Part 13: An Indiscreet offer
The look on her face was worth a million dollars and he couldn't let the elevator doors keep him from taking it in. He pressed the open button to have the doors open again and she was still there, her face giving away a helpless annoyance and a mild show of anger.
"You are really complicated for me to get a read here...I mean, why would you accept that to me?" It amused him to no end when not a full minute had passed ever since her regretting being a loose cannon and there she was biting her lower lip again only seconds later, her forehead creasing with worry that she'd spoken in haste yet another time.
"We are a team that helps the company make a decision. Issue or not..." He said shoving a hand into his pocket, "I can't afford to have people who have no interest or passion in solving the issues for the company or people who cannot scale or learn how to solve those problems on my team..."
She blinked just as he ended. Bizarre it was when he went off like a paid billboard for his company. But again, he couldn't think of anything better to instill a sense of purpose in her.
"Get in" He ordered her when the elevator began to beep from having stalled at that floor for a while.
Her eyes lowered for a beat to the ground, as if she was making up her mind over something. But it seemed to have taken only the briefest of time and when she raised her head back to him she had a faint smile easing her lips.
"I'm interested..." She said as she stepped into the elevator.
She stood close to him while he leaned back onto the cool metal lining the interior. "I want to learn. Surely, there must be something I can do differently.
There was an urgent need in her voice and her eyes did emulate the same earnest appeal her words expressed.
"I'm sort of single here..." Her head jerked back, surprising herself with that statement and he caught her moment of recant with his face slightly titled to one side, "I meant I don't have family here to take away my time from work. I can put in extra hours if needed and most of all I want to put my degree to work..."
He remembered from the last time he'd seen her resume that she'd a bachelor's degree in Finance and Business administration. Not a bad base to build upon, he mused while he continued to derive an almost sadistic pleasure by having his features muted as she talked. She tensed; her hand gestures animated from a frenzy and she spoke in run-on sentences.
"I can learn fast...I will make it work. But..." His brow creased when she placed an opposition at the end.
She appeared thoughtful for a second, "Does that off-the-records thing still hold good?"
Always on the ready to throw him a curve ball, he realized. He shifted on his feet and said, "Go on..."
"Why is that I feel none of that will be good enough if I don't deliver my work, the way you want and at the time you want..."
The revelation was rather impressive when she'd hardly been around for a brief time of four days and though it wasn't a complete mystery, his curiosity peaked even further on what she had in mind.
"I see that you are a fast learner..." He finally decided it was time that he gave her a sign of his approval.
"Maan..." Her voice fell a note as it always did when she said his name. "You will have to help me learn what you look for in my deliverables..." She was looking at him with her chin tucked in, a small pout at her lips, her eyes wide and gooey while her hand clasped the other at the wrist. And somehow it was the closest reproduction he'd seen of the puss-in-boots' look from the movie Shrek.
"I'm willing to give everything from my end to make sure I meet your expectations" She continued, "You can take that for granted..."
"All right" He drew a deep breath in, not quite believing what he was about to say then, "Get me the marketing team forecast and actuals for all campaigns done in the last six months. We will be auditing them for the next two weeks..."
If she was as smart as she'd been quoting, then she just had to know that this was his way of putting to test all those promises she'd committed herself to.
"And...I need them before end of day today" It didn't matter that the elevator felt like a torcher chamber from which the air was being sucked out with her mere presence, but he had to see that she was her salt's worth.
She beamed as expected; her lips stretched wide with a small bobbing of her head that made him want to smile back too. However, the reflection of them standing beside one another caught his eye in the smooth steel that covered the elevator insides. She was a full half foot shorter than him despite her heels and her lithe frame made her seem small in comparison. Her long straight ponytail rested over her shoulder and he felt an inane need to ask her to untie her hair just so the tamed wisps of hair that sometimes framed her face could fall free. A pair of liquid brown eyes glowed with a private satisfaction upon having convinced him to give her that extra incentive which he'd bestowed upon no other. Of course, that led him down the usual path of censure for having made a few inappropriate observations about her hair, eyes and her height. All of which a manager never should notice about the interns who worked with them.
Upon reaching their floor, the elevator slid open and they got off together, with her mind working out the details of the task ahead of her. She checked her watch for the time as she walked along side and he registered a small sigh escape her lips. There were only about 2 more hours before he wanted to leave office, but a villainous thought occurred to him that she didn't have to be privy to that detail yet.
"Oh! No..." She exclaimed and stopped sudden in the hallway, her eyes a worried brush of brown, "I don't know how to access the marketing team's data..."
He stopped and fully turned towards her, "I thought you are a fast learner, Geet" He raised a single brow at her with a sly smile playing at his lips, "You must surely know that there is always someone in the company who has already done what you will be asked to do"
"Erhm! yeah...sure...I knew that..." Her hands fumbled uneasily by her waist.
He began to stride away from her, but then she still had to hear what he'd to share off-the-record and that stopped him mid-step. Shaking his index finger at her, he approached her as if he'd forgotten to mention something, "And...I'm also certain that you will look up the difference between complex and complicated along with your day's assignment..."
No doubt, her eyes shot up wide, her brows hitting the roof and her eyes burned bright in a mix of disbelief and confusion. He could read her question there: Oh! What have I done now?
"Or should I let you in on my coffee order..." Another trace of a teasing smile at his lips appeared freely, "Then perhaps you can have a read of me and might even believe that I'm not so complicated at all..."
It was going to take Google search and a few seconds spent reflecting on his statement for all that to sink in and so, much to his silly delight he left her by the turn of the hallway when her gaze remained fixed and unblinking at his back. Before leaving though, he'd been sure to catch a shade of crimson climb up her cheek and indeed, he realized as he walked to his room, that it was a fine color to leave in him with a wicked sense of accomplishment.
He felt the tap of her heels rushing behind him and given she couldn't see his face, he let out a small smile unto himself, "Oh! I'm still hoping that I don't have to be apologizing for this morning..."
He turned on his heel and shoved both his hands into his pocket ready to intimidate her in that in-control stance, "Is that a question or a statement?"
The small space between her brows narrowed and she titled her head almost as if she was only 5 years old. "A bit of both, I think..." She said appearing every bit contemplative with her gaze shifted to his side.
She waited; her hands again in one of those Boy Scout knots.
It was time for his next meeting and he'd indulged her for a time which was more than he liked. Whirling back in the direction of his room, he said "I believe we are good then..."
He didn't know what her face showed then, however, when she heard him speak, he couldn't help but meet her eyes. She'd had her gaze lowered, but eventually looked up at him when he again felt the start of something settling in the air.
"You know what?" She said softly, her voice revealing that careful deliberation she was edging on, "I take it back...You are not complicated at all..."
He held her eyes for a second not acknowledging what she'd said, but not dismissing it either when the weighty hinting from her conclusion hit him. After all she was far more perceptive than he'd thought her to be.
"The numbers at my desk before end of day, Ms Geet..." He said disrupting that knowing look on her face.
"Yeah!...right on, sir..." She stumbled at first as if she was breaking a trance and then her usual awkwardness showed up in her movements. Without another word, she scuttled back to her desk leaving him wondering if she indeed saw what she'd just claimed to have seen. Oh! a very complicated complication...that indeed had to be kept off-the-records if she had to survive the remainder of the day.
Edited by 6th.Element - 13 years ago
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