Molten Chocolate

Jasmine's POV:

"This can't be the proposition she has been going on and on about for weeks in her annoying-ass voice—which always makes my damn ears ring! Miss Rhino can't be serious! There are absolutely no benefits or profits to be gained here; as a matter of fact, if we invest, we will be at a loss! 

"I'm not interested in this at all. Why the hell did I hire her?"

He looked at the documents in the folder on his desk, which I had brought in for him from his Chief Operating Officer, Miss Rhino.

"Get Ms. Rhino on the line and instruct her to get herself into my office immediately!"

"Yes sir," I answered sharply.

"And, Miss Blackman, reorganize my schedule for the upcoming week. Cancel that nonsensical meeting with Mr. Hoggers. I'm not interested in investing one billion dollars in his shitty business. Also, fax those documents to the sixth floor, and proofread these for me before 1:00 pm. And can you send Julia a bouquet of white roses with a note attached to them that reads ′Thank you′—and get my father on the line," he ordered, even though he phrased it as a question.

I nodded and took two stacks of paper from his hands, exiting his office immediately.

I called Miss Rhino and informed her that she was needed in Mr. Hollen's office.

***

"Sir, your father is on line one," I said to him through the phone once I had gotten through to his father.

"Mmmh," he answered and took the other line.

I ordered the bouquet of white roses, had it delivered to Julia's apartment, and began faxing the documents to the sixth floor as he had said.

Afterward, I began to proofread the other stack of papers he had given me. I would call Mr. Hoggers last because I knew he would request to speak to Mr. Hollen directly, and since he was on the phone with his father and Miss Rhino was on the way to see him, he wouldn't appreciate being distracted by Mr. Hoggers' call.

***

Evan Hollen was my boss and a very successful, rich, and powerful one. I had been working for the company for one whole year. After finishing college, it was a drag trying to find a decent job that paid well in my city, but luckily, I applied to Hollen Tower when I saw an ad in a newspaper for a personal assistant role.

Hollen Tower had been established and operated by Evan's father before him. The company was one of the most successful and well-developed organizations around the globe. Great cooperation, solid partnerships, and a body of well-educated, experienced, and trained staff had taken the company to its highest peak. And Evan Hollen stood at the very top, holding his father's relinquished crown and well-earned titles. He would be damned if someone tried to damage what his father had started and worked so hard for. He had the temper of a shark, the personality of a dragon, and the untimely patience of a baby.

But let's not forget about his best feature. His dark silver-grey eyes were everything.

His sexy, lean body was always sharply outlined in his expensive Armani suits.

Okay, you got me. I had the biggest and most unstoppable crush on my boss. I couldn't help myself. 

Evan Hollen was too fine not to have a crush on.

It's okay to have a secret crush on a very attractive man, right? 

Even if he is your boss?

***

"Miss Blackman! Can I be buzzed in please?" 

A voice snapped me right out of my lustful thoughts.

Miss Rhino was at my desk, pencils and folders in hand, tapping her left foot impatiently on the tiled floor.

"Yes, one moment please," I responded, shoving the images of my boss to the far back of my mind.

I called Mr. Hollen's line and informed him that she was here. After he told me to let her in, I hit the buzzer and she strolled into his office with her head held high. She always thought she was above everyone else working at Hollen Tower.

I hated every single bone in that woman's body. She was a tall, slim woman with pale, creamy skin. She was thirty years of age, but she liked younger men, like Mr. Hollen. There was once a rumor circulating about the two of them, but I found it very hard to believe. She still had the body of a model, but she was completely and utterly not his type. The woman had the personality of a beast; she thought she was better than everyone in the company—except Mr. Hollen of course. She held a high position, she was the COO after all, but she still had to answer to Mr. Hollen.

I continued to proofread the documents in front of me, making the necessary changes and corrections. I enjoyed my job because it made life easier for Mr. Hollen. He used to have a personal assistant, but he fired her on the spot when she developed feelings for him and began flirting with him in his office, and since then, he hadn't hired another one. I was the one doing the duties a personal assistant ought to be doing—on top of my secretarial duties—but I didn't mind or complain one bit, especially because I was being paid double my monthly salary until he hired another personal assistant.

