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40 - Professional
"Mr. Grayson -"
"Yes?"
The sharp response lanced through Jia like a cold knife, and she had to steady herself so that she didn't rock back from the sheer frigidity emanating from Atlas right now. And yet there was a heat in his eyes that made her wonder if perhaps he wasn't about to physically pick her up and hurl her out the nearest window.
"Ms. Munson hasn't shared anything compromising about you, if that's what you're concerned about, Mr. Grayson."
Jia made sure to hold his stare - no matter what! - so that he could see her earnestness. As much as she wanted to keep backing up to put more space between them, that would put her directly against the wall, and she remembered only too well what had happened the last time she'd done that.
"Then what exactly have you two bonded over? You're not much a drinker as far as I can tell, Ms. Moon."
Well - how would he know that? What if she was, in fact, a drunkard on her own time? In truth, she
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"You must be kidding."Jia spread her arms a little in a disarming, helpless gesture. "It'll be brief," she said. "I'm just supposed to make sure you're settled in comfortably.""You're babysitting me.""No," she insisted. "Mr. Grayson just wants me to -"Dolly's hand chopped at the air between them, narrowly missing Jia's nose with a swipe. "My God, just call him Atlas. If I hear one more person call him Mr. Grayson again, I'm going to lose it -""Atlas, sorry," she amended immediately. They were alone in the elevator as they dropped down toward the parking garage in the basement level; no one else was around to hear her call her boss so familiarly. If it meant soothing Dolly's aggressive outbursts, then the small sacrifice was more than worth it."So Atlas wants you to make sure I'm not playing with matches or taking candy from strangers -"More like taking candy from babies when it came to Dolly's personality, Jia thought pri
In the Shadow of the CEO 42 - Weekend
Dolly wasn't even awake when Jia quietly slipped by, letting herself in with the pass code when she received no reply after knocking several times. She swept her eyes around the living room and found the entire place spotless - had the housekeeping team already come by to clean everything up?She tip-toed over to the bedroom and peeked around the doorway to find the woman lying tangled in her sheets and sleeping the wrong way. Well, at least she looked fine. At the very least, she was still breathing, so she hadn't managed to sneak enough alcohol to poison herself in the middle of the night.And that was that. The woman was alive, which meant Jia had the whole rest of the day to herself until the evening when she stopped by again. She checked the time on the digital clock before fleeing the penthouse, legging it back down to the bus stop and then the subway station so that she could make it back to the Bronx in time."Almost there," she panted into the pho
In the Shadow of the CEO 43 - Devoted
The movie was an A-list blockbuster with at least a dozen distinct explosions, several burning buildings, and plenty of high-octane car chases, one of which involved a tank. In other words, it was exactly the kind of movie the twins would have chosen anyway had Dolly not asserted herself before they ever got the chance."That was sub-par," the woman was complaining as they trailed out of the cinema room. "Every line in that movie made me cringe.""But not as much as when Bale snapped that guy's elbow the wrong way," Jisu quipped. "That was rough."At least he was getting along decently with Dolly, Jia noticed. Jini was as quiet as usual, but judging by how she was glancing around and taking in the sights instead of dragging a sullen glare over the floor, she was in a better mood than usual too. Maybe this wasn't an awful mistake after all, Jia thought, especially since the other woman hadn't asked a single question about the twins yet."So are you a
In the Shadow of the CEO 44 - Spontaneous
Jia was learning far more about Atlas than she had ever wanted to. And how was it that Dolly even knew about any of this when she had allegedly never slept with the man himself? Something was suspect here; it couldn't really be that the woman had found out everything in a secondhand fashion, could it?"The last time he was in a committed relationship was - years ago. I remember her, gorgeous woman. He was so fresh-faced, you wouldn't believe it, but even then he was always cold. It looked like it suited her, though.""Oh," said Jia. "I can believe that."Dolly seemed completely immune to the forced politeness in her tone and continued to forge ahead. "She's actually Daniel's sister. Super big deal, that, apparently. Don't know why considering that people date in the workplace all the time, and it wasn't like anyone could accuse Atlas of playing favorites. Not the way he drove her hard on her jobs. God, he was so frigid that at some point, the rumor actuall
In the Shadow of the CEO 45 - Sobriety
"...Dolly, what did you...""Shhh, it's okay," the woman said as she rubbed soothing circles on Jia's back. "You're fine.""I...no...something's wrong...""No, you're just a lightweight. Come here, we'll go outside where it's nice and cool."Jia rubbed at her eyes but had to abort the movement halfway; she nearly stumbled and only just managed to catch herself with a hasty grasp on the corner of the bar counter."What do you mean," she slurred. "I'm...All I had was soda."Dolly rubbed her nose and sniffed. "Yeah, you're right," she said after a few seconds, and then proceeded to lift Jia up by the arm and hobble her over to the entrance past milling customers."Dolly...""Okay, fine, I may or may not have mixed something in there while you were in the bathroom.""You...!"The redhead had dragged her out the doors by now, and a crisp evening breeze swooped down to buffet them with a stinging vengeance. "Relax
In the Shadow of the CEO 46 - Stains
"I, um, think repeating what she said would only frustrate you, sir."Oh, no. That was a bad answer. Why had she thought that saying it would soothe his anger in any way? As soon as the words left her mouth, Jia realized with the utmost horror that it might seem as if she were patronizing Atlas."I expect you to be honest with me, Jia. We've had this discussion before."When had he begun calling her Jia instead of Ms. Moon?But she supposed now wasn't the time to think idle thoughts. She wracked her mind to figure out what it was that the man was talking about. What discussion?Oh, right - yesterday in the hallway when he had asked a very similar question then, too. Jia stared up at the man, still shocked that he had appeared out of absolutely nowhere to stand right in front of her like this. But more than that, he didn't sound like himself: his voice was angry, but strangely not so much intimidating as it was frustrated and...worried?
In the Shadow of the CEO 47 - Games
What was she supposed to say?Atlas had already declined her every apology, and at this point, she feared that offering another one would only make him angrier. He was stone-silent as they stood side by side in the elevator that took them to the top of the building, and just as silent when they entered his penthouse. Not a word, not a sound.Jia shivered and wondered if perhaps he was planning a way to dispose of her body after this. She glanced over her shoulder and cast a final, longing look at the closing elevator doors before turning to look forward again.This was her fault. She and Atlas had never gotten along, and she was still of the firm belief that he was a terrible person for what he had done to her. But their questionable relationship and history didn't matter right now: Jini had destroyed his expensive suit jacket, and the consequences were Jia's responsibility to handle. It was as simple as that."Have a seat."Jia gave th
In the Shadow of the CEO 48 - Agreement
"You struck me as arrogant."Jia's lips parted in a soundless protest. Arrogant? Her? Maybe she had overstepped a few times here and there, but in their short time together, she had never been outright -"I mean before, Jia. When we first met."Oh. She shifted in her seat and cursed the uncomfortable twisting of her stomach at the memory that flashed through her mind. He was talking about their very first encounter, not the night at La Dolce Vita, but rather the day she had applied to work at Pandora Lights. And now that she thought back, she could remember his stinging, contemptuous words. Not all of them, but he had been angry. Very angry."In fact, when I saw you serving at the dinner event, I even thought that you had ulterior motives for working there. Maybe to meet and greet with as many wealthy businessmen as you could."Jia shook her head. "Oh, my God," she said in a rush. "No, I never -""I'm aware of that now. But at the t
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