“Welcome to McComb Industries. Here is a packet I was supposed to give you. If you want you can go read it in the conference room. Mr. McComb will be in to get you in a little bit.” The girl handed her a packet of papers.
“Thank you.”
“My name is Melissa by the way, if you need anything let me know. I’ve lived her my whole life, and I know it can be a challenge for someone moving to New York.” The girl said.
“Thank you Melissa, I may take you up on that offer. I’m not really sure where much is located.” Sally said.
“Sure anytime.” Melissa smiled at Sally.
Sally went into the conference room and opened up the packet. There was general information about the business, all of which she already knew. Plus a page that outlined her job responsibilities and office policies. She skimmed through everything and signed at the bottom of the page.
As she was finishing up reading the papers and signing the last one she felt someone enter the room. Looking up her breath caught in her throat as she saw Silas. He was dressed in casual pants and a polo shirt. The shirt hung open just enough so she could see the spattering of gray and brown hair that was on his chest. Her mouth watered as she wished that he didn’t have his shirt on.
For a man of 40 Silas was in tremendous shape. His body looked like an athlete, she was sure he worked out. She tried to reign in her thoughts of lust quickly so that it wouldn’t show on her face.
“Hello Sally, how was your trip back to New York?” He asked, his face friendly and he smiled.
“It was nice. I found a little place that put me near the metro and I was able to get to work fairly quickly.” She told him.
“Great. So did you have a chance to go through all the papers?” He asked.
“Yes I did and I signed them as well.” She pushed the packet across the table to him.
Their hands touched as he grabbed the packet. She noticed how they lingered a second longer than they should have and saw something cross over his eyes. It made her breathing speed up again and her thoughts of sexy Silas speed to the forefront of her mind.
“Do you have any questions?” He asked.
She wished to ask him what his naked body looked like under those clothes, but instead said, “No I think I understand everything about my job. I’m sure I can learn anything I’m not sure of, and be a modal employee.”
“Great, let me show you to your office.” Silas stood up.
He let her walk out of the room first, she could smell his cologne as he walked behind her. Not only does he look amazing, but his scent is one of my favorites, she thought to herself.
Silas put his hand on her lower back to guide her to the office that would now be hers. His touch felt like hot steel against her skin, even though the material of her dress was in between his skin and hers. She wanted him to touch her more than just this way. Oh Sally, get your damn libido under control will you, she chastised herself quietly.
He stopped at a door that had his name on it and opened it. “Isn’t this your office?” Sally asked.
“My office is through the next-door over there.” He said pointing to a door that was on the right side of the room.
Sally’s heart fluttered realizing just how close she would be working with Silas. “This office is huge!” She commented.
“Well, not really, if you see mine, this one will seem small.” He said as he opened the door to his main office.
She walked into the room and was amazed by the view. “Wow the city looks amazing from here. You have a fantastic view. I bet at night all the lights in the city look beautiful!’ She commented.
“Yes the city looks amazing from here at night.” He said. “The view is quiet breathtaking, even now.” He added.
Sally turned to see he was looking directly at her as he said the words. Her skin turned bright red, but she honestly didn’t want to read more into his comment, so she tried to calm her beating heart. Surely he was not flirting with her, she knew she was nothing compared to his wife.
“I need you to take some dictation this morning and put a memo out to the company.” Silas said.
Sally went back out into the other room to grab a paper and a pen. When she walked into his office again, his back was to her and he was looking out the window.
She cleared her throat to let him know she was back and ready to work. He turned and smiled at her. “You know the perspective of someone new in the office has reminded me of how beautiful this city really is, thank you.”
Sally wasn’t sure how to respond to his comment.
“Come over here and look again.” Silas motioned for her to come to the window. Sally walked over to him and looked down at the view again.
“I would never get tired of this view.” She stated.
He looked like he wanted to say something else to her but he didn’t say anything. “Okay let’s get to work.” Silas said as he sat down on a chair. He had pulled one out beside it and motioned for Sally to join him. She walked to the chair and sat beside him, deeply breathing in and smelling the Hugo Boss cologne he had put on this morning.
He begun to recite what he wanted her to put in the memo.
It is with great pleasure that I announce the purchase of McComb Industries newest division. We will be acquiring a division of the pharmaceutical’s company Green Life. Our goals will be to create a new line of medicines that are made of all-natural ingredients. Something that will offer to people a choice that will help them maintain a healthy lifestyle without all the side effects of normal medicines that are currently offered on the market. As always McComb will hope to be on the top of the market with these new products. I have hired a holistic doctor to help with the creation of these medicines. If anyone is interested in working in this new division please send your resume to my new assistant Sally Yates. We will be picking the new team soon.
“Wow this is great news!” Sally said with excitement.
