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I nod, not able to hide feeling a bit shaken.
“That sucks about your old office.”
I blow out a breath.
“You had no idea?” she asks.
“None,” I tell her.
“Shit,” she mutters.
One of the IT people pokes his head into her cube, so she turns away from me to greet him.
The noise quiets and the normal office hum sounds return, so I decide to go through my employee binder and finish my cup of coffee.
I can’t help occasional glances over my shoulder with that perfect view of his desk. Of him. After a while, the hairs on the back of my neck rise and I suspect someone is watching me.
It’s confirmed when I look over my shoulder and my eyes meet his. He sits there, leaned forward on his elbows, glaring at me, looking like he smelled something foul.
I shoot him a dirty look, (because what the heck did I do?) and then look back to my screen in front of me as I finish browsing the company’s web analytics report.
What have I done to tick him off? I didn’t ask to be in his apartment. His father was the one that hired me.
All I know is that I can’t show weakness with this guy. Like a typical alpha, they prey on the weak. It’s like showing red to a bull, like blood in the water to a hungry shark.
***
Not long later, Alice has come back and directed me and Ally to another smaller boardroom where she sets up a video for us to watch. The new hire orientation. And in it, there’s a profile done for every management and leadership team member. I decide I’m going to like George unreservedly. They go over his background and he talks about his passion for customer relationship management and technology with excitement in his eyes.
After several more managers being interviewed, they cycle through the VPs, I see a gorgeous alphahole smirking at me from the screen.
“Aiden Carmichael is the eldest son of our founder and CEO, Quinten Carmichael…”
The narrator shows several slides with photo collections of Aiden being sporty and competitive, recounting all the many trophies. In school he was a jock and an academic, as well as captain of the debate team, the chess club, and the fucker was also homecoming king. How did he accomplish all that? Why would anyone take all that on? He didn’t have an awkward stage, either. The man was absolute male perfection in every single slide. In every single photo, he’s looking increasingly broodier and hotter. And I hate him for it.
He finally gives his mini interview where he talks about what he’s most passionate about and he says,
“Winning. If you really wanna be in the one percent, you need a primary focus and that focus? Win. In work and in life, I surround myself with success. Do the same so that you’re never dragged down by incompetence or laziness.”
I roll my eyes and harrumph before I catch myself. Ally’s eyes move from the screen to me and under her breath, she says, “Such a hottie, but what an arrogant bastard, right? And he totally ran you through the mill in that boardroom like he was gunning for you. What the heck, right?”
I scoff and wave my hand like it’s no biggie.
He’s obviously not a perfectionist. What perfectionist lives like a slob? Surround myself with success? And what? Old pizza boxes, beer cans, and fast food garbage? Fucking banana thief.
Another Carmichael works for the firm. Austin Carmichael. And he’s a cutie, too. Almost as hot as Aiden. I’d seen him try to joke with Aiden as we left the boardroom, but he only muttered something jerky and kept going.
Austin is VP of Finance and his demeanor is markedly different from Aiden’s. His part of the video is short and sweet as he talks about how being a bean counter doesn’t have to be boring, and how his team has fun while making sure we and the IRS all get paid. He’s really good-looking and seems humble. Ally gushes about how gorgeous he is. She’s right.
We finish watching the rest of the video and then Alice comes in and tells us we’ve got an hour and a half until lunch with the two Carmichaels, so we go back to our own cubicles to get situated. I finish setting up my computer the way I like it, so I can keep my finger on the pulse of all the company’s social media accounts, website analytics, and content marketing channels. I finish reading through the employee onboarding binder and sign all the forms I’m supposed to sign, and take them out of the binder, then get up to drop them in a mail station next to Aiden’s office.
I see him doing something on his computer, wearing a pair of glasses, his suit blazer off, and his shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and holy shit, how is he hotter?
Between the glasses and the corded forearms, I stumble over my own feet and nearly wipe out. I regain composure and see he’s still staring at his screen, but one side of his mouth is up in half a smirk. He definitely noticed me ogle him and nearly fall. My face burns hot as I try to play it off like it’s nothing.
What is wrong with me? This guy is an alphahole jerk lasagna thief who tried to embarrass me, no humiliate me, in front of my new coworkers and I trip at the sight of his forearms and a pair of glasses? Humiliate might be a strong word. Discredit me?
Whatever. I don’t like him.
