Chapter 3

a/n: i'm so sorry.... i didn't realise i haven't updated in so long!!! (i took a xmas + new year break lolll) anyways, it's 2022 — how is this year treating you so far?

֍֍֍

Chapter 3 — Dickface

Chloe's eyes dart between the two men, nonplussed. Liam is looking at her expectantly still waiting for an answer, while the dickface pretty much drills holes into the side of his supposedly new temp's head.

He then huffs, turning to his long-trusted staff and friend, "Chloe, can you tell me what is this man doing here? Does he want something?"

"I already told you I don't want anything from you!" Liam yells and only realizes a second too late, how much of a bad idea it is, since it looks like the dickface is his boss.

It's fine, he decides almost instantly. There is no way he's going to work for this absolutely nightmare of a man anyways.

"Yeah, I think I'm going to need some context here," Chloe grimaces.

Liam is the one to speak up first, "You know what, I totally get why you guys had to go through so many temps in such a short time. No sane person can ever work for this guy," he completely ignores the said guy and turns to Chloe, who has her arms crossed, an amused expression clear on her face as she listens to Liam, "He is the reason I'm late today. He hit me and then had the audacity to assume that I was drunk,"

Chloe clicks her tongue, looking at Dickface disapprovingly, before turning back to Liam — he isn't done speaking yet.

"Not a word if I'm okay. He just directly assumed I was drunk at fucking 8 am. If anything, I should be the one asking him that, since he's the one who ran into me!"

"Aaron," she turns to the said man, shaking her head slowly.

"What — you believe him over me?" he exclaims, mouth hanging open, "He braked so suddenly. There was no one in front of him,"

"No one?" Liam interrupts, and Chloe raises her hands, stopping both of them before they can continue their very much childlike banter.

Chloe has been working at Patterson-Daniels Associates since the start, and she is married to the company's other boss—Aaron's partner, and is a very good friend of Aaron as well. She overlooks the HR part of the company.

"Aaron, I really think you should apologise to Mr Spencer,"

"No fucking way," he sneers.

And Liam scoffs in tune from her other side, "It's fine. I wouldn't want to work for a dickface like him anyway. I quit," he takes a step back but Chloe quickly stops him.

"Oh no, no, no," she pulls him further into the office, "If anyone is capable working for this guy, it is you. I am certain. And Aaron, if you don't apologise right now, I'll be the one quitting next and good luck finding for a new temp and a HR manager,"

"You've gotta be kidding me," he mutters but complies anyways when he is met with Chloe's challenging gaze — other than not wanting to lose a HR manager, he is also not too keen on answering his partner why his wife has taken such a drastic action with no prior warning.

"I'm sorry for calling you a drunk," and he would have stopped there, it is an okay apology even though he doesn't mean a single word, but seeing the smug smile on Liam's face prompts him to continue, "I should have just called you what you are — an absolutely careless and cluele–,"

"Aaron!" she throws her hands in the air and points a finger at him, eyes narrowed, "I don't care. He is your new temp — find a way to work with him, and if you fire him without a proper reason, you'll have my resignation letter on your desk next,"

She turns to Liam and her features soften into an apologetic one, patting his shoulder, "I will apologise to you for him. I know he can be a­–," she brings a voice to a whisper, "–hardass to work for,"

"Hey, I heard that!"

She ignores Aaron, and continues, "But I really think you would do well here. So, stay, please," she even fixes him with an imploring smile.

Liam sighs; he doesn't want to come off as rude. However, does he really want to work for this dickface although the said man looks devilishly handsome in a suit. But, this job pays really well, and Liam doesn't want to mope around his sister's house anymore.

He finds himself nodding, and Chloe clasps her hands together gleefully, "Great. I'll leave you guys to it then," she says before leaving both the men alone in the office room.

Liam takes a deep breath, keeping his eyes up on the ceiling before turning to his new boss, "Fine. I guess I'll try and work with you, for Chloe,"

"Jeez, don't sound all excited," the dickface is already behind his desk, leaning back in his chair, his eyes trained on Liam, scanning him up and down.

Liam tries to not falter under his sudden scrutiny and moves to the chair in front of him and sits down, giving him a tight smile, "I think it's better if we establish all the basics right now; so, what are your expectations of me Mr Patterson,"

He rolls his eyes, tugging at his tie, loosening it a little, "My first and most important requirement is that you be on time. Every day. No exceptions,"

Liam raises his eyebrows, shrugging, "That won't be a problem. I don't like being late," and then he clicks his tongue, letting out a little 'ah', "Unless, you know, careless, clueless drivers on the road hit me while I'm innocently driving,"

He doesn't remember why he was so nervous before; he is having a blast.

The dickface, on the other hand, not so much. He slaps both his hands on his table, "You know what, there is a list on your desk outside about all the routine tasks of your position. You can go through that. If that is not clear enough, you can come back in here and ask me questions. Sounds good?"

Liam gets up, "Yeah, okay. I can do that," and turns around and walks away to his desk.

