| |
Marcus hated this part. They never liked the new boss. Everyone was suspicious of him. But he put on his smile and thanked Susan for her introduction.
Marcus looked out over the faces of everyone in the room. These were his editing staff. They all looked back at him with mixed emotions across their faces. Hatred, confusion, apathy, and... he laughed internally...desire. Oh yes, he met her in the elevator yesterday. The woman next to her caught his eye. He could see the concern in her eyes. She was not going to enjoy the process of change. She was going to hate this.
“Hello everyone. As Susan said, I’m Marcus Teresi. You can call me Marcus.
As you all know, Orbital is a mess. We need to get it back on track. And we can. But I need your help. I have plans, big plans. But they all involve you. I’m going to shake things up. You’ll hate it, you’ll hate me. But please know it is all for the best of the company and, in the end, all for the best of its employees. I promise that no one is going to lose their job.
Some of you may be assigned to a different department. The editing department as a whole will be undergoing a major change.”
Marcus watched as the auburn haired, petite beauty next to the flirtatious blonde sighed and turned her eyes down to her hands in her lap. She certainly did not like that news.
“We will be assigning each of you to a genre. No more randomly grabbing titles for editing as they come in. I have your assignments and you will receive them after our meeting today. I will meet with each of you individually to give them to you. They may be a stretch for you, but that is exactly what I want from you. I want you to stretch and grow with us. I want you all to become something better than you are now. Orbital is about to become the strongest publisher in the market. And we will have the best editing department to show for it.
Now, unless anyone has any questions...?”
When no one spoke up, Susan stood. “Please return to your desks. I will call each of you in here one by one to receive your assignments.”
***
Chelsea sat down and nervously adjusted all the objects on the desk in front of her. She liked picking her own books. This turn of events was completely unacceptable! Opening her laptop, she tried to focus on the emails that she had to send. It was a pointless endeavor. Every time she tried to read through a sentence, her mind kept drifting back to his eyes. Those deep chocolate eyes and...
Oh! This man was infuriating! He was going to change everything in the office and now she couldn’t even think straight.
She was just stewing over the possible upcoming changes when Susan knocked on her office door.
“Chelsea, Marcus is ready for you in the conference room. He doesn’t like to be kept waiting, so please...do hurry.”
Chelsea stood and, in an act of defiance, straightened the already perfectly straight books on her desk before walking to the door. Giving Susan a smirk, she squeezed past her and headed toward the conference room. Knocking on the door, she straightened her skirt and checked her hair in the glass. Everything in place.
“Come in, Chelsea.”
Chelsea opened the door and couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face when she saw him. Damn him, did he have to be so charming?
He motioned to the seat across from him. “You don’t mind if I call you Chelsea, do you?”
As she pulled the chair out and sat, Chelsea shrugged. “You’re my boss, you can call me Chelsea if you’d like.”
Marcus shook his head and frowned. “I’d like you to be comfortable. If you’d prefer that I call you by your surname, I will.”
Chelsea crossed her arms on the table and leaned a little closer. “If you really wanted me to be comfortable, you’d let me continue to pick my own books.”
Marcus leaned back in his chair and chuckled as he studied her momentarily. “You’re a feisty one, Chelsea. Are you always this demanding?”
Chelsea frowned slightly and shook her head. “No, but I don’t like my world disrupted. I was, as you say, comfortable.”
Marcus folded his fingers into a steeple and raised them to his lips as he thought about what she’d just said. She couldn’t help but notice the way his tongue darted out and grazed the tips of his fingers and the way it made her pulse increase just a bit.
“I’m sorry, Chelsea. I need to push you out of your comfort zone. It might not be permanent. But I need to see what you can do, just like I do for everyone else here.”
Chelsea’s shoulders slumped. She knew her false bravado would get her nowhere, but it had been worth the effort.
“What genre am I being given, or do I get to pick that?”
Marcus laughed quietly. “I’m afraid not. You’ll be given Science Fiction, at least for the time being.”
“Science Fiction?! I know nothing about Science Fiction!”
“That’s my point. I want a fresh view on all of these books. I want you to learn everything there is to know about Science Fiction. I want it to be your life, your blood. I want you to become the best Science Fiction editor in the business.”
Chelsea stood and began to pace around the room, nervously. “I can’t do this!”
Marcus took a deep, calming breath. “Chelsea, you can. And you will. It’s your only choice.”
Chelsea’s eyes widened as she glared at him. Grabbing her day planner, she turned and stormed out of the conference room, slamming the door behind her.
Marcus stared at the door. He wasn’t sure if he was offended or amused. He had to admit that she had spunk. He tried desperately to ignore the way his body was responding to her and her outburst. He wanted to just storm out after her, grab her and turn her over his knee. He wanted to spank her until she apologized for her insubordination. However, he knew that it would terrify a woman like Chelsea.
Groaning to himself, he hit the intercom. “Susan, send in the next victim.”