by R. R. Banks
It had been a few months after everything exploded that Noah and I agreed we should ask if Walter wanted to help us out by rejoining the company. He was delighted, more, even, than I thought that he was going to be, and soon the office felt like home again.
Speaking of home, I looked around the living room of the house I was now sharing with Noah and tried to figure out what I could do to make it feel more like home. It was several times larger than the little house that I had purchased for myself, which left me with many more cavernous rooms to fill with details and décor that would hopefully transform the space into something that reflected us. I hadn’t sold my house. I didn’t know if I was ever going to. Not that I wanted to hang onto it so that I had a place to run away to, but more so that I could occasionally go visit it and remind myself that I was more than just the girlfriend of a wealthy executive, that I had worked hard and achieved success on my own.
The soon-to-be wife of a wealthy executive.
An executive’s wife.
Whoa.
My wedding gown was hanging in the closet of an empty bedroom upstairs, my veil beside it and my shoes on the floor beneath. Another room was filled with other gowns, shoes, and accessories, waiting for my bridesmaids to arrive later that morning to get ready for the wedding. Noah had gone to spend the last few days at his parent’s house so that we could preserve some of the excitement of the first time we would see each other at the ceremony, and I was already feeling lonely for him. It was strange to miss him so much even though I had seen him at the beginning of the week, but it was also thrilling. I couldn’t wait to see him. I couldn’t wait to say those vows and link us together.
The doorbell rang and an instant later Robin swept into the room carrying a bottle of champagne in one hand and a pair of flutes in the other. He poured me a glass, settled onto the couch beside me, and poured himself a glass. We sat together, sipping the bubbly drink in silence with our heads leaned in to rest on each other. We didn’t need to say anything. It felt like it had all been said, and anything else that might need to be said was expressed just through the touch of our heads and the sound of each sip. It was enough. I just needed him there with me. His presence was calming, taking the edge off the nervousness that I was feeling thinking about the ceremony ahead. He had been there with me always, seen me through everything. It was because of him, even though there was a time that I resented him for it, that I had found Noah when I did. Even if I had stayed around the office long enough to be there for the buyout and met Noah anyway, I doubt that I would have had the confidence to even consider approaching him, especially considering he would be my boss.
Now he was going to be my husband.
Noah held my hands tightly between us as we gazed into each other’s eyes. I was so lost in the green expanse of his gaze that I barely heard the officiant as he started our ceremony. We had spent many long nights planning the ceremony, piecing together different traditions and integrating some of our own favorite readings and quotes to make a wedding that was exactingly ours. We had carried that theme throughout the entirety of our wedding weekend. Friday night’s party at The Diamond Mine had initially struck Robin as strange, considering my very close, personal knowledge of both the owner and the back room, but it had felt completely natural to choose the club as our party venue. Not only had Damien’s account with the agency funded a large portion of the wedding through my commissions and bonuses, but it seemed right to include places and people that had proven significant to the building of our relationship. The weekend before our wedding our bridesmaids and groomsmen had faced off in a fierce baseball game umpired by Lee and had a lunch catered by Grey, whose hidden talent as a barbecue master had recently resulted in him and two of the other bikers in his gang teaming up to buy a food truck. A large, whimsically wrapped wedding gift had arrived at the house the week before and I could only imagine that it was a painting from Michael. Shane had sent a congratulatory letter and an offer for us to join him on the ranch for a weekend anytime and another envelope that had arrived the same day contained a thumb drive that held a song Sam had recorded during his latest performance, a cover of my favorite song.
I knew the real names of these men now, but I rarely thought of them with those names. To me, they would always be their aliases, integral elements of my journey to self-discovery and to the altar where I now stood with the man of my dreams, the only man who had ever been able to look into my soul and see who I really was and could be.
“Do you, Snow Whitman…”
I drew in a breath as I heard the officiant starting my vows. My heart was trembling in my chest and I felt tears slipping out to rest on my cheeks.
“I do,” I said when the moment came.
I didn’t know if I had managed to get my voice loud enough, but Noah smiled and I knew that he had heard me. I tried to focus as much on the rest of the ceremony as I could, wanting to remember every moment and how I felt. Suddenly the officiant was declaring us husband and wife and I felt a surge of pure joy through my heart.
“You may kiss the bride,” he said.
Noah reached forward and took my waist. He drew me close to him, gazing into my eyes as he slowly lowered his mouth to mine. The kiss was tender and sweet, but passionate in a deep, unexplainable way that went beyond just the public expression of our union to something within us that was now fully linked to one another.
The kiss hadn’t ended when our guests burst into applause and cheers and Noah and I laughed, causing our mouths to part, but our foreheads to touch. The officiant presented us and we turned to our guests briefly before running down off of the altar and up the aisle toward the waiting horse drawn carriage that would bring us through the sprawling, beautiful grounds and to the reception venue.
The next hour was a blur of pictures before it was finally time for us to enter the party that was already in full swing. When we stepped inside I gasped at the sight of the tables arranged throughout the space, each one arranged abundantly with decadent desserts. The center of the room held an elevated table featuring a towering cake decorated in sparkling sugar flowers and ribbons crafted out of fondant in pale, pearlized shades of lavender and blue.
