“No,” James said in a low voice. “Thank you, Hanna.”
It wasn’t until James had gone back inside his office and shut the door that I realized I felt a little regretful. Part of me had wanted him to say something about the previous night – our steamy kiss, his hands on my body. No, Hanna, I thought, chastising myself as I logged into my computer and checked my email. You can’t keep thinking like this – you know it’s never going to happen. It can’t!
The hours seemed to crawl by as I worked. James kept to his office, and there were hardly any calls. By the time I saw the other employees leaving for lunch, it felt like I’d been sitting at my desk for a year. I sat on the edge of my seat, half-waiting to see if James would emerge from his office and come over to flirt with me…and when he never did, I couldn’t help but feel disappointed.
“Hanna!”
The sound of my name pushed me back into reality and I looked up from my computer, blinking. Linda, the head of Human Resources, was standing there with her arms crossed over her chest. She looked harried and rumpled, and her normally-calm face was pressed into a tense expression.
“Yes?”
“I need your help,” Linda said quickly. She leaned in close. “We’ve had a…situation with one of our employees,” she said in a hushed tone. “And I need someone on her desk, immediately. Can James spare you for the afternoon?”
“You’d have to ask him,” I said. I frowned. “Why me, exactly?”
Linda sighed. “Look, Hanna, I hate to do this – I know you’ve only been here a few weeks – but you’re the only person who can help. I went back and looked at your resume – you should’ve told me that you had such experience with digital media!”
“Oh,” I said, narrowing my eyes. “Okay. Sure.” I stood up and brushed my hands off on my pants. “I’d be glad to help out.”
“Oh, thank you, you’re the best,” Linda said. She looked significantly less worried than she had a moment ago. “I’ll just go ask James if he can spare you, and why don’t you take your things? I’ll have someone bring you a sandwich or a salad – sorry, but I don’t think there’s time for you to leave today.”
“It’s fine,” I said.
Ten minutes later, I was settling into a small office on the floor below. There were five computers, all set to different social media sites and accounts, and the notifications were flying. I couldn’t help but grin as I sat down and began working.
Being away from James had a positive effect on my productivity. By the end of the day, I’d written four blog posts, scheduled Tweets for a month, and begun responding to all claims on Facebook.
Just as I was about to wrap up, Linda came in with a smile on her face.
“Hanna, this is amazing,” she said. “You’ve done a really great job.”
“Thanks,” I said. “This was fun. Honestly.”
“Well, how would you like to do it full time? We had to let Stephanie go, and filling an administrative position will be much easier than finding another good social media guru.”
I flushed. “Seriously?”
“Yes,” Linda said. “I’ll have the official promotion paperwork drawn up tomorrow, is that all right?”
“Yes,” I said, nodding. “Thank you so much!”
“Thank you,” Linda said. She sighed. “I thought I was in a world of shit this morning, but you really helped, Hanna. Thanks again.”
I waited until Linda had left the office before jumping up and down with excitement. I couldn’t believe it – after just a few weeks of work, I’d landed the position that I’d been wanting since college!
That night, when I got home, I told Danielle everything about my day.
She smirked in response. “That’s great, Hanna,” she said. “Especially because now you’re free to date James.”
“Oh, come on,” I said, shaking my head. “That’s not why I accepted this, and you know it. I’ll probably be making a lot more money, and I even have my own office. It’s tiny, yeah, but still!”
“That is really cool,” Danielle admitted. She grinned. “I’m happy for you. We should celebrate,” she added. “Happy hour?”
I shrugged. “Why not,” I said. I couldn’t help but grin right back. “For once, it does sound like fun.”
Danielle laughed. “They call it happy hour for a reason,” she said. “Just give me a couple of minutes to change and then we’re out of here.”
As I was waiting for Danielle to get ready, my phone buzzed in my pocket. When I pulled it out and saw the main Magnate Group number flashing across my screen, my heart sank. Shit, I thought as I stared at the buzzing phone in my hand. They’re calling to tell me that it’s all a mistake – I screwed something up, and now they’re going to rescind the offer!
“This is Hanna,” I said, as calmly as I could muster.
“I should hope so,” James said. His voice was smooth and arrogant and just listening to it made me flush. “After all, you left before I could congratulate you on your new position.”
“Oh, shit, I’m sorry,” I said, wincing. “I know I should’ve stopped by your office, but—”
James laughed. “Hanna, it was a joke – relax,” he said. “Besides, that’s not why I’m calling.”
I bit my lip. “Oh?”
“I wanted to ask you if you’d do me the pleasure of having dinner with me on Friday night,” James said. “I thought that perhaps now, since you’re not working directly for me, your opinion would have changed.”
I thought about it for a moment. Everything inside of me was dying to say yes, bursting at the seams to accept his offer. And why shouldn’t I, I thought as I pictured his gorgeous, sculpted face and dark eyes. Why not just have fun – just for once? Maybe it was my good mood from my promotion, or maybe it was the fact that James seemed interested even though I wouldn’t be sitting in front of him every day in the future.
“Yes,” I said. “I’d love that.”
“Good,” James said. “I was hoping you’d say yes, and now I don’t have to spend any time convincing you.”
I flushed.
“Because I was willing to do that, you know,” James said in a dark, low voice that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. “I want you to know that I want you, Hanna.”
My face felt like it was burning up and I bit my lip. “I think I’m starting to,” I said slowly. “I really think I do.”
It was strange, but I never regretted being capricious and immediately accepting James. It was like a switch had flipped in my brain. All throughout the week, I thought of him and how I couldn’t wait to be alone with him, outside of work. By Friday evening, I was practically craving it. I rushed home and changed into one of Danielle’s cocktail dresses – a bodycon red dress that hugged my slender curves – and did my hair and makeup. James had offered to pick me up, but I insisted on taking a cab to the restaurant, a chichi new Thai restaurant in the West End.