He should get a male assistant who won't have a thing for the handsome boss.

The ladies always lusted and drooled over him, always wanted his attention and time, always talked about him. He was indeed handsome, one of the most handsome men I'd ever laid my eyes on. His skin tone was perfectly tanned, and I always wondered why.

Is his mom a black woman...or does he have black people in his family?

He didn't talk about his parents much, and he didn't like the beach or the outdoors much either, so why the naturally tanned skin?

***

Half an hour later, I was already finished. I was a quick but assertive employee. I had to be because the boss hated it when his employees were goofing off on the job and not meeting his deadlines.

My deadline was 1:00 pm.

I looked up at the wall clock; it showed fifteen minutes to one.

Then Miss Rhino barged out of his office and stormed past me with a frown and an unpleasant look on her face.

I peeled myself off the chair and knocked on his office door.

"Come in, Miss Blackman," he spoke.

His voice was a Shawn Mendes single to my ears. I put on a smile and walked into his office.

"Here are the papers you asked me to proofread. I've made the necessary changes and corrections for you. Before I leave for lunch, I will get Mr. Hoggers on the phone because I strongly believe he will request to speak to you."

"Mmmh. I've been thinking about something," he began, leaning back in his big leather chair and staring at me with those beautiful, grey, luminous orbs.

I gulped my fear down, but his eyes were easy to read. One thing I had quickly learnt when I began working here was that his eyes were a tell.

I avoided trouble, getting mixed up with gossips and falling in with the wrong crowd. I couldn't afford to lose my job anytime soon. It paid very well, and my mom and my younger sister were depending on me.

Mom had a lung condition. 

My younger sister was still in college and depended on me financially to put her through. It was just us living together in my apartment in the city.

Recently, my mother's condition had gotten worse, but with the medication and treatment I managed to pay for, she always pulled through and felt better again. 

***

"How would you like to be my personal assistant? I'll hire someone to take your place."

I was dumbfounded for a moment.

Me? His personal assistant?

I would be honored.

PA's had a higher salary than a basic secretary, and I couldn't do both jobs forever, so obviously I was going to pick the one with the higher income behind it.

It wasn't just about the money though, I had the knowledge, skills, and experience to be his Personal Assistant. That was what I had applied for at the very beginning. The position had already been filled at that time, but since my resume was so impressive and captivating, Mr. Hollen didn't want me to work anywhere else but Hollen Tower. So he hired me as his secretary.

I worked my tail off in high school and all throughout college. I hardly had time for boyfriends or dates or fun. My mom had been dealing with the lung condition since the beginning of my freshman year of high school, but it wasn't as bad back then as it was now. She managed to work, and she supported me in every way a child needed support from their parent. I never knew my dad, and mom never talked about him. She would only mention him when I asked about him, but as I grew older, I saw the pain in her eyes every time, so I stopped when I understood what he had done.

Bottom line was she was there for me, so now it was my turn to be there for her. If I could make enough money, we could afford to cure her condition permanently.

"Thank you, Mr. Hollen. I accept," I said to him as I beamed a bright smile.

He nodded and gestured for me to leave his presence. He was a man of very few words, only speaking to me when he was commanding me, and he hated repeating himself, even to his father and the women he dated.

Don't get me started on those women he usually dated. He was always being spotted with famous celebrities, and they were frequently throwing themselves at him like prostitutes. 

The last one he dated he dumped because she was annoying and nagging and always popped up at his office without notice. He hated those things in a woman, and whenever he was done with one, he would send her white roses.

I don't get why he does it. Roses are nice flowers, so wouldn't it just lead her on even more?

I took my purse, changed into my flats, and went to lunch. I always changed out of my heels when I left the office. I hated heels, they hurt my feet so much, but Hollen Tower had a dress code requirement that each employee had to abide by or else they would be thrown out on their asses and searching for another job without recommendations or references from the company.

