Bullied by the Boss Read online

  Going to his desk, he quickly brought up a copy of Richmond’s prenup and waited.

  Seconds passed, and she came into his office.

  “I want a coffee as well,” he said as she placed the file she’d been reading onto his desk.

  She didn’t say anything, simply leaving his office to go to the coffee room. Again, she reappeared, and placed the coffee down on his desk.

  When she made a move toward the door, he couldn’t stop a growl.

  “Did I say you could leave?” he asked.

  Nora paused, and he watched as she took her time to turn toward him. “What would you like me to do?” Her hands were clasped together at the front of her body, and today it only seemed to draw his eye to her tits. They were pressed together, and he wanted her naked so bad. He wanted her open and ready to take his cock.

  His dick began to harden as he watched her.

  “I don’t pay you to stand around and chat.”

  “You don’t pay me at all. The office does, and I was still doing my work.” She pointed at the file on his desk. “This has a similar case to Richmond’s. Same prenup deal and such.”

  “Carl is a loser. Don’t even for a second think you can win him over. It’s not really winning.”

  She laughed. “Seriously, you think every man and woman who talk want to have something more than a chat?”

  She didn’t see the way that Carl was looking at her.

  “Don’t fuck any of my colleagues on my time. It looks bad on me.”

  “Yeah, because you’re all about your image.”

  He paused. Never had she talked back to him. She took everything he said, and never fought back.

  Staring at her, he waited for whatever smart ass comment was about to come out of her mouth. Instead, she stared at him.

  “Don’t push me, Nora. You won’t like it.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Is that all?”

  He nodded when he had nothing to add. Fuck! Watching her walk away did not help his rock-hard cock. He’d never felt this way before, and certainly not for his much younger PA.

  Chapter Three

  Nora nibbled her lip as she looked down at her email. She had been asked to go to an interview tomorrow at lunch for a rival firm. Fear and excitement gripped her. This was really happening. She was going to go out on her own, and she was going to move on from this job. There was no way she wanted to stay working for Rex. He was a horrible man, a terrible boss, and she knew she could be happier somewhere else. She knew without a doubt that Frank was going to be so upset with her.

  The last thing she wanted to do was appear ungrateful for the chance that he had given her. What she found even harder was the thought of letting him down. This had been her home for so long. Well, not really her home but it had given her a sense of purpose.

  And Rex had shot that out of the window every single chance he got. He doesn’t want you there.

  “What’s that you’re looking at?” Rex asked, startling her.

  She dropped her cell phone, and let out a gasp. “You scared me.” Reaching down to the floor, she grabbed her phone and immediately shut it off. “Sorry, I was just checking emails.”

  “Don’t you have a computer for that?” he asked, sitting on her desk. Nora stared at his ass perched on her desk, and wondered not for the first time today, what the hell he was doing.

  “Erm, sorry, they were personal emails. I know you don’t like me answering my private emails, but I didn’t take any break today so I didn’t think you would mind.” And now she was rambling.

  Wow, her mind was all over the place, and she felt a little guilty. Arranging interviews for a new job behind his back felt a little wrong, but then, he was the asshole boss, and she was just looking for a break. A nice break, with a nice boss who wouldn’t treat her like shit.

  “Don’t worry about it. I just wondered how you were getting on?”

  She paused with her fingers over the keyboard, and glanced his way. “Excuse me?”

  He frowned. “What’s wrong?”

  “I was about to ask you that question. What is wrong? Have I done something wrong?” She started to get tense. Maybe he knew that she had been looking for jobs elsewhere.

  Rex held his hands up. “The work you got me, it was good. It will help a lot.”

  “Oh … okay … I’m glad.” She stared at her screen, and again he still lingered. In all the time she had been his PA never had he perched on her desk, nor had he asked how she was getting on. Something didn’t feel right. “Can I ask you a question?”

  “Sure. Fire away.”

