Begin Again novel Chapter 25

Two doors down, Liam waited anxiously in a room identical to the one Eden sat in for her interview. He rechecked his Cartier and growled as he pushed the laptop away and began pacing.

Why was it taking so goddamn long to make a mousey librarian sign a piece of paper? It was over an hour already.

He really should have handled this shit himself; he shouldn't have made Gibby go in alone, especially when he knew her thoughts on Eden.

But crashing the interview would have ruined the whole element of surprise, and knowing how Eden left him once, she'd likely bolt again. Assuming, of course, she remembered him.

Liam's anxiety mounted at the thought, and he didn't like the idea that he was so lacklustre in bed, Eden could have easily forgotten him.

"Doesn't matter!" He breathed out a frustrated sigh. What mattered was that he remembered. Every little detail. Every humiliating moment when he couldn't perform. All the accusatory, yet pitiful looks from the numerous women he'd wished to bed but couldn't.

Eden stole something precious from him, and he planned to make her suffer the same kind of humiliation, if not worse. He just hadn't thought about her punishment yet, hadn't figured out how he'd go about getting his pound of flesh.

The details don't really matter right now, he thought. What mattered was getting Eden to sign first.

He was about to call Gibby and ask her if she needed reinforcement, someone from HR or even Legal, when the door flew open and she walked in, a perturbed look on her face.

"Can you believe it, she wanted to think about it? I mean after pitching all the generous company benefits, she still wanted to think about it!" Gibby ranted as she threw the personnel file on the table and glared at him.

Liam stood his ground and matched her death stare. "For crying out loud, Gibby, you had one job! What was so hard in getting her to sign?"

"Did I say I failed?" She demanded, her smooth face splitting into a huge grin as she shoved the file in his direction.

"Congratulations Mr Anderson, you have your second assistant!"

"Come here, you!" Liam roared with joy as he pulled her in his arms and carried her around the room. "You miracle maker!"

Gibby squealed like a little girl, begging him to set her down, a few employees were gawking through the glass wall.

"Let them!" Liam said with a broad grin of his own, unable to contain his excitement. "You deserve a fucking bonus!"

"Thanks, I'll take it, but I'm still leaving after I hand over to the two them."

"That's okay, Gibby. I'll even send you on an all- expenses- paid vacation. Name your spot. You and Joe can make it your second honeymoon."

"Tempting," His assistant laughed and reached for the untouched bottle of still water beside his laptop. He'd brought it in to help calm his nerves but forgot about it as soon as he sat down.

"We have a few details to work out," Gibby said as she waved at his seat.

He dutifully took his place behind the laptop.

"They'll both start on Monday with orientation day, followed by a month- long secretarial course," she began as she drank her water. "Ordinarily I would take another month to handover, but we'll run both concurrently. So in a little over a month, you'll have not one, but two very efficient PAs. I still think Clara Winston should be the chief assistant since she has more experience."

"Your call, Gibby!" Liam waved her off. He didn't want to get bogged down with all the minor details.

"HR will look after all the assistants and the office support area until Clara or Eden are experienced and comfortable enough to take the reins. I'd give it six months to about a year."

Liam nodded; he didn't care who took over what. Now that Eden had signed he had to start thinking of a plan to exact his revenge.

"She seems very sincere," Gibby said as if she could read his nefarious thoughts.

"How so?" Liam threw his assistant a suspicious look. Had she also fallen for Eden's innocent, librarian look? Did the shrew convince her with her smooth tongue the same way she seduced him that night at Crush?

Ugh, he sighed inwardly, he wouldn't put it past Eden McBride. She's a pro at manipulation and getting her way.

"Well, she's recently bought a house, and all she wants to do is to look after her son."

"Well good for her," Liam said. "Children are excellent motivators."

"My thoughts too, she'll take this job seriously because it means ten times more to her," Gibby agreed. "Anyway, I hope you know what you're doing. Your assistant is like your wife in all respects. You now have two. Good luck with that."

Liam chuckled, she was exaggerating of course. He had no intention of treating either one as his wife. They would both know their place. One would do the job she was hired to do, and the other would feel his wrath every day.

Gibby checked her watch and blanched. "We're late for the internal comms meeting!"

She grabbed his laptop, and they raced to the marketing department on the 20th floor where Liam spent the entire meeting floating on air.

He was happy to sign off on the annual family day budget the fun committee's been whining about since the start of the year.

"Are you sure?" The head of the area asked. "You said it's a lot of money before."

"It is. But we can't skimp on our families. They are the backbone of what we do. We need to make sure they are all taken care of on the day. But remember, safety first." Liam said as he made his way to the door.

He could hear whispers rippling through the room about 'the Dragon being surprisingly calm and charming today'. He was well aware he's the Dragon, a nickname he knew he got because of his fiery hair and temper.

It didn't bother him.

What irked him, though, was the endless chatter in all the group chats he was in. People posting cooking recipes, photos of their pets and gardens and all kinds of nonsense. That shit was not good for productivity. He'd make it Eden's first assignment to shut down all the unnecessary chatter. Let them all hate her.

Yes, Liam smiled, pleased with himself as he took the private elevator to the 36th floor. He was brimming with good ideas and equally impressive plans today.