He feels the dickface's eyes trained on him as he walks out and although he is supposed to be hating his new boss, he feels strangely boldened. Only when he's out and away from his sight, he heaves out a long breath, pretty much falling into his chair. There is a list taped on the side cubicle wall, and Liam scans through it; it looks pretty much straightforward and there's not really a lot of details on it.

Rubbing his eyes, he turns on his computer, not wanting to slack off on his first day itself, or give his new attractive but very much insufferable boss reason to fire him. Liam is certain that he will be looking for every reason he can, and Liam is not going to give him any chance. If he was going to leave this job, it will be on his own terms; he will not give the dickface the satisfaction of kicking him out.

When the computer is turned on, Liam first goes through the emails and forwards most of them to his boss since he doesn't really know which is important and which is not. There isn't anything regarding that on the list either.

His phone on the desk rings soon after, and his eyebrows rise an inch — once again there is nothing on the list specifying how he should answer a call and so he just goes with a simple, "Hello,"

"Why do I have fifty extra emails in my inbox?" he gets straight to the point, his voice snarky, and Liam mentally reminds himself to keep breathing — he finds dealing with his nephew and niece very much easier than this man child.

"Well, there's nothing on the list telling me which is important and not, so I forwarded them all to you," and just to be safe, he goes through the list again — no, he hasn't missed anything.

He huffs from the other side, and Liam can imagine him rubbing his temple. He quickly blinks the image away; yeah, he's not going to let himself picture his boss in any way.

"Why would I bother having an assistant if I have to go through every single one of my emails?" he gripes, "Just come in here," and with that he ends the call.

Liam takes the phone away from his ear and scowl at it. There is absolutely no reason for him to be this rude. Ok, he isn't exactly being Mr Charm-and-Polite either, but at least he's trying, and he is also very much keeping his thoughts regarding the dickface to himself.

The least his boss can do is try as well.

Liam gets up from his chair and walks to the office, knocking once before entering because he knows his manners unlike the dickface of a boss he has. He walks up to his desk and crosses his arms across his chest.

His boss glances up at him from behinds his desk and huffs out a sharp breath, "How am I going to show you what is supposed to be done if you're standing over there?"

Liam can't help the scowl that sets on his lips, "Okay, now wait a minute. I get that we may have started out on the wrong foot here,"

The other man leans back on his chair, fully watching Liam as he continues:

"But I am not your slave. I am your assistant. I get paid to do things for you, sure, but I haven't even been here for an hour — an hour filled with only arguments, by the way, and not going over things like we're supposed to be doing. So, I'm learning as I go, and of course, I'm going to make mistakes. Maybe you don't know how to socialise with people, but being rude to them purposely is not going to help your case. I don't know and don't care about your other workers, but I, personally, do not put up with rudeness. You want something done; you say 'please'. I do something for you, regardless of whether you ask me to or not, you say, 'thank you'. Simple words, you can manage that, can't you?"

Liam exhales once he is finished with his long speech, instantly feeling better.

"You done?" his boss stands up from his chair, and grits his teeth so hard together that it looks that they might shatter from the mere force of it, "Now, please, come over here, so I can show you what needs to be done,"

Liam gives a smile that he knows will only annoy him further, "Gladly," and as he walks towards the side of his desk, he says in a chirpy manner, "That wasn't so hard to say, was it?"

He only rolls his eyes, and gestures at his chair, "Sit,"

Liam looks at him with parted lips, but complies and the moment the he does so he realises his mistake. His boss gets behind the chair and pushes him forward suddenly towards his computer, and Liam bites back a yelp. His musky scent evades his senses once he bends over to instruct Liam what he is supposed to do the emails.

Liam swallows, his throat suddenly try. Aside from his very much alluring smell, he can also feel his warmth since they are only apart by a hair's breadth. He can also feel his breath on the side of his face.

This is not good, he tells himself. He's a dick, he reminds himself and once again realises the mistake he has made — it is definitely not a good idea to be thinking about dicks with him standing so close.

Liam tries focusing solely on what he's saying and writing them down on his note, intent on keeping his hand from shaking. It feels like his boss has moved much closer as the time passed but who knows maybe he is just imagining it.

It takes them over an hour to go through all the emails Liam had forwarded him and Liam spends the hour internally chiding himself. Why didn't he just come in and ask what he is supposed to do with them in the first place, instead of subjecting him to this torture?

Liam moves back a little too quickly once they are done, eager to get away, and rid his mind of this past hour — his boss is still a dickface to him.

"Any doubts?" the said man asks him, and Liam shakes his head.

"All clear,"

He stops again however when he reaches the door.

"Is there a particular way to answer the phone? There is nothing on the list, I checked,"

A corner of his lips lifts into a smirk, "I thought you were calling me Dickface,"

He can't help but smile back, "Fine. That's how I will answer then,"

He quickly leaves, closing the door behind him, not waiting to hear a response, and definitely not noticing how his heart beats a little faster all of a sudden.

֍֍֍