  “Erm, if I was to decide to leave, would you give me a good reference?”

  She watched him tense.

  “Why do you ask?”

  “It’s just a general question. Nothing about it at all.” Her hands were starting to sweat, and she felt nervous, so damn nervous. Licking her dry lips, she chanced a look at him. He didn’t believe her about the missed appointments that were a mistake. With him not believing the truth, she knew it wasn’t exactly good on a reference. No one would hire her if they thought she was incompetent, or worse, that she did it on purpose.

  Why didn’t you make him believe you?

  She had tried, but he just wouldn’t listen, thinking the worst of her.

  “I hope you’re not thinking of leaving, and if someone here is making your life a misery then I expect you to come to me, and I will sort it.” He stood up, and she watched as he smoothed out the creases on his jacket. “I’m going to a friend’s. Alaric Patterson. You know him.”

  Yes, she did. She told him there was an urgent appointment with Alaric, and had sent him halfway across town. There had been an emergency appointment. Only it wasn’t with Alaric Patterson. It had been with Larry Peterson. The two names had blended together, and she couldn’t get hold of either man to confirm which was when. She was so embarrassed by that mishap. Rex had been horrible to her, calling her all kinds of names that she really didn’t want to start repeating.

  When she got home, she had sobbed herself to sleep. Never had she had a day go so wrong. After that, she had stayed over, and worked through all of her lunch breaks to make sure it didn’t happen again, and it hadn’t. He didn’t seem to care about that though. No, he was more than happy dwelling on her mistake.

  “Is there anything you need?” she asked.

  “No. You can leave when you’ve done your work.”

  She watched him disappear on the elevator, and without waiting for another miracle to happen, she got finished with her work around four-thirty. No longer wanting to wait, she decided to head up to Frank’s office. She saw Lorna on the main desk outside, and she ushered her inside without a word.

  Entering Frank’s office, she saw that he was sitting at his desk, reading through another file. Frank was very old school. He didn’t like using computers, and preferred everything to be well documented. She had loved going through his stacks of previous cases. He kept everything meticulously organized. Frank’s obsession was the law.

  “Hello, Nora, lovely to see you’re well again.”

  “Hey, Frank.” She took a seat opposite him, and waited for him to finish what he was reading.

  While she waited, the guilt started to build once again inside her until it began to overwhelm her. Biting her lip, she stared at the man who had given her a chance, and she just couldn’t take it anymore.

  “I’ve got several interviews with companies over the next couple of weeks. One is a rival firm, and they want me to go in tomorrow.” She tensed in the chair waiting for him to say something. Frank looked up.

  Nothing changed.

  His face remained the same, contemplative. He removed his glasses, and sighed. “It’s Rex, isn’t it?”

  “It’s … many things, sir. I, erm, I think it’s time I moved on. You know, we did say this was only going to be a trial run, and it’s not working. It’s really not working for me, and Rex is a great lawyer.”

  “But he’s a lo
usy guy, and a shit boss,” Frank said, sighing.

  She was tired of going home at night and before sleeping, crying. It wasn’t how life was supposed to be. “I love this company, Frank, really I do. I loved working for you, and I love the law, but I’ve got to move on, and I don’t want you to think that I’m ungrateful. I’m not. I really am.”

  “If you were still working for me, would you have considered leaving?”

  Nora paused and stared at him. Tears filled her eyes as she felt a wave of disappointment wash over her. “I don’t feel comfortable here.”

  “I’ve got my answer, honey. This is something that you really need to do?” he asked.

  She nodded. “Yeah, it is.”

  “Then you’ve got to do it. I’m not going to hold you back. Please know that I will do anything to keep you here. All I ask is that on your interview, you keep our practice strictly confidential.”

  “I wouldn’t tell them anything, sir. I promise.”

  “I know you won’t.” He sighed again, and stood. “I hope you don’t leave, I really do. Take the interview tomorrow. I can see it’s what you really want to do, and then we’ll talk afterward okay?”