As I walked out, Julia Starlet, a famous movie actress and the woman Mr. Hollen had already dumped this morning, walked in.

Evan’s POV:

I stood up at my desk, ready to call my best friend Zack to meet up for lunch. We had been best friends since our high school days and all throughout our years at Harvard University, where we both mastered in Business Administration and Management, Marketing, Accounting, and Communication. The requirements for being and becoming CEO’s.

***

“Hi darling,” a voice greeted as I was walking to my private elevator. I turned around slowly, knowing who it was, and she immediately threw her arms around my neck and drew me in for a kiss.

I pulled away gently.

“What are you doing here?” I asked her.

I wasn’t expecting her and I hated it when people showed up on me unwelcome.

“I wanted to surprise you and take you out to lunch.” She was still cheerful.

How do I shut her down gently? I asked myself.

Julia Starlet was a twenty-four-year-old female actress. Tall, slim, blonde and beautiful to look at. I adored her bright brown eyes and the elegant way she applied her makeup. She was flawless but she was only a one night stand I met at one of my father’s functions and I had no true intentions of having anything solid with those types of women who appeared to be so easy to get into bed and always eager to spread their legs for a rich guy.

For Pete’s sake, the same night I met her, was the same night I ‘bedded’ her. She was like so many others but I was the revelation of myself and I wanted—no, scratch that—I NEEDED to change my lifestyle. Eventually.

“Actually I’m getting lunch with my best friend,” I said, typing into my phone, responding to an email.

“Well can I come along? And would you stop texting and pay attention to me?”

I heaved a sigh. She was already getting on my nerves.

“No.” I retorted, walking into my elevator. She followed me in.

“Evan. I want us to become exclusive. Let’s make it official and become a real couple,” she suggested with a smile.

My eyes moved from the phone and scanned her.

She must be out of her mind.

"No,” I said again and turned my attention back to my email.

“So you think that you’re going to sleep with me and dump me the next like a piece of garbage? Who do you think you are?!” She roared at me before snatching the phone out my hands.

“What the hell! Give me back my phone.”

“No! You’re not breaking up with me!”

She threw the phone on the elevator’s floor and used her heels as a weapon of destruction by stomping repeatedly onto it until it was nothing but bits and pieces underneath her. I looked at the woman acting like a crazy lunatic next to me.

I chuckled and shook my head.

“Am I funny to you?” she asked, looking at me when she was through with destroying my iPhone with the heels of her stiletto.

“Listen Julia, you’re a nice girl, really, but I don’t revolve around you. You were just a onetime thing and I have zero intentions of taking you home to my family. This basically means, I have no intention of making you my girlfriend, fiancée, wife and baby mother.”

“But you sent me flowers.”

She was about to cry. Her eyes welled up and she was getting red in the face like a steamed lobster.

“I always do that. That’s how I say thank you and goodbye.”

I exited my elevator and informed security to escort her off the premises. I was not in a mood for listening to any more tantrums from an emotional wrecked woman.

I started my Bentley and drove to a near but illustrious restaurant where my best friend Zack was already waiting.

We always met here whenever we decided to have lunch together and catch up on things.

“You look drained,” he greeted, patting me on the back as I sat down at our table.

“You don’t know the half of it and I just had to deal with Julia.”

“Julia?”

“Yeah. The movie actress I met at dad’s gala last Wednesday.”

“Oh well she wasn’t so bad. She was very beautiful and seemed friendly and...”

“Easy.” I finished for him.

He laughed.

“Well, not everyone is the same. The lady who gives it on the first date could very well be the wife material. I don’t think that defines a woman,” he put in his two cents while opening the menu which was placed on the table in front of us.

“Well I do. I wouldn’t trust her if she spreads on the first night, bro. She knows nothing about me, not even my second name but she’s ready to sleep with me and you’re saying ′could be wife material’. 

No! I call it gold digging.”

“Evan, you’re twenty-five. You’re not getting any younger. When are you going to settle down and find the right woman?”

