Endless Obsession – Episode 3
Episode 03
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⚘Poppy⚘
He doesn’t look like the typical businessman. He’s tall, well-built, extremely smart, and he has multiple tattoos covering his arms. I noticed this my first day here when he walked out of his office with the sleeves of his black shirt rolled up to just below his elbows. His dark brown hair is longish, and most of the time looks like he just ran his fingers through it.
His green eyes are piercing and often pin me in place. I can’t help but get caught up in them. He also has an eyebrow ring, which totally conflicts with his business image. But he pulls the two contradicting looks off well. The man is pure sex on legs and shouldn’t be allowed out in public. It really is a sin against womankind for a man to look so damn good.
I wave good-bye to Jared and Nathan and jog as best as I can in heels over to the bank of elevators. Minutes later, I’m on the twelfth floor and rushing past Beth, the receptionist. I make it to my desk outside Mr. Knight’s office just as Liv walks over. The look on her face has me pausing as I place my purse in the bottom drawer of my desk.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
“You got another one,” she says, a smile playing on her lips.
I roll my eyes, but can’t help the thrill that flutters through my stomach. I know exactly what she’s talking about, so I don’t bother asking her what she’s referring to.
“Where are they?”
“In the breakroom. And they are gorgeous, as always.”
Knowing I need to get to Mr. Knight’s office, but needing to see them, I follow Liv to the breakroom instead. I see them as soon as I enter. Sitting on the counter in a silver vase with a black ribbon wrapped around the neck are a dozen sterling silver roses. They’re my favorite.
I walk over, pull the small envelope from the stick thingy clipped to the vase, and slip out the card. Just like every other time, it’s white with purple letters that simply read, Always yours, A.
I’ve been getting them for eight months now, one delivery a week, and I have no idea who they are from. The mysterious A has never shown himself. I’ve tried pulling the info out of the delivery guy, but he claims they are always ordered anonymously. I don’t know how to feel about this weekly surprise. On one hand, I’m flattered that someone noticed me enough to spend so much money on me every week.
Not all floral shops carry sterling silver roses, and they don’t come cheap when they are found. On the other hand, it’s kind of freaky. I mean, how did he know
these were my favorite? And why send them to me every week, but not introduce himself? He could be a serial killer for all I know. Or some old pervert. He could be anybody. Where did he see me to develop this fascination? Is it someone I know? Could it be someone I’ve talked to before? I’m curious to know, but I’m also scared to find out.
From beside me, Liv bends to smell the lavender petals as I put the card back into the envelope.
“They always smell so sweet.” She sighs and stands back up. “You know I’m jealous of you, right?”
I scoff at her and pick up the vase of flowers. With her trailing behind me, we walk back out to my desk.
“I don’t know why you’re jealous. You have Tony, and you know he adores you.”
I put the flowers down before turning to her.“True, but he doesn’t buy me flowers every week. I only get them occasionally.”
She reaches out and fingers one of the petals with a look of envy. I reach out my own hand and run the pad of my finger along the thornless stem. Besides the beautiful color, they are my favorite because you don’t have to worry about being poked while handling them.
“Yeah, but at least you’d know it’s him if he does. I get flowers from some faceless person. It was strange but sweet in the beginning, and very flattering, but it’s getting frustrating not knowing who’s sending them, you know?” I lean a hip on my desk. “I mean, who does that? Obviously, there’s a reason why he hasn’t
introduced himself yet. What if it’s some freaky weirdo that wants to do nasty and strange things to me?”
I’m being dead serious, but Liv laughs at
me.
“I’m serious, Liv. This guy could kidnap me, take me to a rundown cabin in a forest somewhere, chop my body into tiny pieces, and cook me over his gas grill.”
“Girl, you need to lay off the mystery shows. That’s just gross!” She wrinkles her nose up in disgust, causing her blonde brows to rise into her equally blonde bangs. “I think it’s sweet and romantic,” she says wistfully. “Maybe he can’t show himself yet. Or maybe he’s waiting until…”
Liv is interrupted when the intercom on my desk buzzes, and a second later Mr.
Knight’s voice comes over the speaker.
“Poppy!” he barks, making me wince. “Where in the hell are you? My office! Now!”
The line goes dead and my eyes snap to Liv’s.
“Damn it,” I say under my breath while I gather a pen and notepad.
I start in the direction of his office, when Liv stops me.
“Wait!” she says, rushing down the hallway.
Kindly share out stories from generalloaded.com using the floating social media icon buttons on the bottom of the screen
I tap my foot, waiting impatiently for her to return. Seconds later, she walks back to my desk with a cup of coffee in her hand. “Here, this might help. He hasn’t had one yet.”
I smile gratefully at her, and after Liv wishes me luck, I walk over to Mr. Knight’s door. Taking a deep breath, I tap lightly before opening it. I’m immediately met with the woodsy scent of the imposing man that’s sitting behind his desk.
He looks at me over the rim of his reading glasses before snatching them from his face and tossing them on the desk in front of him. His hair looks, as usual, rumpled.
His green eyes regard me, and all I can do is stand there. I have no idea why this man makes me so nervous. I should be used to him by now, but I don’t think I ever will be. He intimidates me, and I don’t like to be intimidated.
“You’re late.” He states the obvious, never taking his eyes from me.
His words pull me from my dazed state, and I dash over to his desk.
“I’m sorry, sir. I’ve brought…”
“In almost a year, you’ve never been late, Poppy. Why this morning?”