  “That would be great. Thank you.”

  He moved from behind his desk, and walked toward her. Within seconds he had embraced her in a hug. “I hope you don’t think this is inappropriate. Lidia wants to know when you’re coming for dinner.” Lidia and Frank hadn’t been able to have kids, and his work had taken all of his spare time. She knew the two considered her more of a daughter than a friend. They were wonderful people, and she loved them both.

  She chuckled. “It’s fine. You’re the one that found me and gave me this chance. I don’t know if I’ll ever leave unless you fire me, but it’s just something I need to do.”

  “I know. Right, what are you doing now?” he asked.

  “I’m heading home. Rex said I could finish my work, and head out, so I’m going to do that.”

  “Come in tomorrow. Don’t mention anything to Rex. I’ll deal with him. Wear your hair down, and stay calm. You know everything that you need to know about everything. You’re a hard worker, and what you don’t know, you can learn on the job.”

  “I will do. Erm, there’s a problem. If I do decide to go, Rex wasn’t exactly forthcoming on if he’d give me a good reference. You know, he thinks I sent him to the wrong places on purpose, which I didn’t.”

  Frank held his hand up, silencing her.

  “Honey, you’ll get a fantastic one off me. You’ve put up with Rex, and for that, you’ve earned your right to a damn good one. Besides, you showed me what had gone wrong while having a complete meltdown, remember? Not only that, you went to Larry Peterson in person, and pleaded Rex’s case, and gave him every possible reason why he should take Rex as the lead for his case. You made a mistake, but you fixed it.”

  “Thank you, Frank. I really mean it. You’ve been amazing.” She hugged him back. Her feelings for Frank were that of a mentor, and in the back of her mind, kind of like a grandfather. She would love to have had him as her grandfather. He was wise beyond his years, kind, and yet lethal when he needed to be.

  She pulled away and left his office. Her heart was aching as this was really her home for so long. The people here, they appreciated her, even if her own direct boss didn’t.

  On the way out of the building, Carl cornered her and asked for her assistance. He had been having such a hard streak lately that she refused to ignore his cry for help. Leaving early was not an option, especially when she could support someone. Entering his office, she sat down, and began to work with him.

  ****

  Rex finished his phone call, and looked at the sandwich on his desk. Nora had placed it there five minutes ago, and he had asked her to join him. What the fuck was up with that? What made it even more worse, she had told him she had other plans. Plans that didn’t include staying in the office, and now he was pissed. He was making himself look like a fucking idiot, and once again, he didn’t know why. Nora was not the most beautiful girl in the world.

  Last night you couldn’t stop thinking about her, and you went home beating off in your own hand thinking about all the dirty things you want to do to her.

  The sandwich was his usual, spicy chicken with cream cheese on a bed of lettuce. He had always loved this sandwich, and the only other one he loved was peanut butter, one of his childish loves that he has never gotten over.

  There was a knock on the door, and he looked up to see Frank standing there.

  “Hi,” he said. “Can I come in?”

  “Yeah, of course. Have a seat. I’d get Nora to get you a coffee, but she’s not here. She’s gone out to lunch.” I don’t know where, or who with, and it pisses me off. She’s supposed to be single.

  Rex didn’t like his sudden need to know everything about her.

  “I know where Nora is. The question is, do you?” Frank closed the door, and took a seat opposite him.

  “She said she had a lunch date that she couldn’t cancel.”

  “Has she asked you about a reference lately?”

  Rex tensed up recalling her question yesterday. “Yes, and I told her she didn’t need to worry. She loves working here.”

  “Actually, she loved working here. Past tense. I had a very interesting conversation with sweet little Nora yesterday. I can tell you for a fact that she is currently sitting down at an interview with a rival firm. Now if it was anyone else, I would be worried, but I know Nora is as loyal as she is hardworking. She would never spill anything about us, and I trust her. Also, I told her that she would never need to worry about a reference, but I want to know from you why one of our fucking team wants to leave when she was so happy.”

