“Who are you?” an extremely attractive blonde asked her in a snotty voice.
“I happen to be the Human Resources director and this is my office. Who the heck are you?” she replied.
“I’m Amy and we're the current HR team, working on who will be staying or going. The president asked us to escort you to his offices immediately, once you returned,” the snide woman said.
“It would be my pleasure to see the man,” Jasmine spat, as she turned on her heels. She’d give the man a piece of her mind. It was rude to have people going through her stuff without consulting her first. She figured she was getting fired anyway, so she’d say what she wanted to.
She knew the floor well and stormed towards her father’s old office figuring the man would choose it for his own. After all, it was the largest in the building and the guy seemed to have some serious power control issues. Amy was running behind her, trying to catch up.
She stalked past the secretary, who gave a surprised expression, then looked confused. Jasmine didn’t even bother knocking. She threw open the door and stalked towards the desk. The man was sitting with his back to her but she didn’t care. He’d hear her just fine.
“Who the hell do you think you are, sending a bunch of strangers into my office to go through my files? I would’ve been more than happy to show them anything they’d asked for but the way you’re running things is a complete invasion of privacy to both me and the employees,” she shouted. She rarely raised her voice but she was so angry, she couldn’t control herself.
“I’m so sorry Mr. Titan. She returned from lunch and then stalked out of the offices before I could stop her,” Amy said a bit breathlessly. Jasmine’s whole world seemed to come to a standstill as the woman said his name. He slowly turned in his chair and their eyes connected.
She couldn’t breathe, as she realized the man who had turned her world upside down again, was none other than her ex-lover. Her knees would no longer hold her up and she sank down into the chair, which was thankfully positioned behind her. They stared at one another as the seconds ticked by.
“Thank you Amy, you can leave us now,” was all he said, in his cold, controlled voice he had developed.
“But sir, you said you wanted one of us in here as you let people go…” she began protesting.
“I said leave,” he told the woman. She looked at him with surprise and then glared at Jasmine, before heading out the door, which she slammed behind her. Jasmine could see the woman thought of Derek as more than her boss.
Jasmine wouldn’t put it past him to be sleeping with his employee’s. He was loaded now and apparently thought he could do anything he wanted.
“I didn’t realize you worked here. I guess I should have spent more time studying the personnel file,” he finally said to her. He’d figured the princess hadn’t worked a day in her life. He was sure she didn’t really work here either but more likely played at the office all day while collecting a huge paycheck. That was all over for her.
“Why would you do this?” she asked him. She didn’t understand why he’d want to destroy her father. Derek had been the one to walk away, why would he possibly come back into her life in such a horrible way?
“It was a good deal,” he answered her with his cold eyes. She felt her anger rising again at his dismissive attitude. He really was a cold hearted bastard. They sat, staring at one another. She refused to be the one to break the silence.
“What position do you hold here?” he asked her with a smirk as if he couldn’t imagine she’d know how to work. His tone infuriated her even further.
“I’m the head of personnel and I do a great job at it,” she said between clinched teeth. He didn’t say anything as he pulled her file up on his computer. He sat there, going through the file for a full ten minutes, while she sat in the chair fuming.
“You have worked here for six years it seems. I’m surprised you went to college,” he said with a derisive look at her.
“I graduated at the top of my class and I’m excellent in my position. If you fire me, I will sue you for wrongful termination,” she spit out at him.
Derek smiled at her words. His initial thought was to fire her but the idea of being her boss seemed far more appealing to him. He’d control her paycheck, which meant he controlled her life, because her dad wouldn’t be able to bale her out, anymore. The man was bankrupt and just about as poor now as Derek had been as a child.
Derek looked through her file some more and was surprised by how low her salary was. If she’d been working at the same position in his main company, he would’ve been paying her almost double what she made here. Her father was a selfish man, even with his own daughter, it seemed. Derek didn’t realize why that surprised him.
“You’ll soon find I don’t take well to being threatened, Ms. Freeman. I’m not firing you today but you’ll only remain on the staff for now on a trial basis. If you don’t work to my far stricter standards then you’ll be let go,” he said as he leaned back in his chair.
She wanted to stand up and slap him across his smug face. She had never in her life been so angry. How could he look at her so coldly? How could he have turned into this cruel hearted man? She was so grateful she’d never told him about her son, because she was sure he would’ve tried to acquire him the same way he acquired his businesses.
“I do my job very well. I will expect to be treated like any other employee here. I also don’t want to speak with you anymore,” she said as she stood up to leave. She needed to find a bathroom quickly, where she could break down in private.
Before she’d taken more than a few steps he grabbed her arm and she was suddenly standing there, far too close to him. She cursed her traitorous body wanting to lean up against him. His smell was invading her senses, making the heat pool up in her core. No, no, no, she shouted at herself. She refused to let him affect her.
“It would be hard to treat you like any other employee since you’re the only one here I’ve sunk deep inside while you cried out my name,” he whispered to her, bringing his lips only centimeters from her own. “And I hate to tell you this but as head of personnel you’ll be working very closely with me as we have a lot of jobs to replace over the next few weeks. If you can’t handle the position please feel free to walk out now,” he growled.