by Helena Shaw
“Mr. Crane,” she said, her voice more of a croak than human. “I didn’t see you there.”
“No, I don’t think you did,” he said, his voice even and cold. “Olivia, is it?”
“Y-yes sir,” she managed with a stutter.
“Do you have a problem with how I staff my office?” he asked her, his hint of a grin fading quickly.
“No sir!” she said, but against what had to be rational thinking, she continued. “It’s just... I was up for that promotion and I thought maybe it would be wise for Miss Lowry to start as a secretary before she took on the responsibility of being your executive secretary.”
“Oh, you’re just looking out for her best interests?” Draven said, his voice turning with a low growl. “If I wanted your recommendations, I would have asked for them. Miss Lowry is my executive secretary, and if I even suspect that you or anyone else are being anything but respectful to her, you will be looking for a new job. Understand that?”
“Yes sir,” Olivia nodded.
“As for the rest of you,” Draven said as his voice turned even darker. “As my executive secretary, Cadence has the authority to make decisions in regards to staffing. Do I make myself clear?”
As he spoke, Cadence thought, for just a moment, that something different flashed in his bright blue eyes. Something that seemed to practically burn through her and she wasn’t sure if she should fear him or not. At that moment, she could only manage to be grateful, even if his words came back to haunt her later.
“Yes sir,” the secretaries echoed each other, every one of them staring at their shoes as they did.
“Good,” Draven said. “Ramona, Cadence, come with me.”
Neither of the two women replied, they simply followed their boss to the elevator and Cadence kept her eyes on the ground as the doors closed behind them. A voice inside her wanted to see the fear on the secretaries’ eyes, but she knew that even a hint of gloating would make everything worse, even with Mr. Crane’s threats.
More than anything, she wanted to thank Draven for coming to her rescue. Part of her wanted to throw her arms around him and thank him for stopping Olivia’s onslaught, but she thought better of it.
Instead, she stood quietly in the elevator, watching Draven’s back until he the doors opened and he stepped out.
He was almost at the door to his office before Cadence forced herself to speak.
“Mr. Crane,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
“Yes?” he asked as he turned to face her.
“I just want to say thank you,” she managed to make herself say. “I appreciate it.”
“In the future, I trust you’ll be able to handle such trivial matters on your own,” he replied, his tone as cold as it had been when he’d scolded Olivia. Cadence’s heart sunk, her appreciation cut to ribbons, but Draven wasn’t quite finished. “But you are most welcome. If you do have any issues in the future, I do hope you come to me about it.”
With that, he left Cadence and Ramona standing by what was soon to be solely Cadence’s desk. She wasn’t sure if she should laugh or cry, but what she did know was that Draven Crane had come to her rescue and in his own cold, intimidating way, had assured her that he would do it all over again if she needed him to.
Chapter Four
Monday morning came early, but Cadence was up and at the office before dawn. For the first time since she’d started at Crane & Partners, she had no problem getting up and getting to the office. It was also the first time since she’d started that the sky was clear and full of stars, not a cloud to be seen, and she made the walk across the empty lot by the light of the flashlight she’d remembered to bring.
Even though she was there before anyone else, she still found what she assumed was Draven’s car in the parking lot and his coat in the small closet behind her desk. Her goal had been to get to work before her boss and make a great impression on her first day without Ramona to guide her, but somehow Draven was still there ahead of her.
At least she had avoided seeing any of the other secretaries by getting there so early. Despite Draven coming to her aid, Cadence wanted nothing more than to avoid them. Even if she did fantasize about Oliva getting publicly fired.
Mr. Crane’s first appointment wasn’t for an hour, so Cadence went through the schedule book to see just who to expect throughout the day. None of the names stood out, despite Draven’s often well known list of clients. She was certain some of them had to be well known in some way that she wasn’t aware of them. They weren’t like those first few clients, though. After a week of working with Ramona, she quickly realized that the actors and rock stars were going to be few and far between. Hell, seeing any clients would be few and far between.
Draven only saw an average of three to five clients a day, and most of his clients only came in to renew their contracts once every five years or so. She’d tried googling the legal firm from home, but found little about the place or Draven himself, but that didn’t stop her from searching each of the day’s clients that were set to come in throughout the day. She knew she wasn’t allowed to have her phone on during work, but Draven never left his office and until the first client was set to arrive, she was certain she could use her phone to do a little searching before anyone even realized her phone had been on at all.
Her internet research took only minutes and she still had time before she showed in the first client for the day. In the meantime, she began work on tomorrow’s schedule and finalized it before emailing it to the front desk for the receptionist. She could only hope that the young woman had been left out of all the recent drama and wouldn’t do anything to tamper with the schedule.
With that done, she moved on to making her schedule for the day. She pulled out the big black book with the schedules for calls in it and made notes of which numbers to contact that day. There were only six people she needed to call, and most were on the east coast. She made a note to make her calls at ten and a couple more at one to ensure the time difference didn’t risk someone missing her message.