“Dude... Don’t you start with me... Please leave those kinds of lectures for my mom. She’s the only one who always preaches to me about settling. I’m not ready for all that as yet. I know exactly when I would settle and what I’ll settle for. I don’t want a famous actress, models or anyone within those categories. I want normal.”

We ordered our lunch and a bottle of mild alcoholic beverages. After lunch, I went back to my office and he went back to his. He also managed his father’s firm but his dad was still CEO.

***

“Miss Blackman, order me a new iPhone and have it sent over to my office. Also, you’ll be starting as my new assistant so I want you to get all the secretarial applications and bring them to my office,” I demanded to my secretary who was acting as my personal assistant as well since I fired the previous one.

The one I had fired was unprofessional, having barged into my office, taken off her bra, and thrown it at me like a stripper.

“Want to have some fun boss?” she asked.

“Have some fun at a new job because you’re fired!” I responded without even looking up at her.

All I heard was a low growl and her heels hitting the floor as she walked out my office.

Maybe she got the wrong impression when I told her I wanted her in my office right away.

Hell, I was about to fire her anyways. She messed up my schedules the day before.

I hated employees who couldn’t control themselves. I wasn’t interested in any help of mine nor could I ever saw myself being. I was the boss, and my tolerance was very thin; the slightest sneeze could throw me way off.

“Yes sir,” Miss Blackman responded and immediately went to the pull out the cabinets in search of the applications. I went into my office, closed in the door behind me and sat down in my comfortable office chair.

I gazed around and imagined how my father must had felt when he accomplished all of this. He was my role model and my mentor, that was one of the reasons why I never changed a thing in the office. Everything was the exact way he left it and his office was now my office. His picture still hung on the wall. And the photograph, with him in his clean white tuxedo, mom in her very beautiful wedding gown and Emily and I in our white baby suits in their arms, was on my desk, positioned at an angle that was visible for my eyes only. It was my favorite picture although I couldn’t remember that actual day, I was barely five months old.

***

I raked my fingers through my hair as a knock came on the door.

“Come in Miss Blackman,” I instructed.

I always knew it was her, she didn’t have to call to inform me she was coming to my office like what she had to do for everyone else.

She opened the door and walked up to my desk.

“I’ve found them.”

“Okay,” I replied and took the folder from her hands and placed it on my desk. There were many applications. Hundreds if not thousands and I wanted the best of the best.

“Miss Blackman, transfer all the calls to my extension and join me in here so we can go through these together,” I said, not daring to touch the application until I had help.

“Yes sir,” she answered with a smile and withdrew quickly.

I liked that about Miss Blackman, always cheerful and up for any task and challenges I threw her way.

***

“This one is too shallow.”

"Too deep and egotistic.”

“Too short.”

“Too self-expressive.”

We looked through the applications for the remainder of the afternoon.

At the end, four applicants stood out.

“What’s my schedule like tomorrow?” I asked her.

“There’s a meeting you have with the investors at 11:00am and the fifth level meeting at 2:00pm. You’re free before and after the hours of these two meetings.”

“Great, okay. 

Call in these applicants and inform them that they’ve been selected for an interview tomorrow at 8:00 am sharp. If they’re not interested or they’ve already found another job, here are the others.” I handed her three more applications which I also found impressive so I used them as a stand-by. Just in case.

“Okay. I’ll get on it right away,” she said.

I looked up at the wall clock in my office. She was already over time. It was 4:30 pm, and she finished at 4:00 pm. I wanted to stop her to tell her I’ll do it myself but she was already out the door, making phone calls.

***

“Mr. Hollen, I’ve contacted the first four but two had already found another job and are no longer interested since they’re out of the country so I’ve contacted the standbys.”

“And?”

“They’ll be coming in tomorrow at 8:00 am. Here are the names.” She handed me a piece of paper, “Good afternoon sir,” she said again and turned to leave.

“Thank you.” I said and she turned back at me, smiled again and left.

Wow. She’s amazing.