Chapter 6

"So what do you have for me today?" he asked, changing the subject before I could ask anything else about my new office. I fumbled with my briefcase before I set it on the desk and pulled out my notes. I straightened them on the desk before handing them to Arlo.

"I-It's not perfect," I warned him. He opened the door against the back wall and walked into his personal office.

"Come in, take a seat," he said as he continued walking. I walked inside to be met with a large wall that was just a giant window with a view of New York. I gasped at the view. I was stunned still for a moment, it was beautiful. I migrated towards the window and watched the view.

"This is incredible," I breathed. He hesitated at his desk before he turned and looked as well.

"Best view money can buy. You can stare at it as long as you like after our meetings, but the first one is in less than an hour so I really need to go over these notes with you," he said, moving back to his desk. I moved to the other side and sat across the desk from him.

"Right, sorry," I apologized. For the next half hour, we discussed my notes and compared them to his. When we finally had them all paralleled, he sat back in his chair with a sigh and a shake of his head.

"These are incredible. Even better than yesterday. Where do you find this stuff?" He asked. I shrugged.

"You really don't want to know. Plausible deniability," I joked. He chucked as I stood. "Some coffee?" I asked. He nodded.

"Black with two sugars please," he accepted. I gave a small smile before I went exploring. I remembered one of the doors saying it was the staff kitchen and went to check it out. There was already a pot brewed and ready to go. I grabbed two to-go cups and filled them with coffee before making them to order. I was actually kind of surprised. I took my coffee the same way Arlo did. I added a hint of nutmeg and cinnamon to them both before I stirred them and set lids on top. I walked carefully back with them in hand and into his office before handing Arlo his cup.

"Careful, its hot," I warned out of habit as I went back to look out of the window. I heard a noise of surprise before he was standing next to me, staring at his cup.

"This is delicious. What's in it?" He asked. My smile only widened as I kept my eyes on the city.

"Cinnamon and nutmeg. I normally do it to my coffee... I took a gamble," I shrugged it off. He sipped at it again.

"Well, it paid off. I'm never getting coffee from anyone else again... unless it's an emergency and you're not around," he joked. I chuckled.

"Bass on your conditions when you hired me, I'll rarely leave your side," I joked. His smile tapered off as he faced me fully.

"If that's not agreeable-"

"No, it's okay," I stopped him as I shrugged it off and finally looked at him. "It's just my brother and me anyway. He'd probably be more than happy to get rid of me for a bit," I said honestly.

"So you two are close then?" He asked. I shrugged.

"We were a lot closer when we were younger. Then we got older and he wanted different things out of life. He liked to take risks. He wanted to fall in love. He always thought I was strange because I never shared his ambition," I answered.

"So you've never felt love for anyone?" Arlo asked, intrigued.

Hook.

I shook my head and felt the actual embarrassment of that fact come through as a rose color in my cheeks.

"I've never even had a boyfriend. I was homeschooled so there were less opportunities for me to meet people. Not that I minded anyway, I stayed to myself. I liked to see what I could do with a computer," I answered. That was true too.

"Not even an accidental one-night-stand?" He pried. I shook my head before taking a sip of my coffee.

"I'm a 24 year old, never-been-kissed, computer geek," I joked. He shook his head slightly. "Well, what about you? Gwendolyn seems... chosen for you," I joked. Despite the risk of that joke, he chuckled. I felt relieved; prying on the Gwendolyn subject too early could have gone one of two ways.

"She's from a powerful family. But she can be a good friend," he answered. I stayed quiet as I sipped my coffee. He took the opportunity to overthink his words in the silence by himself. "Okay, she's a witch, I know, but until my mother feels that shareholders are confident enough with my abilities, Gwendolyn is the company's security blanket," he admitted.

"You shouldn't have to rely on the backup to appear confident. Letting her run you isn't going to help you in the long run. She may be from money, but she has no idea what she's doing. Her company is only stable because her father has bailed her out of every misstep. You don't need her to do the same for you. It only shows you have no confidence in yourself either. You're better than that," I said honestly.

"I never thought of it that way," he said to himself more than me.

"In no way am I trash-talking your girlfriend, or your mother's method, or you, for that matter. I'm just stating facts. I apologize if it is out of line," I added as a disclaimer. He chuckled before taking another sip of his coffee.

"No one talks to me like that anymore... from now on, I want you to tell me the facts and truth straight. I don't care how brutal it may me," he granted me permission. He sighed as he glanced at his watch.

"We should be heading to conference room one for the first meeting of the day," he said as he threw his empty cup in the trash. I nodded and followed him out of the office.