Xavier had dropped Raine off at Mike's house with reluctantance. He couldn't bare to leave Raine alone in such circumstances but she wouldn't agree to stay with him instead. Daisy was spending the night at Mike's too and Raine wanted to be there to comfort her.
Xavier had agreed but he wasn't the least bit happy. It was quiet clear that whoever trashed the cafe had something against Daisy and if that was the case, Daisy's safety was questionably. And knowing that Raine was with her, left an unsettling feeling looming in Xavier's mind.
"Jordon, I need you to send two of our best security guards to take cover under Mike's building." Xavier said, watching the apartment building disappear into the distance.
"Of course Mr. Thorn. I'll send our guard over there right away." Jordan responded as he drove through the city.
* * *
The morning sun shined brightly on top of the busy city. Although it was still winter time, the skies were a bright shade of blue, with fluffy clouds shattered throughout and no signs of snow.
Xavier's black sedan pulled up in front of the thick glass doors of Thorn Inc. He stepped outside the vehicle, greeting Cole before heading inside the building while Jordon parked the car.
Just as he was walking towards the elevator, an employee made his way towards Xavier, pushing some files in front of his face. "Sir, these are the signed documents."
Xavier stopped in his track, turning to the young man, seething. No words were exchanged on his behalf as he continued to stare, more like glare at the man who was standing there with wide eyes and papers in his hand.
If there was one thing that you needed to know about Xavier, it was that he hated being approached by any employees when he entered the building in the morning. If anyone had urgent requests, they were to go through his personal assistant, who was in charge of reporting back to him.
It didn't take long for the man to understand what his mistake was, and instantly his retracted his hand. "I'll send them to Miss. Woods as soon as she gets here. I'm sorry for the delay." He said quietly, his eyes lowering to the ground.
Not even giving the man another glance, Xavier turned on his heel and walked away.
Xavier strode into his office, shrugging off his coat and resting in on the couch besides the entrance. Folding up his sleeves, he pushed them past his forearms as he let out a deep breath of exhaustion. Sleep had not come easy for him the night before due to thoughts of a certain brown eyed girl, who wouldn't seem to escape his mind.
He wasn't sure what he could do to solve this problem. It had been happening to him ever since Raine has slipped her way into his life. From their first meeting, Xavier had been mesmerized by her. Although it was difficult, he tried everything to control her thoughts from taking over his mind.
Initially, he believed that staying away from the innocent girl would be his best method to let these newfound feelings fade away. However, to his misfortune, they didn't. In fact, Xavier found himself even more anxious to leave all his work behind, in hopes of getting one glance at her coffee-brown eyes.
Hunting around for a solution, Xavier's next tactic had been hiring Raine to be his PA. He believed that if she was in front of him all along, her thoughts would no longer invade his mind. But his plans seemed to fail even more, now that she was working with him. She was all he could think of when he arrived at the company and all he could think of, when he left every night. It was as if someone had casted a spell on him. And the more he spent time with her, the more the power of this spell strengthened.
Shaking his head at his confused emotions, Xavier began reading through his emails and beginning to work. It was the beginning of a new year and he needed to get a lot of things settled so that Thorn Inc could start the year stronger then ever.
"Good morning, Xavier."
Xavier's head lifted up at the soft sound, his eyes falling on Raine who walked into the office with a small smile on her face. Her eyes were shining brightly, but Xavier could tell that she hadn't gotten much sleep at night either.
"Raine?" Xavier asked, watching Raine take a seat in front of him. "I wasn't expecting you to be here today. You're probably exhausted from all the stress yesterday."
"I'm fine Xavier." She shrugged off.
"Fine isn't good enough." Xavier refuted."You need rest. I'll just call Jordon to drop you back home."
"Xavier, please." She whined. "And plus, I want to be here and work....at least to take my mind off of other things."
Xavier looked at her for a second longer, before agreeing. "If you insist, but take things easy."
A smile appeared on her face with Xavier's approval. "Thank you Xav."
"How is Daisy doing?" Xavier asked."She was quiet disturbed yesterday."
"She's doing better. Mike is taking care of her which is good." She replied politely.
"And you? You seemed a bit....off yesterday." Xavier said. He had noticed the way her hands were trembling at the cafe or the way she was holding on Xavier's hands tightly and there was no doubt that something was wrong.
