Chapter Three

Chapter 3

Xena Remington

I quickly popped two advils as I gathered my files to head towards the conference room. Jerold argued so much with me about nonsensical stuff when we went home. I yawned while he was making a point which led to him getting angrier.

Needless to say, I didn’t get any sleep last night.

I don’t know why he is more riled up than usual and of course he won’t confide in me about his problems because it makes him feel like ‘lesser man’.

I head to the conference room to see Jerold standing next to Axel Lancaster. Everyone looked so small and meek next to him. I make my way towards them as I take a deep breath in. I don’t know why I get so nervous at the thought of Axel Lancaster.

“Mr. Lancaster, here is the complaint Ms. Scott filed against you. In case you want to refer to it.” I say as I stand beside Jerold in front of Mr. Lancaster.

“Ms. Remington, he doesn’t need anything, just get him some coffee and stand-“ Jerold was about to dismiss me when Axel interrupted him.

“Thank you Ms. Remington. Stick by my side, sit beside me during the deposition. I’ll let you know if I have some questions. Mr. Hart, can you bring some coffee for our lawyer here.” Axel orders in a calm but authoritative tone making Jerold leave instantly.

Oh no. he is going to be angry again tonight.

“Can you be a little nicer to him?” I gather up courage to ask The Axel Lancaster to go easy on my boyfriend, “I know he is a little rude towards me. But when you tell him off, he makes my life hell at home.”

“A little rude? He has no respect for you as a human.” Axel states, mirroring Zara’s words.

Does everyone think like that?

“Also the fact that you have to go around telling other people to be ‘nice’ to your fragile boyfriend so that he doesn’t come to you and throw a little temper tantrum speaks volumes about what kind of a person he is. I am not changing my behavior towards anyone and you shouldn’t either.” Axel says brushing me off as we walk inside the conference room.

I look around the conference room to see that all the seats were taken except for the one next to Axel. I decide to stand next to him so that Jerold can take that seat. He will probably find it extremely insulting if a person of his ‘level’ is standing up while I am sitting down.

“Ms. Remington.” I hear Axel whisper making me bend down to his face level.

He smells so fucking good. I wish I could gift Jerold his perfume.

“Either you sit next to me or no one does. Mr. Hart isn’t even supposed to be here but your presence is necessary. You are my HR representative.” I can hear a calm angry tone radiating from his voice. I think he has had enough of my bullshit and scared behavior when it comes to Jerold.

I quickly sit down next to him knowing what he was saying did make sense. The only reason Jerold is here is because he doesn’t trust me and thinks that I am going to end up messing up this whole situation and that he is going to be held responsible for it.

I don’t know why he thinks so. He feels that everything in my life is somehow about him.

I look down at my files and start arranging the already arranged papers when I hear Jerold enter the conference room. This is a very important meeting for me and I am not going to ruin it by looking at Jerold angry face which will probably throw me off my game.

“Let’s get started.” I hear Ms. Scott’s lawyer say as he puts the recorder on. I look over to Natalie to see a very smug smile on her face as she played with her hair and eyed Axel who refused to look at her.

Come on, Natalie, at least play your part.

“Ms. Scott’s demands are very simple. She wants a compensation of 20 million for wrongful termination and her job back with her promised promotion. She wants to be welcomed with dignity and respect.” Her lawyer states making my eyes widen.

20 fucking million.

Is this a joke?

“Absolutely not.” Axel says without skipping a beat making his lawyer restless and the smug smile on Natalie’s face drop instantly.

“You are a fucking billionaire.” Natalie spews in anger but her lawyer calms her down.

“It’s not about the money.” He states.

“Umm okay. We are not here to settle.” I look over to see Mr. Hansen finally speaking, “we have enough proof to destroy you in court. So we are just here to warn your client because if this goes to court, we will file for defamation, fabricating a false story and blackmail.” Natalie was fuming at this point. She always had a problem with saying wrong things at the wrong time whenever things didn’t go her way.

I would know. As the most number of complaints I’ve received from my fellow co-workers are about Natalie and her hurtful outbursts.

“Ms. Scott has a history of blackmailing, we’ve found two cases against her which were filed in the past five years. We have a lot of Ms. Scott former acquaintances who are ready to testify that she obsessively spoke about Mr. Lancaster, who showed absolutely no interest in her. Lastly, which will conclude this absurd case is that, Ms. Scott is the head of our advertising department and there is literally no position available above that in her division.” Mr. Hansen says as he places a sheet with the hierarchies printed on it.

Oh of course.

“Okay fine, but still having sex with an employee is also a crime.” She screeches making almost everyone except Axel flinch. I see her lawyer rubbing his face, she just blew the entire case, “what is that not a crime?”

“No.” I say as I clear my throat, “if two people from the workplace engage in a consensual sexual activity, they would be given a warning.”

“Fine, then he tried to sexually assault me.” she said making me purse my lips.

“Okay, I think we are done here. Please get your client in check, I will not sit here and listen to ridiculous accusations being thrown at my face, especially something as serious as a sexual assault. This isn’t a joke.” Axel says calmly but I could hear anger radiating from his voice and body as if something had just snapped in him.

“Please leave our premises immediately.” Mr. Hansen tells her lawyer as I see security standing right outside the conference room.

I immediately stand up as we see Natalie being escorted out of the room yelling at her lawyer for not backing up her claims who just kept trying to tell her how law works.

Everything falls silent after a minute, and only Jerold, Mr. Hansen, Axel and I are in the room now. We were all afraid to even move because it was clear that Axel was so mad that it felt like he could kill someone.

“I. Never. Want. To. See. That. Woman. Again. Am I clear? I don’t care what she does, I don’t want to ever be in such a situation again.” He says to Mr. Hansen who shakes his vigorously and quickly leaves the room.

“Mr. Hart. What was the one job you were given today?” Axel stands tall as he asks furiously.

“That the meeting would be only arranged if her lawyer gave full guarantee of Ms. Scott behaved in a civil manner.” He says meekly with his head down.

Jerold always told he was the head of internal affairs in the company but with the limited times I’ve seen him work, he always handling basic things for Axel.

“Another mistake and you’ll be fired. Leave.” Oh god. No. why is this happening to me? I don’t want to go home today.

Wait.

Is he going to yell at me too?

But what did I do?

He can’t fire me?

But he is so angry.

My mouth hangs open as I keep staring at Axel’s huge muscular back. Jerold looks at me for a second before leaving quietly making me more nervous.

I also want to leave.

“Ms. Remington.” He says as he turns around to face me.

“I didn’t do anything.” I blurt out and raise my hands in reflex.

I see confusion sprawl over his handsome face, “What? No. all I wanted to say was that you can see yourself out.”

“Oh.” I say, almost disappointed as I walk out of the conference room.

What? Did I want him to yell at me?

Jesus.

Xena, you sick freak.

“Umm you are being too harsh on Jerold. I know you hate him but this wasn’t his fault.” I say as I stand near the door holding it tightly, knowing my smart mouth is going to get me in trouble.

“You don’t know anything Ms. Remington. So keep your nose out of my business.” My breath gets heavier when I realize he is coming closer to me. The familiar sensual scent fills my nose making me realize that he standing a few inches away from me.

“Come on. He has no control over Natalie’s behavior, he can just get your message across and I am sorry but you could see how much her lawyer tried to keep her in check.” I want to slap myself across my face as I see words just spilling out of my mouth and I seem to have no control over my mouth.

“Follow me to my office.” I hear his deep voice with makes the hair on my neck stand straight.

Yep, I am getting fired.