“The thirtieth?” He raised an eyebrow at me, as his eyes looked over me with a dismissive look.
“Yes.” I stopped smiling. He was annoying me. What the hell was his problem?
“Are you visiting someone?” he questioned.
I thought about ignoring him but decided not to, just in case I had to work with him. “No.”
“So. you are going to the executive’s floor because…?”
“It’s noneya,” I said smarmily to him, knowing I was being immature, but wanting to put him in his place.
“Excuse me?” He frowned in confusion. “What’s that?”
“It’s none of your business.” I looked at him coldly and watched as he burst out laughing. I studied him as he laughed. He really was a very handsome man, especially when he laughed. He had perfect white teeth. I always look at the teeth first, I know it’s an odd thing to do but they are what attracts me first. He was tall, a lot taller than I was and I’m five eight. I figured he was at least six two or so. And he looked like he was quite fit, though I couldn’t be one hundred percent sure how muscular he was, as he was wearing a dark gray suit. His hair was dark brown with sprinkles of gray, that would be easy to miss if you weren’t looking closely. I couldn’t tell his age, his face looked like he was in his thirties but the salt and pepper in his hair made me think forties. Not that it mattered to me. He was too old for me, whatever his age was. At twenty-two years old, there was no way I was going to date an old man.
“What’s your name?” His voice interrupted my reverie.
“Why?” I looked at him suspiciously; worried he would report me to HR. That would be the worst thing that could happen. What if they looked up my file and realized the mistake they had made? Then I’d be making twenty-five thousand a year as opposed to a hundred and fifty thousand. I already had the hundred and fifty thousand spent in my mind, so no way I could go down in salary now.
“Isn’t it polite to ask someone’s name these days?” He raised an eyebrow at me again, his light blue-gray eyes mocking me. He had the most beautiful eyes I’d ever seen in my life and I couldn’t stop myself from staring into them. A girl could get lost in those eyes, I thought to myself.
“Not a stranger’s,” I retorted, my own blue eyes flashing at him.
He laughed a deep hearty chuckle. “I suppose you’re new here, huh?”
“Maybe.” I was determined to give him as little information as possible.
“So tell me.” He walked closer to me. “What do you think of Green & Hall’s so far?”
“Oh, I love it,” I gushed before biting my lip. “I mean, it seems all right.” I needed to play it a lot cooler than I was.
“Have you met the CEO yet? I heard he can be an ass,” he whispered to me. “I’m glad I don’t work for him.”
“Oh, you don’t work here?” I looked at him in relief. “I actually think that Mr. Green is a great employer. One of the best I’ve ever had. It’s almost like he is my good friend, as opposed to my boss,” I lied smoothly. Let this man think that the CEO and me were tight. Maybe then he’d show me a bit more respect.
“Oh really?” A smile spread across his face as his mesmerizing eyes bore into mine. “I’m impressed that you have such a great relationship with him.”
“Don’t take this the wrong way but I would watch how you talk to people next time. I wouldn’t want to have to tell Mr. Green anything about meeting rude people in the elevator.” I looked at him smugly, the lies flying out of my mouth easily.
“Oh yeah?” He beamed at me from war to ear and I wondered why he thought that was so funny. “I’ll be sure to watch my mouth next time. I don’t want Mr. Green on my ass now, do I?”
“No, you don’t. He can be really hardcore when it comes to me.” I smiled at him widely. Take that Mr. You won’t be grinning if you get fired. I conveniently forgot that there was no chance of that happening. “I’m one of his favorite employees.”
“Oh?” He paused. “So I guess you call him by his first name then, huh?”
“Of course.” I nodded.
“What is it again?”
Shit, I had no idea what his first name was. “Ben.” I guessed quickly. Maybe this guy didn’t know him first name either. It was better to fake it and pretend I knew than to admit that I didn’t.
“Ben?” He cleared his throat. “Huh. I could have sworn his name was Harry or something.”
Shit! “Well, it is Harry but his, uh, middle name is Ben and he lets his closest friends call him that.” I thanked my lucky stars when the elevator finally stopped on the thirtieth floor. “Well, here’s my stop. Nice meeting you.” I hurried out of the elevator and didn’t look back, even though I could hear that he was laughing. I was annoyed at myself for the farce I had played on the man. Hopefully, he was only here for something quick and didn’t do a lot of business with Green & Hall’s or I could find myself in a complicated situation. What if he actually knew Mr. Green and told him he’d met me and Mr. Green had no idea what he was talking about? That would not be good.
“There you are, Sarah.” Lewis came into my office just as I sat down. He watched me as I applied some lip gloss and I felt a little bit awkward. I could see him staring at my lips, so I made sure to lick them a few times. I knew that turned men on and I figured it wouldn’t hurt to have him crushing on me. Not that I would want to date him. He was cute enough, he looked like a beach blond surfer but there was something about him that was just too boyish. I preferred my men to be manly. Like the man in the elevator—I allowed myself to think about him for a second—he was hot. I could still feel a flush on my body from being in his presence. It was a pity that he seemed like an asshole and that he was too old for me. He was someone I could have gone for in other circumstances.
“Hey, how can I help you, Lewis?” I beamed at him, wondering if he would ask me on a date. I didn’t mind a small flirtation in the office, but an outside date could prove to be more complicated.
“So, Sarah, I have some files that I’d like you to compare for me.” Oh no, I groaned inside. “I just got word that Mr. Green will be back earlier than we thought and he’s going to want this data analyzed and in a report on his desk as soon as he’s back.”
“Oh, okay.” I bit my lip. “Do we know when that’s going to be?” Please, let it be in a week or two minimum, I prayed, so that I would have enough time to figure out what I was doing.
“No, I’m not sure.” Lewis sighed. “Harry’s plans change all the time. It could be in a few days, it could be in a few weeks; I’d rather we got it out of the way now, so we don’t have to worry about it.”
“Sure, sure.” I smiled assuredly at him. “I’ll take care of it ASAP.”
“Great.” He turned around and then stopped at the door. “And if you could create some spreadsheets with some macros that would be perfect.”
“Uh sure.” Macros? What was that? I thought to myself. “I’ll get to that on my Mac.”