Soon she would need to go through the book and find everyone who needed calling in November, but she decided to put that off. Without a computer to work with, it would be up to Cadence to go through every contact and figure out who needed calling and when. It was by far her biggest, most important job, and yet, she decided to put it off until later.
Finally, mercifully, someone arrived by the elevator.
“Good morning, Mrs. Reed,” Cadence said as she stood to greet a tall, older woman with streaks of grey running through her blonde hair. “Mr. Crane is expecting you.”
“Thank you,” the woman nodded, a forced smile on her lips.
Cadence made the call into her boss’s office to ensure he knew that the elegantly dressed older woman was on her way in. She had at least two hours until his next appointment was set to arrive. Beyond that, she had nothing to do and she pulled out her copy of The Marble Faun and began to read.
With her nose in a book, Cadence let the time pass by. She only had to keep one ear on the door so she could hide her book before any of Mr. Crane’s clients saw her doing anything but being prepared to greet them or send them off.
The doorknob of Draven’s office began to turn and Cadence shoved her book in a drawer and stood to see Mrs. Reed off. The woman looked shaken as she left the office and her elegant, if not a little pale, face somehow seemed ten years older. Still, Cadence wished her well and made note of calling her ahead of her next appointment.
“That won’t be necessary,” Draven said as he stepped out of his office. “Mrs. Reed has decided not to extend her contract. Please cross her name from the book.”
Cadence’s eyes flicked from her boss to Mrs. Reed and back, but she forced herself to nod and sit back down at her desk. Draven waited until Mrs. Reed was on the elevator before he turned to retreat back into his private solitude, but Cadence stopped him.
“Um,” she stuttered. “Does that happen often?”
&nbs
p; “Excuse me?” he asked as he turned to face her. She expected to see anger on his face, but instead there was only curiosity.
“Do people often choose not to renew their contracts?” she asked again.
“No,” he said rather bluntly. “Their contracts are usually very lucrative for both parties. It’s quite unfortunate to lose a contract, but more for the client than for the firm.”
“Oh,” she said with a nod like she understood, but she still wasn’t sure why Mrs. Reed would look so upset over choosing to end her own contract. She wanted to question him more, but she didn’t want to anger him and she let the topic drop.
“Please let me know when my next appointment arrives,” Draven said before he stepped into his office and closed the door behind him.
No one else was due to arrive until after noon and Cadence took the opportunity to pull her sandwich out of her purse. She’d thought about attempting to go out and grab lunch, but she knew she was supposed to stay at her desk. So instead of warm food that was freshly made, she was stuck with cold salami on slightly stale bread with only some mustard for a bit of flavor.
This sucks, her mind groaned. She thought she would love being left alone all day with her books, but more than anything, she was bored. Draven still scared her enough to keep her on her toes, but she didn’t know how long that would last.
While she ate, she went back to her book and tried to avoid thinking about how little she had to do while she was at work. Instead, she focused on the gothic romance of Hawthorne and ate her lackluster sandwich as she watched the clock tick the seconds away until she could leave.
She was so distracted by her book that she didn’t notice the doors of the elevator slide open and someone step out. She wasn’t expecting anyone for at least thirty minutes and it wasn’t until the man was standing at her desk that she finally looked up and noticed him.
“Oh my god,” she stammered, her mouth half full of sandwich. “I’m so sorry,” she managed once she swallowed.
“It’s fine,” the man said. “I know I’m early. Andras Corson,” he introduced himself as he held out his hand for her to shake.
“Cadence Lowry,” she offered as she shook his hand.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he said and instead of shaking her hand back, he bent forward and kissed the back of her it.
A furious blush crept over Cadence’s cheeks as the attractive man smiled back at her. He had to be as tall as Draven, but where her boss’s hair was jet black, Andras’s was a light blond with highlights of gold. His eyes were a light green and his skin was perfect porcelain white. Even his suit was light and airy, a soft grey that was totally different than the black that Draven made everyone in the office wear.
“Mr. Crane isn’t expecting you yet,” Cadence apologized as she put her book away.
“It’s okay,” Andras said as he sat down in one of the chairs provided for the rare time someone was early. “I don’t mind waiting, and you seem like fun company. What were you reading there?”
“The Marble Faun,” Cadence told him, curious if he’d heard of it.
“Ah, a Hawthorne fan,” he said, not disappointing her. “I’ve read it, long ago though.”
“Me too,” she told him as she put her book away. “I thought it was time to give it a reread.”
“An excellent choice.” Andras smiled at her as he pushed a lock of blond hair off his face. “Now, Cadence, I already know you have good taste in literature. What else is there to know about you?”
“I don’t know,” she said with a giggle that she couldn’t stop. It was Ramona’s voice that echoed in her head, warning her not to flirt with Mr. Crane’s clients, but she couldn’t help it. He was gorgeous, confident, and made her feel so at ease. If he asked her out right then, she knew her answer would have been yes.
“Come on,” he purred at her. “How long have you been working for that surly old man in there?”