Her smiled faded slightly as she looked back at Xavier with embarrassment. "I don't know. I was just....scared." She whispered towards the end.
A frown formed on Xavier's face at her confession. "You don't need to be afraid of anything, Raine. As long as I am here, I assure you, harm will not dare come your way." Xavier stated with a genuine expression that had Raine's heartbeat escalating in mere seconds.
Raine smiled softly at Xavier in appreciation. "Anyways, I'll head over to my cabin now and get things sorted out. I'm assuming you'd like a black, no sugar?" She asked, changing the topic.
A smile spread over Xavier's face at the mention. "No thank you. I didn't anticipate you to arrive today so I had Jordon go and get me one."
"I'm sorry for being late. The bus didn't arrive on time." Raine said with a hint of guilt. She knew that Xavier wouldn't say a word to her, simply because of their friendship, but she couldn't bare to take advantage of him.
"Bus?" Xavier said frowning."You've been taking the bus to get here?"
"I usually walked but I woke up late so I had to take the bus." She responded with a shrug.
"Two things." Xavier began. "No more walking and no more buses." He said looking sternly at Raine. "You have no idea how unsafe that it."
"Butâ" Raine started, only to be interrupted by him.
"I'll pick you up from now on." He declared.
"Oh, that will be completely unnecessary." Raine said shaking her head in disagreement. "I can manage everything, Xavier. You most definitely, do not need to go through that hassle."
"Nonsense, Raine. I can't begin working without you here and you don't have any work to do until I am here. It would be beneficial to the both of us if we arrived together." He tried to justify.
"Xavier, your house is on the other side of the town. It would be an inconvenience for you."
"Speaking of that, I've been trying to get your living arrangements finalized and I'll make sure that gets settled soon."
"Xavier..." Raine whispered. She was stunned by his concern. He seemed to always have every detail about her prioritized. Making sure that nothing was out of place when it came to her. "Why do you have to be so kind?"
"Only for you." Xavier winked, causing Raine's cheeks to turn the perfect hue of bright pink. "And I'm taking that as a yes from you. I'll be picking you up and dropping you off from now on."
"Fine." She said, finally giving in.
"So Miss. Woods, what have I got on my schedule today?" Xavier asked with a hint of amusement as he changed the topic.
Raine blushed before shaking her head and scrolling though her iPad. "Well, today you surprisingly have no formal meetings. However, you do have a scheduled mini conference with the members of the Marketing Sector. Shall I prepare the conference room or would you prefer to have the meeting here in your cabin?"
"My cabin should do." Xavier stated. "And do me a favor and grab the logistical records from the last two years from the Records Room on floor 7."
"Sure. I'll have those brought up for you shortly. Is there anything else you'd like my assistance on?" Raine asked politely.
"No, I'm fine. Just get me those records so I can assess them before I leave tonight."
"Will do." Raine said nodding before turning around and heading out the door.
* * *
The Records Room was exactly like Raine had pictured from the Hollywood movies. It was a small, cramped room, barely lit by the ceiling light. The walls were covered in shelves, overflowing with papers and the entire room had large boxes piled throughout, making some form of a maze.
Raine walked through the room, reading all of the labels on the shelves before her eyes landed on the logistical reports section. There was two big boxes, each filled to the top with paperwork. Scanning through them, Raine noticed the first box had files for the last five years while the other had older paperwork.
Lowering the box off the shelf, Raine browsed through it, trying to pinpoint the reports from the last two years.
"Dang it." She groaned. "How am I suppose to find those files from this box. The stupid lights aren't even working." Raine muttered, flipping through the papers that were scattered in the box.
Tucking her phone into her pocket, Raine rolled up both of her sleeves and lifted the box in her hands. Despite it being only full of papers, the box was nonetheless heavily. It didn't take a genius to notice that she was struggling hard to keep it lifted in her arms.
Blowing a strand of hair away from her face, she trudged out of the Records Room, walking over to the elevator. Using her elbows, she tried to press the button and waited for the elevator to arrive. She could feel the muscles in her hands begin to burn and the one this she didn't want to do, was the drop the box.
"Need a little help?"
Raine looked up to find a gorgeous man looked back at her with light blue eyes. He was tall, yet not as tall as Xavier and had a long face and long blond hair that was gelled back. A smile was playing on his lips and his eyes were shining with amusement.
"Uh....Hi." Raine said, unsure of who this man was. Judging by his formal attire, he definitely seemed to be an employee at the company.
