New York Romance 2

I am a pro at staff meetings.
How can I tell?
Because I'm staring at the most amazing boss who has the worst manners on this side of Brooklyn, feeling extremely cheesed off with his initial assessment of me and I still managed to take notes.
Ha.
But I could feel the vibes in the room as the man spoke.
While half the workers hung onto his words, the other half, the power syndicate, was definitely giving off the cold vibes.
This was not good news.
I mean, his drool worthiness had decreased since the morning encounter, but he really was trying to initiate plans which would take the company forward.
And I wanted to see that happen.
And I'd be damned if I'd let some hair plugged slugs mess it up simply because their authority would come under threat.
Time to tune in again, the slideshow had ended.
"Lastly, the editorial department. That was one department with which I could find no fault. But why isn't Ms. Grace Shelbourne with us?"
Was this man for real?
Or was I so unnoticeable?
Too many hits at my ego too soon.
I was just getting ready to sink my pearly whites into that gorgeous neck of his when Harry shot me a warning look and spoke, "This is Grace Shelbourne, Mr. Xaviers! She joined us last year, and is quite a find. Like you said, she's done wonders with her department."
I merely nodded in acknowledgement, my blood boiling.
I would have let loose, if not for Harry.
The man was a darling, but when he was serious, he wasn't one to cross.

"Oh! Pardon me Grace. Its just that you seemed so young," said he flashing an unintentionally sexy smile in my direction.
Bollocks!
"What relation does age have with expertise Mr. Xavier?" I asked politely.
Okay. Gravely.
His eyes flashed, not used to being addressed with open hostility.
Work just became so much more interesting.
Wrapping up a few final details, we were free to go.
While the others hung around, trying to get a measure of the new boss, I made a quick exit.
I needed caffeine in my system.
That does not mean I headed to the coffee vendor on our floor.
I pulled out an apple from my hold all.
Odd. I know. But apple has caffeine in huge measures and its not unhealthy.
That doesn't mean I'm a health freak.
I'm a selective health freak.
This is stress.
Taking a few deep breaths, I sat down and tried to concentrate on work.
There was nothing wrong in my concentration.
What was wrong was that there was no work for me to do since I'd just finished off my last two assignments.

Damn.

Troy nearly screeched with frustration as a few of the department heads refused to leave.
He noted that some of the senior members had left the room almost immediately after the meeting.
Something didn't settle well with him about that, but he'd have to talk to Harry about that later.
He'd noticed that Grace had also stalked out of the conference room.
He sighed.
He'd spoken to her thrice.
And all three times he'd stuffed both his feet into his mouth.
He made a mental note to deal with it later.

It was going to be the cliche nine to five day.
Not much work. The hardest, most challenging task she'd undertaken today was signing papers.
At five, Grace picked up her bag, and was just preparing to leave when Harry's Armani aftershave announced his presence in the room.
Without looking up she said, "Hey buddy! I'm headed home for some chocolate therapy. I took one too many hits today."

Looking up as she swung her bag over her shoulder, Grace all but got her own feet tangled up.
Harry had brought Troy with him.

Oh my God.
This was so not happening to me.
But I had been cryptic.
Established as it was that he was slightly stupid, he couldn't guess.
He was staring at me.
And I couldn't guess what he was thinking.
I hated it when that happened.

I was just about to say something, when my cover of ambiguity was blown.
Alice twirled in saying, "Sweety, Leslie told me what that jerk said in the meeting. He needs therapy. . . . . "

Yeah.
Alice too stood, robbed of the ability to speak when she realised we had an audience.

"Jerk am I?" he asked in that husky, bedroom voice of his.

"More like insensitive. But we're not fussy about terminology. Now if you'll excuse us,"

Not waiting for a reply, I grabbed Alice, waved to Harry, and literally sprinted out of the room.

"She's really peeved about this morning isn't she?" Troy asked Harry as he watched her retreating back, the sensual sway of her hips.
"Well. . . . . pardon me if I'm too harsh, but your comments were ill conceived. She has every right to be angry," said Harry, his voice betraying disapproval.
"You're upset too," observed Troy.
Harry merely shook his head, "You're already facing a lot of opposition from the seniors Troy. They think your presence diminishes their authority. You cannot afford to alienate others, by bulldozing over them simply because you can."
Lovely.

Grace was just entering the apartment building's lobby after a long chat with Alice and Leona over coffee.
She breezed into the lobby, giving the guard, Charlie a high five.
She hadn't noticed the dark figure standing by the lift, watching her, till she was too close to make a run for it.
Troy was leaning against a wall, his jacket slung over one shoulder, his brooding eyes locked on hers.

Holy shit.

"Good evening Mr. Troy." Grace managed to choke out.
A tiny smile curved his lips as he straightened.
"Good evening to you too Ms. Shelbourne."

I nearly gagged on my own spit.
I wasn't in office, but I still couldn't give him hell.
But I couldn't understand why I felt so attracted to such a moose.
And here he stood mocking me.

The elevator doors slid open.
Troy gestured for me to precede him, but I simply didn't want to get caught in such close confines with him so I said, "I'm waiting for someone, why don't you go on ahead."
Wow!
I sounded so cool!
But I definitely wasn't prepared for what he did next.
Eyes hooded, with the speed and grace of a panther, he shackled my wrist with his own huge hand and jerked me into the elevator with him.
"No more avoiding me Grace," he said, still holding my hand.
"I'm not avoiding you. I'm merely trying to pretend that you don't exist." I shot back at him.
No impact.
"I'm sorry."
WHAT?
REPEAT!
"What?" I managed to say out loud.
He looked slightly abashed as he said, "I'm sorry about this morning. I was way too . . . . . . "

"Presumptious? Overbearing?" I supplied, a slight grin on my face.

"Yeah. Those words'll do as well as any others, but I really am sorry."
Aaw. He looked so contrite that I couldn't help but melt.
So I wasn't the tough bitch that I pretended to be.
Shoot me.

"Its okay. But you'll have to redeem yourself." I said.

It was worth forgiving him for the smile that I got.

"Redeemed? How?" he asked with a curious look on his face.

Grace shot him a sneaky smile, which would have sent someone who knew her well, example her Dad, running in the opposite direction and said, "We'll just make it up as we go."

The elevator finally opened at her floor, and Grace disengaged her hand from his grip, and smiling, walked out of the lift as he said, "You've got yourself a deal!"

I knew the meaning of the metaphor- insides turning into mush now.
Because mine were in that state.
Oooh happy day.

Troy was whistling as he entered his house.
Grace was a series of contradictions and fireworks packed into a tiny package, with the face of an angel.
And he liked her.
A lot.

Grace carried her dinner, consisting of a cheeseburger to the balcony.
Leaning against the railing, she enjoyed the slight breeze as it ruffled her hair.
Smiling into the night, she bit into the burger, when a voice came from above her somewhere, "Beautiful night isn't it?"
Swallowing the bite quickly, Grace looked up to find Troy standing in his penthouse terrace, a floor above her, but technically, just a few feet away from her.

"You scared me!" exclaimed Grace, her heart still pounding.

Nitwit Greek God stared down at me with that half smile of his.
"Sorry about that too. So . . . . . . ." he said suggestively.
"So what?" I said casually.

Next thing I knew, he'd lobbed one leg over his parapet and jumped into my balcony, and was now standing two feet away from me!