Zoey POV:

"We have a conference call in a half hour at 10:30. Would you be able to sit in and jot down notes?"

I stood there in awe. What Delilah was asking me to do sounded more like an assistant, not a receptionist.

"Not to offend you, Ms. Greene, but I'm only a receptionist. Not an assistant. At least you didn't tell me that over our phone call." I said with calmness.

The blonde woman before me smiled widely.

Several moments went by of her just smiling at me before I spoke, breaking the awkwardness.

"Did I do something funny?" I questioned, trying not to sound like a smart aleck.

"Nope." Delilah replied, still smiling widely. "I just like you, Zoey. The last ten receptionists would have told me yes they'd sit in on the conference call, and neglect their duties as a receptionist. You, on the other hand, realize your job title, and are not afraid of saying no to anything that isn't within that job title and risking mentioned job."

I was perplexed. Most bosses would have been upset with their employee not doing as they asked. I guess Delilah Greene was not one of those bosses.

"Delilah. Be easy on the girl with your craziness. You've confused the crap out of her." Dan budded in and increasing my confusion and shock further, he turned and spoke to me. "Just ignore Delilah's shenanigans, Zoey. She likes to mess with the new employees."

I nodded, looking back and forth between the two.

Delilah wore a blue green pant suit, a white blouse underneath, and white flats on her feet. Her graying blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail and held up with a simple and large blue green hair clip. On her neck she wore a golden chain with two wedding rings hanging from it and in her ears, she wore white pearls. She looked all the part a business woman should and I slightly felt intimated by her.

Dan, on the other hand wore a black button-up polo, black khakis, and a pair of black dress shoes. On his left arm he wore the silver Rolex my father had given him as a birthday gift the second year we had been seeing each other.

Seeing this, a frown crossed my face, the guilt of what I did to him weighing heavily on my heart.

"So, what should I do first then?" I cleared my throat and finally asked, tugging on the edge of my gray jacket nervously and biting my bottom lip.

"Just answer the calls. And reply to the emails. Be forewarned, since this is a magazine company, we get a lot of phone calls." Dan said, his stoic demeanor back in place.

I felt my heart drop into my stomach, almost forgetting Hearts United was a magazine company.

They printed articles on troubled teens and even had celebrity guest appearances in every issue. Usually the celebrity was someone who had gotten into trouble at a young age and had been interviewed by other magazines already.

I recalled about a month back, when a popular hotel heiress/actress had been featured on the cover and had two entire pages covering how she got involved with drugs and her road to recovery.

At the time, everyone had high hopes for the heiress, but only a week after the issue was released, she had fallen back into drugs and had a narcotics charge filed against her.

"Uh, Zoey, are you okay?" Dan snapped his fingers in front of my face, bringing me out of my thoughts.

"Yes. Sorry. I'm going to get right to work." I scrambled back behind the desk, answering the phone that rang as soon as I sat down.

* * *

I rode the elevator down to the first floor at lunch time, so grateful to finally get a break.

The rest of the morning after meeting Delilah and seeing Dan had been eventful and stressful.

If I wasn't answering the phone calls or replying to emails, I was being called into Dan's office to do some sort of task for him.

Most of the time it was simple things he could do himself like getting coffee, or adjusting the thermostat in his office, or the worst of them all, refilling his printer. I, however, did it with no objection, since he was my new boss and I didn't want to disappoint him.

This job was proving to be more than I expected and deep down, I almost regretted taking it. Then, I remembered the pay and the desire not to burden my parents with asking for their money.

Most would have thought I was your average, spoiled, rich girl and they would have been correct.

When I was a child, I was very spoiled and even rebellious. I threw fits when I didn't get what I wanted, whether it be a new doll or new designer dress.

I even went so far as to smack my mother one time when she wouldn't buy me the newly released Beach Babe Barbie at the age of 10.

At the time, I didn't think much about smacking her, given I was a spoiled brat, but that night when everyone else was asleep in the penthouse, I heard her crying.

