disallowed herself to give him any kind of leeway or extra grace when it came to him interacting with her.
His looks, which had gotten him far with everyone else, had gotten him exactly nowhere with her. His cool, standoffish, arrogant, egotistical demeanor, which had intimidated countless others, had no effect on her whatsoever. So that was what she showed him, and though he had tried everything that he could think of to make her like him, all of his charms and sweet talking had done nothing to get him any closer to her, and she knew it, and he knew it, though neither one of them said anything about it.
Two months after she had started working for him, they had developed a workable though somewhat twisted relationship. She did what he needed to have done without really connecting with him beyond a professional level; at least, that was what she showed him on the outside, but what she saw on the inside was something that had begun to touch her heart every single day.
He was fallible. He had weaknesses that showed through his facades of bravado and she began to see that the wall of arrogance that he showed to so many others was almost transparent to those who might choose to take a few moments and really look at it. He wasn’t nearly as shallow and vain or egotistical as she had originally believed him to be, but he didn’t let anyone see that in him, either.
His walls of ego and attitude, his arrogance and defiance were defense mechanisms, and they kept people away; even all the women who wanted him were kept away, only allowed to be physically close to him, but never close to his heart, at least, not close enough to hurt him. Two months in, she had begun to feel protective of him, and it amazed her that she could feel anything for him, most especially protectiveness.
He came to her one morning and stood a slight distance from her desk, his eyes on hers rather than on her body. His voice was quiet and respectful. “Good morning, Naomi.” He greeted her with a pleasant smile.
She looked up at him with a smile and her eyes did to his insides what her eyes always did to his insides; it was like a huge hook that caught him somewhere in his torso, between his stomach and his heart, and the hook caught him hard and yanked the inside of him. He took a deep breath and tried to focus.
“We need to go out of town on a business trip.” He set a folder down on her desk and she opened it and glanced over the papers inside, and then looked back up at him expectantly.
“We’re both going?” she asked in surprise. Her first thought was that he was going to try to seduce her while they were out of town, but then some kind of common sense pulled her attention away from those thoughts and she felt like scolding herself for even thinking it.
He nodded. “We are both going.” He told her as he looked away from her. The idea of going out of town with her had led to more than a few fantasies about what could happen between them if given the right circumstance and chance, but he knew they were nothing more than fantasies, and he kept them hidden deep within himself.
“I’d like you to book the trip for us. Everything you need to know is in that file. We’re meeting Anthony Bryan and I’d like to meet him at the hotel if we can arrange it. Please see what the space availability is there; we need something private and professional.” He told her thoughtfully, considering what might be the best possible scenario for their business.
She agreed, and wrote down what he wanted as she made a few extra notes. “I’ll let you know when it’s booked for us.” She looked back up at him. She had come to like the look of him; he felt like he was hers without any of the weird commitments and dramatic nonsense. Just… friends… somehow, and she liked it. Part of it had to do with the slight distance that he kept from her, giving her some personal space and some respect, and some of it had to do with a feeling of trust that had begun
His looks, which had gotten him far with everyone else, had gotten him exactly nowhere with her. His cool, standoffish, arrogant, egotistical demeanor, which had intimidated countless others, had no effect on her whatsoever. So that was what she showed him, and though he had tried everything that he could think of to make her like him, all of his charms and sweet talking had done nothing to get him any closer to her, and she knew it, and he knew it, though neither one of them said anything about it.
Two months after she had started working for him, they had developed a workable though somewhat twisted relationship. She did what he needed to have done without really connecting with him beyond a professional level; at least, that was what she showed him on the outside, but what she saw on the inside was something that had begun to touch her heart every single day.
He was fallible. He had weaknesses that showed through his facades of bravado and she began to see that the wall of arrogance that he showed to so many others was almost transparent to those who might choose to take a few moments and really look at it. He wasn’t nearly as shallow and vain or egotistical as she had originally believed him to be, but he didn’t let anyone see that in him, either.
His walls of ego and attitude, his arrogance and defiance were defense mechanisms, and they kept people away; even all the women who wanted him were kept away, only allowed to be physically close to him, but never close to his heart, at least, not close enough to hurt him. Two months in, she had begun to feel protective of him, and it amazed her that she could feel anything for him, most especially protectiveness.
He came to her one morning and stood a slight distance from her desk, his eyes on hers rather than on her body. His voice was quiet and respectful. “Good morning, Naomi.” He greeted her with a pleasant smile.
She looked up at him with a smile and her eyes did to his insides what her eyes always did to his insides; it was like a huge hook that caught him somewhere in his torso, between his stomach and his heart, and the hook caught him hard and yanked the inside of him. He took a deep breath and tried to focus.
“We need to go out of town on a business trip.” He set a folder down on her desk and she opened it and glanced over the papers inside, and then looked back up at him expectantly.
“We’re both going?” she asked in surprise. Her first thought was that he was going to try to seduce her while they were out of town, but then some kind of common sense pulled her attention away from those thoughts and she felt like scolding herself for even thinking it.
He nodded. “We are both going.” He told her as he looked away from her. The idea of going out of town with her had led to more than a few fantasies about what could happen between them if given the right circumstance and chance, but he knew they were nothing more than fantasies, and he kept them hidden deep within himself.
“I’d like you to book the trip for us. Everything you need to know is in that file. We’re meeting Anthony Bryan and I’d like to meet him at the hotel if we can arrange it. Please see what the space availability is there; we need something private and professional.” He told her thoughtfully, considering what might be the best possible scenario for their business.
She agreed, and wrote down what he wanted as she made a few extra notes. “I’ll let you know when it’s booked for us.” She looked back up at him. She had come to like the look of him; he felt like he was hers without any of the weird commitments and dramatic nonsense. Just… friends… somehow, and she liked it. Part of it had to do with the slight distance that he kept from her, giving her some personal space and some respect, and some of it had to do with a feeling of trust that had begun
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