Page 5 of Royal Bastard

2

Henry

I watched my new employee fall to the floor in one of the most traumatic entrances I've ever seen in my life. She fell to the floor so hard I was afraid she’d hurt herself, and I rushed out of my chair to get to her.

“Let me help you up.” I tried to take her hand to help her roll over, but I noticed her shoulders shaking. Oh fuck, she was crying! What do I do with a woman in tears? I felt panicked as I reached out and patted at her shoulder. The only woman I’ve ever seen cry was my mother, and I couldn’t pick this woman up and hug as I brushed away her tears. I could get sued or something!

I heard a bubble of sound come from the place where her mouth was crushed into the carpet. There was probably lipstick on the carpet, but I didn’t care because when she rolled over I could see that it was laughter that made her shake. I felt my own eyes crinkle at the corners as I looked down at this stranger I only knew from a picture and a file.

Her green eyes danced while she looked up at me. “I guess I've made the entrance of the year, haven't I?”

“Let's say that entry might have made the front page of Time if anyone had been lucky enough to capture a photo.” I couldn’t help the chuckle my sentence ended on. Now that I could see she wasn’t hurt too badly, and definitely not crying, I felt the humor in the situation. Her own self-deprecation made that easier, and honestly, something about her just put me at ease.

She sat up and pushed away the hair that had fallen around her face. “Hi, I'm Evie. I’ll be your trainee for the day. May I inspect your floor for you?”

Her smile was engaging and the way her cheeks turned slightly pink caught my attention. I knew she had to be embarrassed but she was braving it out. I had to admire that.

“I’m Henry, great to meet you. May I help you up?” I held out a hand to her and to my surprise she actually took it.

“Are you alright?” Alana asked, her hands on Evie’s shoulders.

“I don't think my pride will stand much more, but I'm okay physically.” Evie turned her amazing smile to Alana with gratitude.

“I’m glad you’re not hurt.” Alana gave her a smile. “Let me go get some ice for your knee, it looks a little bruised.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that.” She looked down at her knee and I could see her face blanch when she saw just how bruised it was. It did look painful.

“No worries, it won’t take a minute.” Alana disappeared, and I turned back to Evie.

“Now that we have the introductions out of the way, how about we get you a cup of coffee and a chair to rest in?”

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly before she turned back to me, her smile crooked to the right.

“That sounds like a really good idea.” She let go of my hand and immediately I missed the soft feel of her small palm in mine.

Down boy, I thought to myself. She's not been here an hour and you're already infatuated. I was a professional. It didn’t matter that I'd never been infatuated before—ever. I could handle this.

I shied away from the ideas swirling in my head and focused on the matter at hand. Or tried to. I guided her to the chair, my hand only slightly brushed at the small of her back to make sure she didn’t fall as she hobbled on her injured knee. I went to the cart and prepared coffee for all of us, including one for Alana when she came back. She’d been with me a long time, so I knew how she liked it. “Now then, how do you take your coffee, Evie?”

“Cream only, please.” Her cheeks were redder now, I saw, and turned back to the coffee to give her a moment to recover in private.

“Just how I like mine. Other than your fall, how are you today? How do you feel about being in a new job?”

“Other than clumsy, you mean?” She looked around the office. I could see her in the mirror over the cart, before she settled into the chair and rearranged her clothes. “I’m excited to be here.”

“And we’re excited to have you. You’ll be following Alana and myself around for the first few days and then we’ll start giving you tasks. Nothing too major or confidential because I do have to consider my clients, but you’re here to learn, and we will teach you.”

“I’m really grateful for the opportunity. And the coffee.” She smiled politely as I handed her a ceramic cup and went behind my desk.

I could see the city behind her, through the glass panes of the wall that made up the exterior of the building. Inside there were two standard, black office chairs for people to sit in, my large black glass desk, dark gray carpeting, and two black and white landscape photos of the city decorated the walls. The room was sterile to most, but it kept my brain calm and cool for the heavy workload I carried.

My instincts told me the spunky little blonde was brave and she proved me right when she looked me in the face without fear. “I'm ready for whatever my duties are. I'm eager to learn and look forward to my time here.”

She would only be with us for three months, only enough time to get the basic idea of what a paralegal’s duties were before she would be shipped off to a new assignment. I could see the intelligence in her eyes and knew she’d be good at this job, if she wanted to continue with it. She also had a hardened outer shell, and that was definitely needed in this line of work.

“Great. Did Alana go over your paperwork with you?” Alana was my paralegal, but my personal assistant was out on maternity leave and Alana had agreed to fill in for her instead of us hiring someone new.

“Yes, everything’s been signed and copied, thank you.” She twitched the bag in her lap and I knew she must have her own copies in there.