Sneaking out of my room, on tip toe, I made my way downstairs where my mother sat in the living room, hunched over a bunch of papers that turned out to be bills.

I instantly felt guilty for my behavior and rushed forward, throwing my arms around my mother and apologizing.

She was shocked at seeing me awake and out of bed, but once she heard my apology she started explaining to me why she couldn't buy me the doll I had wanted.

It turned out, Prescott and Carmichael Architect Industries hadn't been doing too well and bills had started stacking up.

Hearing this as a child, I had vowed to never ask for another toy again, hoping that would help the situation out.

It would be several months later that the company ever picked up and became the successful business it was today.

I snapped back to reality as the elevator dinged and I stepped out onto the first floor.

"How are you doing?" Victoria asked cheerily as I passed by the front desk.

"I'm doing okay. Answered a lot of phone calls." I replied honestly, purposely leaving out the part about Dan having me do his little tasks. I didn't know if the red head before me would tell him I was complaining about it, so I kept it to myself.

"We do get quite a bit of calls here. How'd you like Delilah?"

"She was. . ." I tried to think of how to describe the woman I'd just met. "Pleasant."

"Let me guess, she pulled the whole sit in on a conference call bit on you?" Victoria asked, with a knowing look.

I just nodded, not to sure what to say about that whole situation.

"She does that to all the new receptionists. She even tried it on me."

I looked down as my phone went off in my purse.

Are you able to still get away for lunch? Missing you
- Ian

"Uh, not to cut this short, but my boyfriend and I agreed to meet up for lunch." I told the red head, the sound of the word boyfriend sending butterflies through my stomach.

"Oh. No problem. You enjoy your lunch." She smiled happily as I started walking towards the front doors.

"Thanks. You enjoy yours too when you get to take it." I waved bye and then typed out a quick reply to Ian, grinning wildly.

On my way now. Sorry I'm a few minutes late. The first floor receptionist stopped me :(
- Zoey

I got another reply instantly.

Just hurry. I need to kiss those luscious lips of yours 😙
- Ian

I texted one last text before I sped walked down the road and to our agreed upon restaurant.

* * *

Ian stood up as I reached him at the small glass table he sat at outside the restaurant.

"Gosh, I've missed you." Before I can even get a response out, he pulls me into his arms and kisses me passionately on the lips.

Tingles start in my lips, going through my body, all the way down to my toes.

This man always knew how to ignite that fire inside me and leave me wanting more when he ended the kiss.

"I missed you too." I muttered as we sat down and he intertwined our fingers.

"So how is it so far?"

I explained to him my duties as receptionist and how many calls I had answered already. I then told him about Dan being my new boss and about the tasks he had me do.

"That guy sounds like he's taking advantage of you and it's only day one." Ian took a bite out of the delicious looking turkey sandwich he'd ordered when we first started talking and just received. "He may have been your boyfriend for three years and fiancée for a short while, but that doesn't mean he can give you a hard time at work."

"I think he's just trying to see how far I'll go to impress them. But don't worry, I draw the line at sucking him off." I stated casually, biting into the ham sandwich sat in front of me and stifling a laugh.

Ian choked on his sandwich, his eyes wide, and a horrified expression on his face.

"Ian, he wouldn't ask that." I assured him once he got over the initial shock of my words. "Plus, the only person I'd even consider doing that to is you."

His eyes lit up at the mention of that and he bit his bottom lip.

"Can that be arranged?" He asked huskily, running his fingers down my arm and sending more tingles through my body.

"Maybe if you don't forget to pick me up after work." I jumped up, winking as I sat money down on the table to pay for my food and starting to leave.

Just like several times before, I didn't get too far before Ian grabbed my arm and pulled me into him.

"You always forget your goodbye kiss." He whispered, our lips inches apart.

"I'm sorry. I guess I'm really forgetful." I whispered back, closing the gap and pressing my lips against his.

Fireworks exploded inside me, a pleasant heat starting to build between us as we kissed for a long time.