  Rex was in shock. He had reached out to her yesterday, and he’d not said anything bad. “How can you offer her a reference? She sent me to the wrong places on purpose!”

  “If you got your head out of your ass, and stop believing the worst in people, she made a mistake, and like I said before, she made sure that nothing came of her mistake. You landed Peterson. Now answer me. Why does she want to leave when she was happy?”

  Rex recalled Nora’s attempt to excuse her behavior. She had held up that damn notebook diary he had made her use. Not to mention the fact there was a new computer delivered to her, and everyone had told him that she had called to double check all other appointments. He hadn’t wanted to hear any of it. Still, he could have been wrong. Maybe. He didn’t know. “I don’t know what the problem is. I really don’t. She was fine yesterday.”

  “One day of being nice to her against all of those others, and you think for a second that she wouldn’t want to leave? You’ve been treating her like shit, punishing her when you’re really pissed at me.”

  Rex didn’t say anything. When Frank was on a roll, everyone tended to shut the hell up, and listen to what he had to say. Rex had seen him in court, and once he got going, it really wasn’t pretty.

  “You wanted to continue to fuck around with stupid women who were no better than whores. They were here to fuck, not to work. Now Nora, she’s not the kind of woman you’re used to, huh?” Frank didn’t even raise his voice as he spoke. “Nora is the kind of woman that you’re loyal to. She’s the kind of woman that you feel guilty if you ever fuck another woman when she is yours.”

  Rex had already figured that out. Nora was the kind of woman you settled down with. She was the woman that you thought about a future, kids, and everything in between. To Rex, she had always represented a life that he had turned his back on, settling instead for meaningless fucks.

  “She’s leaving?” he asked. He didn’t like the spark of pain that shot through him.

  “I don’t know. I guess that is entirely up to you, isn’t it?” Frank stood. “You know, I’ve always liked you. You’re a mean little shit, and you’ve made me a lot of money. I never thought I would be sorry to see Nora go either. My biggest mistake was handing her over to you.”

  Rex wat
ched as Frank left his office.

  Placing his hands on the desk, he didn’t know what to do or what to think. Nothing made any sense anymore, and yet it made perfect sense. Of course Nora would leave. He had been the meanest bastard in the world.

  Something had to be done. He didn’t want her to leave, not now, not ever.

  I don’t want her to go.

  I like looking at her.

  Crap. Rubbing his eyes, he focused on the task at hand. He finished his sandwich, and tried not to watch the clock. It was next to impossible to though. He kept waiting for Nora to come in, and he didn’t know what he was going to do or say.

  Finally, a little after one, she entered the office and fired up her computer. Gritting his teeth, he wondered what he would say or do.

  She didn’t enter his office, and Rex wasn’t interested in talking to her right then. Time passed, and she went back to her desk, and then wandered around toward the research section.

  Several colleagues passed, and he waited, wondering when she would finally enter his office. She did nothing, and he chanced a glance at her desk, to find a small lamp that she was reading from. Only when Frank left did she seem to realize the time.

  Rex stayed at his desk, waiting. He couldn’t hear what Frank was saying, and he wasn’t interested. Finally, they were all alone on the floor, and seconds later, Nora came in.

  “Hey, I didn’t realize the time. I’m going to head out,” she said.

  “Why didn’t you tell me you had an interview today?” He closed the file on the Richmond case, and looked up at her. Her hair was down, cascading all around, tempting him. The moment she had entered the office that morning, he had noticed her hair. Never had she worn it down. Looking at her now, he saw that she was dressed to impress. The skirt she wore molded to every single curve that she possessed, the white blouse highlighting her full tits and slender neck.

  “You know. Frank told you.”

  He got up from behind his desk. “Yeah, but I want to know why you told Frank, and you didn’t tell me.”