She wouldn’t consider Draven an old man, neither he nor Andras looked like they were over thirty, but she couldn’t help but giggle again.
“About a week,” she admitted to him. “I took over for Ramona when she left.”
“Well, I’m sure you’ll do a fantastic job,” Andras assured her with a winning smile.
She was about to blush and giggle, but their conversation was cut short as Draven stepped out of his office.
“Andras,” he said with a low growl. His normally cool and emotionless face now carried a scowl that sent a shiver of fear down Cadence’s spine. He hadn’t even looked so displeased when he’d scolded the other secretaries for their malicious behavior. She couldn’t help but wonder what it was about Andras Corson that made him so mad.
“Draven,” the beautiful blond stranger said as he stood up to meet Cadence’s mysterious boss.
“I am not to be interrupted for any reason,” Draven instructed Cadence before he let Andras into his office and slammed the door behind him.
“What the hell?” Cadence muttered to herself when she was finally alone again. She knew it was against the rules, but she needed to know more about Andras Corson. Nothing she’d been told by Ramona led her to believe that Draven was anything but cool and collected at all times. She needed to know what it was about this one man that made his veneer come crashing down.
She pulled her phone out of her purse and turned it on. Draven’s appointments never lasted less than an hour and she knew she had time to do some searching, even if she kept her phone in her lap while she did it.
She searched Andras Corson again, but this time she didn’t stop after the first page of results. His name popped up sporadically at best and at most she saw him connected to another legal firm that had as much information available as Crane & Partners. All she could glean was that he was a lawyer in the same vein as Draven and that he appeared to have an independent firm.
The appointment ended sooner than she thought it would and in a panic, she tossed her phone into her discarded rain boot and stood to say good-bye to Mr. Corson.
“I’m sorry we couldn’t come to an agreement,” Cadence heard him say to Draven as he left the room. She didn’t see her boss, but the door slammed all the same as Andras left.
He didn’t make a beeline for the elevator like most of his clients did. Instead he stopped at her desk to personally say good-bye.
“I apologize for angering your boss,” Andras said with a playful smile on his lips. “I’d wager he’s going to be a bit of a beast for the rest of the day and I do have to assume it’s my fault.”
“It’s okay,” Cadence giggled at his obvious flirting. “He never comes out of there anyway.”
“If I had a secretary as pretty as you,” he said as he leaned on her desk. “I don’t think I’d ever be in my office.”
Cadence tried to say something equally witty and cute in return, but her tongue was tied in her mouth and she could only manage a stutter. Her cheeks flushed red as she giggled, but Andras didn’t seem to mind.
“I hope to see more of you,” he said as he pushed himself up and made for the elevator. “I’ll be around.”
“I hope so,” she managed to say back, but by time the words left her mouth, Andras was already in the elevator. She couldn’t tell if he heard her, but he winked at her as the doors closed and her heart fluttered in her chest.
Thankfully, there was only one more appointment on Draven’s schedule for the day and unless it was another situation like Mr. Darby, she should be able to get out of work before the sun went down. The shadows were the worst right before night fell and if she could get home before six, she could hide in her room or drown them out with TV.
Luck was finally in her favor and Draven’s last client left for the day right at five. With his voice giving her permission over the intercom, she changed her shoes, grabbed her jacket, and made for the elevator. She knew she might run into some of the other secretaries, but she kept her head down and raced out the front door before anyone could even notice her.
> The only stroke of bad luck that she encountered were the quickly growing rain clouds overhead. She was about to cut across the empty lot to make her way home faster, when a familiar voice called to her.
“Cadence,” Andras’s deep, rich voice called to her from up the street. “I thought I might run into you.”
“Andras, hi,” she said with a smile as she deviated from her current path. He had an umbrella in hand and held it out for her to step under just as the rain started. “Where’s your car?” she asked him.
“Up the street,” he told her. “I stopped for an early dinner before heading back to the city and decided to go for a walk before the rain started. I guess I didn’t make it back in time.”
“I’m kind of glad you didn’t,” Cadence admitted. “I may have been hoping you’d say you were waiting to see me, though.”
“Maybe I was,” he grinned at her. “I just didn’t want you to think I was a stalker.”
He was so friendly, so light and comforting, that there was no way she would ever think that. Unlike her boss, he didn’t intimidate or scare her and she just wanted to be close to him.
“I don’t think you’re a stalker,” she giggled as she shifted closer to him to share the umbrella.
“In that case,” he said. “Maybe I could walk you home. I’d hate for you to get wet.”
The rain went from a drizzle to almost a downpour as they made the ten minute walk to Jane’s house, but Cadence barely noticed. She and Andras talked about everything and nothing at all. He talked about his own newly started legal firm while Cadence told him how Draven had basically dumped her instant promotion in her lap. He listened patiently when she shared her concerns about being promoted over Olivia and how the other secretaries were being cruel to her.
“I hear Draven has some pretty interesting clients,” Andras said as they turned onto Cadence’s street.
“Sometimes,” Cadence admitted. “But it’s confidential, sorry.”
