2

Butterfly and the Ceo

Chapter two

Ellie’s point of view

It's Monday morning, and I'm starting my day with a latte in the cafe before I head into work for very my first day at Harris Corps designs. Connor smiles when he sees me walk into the cafe. He looks at me as he says.

“Good morning Ellie, what can I get you?”

“I'll have a latte, please, Connor.”

I reply with a smile as he takes my order.

“Take a seat, and I'll bring it over to you.”

I walk over to the little corner table, opening my phone to look through the local rental ads; Connor walks over with my coffee smiling as he places the cup on the table as he says.

“There you go Ellie, Is there anything else I can help you with?”

“Thank you, Connor, no that's it all for today.”

I giggle, he's such a flirt, but I don't mind; that's just the way he is; he has such an easy-going, friendly vibe around him that you can't help but like him.  He looks at me with his puppy dog eyes as he says.

“Shame”

I finish my coffee as I look through the local ads; my next mission is to find a place to live and get out of the shabby hotel. I check my watch before I bid Connor goodbye as I make my way across the road to Harris Corps designs. Mrs Austin smiles from behind her desk when she sees me; she's wearing a smart red business suit, whereas I'm wearing the same pencil skirt teamed with a different blouse. Hopefully, I can pick up a couple of new blouses with my first paycheque.

She smiles as she shouts over the desk to me.

“Good morning Miss Simms.”

I smile as I reply.

“Good morning, Mrs Austin; I hope you've had a nice weekend?”  

She walks from behind the desk as she says.

“Lovely, my dear, thank you for asking; let's get someone to show you to your office and give you a tour of the building.”

I smile and take a seat as I wait; she makes a call, then a few minutes later, a pretty blonde woman walks over to me

“Hi, Miss Simms? Im Erin, and I'll be showing you around today.”

I smile as I stand 

“Hi Erin, PLease call me Ellie.”

She nods her head with a grin as she says.

“Come on then, Ellie, let's get you settled in.”

We take the lift up to the top floor of the building. As the lift door opens, I catch the heel of my shoe in the rim of the lift door and fall forward only to find myself up against a sizeable muscular chest as two strong arms wrap around me to stop me from falling. I look up into his beautiful blue eyes as he says.

“Are you okay, Miss Simms?”  In that deep sexy voice of his

“OH Yess, I'm sorry,”

 I whisper, feeling myself blushing more. Good lord, what is it with this man, and why does he smell so good. He lets go of me almost reluctantly. I hadn't realised that I was still in his arms, Or how much I liked being in them, He nods his head before he disappears into the lift as Erin pulls me out; she giggles as she says.

“Oh, Ellie, you lucky girl. I wouldn't mind falling into his arms.”

Which, of course, makes me blush some more; she laughs as she pulls me down the corridor.

“Come on, Ellie, Your office is over here.”

She says as she opens the door to my new office; I'm surprised at how big it is. There is a large oak desk and a modern design table facing a full-length floor to ceiling window, and the room is filled with natural light, perfect for designing.

“Oh, this is lovely. I thought I'd be in a shared room.”  

I say, unable to hide the surprise in my voice. Erin laughs as he replies.

“Ellie, you're one of our top designer's girl. I'm your design assistant, I look after four of you, and my station is in the corridor outside. Shall we grab a drink while I run through the systems we use here?”

“Sounds good to me.”

I say with a smile; I really like Erin; she has such a bubbly nature about her that you can't help, but like her, She disappears out of the office after asking what I would like to drink. She reappears a couple of minutes later with two cups in her hand as she says.

“Okay, let's get started then. This is the design planning software.”

She shows me the software they use for designing; I look at the program, and it's all pretty basic, similar to what I have used in the past. Erin makes sure I understand everything before she carries on.

“And this one is our team diary; we're all linked to the same system. Hence we know when each person is available or what plans everyone is working on; you cannot change anything highlighted priority. Mr Harris is the only person who can change these. Anything highlighted in green is yours to change as you like.” 

