I sigh and call Ms Rachael Wyatt through the intercom.

“Mr Hardman?”, she said, with submission laced in her voice.

That's different from her outspoken sister. Too outspoken for my liking.

But she's fucking hot that you have some thoughts, don't you?

Cut it out, will you?

“I know Mr Ross is with you so tell him to get his ass over here or he's fired”, I order, then I hear a sigh. And it's not from Ms Wyatt.

“Yes sir, I will when I see him”, she said.

“Um, I wanted to ask. Is your sister always like she is?”, I asked and cringed once I realized the words left my lips.

“I must say sir, I don't understand what you're talking about”.

“Outspoken, expressive”.

“No sir. She is usually reserved unless someone does something she feels isn't right”, she replied and I got off the intercom almost immediately.

Maybe I did something displeasing to her. For her to be that outspoken

Few moments later, Mike and Ms Ruby Wyatt walked out of the elevator. He was saying something to her and she laughed. My hands balled into fists and I felt anger grow in me. Or was it jealousy?

What so she doing with him? She isn't supposed to laugh with him, only me.

Wait, what??

Jealous much?

No!! I'm not jealous.

“Mike ”, I call him when I finally can't stomach it anymore. He stops talking at her desk and struts into my office.

“If you really want to keep this job, I advise you stop flirting with women and strutting into my office like you own the place. Understood?”

“Ohkay!.. I have a girlfriend so I can't flirt with someone else, especially my girlfriend's sister. Two, we have a deposition right now with our client, Jason Will”, he replied and I sighed still seething with anger. I finally get my files and hand them to Mike as we head to the deposition room.

~{}~

“Please, state your name, sir for the record”.

“Jason Will”.

“Mr Will, what is your position in your firm, Empire Records?”, the prosecuting counsel, Mitch asked.

“The Chief Executive Officer and producer at Empire Records”, the tall, lean yet handsome producer replied.

“And you have, in your capacity as the CEO of the firm led the record company successfully for thirteen years?”

“Yes. That is correct”.

“Was your company formed from a marriage?”

“Partly”, he answered.

“Please explain”, Mitch said.

“I fell in love with Ember before the marriage. Our parents felt since we loved each other, it could lead a successful merging of both record companies”.

“Was your wife convicted and jailed for drug trafficking in 2010?”, he asked and Jason broke sweat.

“That is not relevant to this case, Mitch”, Mike said.

“I believe it is. It shows that in 2010, his wife was arrested, convicted and jailed for drug trafficking, bribery and fraud. Your wife served six years jail term for you, Mr Will, is that or is that not correct?”

“This deposition is over, Mr Specter. See you in court”, I said and led our client out of the room.

Ruby Wyatt's POV

I had finished the Carrillo contract, though with much difficulty. He had been in my thoughts all morning and the thought of the seemingly difficult situation I placed myself in didn't help matters.

Like seriously, what have I done?

Concentrate. Concentrate.

I sighed, picking the files once more for thorough vetting. But once more, my mind wandered off hours earlier after the office incident.

Hours Earlier...

“You what?!”, Rachael shrieked and Bertha cringed as she entered the office. Mike chuckled.

“What did she do?”, Bertha asked.

There goes my chance of keeping things quiet. Great! Just great!

“She stood up to Mr Hardman, calling him unfit for the society in terms of manners”.

A gasp flew from Bertha's lips and she quickly covered them.

“Good Lord, Rae! What's wrong in being expressive?”, I chided.

“You're only that expressive when someone does something bad. Like really bad”, she retorted.

“You're gonna be okay. He'll survive one witty remark from you”, Mike spoke for the first time since I told them what happened.

“Looks like he'll go through more than one lifetime of witty remarks from me”, I muttered and he laughed out this time. A rich treble laugh. But Rachael frowned and I sighed.

He sure deserved it, though.

“I didn't say anything that bad. I just said he should be nicer and not commanding”, I argued in my defence.

Bertha kept giving looks at me then at my sister. As if things couldn't get worse, her intercom beeped.

“Ms Wyatt?”, his commanding voice crackled.

“Quick, it's the King of Doom!”, I muttered and Bertha stifled a chuckle.

“I thought I was the only one that called him that”, Mike chuckled. Rae glared at him playfully and I bore the urge of rolling my eyes at her.

“Mr Hardman?”, she replied.

He barked some order concerning Mike and we sighed alike.

“Yes sir, I will when I see him”, she replied and I rolled my eyes. The next thing I hear him say takes me aback.

“Is your sister always like she is?” Rachael and I gave each other the knowing glance.

“I don't understand what you're talking about”, she replied.

“Expressive, outspoken”

“No sir. She is only when someone does something she feels isn't right”.