"Hi." He grinned, causing wrinkles to appear at the corners of his vivid blue eyes. "Quiet a big box you got there." He said, looking down at the box that was barely being held by Raine's petite hands.
"Yeah." Raine said, her face flashing with embarrassment.
"Allow me." The man said, swiping the box effortlessly from her arms and into his as if it weighed nothing.
Raine let out a breath of relief as the weight was lifted out of her hands. "Thank you." She said, smiling shyly. "I was on the verge of dropping that."
The man chuckled. "No problem. Where are you heading with this guy?" He asked, looking down at the box.
"Oh, top floor." The elevator door slid open, allowing the two to walk in.
"Top floor? CEO's office huh?" He said with a smug look.
"Yeah, Xavier needed those for a meeting or something." Raine shrugged.
"Xavier?" He questioned frowning. "Who are you anyways? I don't think I've seen you around."
"Oh, how silly of me." Raine said embarrassed. "Hi, I'm Raine. I just got appointed as PA of Xavier Thorn." Raine said holding out her hand to shake in front of the man.
He smiled at Raine before looked down at her hands and smirking.
"Oh!" Raine said, her face flushing red when she realized that he was carrying the box. She quickly put her hand down before meeting the man's eyes. "I'm sorry."
The man shook his head, grinning. "Don't be." He said. "And nice to meet you. I'm Brooks."
"Nice to meet you too Brooks." She said, passing him one of her brightest smiles.
The elevator dinged and the doors slid open once more, revealing the Executive floor of the building. Not many people lingered around here, as it was home to only two offices: the CEO's and PA's.
"I can take it from here." Raine said reaching out for the box.
"Of course not. I won't leave this job undone." Brooks said with determination. "Where would you like me to place it?"
"You can set it in my cabin."
Brooks followed Raine to her cabin which was on the opposite side of Xavier's. He set the box on her desk before looking up at Raine and smiling.
"Thank you Brooks." Raine said. "I don't know how I'd ever get that thing up here, if it wasn't for you."
"Not a problem Ma'am." He teased, bowing down dramatically, causing Raine to laugh. "I'm glad I could be of any help Raine."
"So you work here?" Raine asked curiously.
"Yes I do and Iâ oh shoot! I completely forgot about the meeting!" Brooks said with realization. "Sorry Raine, I gotta go, but I'll see you soon." He said, winking before he left the room.
* * *
After sorting out the entire box, Raine had finally managed to collect the logistical reports from the last two years. And in the process of finding them, she had managed to cover the entire floor of her office with paperwork. Shrugging, Raine grabbed the files and headed out of her room, only to stop in her tracks when she heard shouting.
"Let me remind you, Mr. Smith, that this isn't high school where you can show up tardy and bribe your teacher to get out of a detention!" It wasn't hard to recognize that voice. "Welcome to the real world Mr. Smith!"
"I do apologize, I was coming up to the meeting whenâ"
"When you deemed in more important to fool around with other employees like you usually do."
Frowning, Raine gently walked to the door of Xavier's office, stopping when she heard another voice.
"I was just helpingâ"
"Why don't you help yourself and leave my company!" Xavier shouted.
By now, Raine had recognized the other voice in the room as well. It was one that she had heard just a few minutes ago. Taking a deep breath, she slowly turned the handle of his office, and stepped inside, going unnoticed by both of the gentlemen in the room.
"I justâ" Brooks began, only to be interrupted by an angry looking Xavier.
"Thorn Inc does not need employees that can't arrive at a goddamn meeting on time! You were supposed to be here with a marketing plan and statistics! Not only are you late, but you had the audacity to come here unprepared!" Xavier gritted out, slamming his hand on the desk.
"I was about to print it out whenâ" Although he was being fried under Xavier's heat, Brooks had managed to keep himself reserved.
"I do not have time for an excuse." Xavier interrupted, once more.
"I was justâ" Brooks began, however this time, it wasn't Xavier who interrupted.
"He was with me." Raine said, casing the both of their heads to turn in Raine's direction.
"Raine?" Xavier said, startled. Instantly, the expressions on his face calmed down.
Raine took a couple steps further into the room, before she was standing in between Brooks and Xavier. "Brooks was helping me carry the records up here. The box was really heavily and I couldn't carry it so he offered to help. It's not his fault."
