Losing Control Part 6

Something told me this was going to be the start of a new life.

THORNE.

The whole thing with Lane was giving me a headache. He had barely said two words the past week and he was either out of the house all the time or on his couch, sleeping. I knew something was wrong but he wouldn't tell me about it and I feared if I spoke too harshly or kept staying angry at him, he would retreat even further into whatever dark hole it was that he kept himself locked in.

"Sir?" the a.s.sistant knocked on my door to my office.

I looked up. There was so much work to do; I didn't really appreciate her interrupting.

"Sir, the new hires start work today," she said.

"So?"

"So, you said to inform you-"

"Thanks."

"Would you like to meet them?"

"I'm sure Brenda can handle it," I said, getting back to the files that I swear were staring back at me.

ELENA.

First day of work was interesting. People at the new workplace all seemed nice. Okay fine so every workplace experience starts out that way I guess, but in any case, I was happy to have found this job. They gave me a cubicle, but I wasn't there much the first day. Instead, we were all taken to the training room, where the eight of us new hires were supposed to learn what our jobs were going to be. They were developing a new campaign and the work was more than just copywriting as it turns out. They asked us to be discreet about whatever went on in the office, and we actually had to sign a waiver at one point. I felt creative and it was great that I was with people who were trying to teach me something. Over lunch, I even managed to become friends with a gay guy named Tristan and a girl called Alex, both of whom had been friends for years. Tristan was in his thirties, and had that funky, multicolored hair which I suppose was okay for him to have even in such a formal workplace, because he was a graphics artist. Alex had an eyebrow piercing, but on the whole she looked rather regular, and she was wore regular work clothes.

"I've heard the boss is really hot," Tristan said over lunch break.

"Bosses can be hot because they have the money to make it happen. Big deal," said Alex and I realized that she was a lot like Penny, feminist and anti-everything, but only in theory.

"I thought Brenda was nice," I said, just to take part in their conversation so I would not look like I was from some other planet.

"Wait till she turns on b.i.t.c.h mode," Alex told me. "I've heard plenty of stories about her."

I wondered for a second where it was that they had heard so many stories about a workplace they'd just joined, but then I decided it's really not worth it.

"Heard the same kind of things about the boss," Tristan said. "He's hot but he's an a.s.shole, according to my sources," he placed a hand over mine, "so please be careful sweetheart."

He was looking at me when he said this.

"Me?" I asked. "Why me in particular?"

"You know because you're one of the softies," Tristan explained. "I can tell."

"This is probably your first time working isn't it?" Alex said, but then, without waiting for my response, continued to speak. "You'll get the hang of it. But until then, if someone is being nice to you, just a.s.sume they have ulterior motives. And if someone tries to be too much of an a.s.shole, ignore it. Listen and ignore. You don't want to lose this job, so you need to keep that in mind. If you have any concerns or questions just come to us. You want to vent, you want to talk it out with someone, just let us hear it. No judgment."

I didn't know if this was something they were doing out of mere politeness or they actually saw something in my att.i.tude that they found troubling. Since I didn't see anyone else trying to become friends with me, they were all I had. I was just glad I had someone trying to be nice to me without my having to do anything about it. Tristan gave me some more of these chunks of workplace wisdom, things that he thought I needed to remember, and then we got up when the break was over and headed towards the training room, bags and materials in hand.

I was trying to locate a pen from the contents of my bag before I stepped in the training room, but finding that one little pen was turning out to be impossible because of all the clutter. When I finally found one, I felt a sense of relief. Pen in hand, I had barely stepped toward the training room door when I got a whiff of someone's cologne. I didn't know what it was, but I knew it from somewhere. I knew the feeling that particular fragrance had given me before. So I turned to find out who was wearing it, and everything just froze in time for that moment, like one of those slow-motion scenes in movies- There he was.

Big blue eyes fixated on the person that he was talking to, hair set perfectly, and only a hint of that gorgeous smile-there was no mistaking that he was indeed the one who owned the place.

I've heard the boss is really hot.

Of course he's hot.

He's Thorne-f.u.c.king-Ryker.

Before I could walk away from the scene, he had already seen me, standing there like an idiot. He proceeded to give me a smile. "Hey," he said. "Elena, right?"

Right.

"Yes... Thorne... hi," I managed. Barely. "I started training today."

Embarra.s.sing. Embarra.s.sing. Embarra.s.sing.