At his question, I stop in my tracks to give him his coffee. I peek up at him through my lashes, with the cup in one hand and the notepad and pen in the other. He has his elbows on his desk, fingers interlaced together with both pointer fingers resting against his lips, watching me. I’m not sure how to answer his question.
He sounded irritated on the intercom, but he doesn’t look it right now. No, right now he looks like he’s trying to find the answer on his own without me giving it.
“I-I don’t…”
“Is everything okay?”
“Yes—” I clear the frog from my throat before I try again.
“Yes. I must have had a rough night last night. I didn’t hear my alarm go off. I promise it won’t happen again.”
He doesn’t say anything for several seconds. He just sits there, watching me with his head now cocked to the side, like he’s contemplating something. I start to fidget where I stand, uncomfortable with his eyes so focused on me. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t physically attracted to him. Hell, a woman would have to be dead to not be attracted to Mr. Knight. With that being said, it’s hard not to show that attraction.
I know my body feels it from the way my stomach clenches, my thighs tighten, and my nipples turn to hard little peaks, but I refuse to allow him to see the desire I feel. He’s way out of my league. Not to mention, he’s my boss, and I shouldn’t be having these unwanted sexual feelings toward him. But when he looks at me the way he is now, it’s hard not to. He’s never shown any interest in me, and he isn’t right now, but that doesn’t mean his stare isn’t intense and… seductive? There’s something there, I just don’t know what, and I’m not sure I want to know.
“Is there something going on I should know about that will cause you to be late in the future?” he asks, jolting me out of my thoughts.
In the almost year I’ve been here, Mr. Knight has never asked me a personal question, so for him to hint at one now surprises me.
“Uh, no?”
He raises his brow at my answer that I unconsciously voiced as a question. I force my legs forward and set his coffee down on his desk. I try once again to answer his question.
“No, nothing’s happened. I just didn’t sleep well. Today was the first and last time it will happen.”
I slept restlessly last night and then woke up slightly off. I can’t put my finger on it, but… my body felt weird, uncomfortable even. I pushed the feeling aside, thinking I was being ridiculous.
He seems satisfied with my answer because after several seconds, he reaches for his glasses again, perches them on his nose and pulls a folder in front of him. I haven’t mentioned the fact that he looks really hot wearing those glasses, something I notice every time he has them on.
“Sit. There’s a few things we need to go over.”
Glad to be back on more neutral ground, I sit in the leather chair across from his desk with my notepad and pen in my lap. I click my pen, waiting on instructions.Kindly share out stories from generalloaded.com using the floating social media icon buttons on the bottom of the screen
Ten minutes later, I have several things jotted down that Mr. Knight wants me to take care of today. It’s basic stuff that shouldn’t take me long. That’s one thing I like about working here; it’s challenging, especially for me because prior to this job, the only other job I’d had was working in my family’s hardware store.
Eventually, I had to quit because my mom got sick, and I had to stay at home and care for her. Dad passed away from an unexplained aneurism five years ago, so it
was just me and my mom. She died a year and a half ago from cancer. It hit me hard and for months after, I wanted nothing to do with life.
Working for Mr. Knight, though, has so far been pretty easy. He’s not overly demanding and seems to treat his employees fairly. He knew from the get-go I had no experience and didn’t seem surprised about it, something else I found strange, and had the woman I was replacing stay a couple extra weeks to train me. He’s been patient and understanding when I needed it, something you don’t find every day, especially in this type of work and lifestyle.
Thinking we are done, I get up from my seat to leave, but his voice stops me.
“I need you to make sure both our schedules are free three weeks from today, from Friday to that following Monday. Furthermore, book the privacy wing at the Ritz-Carlton in Dallas. Call Phil and tell him to put a flight on the roster, leaving out at nine that Friday morning. Make sure you pack for warmer weather. I’m sure you’re aware of how hot it can get in Texas.”
I watch him while he talks, and each word that comes out of his mouth catches me off guard. He’s no longer talking, but I’m still standing there like an idiot, staring at him.
“Poppy, did you get—”
“You want me to go with you?” I blurt out.
I’ve never been on business trips with him; he’s never asked. He’s been on plenty, sometimes weeks at a time, but always called me at the office to give instructions on what he needed done. Those times he seemed off, tired, and worn-out. Even
over the phone I could hear the stress in his voice. And when he returned after those trips, it took several days for the stress and tiredness to leave his face.
However, the last couple months he’s been in the office more. Actually, now that I think about it, it’s been months since he’s been out of the office on one of his trips for more than a day.
“Yes. Is that a problem?” He again raises a brow at me.
“No, no problem. It’s just… you’ve never asked me to come on business trips with you before.”
“Well, I am now, and will continue to do so in the future.” He drops the pen on his desk and steeples his fingers again. “There’s been a lot of things I haven’t asked of you, Poppy, because I know this is all new for you. It’s time you take on the full roll of my personal assistant, and that includes coming with me on trips. The meeting I have set up in Dallas is important, so I’ll need you there with me to help keep things on my end straight and iron out the small details for me.”
Nerves take over at the thought of being
with him for four days straight. It’s already tough enough having to deal with flutters in my stomach every time I come into contact with him, but now I’ll be with him all day, for four whole days. Can my stomach handle that many flaps from the butterflies that will likely overtake it? Eventually, it’ll make me sick, right?
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Tbc
Endless Obsession
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