The intercom died almost immediately.

“I guess I've gotta go. We have a deposition in thirty”, Mike sighed as he stood up.

“I'll come with”, I said. “I need to go through that Carrillo contract and hand it over to someone called Davis or whatever”.

We left Rae's office and headed to the elevator. We got in and after the door closed on us, the room became comfortably silent.

“He's an asshóle, don't you think?”, I said, trying to start a conversation. Mike laughed. “Bertha says today his attitude shows that he is in one of his best moods yet”.

“His attitude is on his worst days. Oh wait, his worst days is everyday”, he replied and I chuckled.

When I stepped in with Mike and we laughed at one lousy joke he had said, he called him. And he was looking pissed and jealous?? Whatever that was, disappeared as soon as it came.

Work! You've got a pile of work to do.

God, what is wrong with me?!

You're dumb, stupid and a total idiot. Did I mention dumb?

Could someone please tell me how to stop this inner voice from talking?

Easy. Jump off a cliff.

As easy as that sounds, I think I'll pass.

That means you're stuck with me, bitch!

Whatever.

I finally stacked half the contract papers in order and started vetting the other half, when the elevator dings. They were back. I stood up and hurried to the kitchen.

Coffee for the King of Doom, coming right up.

Maybe I could slip in something toxic. That would do the trick.

That's a waste of perfectly good handsome looks. And coffee too.

You do have a point there.

I pour the black coffee into a jug because I didn't know how much he wanted. Grabbing a tray, I put the jugful of coffee, two rinsed mugs with their saucers, two teaspoon, a pair of tongs and sugar cup on it and headed to his office.

Balancing the tray carefully on one hand, I knocked with the other. Mike opened the door for me and I smiled as I entered.

“Coffee for you, sir”, I say and carefully drop the tray on his desk. I took out one mug and poured out the hot black coffee into it. Picking up the sugar tongs, I dropped three cubes of sugar and stirred with the teaspoon. I placed the saucer in front of him and placed the steamy cup of coffee in front of him.

He stared at me while I did same for Mike who preferred no sugar but some cream which I hurried to the kitchen for. It seems he didn't touch it and kept stirring it at intervals. That ticked me off.

“The least you could do is take a sip. I didn't poison it or something”, I snapped.

Although I planned to.

He looked at me then took his first sip. Then the next. And another till the cup was drained.

I sighed as I cleared his desk and returned to work. A few hours later and thirteen minutes to lunch break, I was done. I grabbed the neatly arranged files and went to look for whoever this Davis guy was.

I got off on the 13th floor to ask Bertha who Davis was when I bumped into someone. I looked at the person who had received the impact of the bump.

Scott.

“Hey, Scottie”, I greeted as I smiled warmly. He returned the gesture.

“I see we both got in”, he said and I laughed heartily.
“I work under your sister as a probationary associate”, he replied and I nodded smiling. He was about to say something but I cut him off and turned to the secretary's desk.

“Hold on a sec. Um, Bertha”, I called l and she looked at me with a motherly smile. “Please, where can I find someone called Davis?”, I asked.

She pointed at someone talking to Rae and I thanked her. I walked over to him.

“Um, are you Davis?”, I asked. He turned to look at me.

“Yeah, how may I help you?”, he replied smiling flirtatiously. He was good looking but not as hot as Scott.

Or Mr Hardman.

Please, stop flattering him.

I think you are flattering him. You are me, remember?

I mentally face palm myself.

“Um, Mr Hardman told me to hand theses contracts to you to read, extract, rewrite, type, print, photocopy and hand back to me, which I'll proofread, correct for errors, retype, reprint, photocopy again and give to him for signing latest tomorrow by 8:30am”, I said, repeating his instructions word for word.

Well, not entirely.

He nodded and smiled. I talked to Rachael for a while before leaving them.

Turning back to Scott, he smiled again.

“It's lunch break. Wanna have lunch with me?”, he offered.

“What do you have in mind?”, I asked. I was really hungry.

“Burgers and milkshakes. Maybe pot stickers. Or we could go somewhere of your choice”.

“No, I'm okay with it. I'm really hungry, anything you say sounds swell. Except maybe sushi, or Chinese. I don't really like those”, I said.

“Burgers it is”.

°°•°°~{}~°°•°°

Hi guys,

Sorry that the chapter is short. I really wanted to finish this chapter so that you guys could have something to read. Hope you like it.

Thanks for the votes and the little comments here and there. I really means a lot to me.

I'd like to let you know that the book might turn out to be a slow burn book. But I'll make it as interesting as possible.

One more thing, I'd like your take on the cast of this book.

For me,
Carl Hardman: Charlie Cox.

Don't forget to vote and comment.

~ Valerie Jolie ~