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Benjamin
I’ve made it my mission to fuck Bella at the office, and each day for the three months since she sucked my cock under the desk that day, I have tried to make it happen. Thoughts of fucking her on every surface in this building constantly fill my mind. But the woman is stubborn and hasn’t given in to my wishes. I understand, though; I'm not a complete asshole. Besides, the game is fun.
Over that same period of time, we’ve worked during the day and fucked during the night. She’s stayed at my condo more often than her own and I find that I rather enjoy having her in my space.
Today, we’re sitting in a meeting discussing a potential joint venture with James Ryder's company, Ryder Tech. Halfway through the meeting, it becomes clear to me that I have pissed off Bella with something I’ve said. She is staring daggers at me. When my eyes meet hers, I flick my palms up and mouth what? She rolls her eyes and scribbles furiously on her notepad. While I expect her to hand over a note to me, she just continues scribbling and leans her head toward the side of the table where my purchasing director is sitting. He’s talking about what components would be needed on our company’s end to launch the venture.
I watch her as she nods her head and continues to ignore me. When I have something to add to the conversation, her eyes stay on her notes and never meet mine. I look around the table as I speak and notice all eyes are on me, except for hers.
At the end of the meeting, I stand, button my jacket, and step aside to shake hands with everyone as Bella brushes past me, looking furious.
Before I can get out of the conference room, Maggie stops me. By asking to have a word with me, she has unknowingly stopped me from going after my girlfriend. I'm slightly pissed off about it, since I want to confront whatever situation is occurring with Bella, but in this time and place, I need to put work first.
“With this joint venture, Ben, we may have some hourly staff working overtime. We haven't budgeted for overtime in those specific departments.”
“How many salaried employees do we have on staff?” I ask.
“Not enough.” She shakes her head.
I groan and run my palm roughly over my face as I bend my neck back. I didn't put much thought into that, and now I'm regretting advancing on the plans so quickly. I try to think of a solution, then look at Maggie.
“Within the project scope, we will need to set clear limits regarding which team members can and cannot work the overtime. I do not want full teams to work overtime.”
“But that puts more work on some staff and not as much as on others.” She has a point, but I brush it off.
“Those folks will be rewarded with overtime pay. Isn’t that enough?” The bite in my bark is not intended really for Maggie. I just want out of this conversation.
“Ben, can you give me an org chart of the teams you will be creating? Perhaps those individuals are salaried employees and if you want anyone specific added, we can change their exemption status.”
“How come there are hourly and salaried employees? Wouldn’t it be more logical to have one or the other?” I question.
“Your father wanted a mixture. There are positions within Adams Enterprises that do not need to be salaried. And some that clearly do.”
“Can we set a time to meet and discuss each staff member’s status? I would like to see where we can make these sort of changes within the company. Salaried employees allow for more work to be done, due to their longer hours and static pay.”
“While you may have staff here who prefer to be hourly so they can reap that overtime.” Maggie nods.
“You know everyone here better than I do. Perhaps we meet next week?” I suggest.
“Something is different about you,” she observes, crossing her arms and eyeing me.
“Pardon?” I tilt my head.
“You’re asking, rather than demanding. You’re willing to discuss rather than blindly change. What’s happening here?” Maggie steps back, hands on her hips, and looks me up and down as if she will find the magic answer to my recent change in demeanor.
“Nothing’s different, Maggie. It’s your imagination.” I laugh and brush her off as we exit the room.
“No. Something is definitely different about you.” She follows behind me as she struggles to keep up with my long strides.
I’ve made it to the door of my office. I want to be left alone and yet I need to speak with Bella. I can’t very well do that with the mother hen of HR standing next to me.
“Maggie, I beg you, let it be. I’m the same man I’ve been since forever. Rest assured, my body has not been taken over by an alien or a parasite.” I force a laugh.
“No, you are less angry. More simpatico.”
“Maggie,” I say, my tone contains a warning.
She holds both her hands up in surrender. “Fine. Fine. You big brute. You’re still the scary, mean CEO… Oh, I’m so scared!” she jokes as she walks away.