I turned to Noah who smiled back at me.
“Do you like it?” he asked.
“You did this?” I asked breathlessly.
“I knew that you wanted a reception with only desserts. I’ve been planning the menu for months and baking for the last two weeks. It’s killed me to keep it a secret.”
I was mesmerized by the elaborate display of desserts and I started to walk around the edge of the room so that I could look at each table. I had seen three sweets-laden tables when my eyes widened at the sight of the table ahead of me. I gathered the gauzy layers of my skirt and rushed toward the table, turning to stare open-mouthed at Noah, who laughed back.
“Doughnuts!” I gasped.
My new husband nodded and came to my side, wrapping his arm around my waist to cuddle me up against him.
“I know that we have your doughnuts back in the breakroom now, but I figured that you could never get enough.”
“Never,” I said, tilting my head to look up at him.
Noah pressed a quick kiss to my smiling lips, looked at me for a moment, and then captured my mouth again. The pressure of his lips parted mine and our tongues lightly massaged each other. Both of his hands wrapped around my waist and he turned so that I pressed to the front of his body. My hand slipped away from my skirt and I felt it swirl around my legs then pool at my feet as I ran my hands up Noah’s chest and settled them at the back of his neck to hold myself into the kiss. This was everything and I couldn’t wait to share forever with Noah.
And a doughnut.
THE END
Billionaire Boss Series
Boss Me Hard
Chapter 1
“Are we there yet?” asked Hannah anxiously, looking out the window over the Persian Gulf as they flew toward their destination. She leaned back in her
chair, looking up at the ceiling as her best friend and coworker, Alexis, leaned over, patting her on the knee before shaking her head and looking out the window. “Sorry, I’m just ready to get this project moving,” continued Hannah as Alexis comforted her, chuckling lightly as she sipped from her bottle of water.
Alexis looked over to the other seat to find the man sitting beside her asleep, as he had been for most of the trip. “Maybe you should have had what he was having,” referencing the four bottles of liquor he drank prior to take off in Rome. “He seems to be handling his nerves quite well.”
Hannah leaned forward and looked at the man draped over his seat, hanging out into the aisle. His mouth was hanging open and he was snoring lightly as the two girls looked on in amazement. “That is one way to handle nerves,” quipped Hannah, shrugging her shoulders as she leaned back in her chair and pointed at the window. “But if you do that, you miss this amazing view.”
“I’m pretty sure he booked the aisle seat because he would rather look at the back of his eye lids than at any other view,” replied Alexis sarcastically, but in a jovial manner. “Besides, we don’t know all of the information. He could be so afraid of heights that the window seat makes him incredibly nervous. It could cause him to vomit profusely anytime he looks out the window and the aisle seat, combined with a lot of nature’s cure for bad dancing and awkward conversation, can ease him just enough that he can make it through the flight without causing a scene.”
Hannah nodded. “Or he could just be passed out from getting drunk,” she stated plainly.
“Or that,” admitted Alexis before turning to look at the man again before facing Hannah. “Probably that.” Both girls leaned back in their chairs and continued to wait patiently for the plane to approach their destination: Dubai.
Dubai. A city built for billionaires, that encompassed manmade islands created out of sand to provide extra space for living, and a night life that thrived with some of the best restaurants and nightclubs in the world. A booming metropolis, the professional world centered on trade, stemming from importing goods into the area for the large shops and bazaars, to exporting oil and other resources. Having built their entire city on the fortune of oil, and with the Port of Jebel Ali being nestled within its borders, Dubai is an essential connection to have for anyone in the oil business.
One of these companies is the American Oil Trade and Refiners, based out of New York City. Their business model is simple: use an immense buying power to get the cheapest product available and distribute it at slightly below market price. And Alexis Matthews and Hannah Burchfield, two of the best and brightest employees at the American Oil Trade and Refiners, made sure this happened. Both were credited with increasing profits and efficiency, building relations, and enhancing the company’s reputation. Though having never visited Dubai, both girls were trained and prepared to handle the tasks at hand.
***
Alexis Matthews at twenty-eight, was already carving out a niche for herself in the professional world. Having joined the company straight out of graduate school at age twenty-three, Alexis immediately leapt into the limelight as a master administrator, being able to handle a burdensome workload while producing incredible results. With her expertise at tariffs and customs, and her fluency in seven languages allowing her to communicate with the port authorities and local magistrates for the various regions they dealt with, she quickly proved herself to be indispensable at moving cargo from one end of the world to another. She was definitely a force to be reckoned with. While she was not very tall, her thin, toned body suited her and with stunning brunette hair hanging down to her shoulder blades accentuating her tanned skin, she drew many a man’s eye.