Xavier relaxed a bit, hearing Raine's words but they weren't enough to get him to stop glaring at Brooks. "That still doesn't mean he's off the hook though. He should have brought the papers with him before he came in front of me, rather then coming unprepared!"
"Seriously Xavier?" Raine said shaking her head. "Brooks, you can go print out your papers. I'm sorry I got you in trouble."
"Don't be Raine." Brooks replied.
"Exactly! Raine, you shouldn't apologize to him." Xavier said in agreement and he glared at Brooks.
Raine gave Xavier a pointed look before turning back to Brooks. "I'll reschedule your meeting for 4 PM Brooks, you can prepare all of your things and come back."
"Thank you Raine." Brooks said smiling. "And I do apologize Mr. Thorn, I assure you that I won't be tardy ever again."
Before Xavier could even respond or refute, Brooks rushed out of the room, saving himself from Xavier's wrath.
As soon as Brooks had vanished from the room, Raine turned her attention back to Xavier, staring at him with a her arms crossed in front of her chest.
"Raine. Stop staring, you're creeping me out." Xavier said after a couple of minutes.
Raine shook her head, sighing. "You know, it costs $0 to be kind."
"Oh really?" Xavier mocked. "I wasn't aware."
"Xavier, I'm serious."
Xavier looked at Raine from top to bottom before meeting her eyes once more. "I understand that be observing your posture Miss. Woods." He replied curtly.
"What was all of that about?" She finally let out, throwing her arms in the air. "You were on the verge of firing the poor guy cause he was five minutes late."
"Late and unprepared!" Xavier clarified. "I hate tariness. I'm a perfectionist and I expect my employees to be that way too." He justified.
Raine simply rolled her eyes. "Come on Xavier, give him a break. He's such a kind gentleman."
"Gentlemen is a word used for people who are capable of arriving to their commitments on time." Xavier refuted. "Like I said before, I expect my employees to be perfect if they plan on continuing their jobs here."
By now, Raine was not only annoyed, but also irritated. Xavier wasn't seeming to understand the simple idea that humans make mistakes, or the fact that no one was perfect.
"Well Xavier, you just gotta deal with some things you know? Life's not perfect! We don't always get what we want now, do we? We can't always prance around in the grass bare foot, listening to out favorite song andâHey! That was an Ed Sheeran reference!âAnyways, Mr. I Get Whatever I Want! You need to realize that there are other people out here in the world and maybe you don't know them and maybe you don't get what their story is but hey! They are people too and that is all thatâ"
"Are you done?" Xavier asked. His moody state was completely changed into an amused one as he watched Raine rambling.
Raine's face flushed red as she realized the sass she had just given her boss. And not any boss, but Xavier Thorn in particular. "I'm so sorry!"
"Don't be. I was kinda missing your rants." Xavier chuckled, causing Raine to blush even more.
"Please, I know they're obnoxious." Raine said, sqeeazing her eyes shut.
"And extremely cute." Xavier confessed.
Her eyes opened instantly at his remark and her cheeks now displayed a pink tint.
"Ok, ok." Raine said shaking her head. "Here are the files that you asked me to bring." Raine said handing Xavier the papers. "And boy are those papers heavy! If it wasn't for Brooks, the reports wouldn't be in your hands right now. They'd be scattered all over the building." Raine laughed, not noticing the way Xavier's jaw clenched at the mention of Brooks' name.
"You have my apologies. I was unaware of the fact that they'd be too heavy."
Shaking her head. "No, it's not your fault. They were all mixed up in a big box so I thought it would be easier if I brought them to my office and sorted them out before handing them to you."
"I see." Xavier replied. "If you ever get in such a situation again, don't hesitate to call Jordon, Cole, or myself." Xavier instructed to which Raine nodded.
"Anyways, I'll get going." Raine said heading towards the door. "And don't forget you have to meet up with Brooks at 4." Raine laughed as she heard Xavier groaning. Shaking her head, she headed out of the room, a big grin plastered to her face.
"Oh, and by the way." Raine started, stopping in the middle of the doorway. "Would you ever fire me too if I made a mistake?" She asked with a smirk.
"Too bad you're perfect." Xavier said, giving her a wink. "I can't fire you now, can I?"
______________________
A/N: And we've reached 6k reads! Thanks for all the support! I hope you guys are enjoying the story and please continued to give your love and support! I love hearing from each and every one of you!
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