The minute they were alone, Liam threw his glass across the booth, it hit the wall partition and splintered into crystal shards on the floor, splashing brown liquid everywhere.
He watched the mess, but his rage did not cool, and he was not satisfied.
He grabbed the still-full bottle and was about to subject it to the same fate when Julian sprung to his feet and snatched it away from him.
"Whoa, dude chill! You know how damn expensive this is!"
"I paid for it," Liam grunted and eased back in his seat, his heart still pounding out control, his anger roaring in his ears way louder than the music blasting from the overhead speakers.
"What's gotten into you, and why was Laura so pissed off?" Matthew asked and waved at their waitress—a Jade or some other stripper name Liam forgot as soon as she introduced herself when they first arrived— to bring them an empty glass.
The lingerie-clad blonde bombshell, whose tiny bra was struggling to
Eden reported for her official first day as Liam's assistant very early as instructed. He expected her at 6:00 AM she was there at 5:00 AM. After her customary stop at Ted and Jim's post at the entrance and they exchanged pleasantries, she headed straight to the CEO's floor. Now that she had her access card, she didn't have to deal with the five Sandys at reception. The place was still empty, no one around yet to welcome her, so she mindlessly wandered the hallways, looking for her office. Liam and the two other executives, Julian and Matthew Anderson—she assumed were relatives of his—had the biggest offices. The smaller ones belonged to their army of assistants, but none of the doors had her name. She stopped at the reception area and pulled out her phone to call Gibby, but she was distracted by Brenda's text, updating her of their plans for the day. Aiden was still sleeping, and they had an exciting day planned with a trip to the park two bl
His question was so unexpected for a mindblowing nanosecond Eden didn't know what to say or how to react as her mind raced in a million directions. —This is her chance to come clean, tell him about Aiden and offer him visitation on weekends. She won't ask for anything from him, only that he doesn't upset the nice life she's built for herself and their son. And she's more than happy to leave his name out of the birth certificate if that's what he wants— "I guess he's not," Liam carried on cooly, not allowing her a moment to process his question, let alone give him an answer. "I mean with your track record, who knows how many other men you've been with since that night." Eden didn't know why she was shocked, she shouldn't even be hurt by his words, considering their showdown just days ago and how savage he was. But she was hurt. And she was shocked. This time, though, his words didn't have the power to render her speechless and send her
Determined to put her anger and hurt feelings aside, and feign amnesia over the breakroom incident, Eden sat up and took off her glasses and wiped them with the hem of her dress before she snapped them back on. She was about to annoy Liam again and ask him for help with accessing her laptop when Clara and Gibby arrived to save the day. Clara granted her initial access and reminded her to change her password, while Gibby briefed her about Liam's schedule for the day. As part of her training, she had to sit in all his meetings for the day, coordinate his gym visit with his personal trainer, arrange his lunch, pick up his dry cleaning, and type up some reports and presentations. Eden thought it's too many tasks for one day, but she didn't dare complain. Not after her salary demands. She was still going through his schedule when the two men she saw with Liam at Crush last night stopped by her desk. They chatted with Gibby and Clara for a b
The door was wide open, but Eden knocked anyway. She didn't think she can walk into Liam's office willy nilly, and since she hasn't had a chance to go through the Company Protocol document, she'd rather err on the side of good manners. "Come in and shut the door," Liam said from behind his desk. "Yes, Mr Anderson." Eden complied, noting the bareness of his office. He'd taken minimalism way too far in her opinion. But then again, what does she know about decor? She's just a children's book illustrator now moonlighting as a personal assistant. An inexperienced, ill-equipped and painfully underprepared assistant. Besides the mid-century black leather couch, her other two bosses currently occupied, the only other visitor's seat in the room was the Hawker egg chair in front of the floor to ceiling bookcase. Business Insider magazines lined the glass coffee table, and a bold-patterned rug served as the room's centrepiece. A few impressionist
Both Julian and Matthew unleashed their wrath on Liam as soon as they were alone in his office once more. Their daily check in to discuss operational issues was suspended for the moment as they spent a good few minutes going off at him.Julian, usually the more amiable of the two brothers, did not mince his words. He found Liam's actions extreme and reprehensible at the very least. "I don't care what Eden did, that was uncalled for, it's her first day you could have cut her some slack!"Liam refused to back down even when he knew his cousin is right. "Why the hell should she get a free ride? Because I slept with her once? Because you think I feel something for her? You both know if it were any other employee, they would have been fired on the spot.""That's not the point here," Matthew jumped in as he pushed his cup away. "Look, we get it, you have to treat her like any other staff member, but don't you think you were a little harsh on her?""No! She almo
Eden felt the other assistants' pitiful stares the whole time she followed Matthew down the hall to his part of the floor, and she wanted to cry all over again.They'd all heard Liam's very loud meltdown.She wouldn’t even be surprised if she's already the subject of group chats and chain emails, or the inspiration behind a meme or two floating around.She'd seen such situations play out at Van Holt Industries, when senior executives would go apeshit on junior staff members over the smallest, sometimes ridiculous mishaps and the whole company would rehash the incident for days.Eden knew, though, her blunder was far from a ridiculous mishap.The thought that she almost killed Liam chilled her to the bone every time her mind wandered back to that terrifying moment in his office.Maybe working so closely with him wasn't such a good idea.It's becoming more apparent the longer she stayed that they'd kill each other at some point. M
After her morning session with Gibby the next day, Eden returned to her office to find more flowers waiting for her on her desk, and a bunch of curious assistants crowded around her broom closet. "Aren't you quite the smash hit? You haven't been here a full day, but look at the bouquets you've amassed!" Matthew's assistant, Lucy, drawled as she picked up the card from the newest bouquet—peach Calla Lilies this time—and read it aloud. "'Looking forward to coffee with you. I.J.'" Eden sensed the other woman doesn't like her much, and she had no idea why considering they've only just met. When Matthew made the introductions yesterday afternoon, Lucy had brushed her off with a condescending nod and an insincere smile. Eden had thought she was being paranoid and had chalked down the cold reception to her being overly-sensitive from her run-ins with Liam earlier. But now, she wasn't so sure if her still-delicate emotional state had anything to do wi
Despite her thorny start at Anderson Logistics, Eden settled into her new role in Matthew's area with no issues. She'd worried she'd have a hard time getting used to a 9 to 5 desk job, but both her new boss and Brenda made life easy for her. Matthew was a dream boss to work for. He never made any unnecessary demands on her. Never screamed or lost his shit with her even when she fudged crucial reports a few times. He was also kind enough to let her finish work at 4:00 PM every day so she can rush home to be with her son. Brenda was another gem. As her live-in nanny, she not only looked after Aiden but took care of the chores too, something Eden appreciated greatly because all she had to do when she got home was to spend time with her little boy or trudge through her home improvements. By the end of her first week in her new job, Eden had repainted the bathroom and toilet with the help of tons of DIY videos on YouTube, and the guys from the Bathroom Pla