Hannah Burchfield though only twenty-seven and a few years behind Alexis in terms of her career, was cunning, curious, and a master negotiator. The girls grew up together in New York City, attending the same schools and becoming inseparable over time but chose different routes after high school. While Alexis went to business and graduate school, Hannah decided to try law school after college. After three years of law school she realized that a career on the bench did not suit her. As she had since childhood, she turned to her best friend Alexis for advice. A few hours of persuasion later, Alexis convinced Hannah to apply for a clerk position with the American Oil Trade and Refiners, filing all the documents that came in. It was a lesser job than Hannah wanted to do with her life, but she accepted that it was a start.
After the interview, she was offered a job, during which she showed off her talent at negotiating, convincing the human resources representative to give her nearly double what was offered with a much more lucrative benefits package. Before she could even sign the contract, however, one of the board members informed her that she would be given an audition: a working interview with a live negotiation. Though having very little knowledge of the industry, Hannah initiated the call with a supplier from Tunisia. While she could not get him to accept the lowest offer, she was able to make a substantial profit for the company she wasn’t even working for yet. Everyone looked on in disbelief at how she was able to convince someone, who never negotiated, to come down on his price. Hannah had already begun creating her reputation. The board offered her a position as a lead negotiator on the spot, with a very lucrative pay and benefits package, which she accepted under one condition: she could work with her best friend, Alexis.
Hannah was just slightly taller than Alexis, with an athletic physique and a soft, pale complexion. Her silky blonde hair, usually kept up in a ponytail, flowed down to the middle of her back. Always filled with energy, she never stopped too long to enjoy the scenery.
***
The plane started its descent into Dubai with Hannah starting to become more anxious. As she listened to the pilot over the loud speaker, her nerves stood on end as she looked out the window, seeing the scenery of Dubai in the distance. As they moved closer, the Burj al Arab came into view. With its glass façade and awkward construction, it appeared as a large wind sail from far away.
Hannah sat back in her seat as Alexis peered out the window, looking at the Burj al Arab with a slight bit of glee. The trip was long, having left from New York City the day before and arriving in Italy after a fourteen-hour flight before going through customs, only to get on another plane to Dubai. She was tired, but focused on the job they were sent there to do. As the plane moved closer, the Burj al Khalifa appeared in the distance. The tallest skyscraper in the world the Burj al Khalifa was hailed one of the greatest creations of mankind. “Hannah, look at that,” mentioned Alexis as she pointed out the skyscraper. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like that.”
The girls looked out the window in awe at the giant skyscraper, admiring its beauty as the sun reflected off of its glass façade. The plane continued to travel towards Dubai, allowing the girls to get a closer view at each detail in the building’s structure. Though still a few miles away, the shear mass of the structure made it visible to anyone traveling around the large city.
Around the Burj al Khalifa was one of the largest choreographed fountains, the Dubai fountain. Built on a thirty acre, manmade lake, the Dubai fountain put on a regular display of dancing water for tourists and residents alike. “Isn’t that lake around that building like the fountains in Vegas?” asked Hannah, looking back at Alexis for confirmation.
“Yes, it’s like the fountains at the Bellagio,” answered Alexis, not breaking her gaze with the beauty in front of her. The lake was sparkling with the sun reflecting off it the clear blue of the water.
The plane edged closer to land, showing two of the most amazing feats accomplished by the architects and designers in Dubai. Both a series of islands created by dredging sand, the first, World Dubai, showing off the beauty and splendor of the world while the second, Palm Jumeriah, one of the three Palm Islands, was an even greater and a more beautiful accomplishment. They offered miles of beaches, wild life and nature preserves, water parks, and more, all for the people of Dubai to live
in a luxurious paradise.
Alexis and Hannah sat in their chairs as the plane descended further, hovering over the tops of the tall buildings while plunging through the air toward the runway. “Remember, why we are here?” asked Alexis as the plane’s wheels touched the ground, squealing as the rubber abruptly hit the pavement. The plane shook as it stabilized with the fins lifting up slightly to drag the wind against the plane, slowing it down so it could taxi to the gate.
“We’re here to work,” answered Hannah. “We’re here for a couple of weeks to further our careers and make our bosses even richer.”
“Correct,” replied Alexis.
“Though I’m sure there’ll be some time for some harmless fun, right?” asked Hannah coyly, smirking as she unbuckled her seatbelt with the plane reaching the gate.
“Oh, I’m sure of it.”
Chapter 2
The office was massive, consisting of several hundred feet of desks and cubicles, nestled on the thirty-fourth floor of one of the larger skyscrapers in the city. Men and women, all from different corners of the world worked diligently in the main headquarters of the Consortium of Oil Traders. COT embraced the global oil trade, preferring for hundreds of people from all of its members to descent upon Dubai and learn from one another, making each individual corporation stronger so that the consortium would benefit.
Alexis sat in her cubicle with a computer screen in front of her, finally nestled in after a day of unpacking her belongings. Small trinkets and pictures lined her desk as she finished unpacking a small box. The pictures were of her friends and family back home, reminding her of the life that she was temporarily leaving behind while the trinkets were all gifts and tokens of appreciation throughout her career. One picture displayed prominently in the corner was her graduation day from Dartmouth, posing on the steps of the School of Business with her best friend, Hannah. Though her trip was only for two short weeks, she knew that her overall comfort in her working environment would be the ultimate key to her success.