“Yeah I think we are making a good move as a company. I think it will be successful. You know the one thing I’ve learned about pharmaceuticals is that they often harm a person more than help. My mother was put on medicine and instead of helping fix her problems. She instead had more side effects and had to take more medicines to combat those. It was like a cycle that seemed to be never ending.” Silas explained.
“I’ve noticed the same thing. In fact my grandmother died from the side effects of one of the medicines she had been put on to help her.” Sally stated.
“Oh I’m sorry to hear that. If only we would have gotten into this field before perhaps she would still be around.”
“She died when I was five, so it would have been a long time ago, well before people even realized how bad these prescription medicines were.”
He touched her hand, “Well Sally hopefully our company will save other families from suffering through the same issues.”
“Yes perhaps your mom will be able to get the help needed by some of the new medicines we create!” Sally smiled at him.
“I can only hope we aren’t too late to help her!” Silas commented.
“Me too” she said, as she placed her hand on his. He didn’t move away from her instead he left his hand there and looked at her seriously.
“You know my wife thinks I’m only hoping for something that will never happen. She doesn’t believe in holistic medicine at all.” Silas stated.
“I know a few people who swear by it and are the healthiest people I have ever met. In fact, my parents are two of them. They won’t take prescriptions. Especially after what it did to my grandmother. I’ve often used these home holistic remedies to feel better myself. They do work. But you know what it is, the big companies don’t want people to know about them. So I swear they pay off the government to put out bad information about these natural remedies.” Sally said.
“Yep, I agree, and we will have an uphill battle to convince people that these are safe alternatives and a better choice to make for their health.”
�
�If anyone can pull it off you can!” Sally stated.
He smiled at her warmly, “I think you are a great addition to our company. Not just because you agree with me, but you seem to know a lot of what is going on in the world.” Silas complimented her.
Sally was flustered by the warmth in his eyes and got up, “I better type this up and get it out.”
“Sure let me know when you are done, I have a few people who knew about this ahead of time and have already sent me their information. I’d like you to help me look through their qualifications,” Silas said before she left his office.
Chapter 4
As Sally sat typing the memo to send out she recalled that Silas had told her in his office. When he had told her his wife did not agree with this move she had witnessed the sadness that had crossed his eyes.
Honestly she didn’t understand how people could still support the pharmaceutical industry anymore. But she also knew plenty of people who believed that their doctors still had their best interests at heart. However, Sally knew that many doctors were biased because pharmaceutical companies who would offer incentives in the form of cash to these doctors.
Sally fully supported this move by Silas and knew that he was taking a step to help millions of people. She also knew he had hoped to have the support of his wife in this adventure. It must be painful and frustrating to him that she didn’t agree with it she thought to herself and she realized that that his life at home wasn’t as happy as the pictures had made them seem.
Part of her felt guilty about her having secret thoughts of him and she felt that if it resulted in having affair, it wouldn’t be something she would stop.
She knew her parents would never agree with this way of thinking, but she wouldn’t be sharing this information with them. Anything between her and Silas would remain her secret.
After she was done typing and sending the memo out, she knocked on the door to his office.
“Come in.” She heard him call out.
Going in the door she saw him sitting at the table with a stack of papers in front of him. “Are all of those for this new division?”
“Yes some are from outside of the company but several are from people we already have working for us. Please sit down and help me make up a list of the most qualified people.” He patted the seat beside him.
He pushed a couple of the resumes he had already looked at towards her. “These are the ones I’ve looked at already. I made some comments on them, see if you agree with me.” He said.
“Honestly I’m not near as qualified to make these decisions as you.” She said.
“I just would like your opinion on this too, if you don’t mind.” He smiled at her. “After all it is nice to have someone on the same side as me in this.” He added.
Again she saw the sadness cross over his eyes and knew he was talking about his wife and her unwillingness to support this idea.
“It’s a great idea, one that other companies should also look into. But if we are one of the only companies, it will be a great profit-making opportunity.” Sally said.
“But once other companies see our success, and I truly hope this is successful, they will jump on the band wagon as well. We will have to make sure that people will find that our products are the best choice on the market.”
“You’re a brilliant man I’m sure you will discover a way to make this known.” She complimented him.
He smiled at her, “Thank you for the compliment. But I am not brilliant, I just want to help out people.”
Sally wanted to hug him more than anything at that moment. But she fought the urge, and instead looked down at the resume in front of her. Checking his notes and adding a few of her own.
The time passed by quickly and soon the darkness was coming down over the city. The lights began to fill the sky and her attention was drawn to the view again.
He noticed her looking out the window from time to time and smiled up at her. “Go ahead and look closer; it truly is beautiful. However, the beauty of the view is nothing compared to what I see in you.” He said.
Sally was flustered as she stood up and walked to the window. There was no mistaking that he was flirting with her at this point. She enjoyed the warm feeling that filled her body.
He came up behind her and looked out over the city with her. She could feel his warm breath against her neck. It took everything she had to not lean back against his hard chest and melt into him. Sally wasn’t sure how long she could stand this closeness without allowing her body to act on its primal urges.
