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43|Reassigned
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
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Begin Again 44|Extreme Reaction
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
Begin Again 45|Hot Connexions
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
Begin Again 46|Not A Funeral Home
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
Begin Again 47|Company Protocol
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
Begin Again 48|First Official Assignment
Isaac was as gorgeous—in real life— as his Hot Connexions profile photo. He had smooth russet skin, deep-set hazel eyes and a strong aquiline nose and square jaw, his hair was cropped short in a fade haircut. But it's the dimples that almost made Eden want to change his application from handyman to boyfriend. As a former college fly-half for Rock Union University, he also had the body and the height of a Rugby player. It helped that he was clean shave as well. Eden liked them clean-shaven. Like Liam. Isaac was the perfect gentleman, too; he held the door and chair for her and was attentive to her every need. The more time Eden spent with him, the more convinced she was that something was wrong with him. But thirty minutes in she still hadn't found any serious flaws other than being a once divorced single parent to a three-year-old baby girl. "So did you handle your divorce?" Eden was curious to know when she learned he's a divo
Begin Again 49|I Make Them Leave
They sat in stony silence for the first ten minutes, with Linda only too happy to observe them and take notes. Eden looked at everything but Liam and his therapist, and his gaze remained firmly on her. For some unfathomable reason, he'd decided to stand by the window even though there was plenty of room on Linda's tan couch. At last, unable to take the silence and suspense any longer, Eden addressed the therapist. "I'm not sure why I'm here." Linda snapped her notebook shut and leaned back in her chair, and for fifteen minutes, she brought her up to speed on the reasons for Liam's weekly sessions with her. Eden sat in numb disbelief, her eyes now constantly shifting between Liam and the therapist, convinced they had both lost their minds or she was stuck in a dream that didn't make any sense at all. He'd obviously lied to Linda about his erectile dysfunction because she'd felt his hard-on when he kissed her in the meeting room that first time,
Begin Again 50|A Minute
They left Linda's office with Liam promising to see her at the same time the following week. Eden wanted no part of this screaming match again. She couldn't sit through another round of accusations and blame. Sure, she broke him more than she could have imagined when she left without a word. But, he wasn't the only one whose life changed after that night. She was still dealing with the emotional fallout of her pregnancy. His rage was a little misplaced in her opinion. She skulked to the furthest corner from Liam in the elevator and pressed her back to the cool metal wall, wishing she could melt into it and disappear. "Relax; I won't bite you!" He quickly put her out of her misery, barely glancing at her, his attention on the phone in his hand. "I didn't think you were," Eden replied, raising her chin stubbornly. "I don't want to come back here again." "You don't have to," Liam murmured, his mouth curved into a small smile. "Now that I'
Begin Again 51|Can't Deal With The Tears
In the twenty minutes it took Liam to follow Eden, he went through every emotion under the sun as he watched her fall apart on the sidewalk, and pick herself up again. His heart ached more than anything imaginable when she burst into tears and broke into gut-wrenching sobs, and it took all of his self-control and lots words of caution from his driver and security detail not to go after her and drag her back to the car. By the time he returned to Anderson Logistics, he was highly pissed and terrified out of his head. What if he pushed her too far, he thought frantically as he paced the length of his office. What if she doesn’t come back? God, he shouldn't have allowed his security team to convince him to return to the office without her. He shouldn't even have taken her to Linda. He thought lashing out at her would give him some relief, some satisfaction. But this—he did not sign up for this heartache. Feelings, especially of worry and sadness,
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