I nod my head as I say.

“Okay, I've got that Erin, so we have a meeting today then?”

Looking at the diary as I see a priority meeting for this morning at ten o'clock.

Erin nods her head as she says,

“Yes, every Monday and Friday mornings, we have a team meeting. On Mondays, we plan the week ahead and then on Fridays, we check on everyone's progress.” 

She looks at her watch before she says.

“Saying that we best get to the meeting room.”

She then leads me down the corridor to the door at the other end; we enter a large room. Inside there's a long table with lots of chairs around it. Mr Harris is already seated along with several others.  I can't help but look at him as we walk into the room. My God, that man is so handsome. He lifts his head with a lazy smile as he says.

“Good morning, ladies, please take a seat. Miss Simms, I hope Miss Healy is looking after you this morning?”

He asks with a raised eyebrow and a cocky smirk. Yeah, he totally caught me checking him out.

“Yes, she is; Erin has been lovely.”

He nods his head before he turns to face the rest of the room.

“Good……… Good morning everyone, I hope that you've all had a nice weekend. First, on the schedule, I would like to introduce our newest team member, Ellie Simms, Miss Simms; this is Jake Anderson.”

A young man stands up and holds out his hand; I take his hand in mine as I say.

“It's lovely to meet you, Jake; I'm looking forward to working with you.” 

Mr Harris then goes on introducing me to the rest of the team.

“This is James Powell.”

An older man stands up as he says.

“Lovely to meet you, Miss Simms, Im looking forward to working with you.”

I turn to shake James’s hand as I say.

“It's nice to meet you too, James and please call Me Ellie.” 

He nods his head as Mr Harris carries on with the introductions.

“And last but certainly not least, this is Rachel Carney, our head designer.”

She lifts her head as she says.

“Miss Simms.”

I hold out my hand to Rachel, who dismisses me with a raised eyebrow as she rakes her eyes over my cheap clothes. What's her problem? I pull my hand away and straighten my skirt, looking down into my lap as I whisper.

“Nice to meet you, Rachel.”

She replies with a curt.

“It's Miss Carney, if you don't mind.”

Mr Harris looks furious as he looks at Rachel before he says.

“Okay, team planning this week, James, I would like you to work with Ellie on the next generation project. James, you will be planning the layout, and Ellie will be working on the interior design; Ellie is going to help you embrace a more modern side James.”

James chuckles as he says.

“Haha, I can do modern Zac,”

Zac laughs before he turns to Rachel.

“That leaves Rachel and  Jake with the Williams project. Any questions, anyone?”

Everyone answers no, as Rachel stands and says

“No, Mr Harris, I’ve already made a start on the project over the weekend.”

I shake my head, watching as Mr Harris is now glaring at Rachel; good, I hope he puts the bitch in her place, looking down her nose at people; I have no idea what her problem is. Mr Harris’s face relaxes when he turns to look at me as he says.

“Miss Simms, do you have any questions?”

Jesus, he caught me staring again,

“What…...er,.......no…..” I stammer.

I can't help my blush, Rachel notices, and she's not impressed, at least I know what her problem is now, she's got the hots for the boss, yeah he's handsome, and yes I am attracted to him, but No, No, No I won't be going there ever again I'd rather be single and free.

He nods his head with that smirk of his as he shows off those adorable dimples as he says.

“Okay, I’ll leave you all to it. Miss Carney, can I have a word with you before you go?”

She grins as we all stand to leave the room; I'm the last one out; as I'm closing the door, I hear her whisper.

“Zac darling, you wanted to see me.”

My heart skips a beat as I listen to her sultry voice. Fuck I cant be jealous. I hold my head high as I think to myself. I made a vow never again to get involved with a man, no matter how attracted I am to him or how ridiculously handsome he may be.

I am finally a free woman………