Her stomach growled loudly and he laughed, “Wow, it is a lot later than I thought. I’m sorry I kept you so late. Let me order something for us to eat. We don’t have to work, we can just enjoy the view and deal with the rest of this tomorrow.” He said.
Thankfully, he had moved away from her and she was able to clear her thoughts, “Okay, that sounds good. But I can still work, I don’t mind.”
He proceeded ordered take-out Chinese food for them both. “Tell me more about yourself Sally.”
“Well there is really not a lot to know. I’m a pretty boring person. I always put my studies ahead of everything else. I wanted to succeed in school so that I could hopefully help my parents out so they can keep their farm going.” She said.
“So you grew up on a farm? What was that like? Did you have to get up and do chores all the time?” He asked with interest.
She laughed, “Well not all the time, but those 5 am wake ups were something you just knew you had to do when you lived on a farm.”
“5 am? Wow, I can’t tell you the last time I was up that early!” He laughed.
“Well I can tell you when I went to college it took me a while to adjust and feel like I wasn’t being lazy waking up at 7 in the morning instead!” Sally laughed as she admitted it.
Silas looked at her and smiled, “You know you are a very refreshing person. I love how down to earth you all. You don’t see that a lot when you’ve lived in the big city for so many years. I miss the small town atmosphere, sometimes I just want to move back and get away from all of this. Too many fake people who just smile at you and tell you what you want to hear.” Silas commented.
“I love the hustle and bustle here, I can’t imagine going back to boring Nebraska.” Sally stated.
“Give it time, you’ll miss it one day, maybe not right away, but the day will come when you definitely will! Trust me.”
“Where are you from?” Sally asked him.
“I come from a little town in New Hampshire, Sugar Hill. Very quaint and nothing like New York. But I haven’t been back there in years. I moved my mom and dad to a little home in the country here in New York. They didn’t want to move into the city, and it’s a little like Sugar Hill where they are at, but just not quite the same.” Silas explained.
“What about your wife, is she from a little town too?” Sally couldn’t help but ask.
“No she used to be a model here in New York, and grew up here her whole life. She doesn’t like the quietness of little towns at all.” He admitted.
“That’s a shame, sounds like you would really enjoy getting back to a nice quiet little town yourself.” Sally stated.
“Yeah I would, but we all have to make sacrifices in life.” He said.
Sally looked at him and wondered what he meant by that. Was he really unhappy in his marriage? Perhaps he was and this was his way of hinting to her that he was open to something with Sally.
Chapter 5
The food Silas ordered showed up about thirty minutes later. Sally was still standing looking at the bright city lights, amazed she had finally made it to the big city.
“So you rich enough you could have a home in Sugar Hill and possibly still run your business from there. Why haven’t you done that?” She asked. “I’m sorry if I’m being too nosey, but you really do sound like you miss the less hectic life that you had there.”
“Well I’ve considered it, but my wife made it very clear that she would not
be interested in such a move. I guess I didn’t want to be alone, so I’ve stayed her instead. I do try and visit my parents as often as I can to enjoy the slow pace of their small town.” He told her.
“That seems a little selfish of her, don’t you think? I mean doesn’t she want you to be happy too?”
When he remained quiet for a bit too long, she added, “I’m sorry I know it’s not my place to say that. I often just say what I’m thinking sometimes and don’t really think about it before it comes out of my mouth.”
He looked at her, she was now sitting back by him, and they were both eating their dinner slowly. He put his hand on her arm. “No I don’t mind, I guess I’m just not used to someone being so forward with their opinions. Like I said, most people will tell me what I want to hear.”
“Except your wife.” Sally added.
He sighed, “Except my wife, right. She doesn’t care if I’m happy or not. As long as she gets the things she wants, that’s all that matters to her.”
“I’m so sorry Silas.”
He stood up leaving his dinner where it was. To her it looked like he was fighting a silent battle in his mind. “Don’t be sorry I choose this and I have to deal with it.”
Sally wanted to go to him, saw the passion shining in his eyes as he looked at her. But felt a deep sense of guilt within her. “You know what, I think I’ve overstepped my boundaries, I should go home. I’ll see you in the morning.” She stood up to leave.
“You didn’t overstep any boundaries. I needed someone to be honest with me again. Thank you. Please don’t leave yet, you haven’t even finished your meal. I’ll drive you home when we are done eating.” Silas said with sincerity.
Her fear was that she would try and kiss him or throw herself at him if she was around him much longer. She sat back down and started to eat. Any other thoughts she had about Silas and his wife she choose to keep to herself though.
He came back down and sat down beside her picking at his food. She couldn’t eat even half of the huge servings and was soon putting the cover back over her meal.
Single Dad’s Plaything: A Single Dad First Time Billionaire Romance Page 82