He went on smiling. "Good," he said. "Guess, I'll see you around." Saying this he resumed talking to the person that he was walking with, and continued towards the elevator without so much as a single glance back.

THORNE.

That was intense! I managed to somehow get into the elevator without acting like an idiot but I could barely focus on anything. She looked beautiful! How could I possibly keep my eyes off her with her working around the same place as me? This wasn't going to be easy but I couldn't get carried away. Naturally, I was going to need a lot of will power to get through something like this. The a.s.sistant who walked into the elevator with me was talking about something important, but I was so completely distracted. It wasn't until I had gotten into the limo and Stanton started taking me to the next meeting that I actually started to calm down.

"How's your day going, sir?" Stanton asked.

"Fine, Stanton. How about you?"

"Fine as well, sir."

Stanton went silent when my phone rang. "Hey," I heard Lane's sleepy voice on the other end.

"Are you finally gracing the world with your presence?" I said, icily.

"Was I oversleeping again?"

"I haven't seen you in days, Lane."

"Sorry. I don't know maybe I'm coming down with something."

"Why'd you call?"

"Uh...I need some money."

"How much?"

"Not much. A thousand?"

"I'm off to a meeting," I said, checking my watch. "When I get there, Stanton can come by the loft and give you the cash."

"Thanks."

"He can also drive you anywhere you want to go."

"That won't be necessary," Lane said. "I can manage."

I said goodbye to him and tried to focus on the meeting. But between Lane and Elena it was next to impossible. "Stanton," I said. "You'll have to make a trip to the loft. Give Lane some money."

"Of course sir."

"Stanton?"

"Sir?"

"Do you think you can keep an eye on my brother?"

ELENA.

I don't know how I traipsed through those next couple of hours, but thankfully, I never ran into him again. Which was good. I think. When I finally got off work, I was running all the way back home because I felt like I had to grab Penny's throat and shove something deep down in there. I managed to go up to our apartment on trembling feet from the adrenaline that my body was pumping, and I don't think I had ever been this mad at Penny before. I had trouble using the keys to get inside, I was that furious. Penny was sitting on the couch, in front of the television watching some stupid show that I couldn't care about.

"How could you?" I glared at her, throwing the keys and the bag noisily on the table. She turned to me and there was nothing on her face that showed she had a clue what I was talking about.

"What's going on?"

"You knew!" I said. "You knew who I was working for, and you sent me there anyway!"

She kept staring at me the same way, completely clueless. "Elena, I have no idea what you're talking about," she said. I rolled my eyes in frustration, and finally started to explain.

"I just found out who my boss is Penny," I said. "It's Thorne Ryker!"

"The stalker guy?"

"You're kidding me, right?"

"You think I knew about this? You really think I would do this to you? Come on, Elena! Give me a break."

My anger lessened but it wasn't exactly gone, because I was still annoyed that it was Ryker I was working for now, but at least I knew Penny wasn't involved. "You really didn't know?" I said. "Oh G.o.d, Penny. I'm so sorry! I thought this was one of your plans where you don't tell me a thing until it goes down."

"Sit down and tell me what happened."

I sat with a heavy movement, still feeling c.r.a.ppy. "I was having a good day," I said. "I was actually having a good, productive day, and then, I found out Ryker owns the d.a.m.n company."

"You met him?"

"More like saw him. We said h.e.l.lo and then he went away."

"So he didn't try to hit on you or anything?"

"No."

"So what, Elena? He's a freaking billionaire playboy. It's not like he was just waiting for you to turn up. He's probably moved on to greener pastures."

"That's certainly what it seemed like."

"You seem disappointed."

"I'm not," I said, lying only a little. "It's just...it was awkward!"

"I know babe," she said. "I get it. But is it worth losing a good, well-paying job over?"

"Of course not."

"Then, it's all well and good. You'll be okay in a couple of days when this becomes a normal routine."

"Yeah I guess," I was feeling so much better now that I had discovered she wasn't involved. The whole thing was still bothering me, but I hoped that too would pa.s.s.

Penny brought me some wine and we snacked on whatever was available in the kitchen, and while Penny immersed herself in reality TV again, my head held on to its stubborn distraction, and I was unable to concentrate on anything.

I know I wasn't supposed to make a big deal out of it, but it's just...that strange feeling I got when I took a whiff of that cologne, I just couldn't seem to wrap my head around it. It was as though inside my heart I knew who it belonged to, I knew it was him, before I saw him, knew that in my gut. As though it was unique, not because I haven't seen people smell that good, but because it was on him.