Her Untamed CEO

Chapter 6

Mr. Bartlett follows Mrs. Bartlett into the kitchen where Alicia is busy preparing their drinks, and she watches them wide-eyed, handing them their mugs before trying to escape the room.

“No! You stay.” Mr. Bartlett instructs her, and she almost cringes into the corner of the kitchen.

“You wanted to retire, my darling wife. Placing the importance of these matters into this poor girl's hands. Now you will live with your decision.” He almost growls and storms out.

Mrs. Bartlett looks at Alicia and then at the door.

“Well, I guess that’s the end of that discussion.” She sighs.

“I’m sorry you had to see that.”

“It’s fine.” Alicia tries to escape again, but Mrs. Bartlett is still standing in the doorway.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do with that boy!” She takes a seat at the table and Alicia hands her the mug of tea.

Unsure if she needs to say anything, she doesn’t know if she should take Mr. Bartlett’s coffee to him or sit down and listen…

“I’m sorry. Please take his coffee to him before he throws another tantrum.” Mrs. Bartlett stands up and walks out of the kitchen.

Alicia takes a deep breath feeling as if she hadn’t breathed for the last couple of minutes. Walking back into the reception, she can see the dark circles starting to form underneath Mrs. Bartlett’s eyes.

She really does need this retirement, and Alicia needs the job, but it doesn’t stop her from feeling bad for her boss. Taking Mr. Bartlett's coffee to him, he gruffly asks how far she is with the report.

“I’m almost done, Sir. I just need to add one last expense.”

“Yes, the yacht.” He sighs.

“Good, when you are done, bring me the printed copy so we can work through it.”

“Of course.”

She walks out of his office feeling utterly nervous as this is usually the part-Mrs. Bartlett would do, but then, she would take over from her.

She adds in the last expenses and her eyes grow wide at the amounts spent on fuel for one boat! When she is done, she emails a copy to Mrs. Bartlett to check.

“Oh, dear, you don’t have to send it to me. You can just print it and take it to him. I think I’m leaving early today.” She looks very pale, and Alicia feels concerned.

“Ma’am, are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m just tired.”

She watches Mrs. Bartlett leave and remembers that Mr. Bartlett is waiting for the report.

Rushing to get it printed and bound the way he likes it; she takes another deep breath before walking into his office.

“AAAAHHHHHCCCCHOOOO!”

Mr. Bartlett looks up, and she feels her cheeks turn bright red with heat.

“I’m sorry, Sir.” She quickly turns around and rushes to her desk to blow her nose and wipe the cover of the reports to make sure none of her germs have spread.

“Are you ready?” He asks when she walks back in, and she nods, handing him the ledger.

He looks at it and after a second of checking the page, takes it from her. She has her notebook ready for any corrections he might ask her to do and carefully watches as he reads through the overheads.

“Now that we’ve cut the research department, I take it our expenditure on office supplies will be a lot less.” He looks up at her, and she hesitates.

Does he expect her to answer?

“Yes, uhm, yes, Sir. The research department required a lot of specialized equipment and resources that cost quite a bit of money. It will make a huge difference. If you look in this column.” She leans over his desk to point it out.

“I’ve taken the liberty of showing the expenses of each department. I know it wasn’t part of the previous reports, but it would be better to keep track of which department is overspending.”

Oh, Crap!! She definitely overstepped!

He looks through her numbers and starts nodding his head.

“This is a good idea. Especially after the board forced us into a decision, which I’m still not happy with. If we had this earlier, we might have been able to save those jobs.” He sighs.

She gains some confidence and shows him the other column she added, showing the estimated income each department should attain to cover the overheads from their side.

“Okay, that’s a different view. Why did you split it up like that? Some departments depend on others to perform.”

“If we set a goal for each department, they will put more pressure on the others where they need the information to reach their goals. We… I mean, you won’t have staff just coming in to collect a paycheck without having to do any work. This way, you can keep track of each separate department and how well they are actually performing.”

“Hmm.” He seems to be deep in thought at her idea, and she feels her heart starting to race.

“Sir, we are all here for one goal. If our company does good, then we will do good. The only way to do that is by reaching goals as set out by management, but there has to be some sort of incentive as well.”

“We just fired the entire department! We can’t go around paying out bonuses for people to do the work they are already being paid to do!”

“No, Sir! Of course, that is not what I’m suggesting.” Her hands start to shake.

“I’m talking about the staff who exceed expectations and bonuses don’t have to be paid out every month. I’m sure there could be some other way of compensating them.” She sits wide-eyed.

“And the ones who don’t reach their goals? Do we then penalize them for not working?”

“More or less, yes. If they don’t reach goals, they will stand out like a sore thumb, meaning they will either start working or be the next in line to lose their jobs.”

“I didn’t take you for a cold-hearted woman.” He looks at her with a smile starting to form on the sides of his lips.

“Cold-hearted? No, Sir. Not at all. I just believe that I’ve worked hard to get where I am and expect the same of others. It’s not fair for some people to work really hard and others to benefit from it if they don’t deserve it.”

She shuffles around in her chair feeling uncomfortable with the conversation.

“It’s sad to see people being let go, but if they can be replaced by someone productive, the company will grow.”

Feeling the sting of being called cold-hearted, she takes a deep breath.

“Sir, I don’t come from a rich background. As I’ve said. I’ve worked hard to get where I am.” She frowns.

“I may sound cold-hearted as you say, but I believe in working hard and being compensated for that hard work. The same should count for everyone. I’m sure you wouldn’t walk in here and expect me to be doing your job while you sit back.” She immediately regrets the words the second they are out of her mouth.

“Miss Moonvalor, I completely agree with you. Please send your report to the board, and then I want you to join me for the meeting tomorrow. I want you to present your report.”

Her eyes grow as wide as saucers. He must be joking right now! She is probably dreaming! He hands her the report, and she slowly gets up from the chair walking back to her desk in shock.

It feels as if her heart has just come to a complete stand-still. Is this some kind of trap? Is he joking with her? What if he just wants to show her that she is just a junior and completely out of her league?

He steps out of his office with his briefcase in hand. She hasn’t realized that they were in their meeting for so long and that it’s time to go home already.

“I will see you at nine for the board meeting tomorrow.” He says over his shoulder on his way out, leaving her sitting there blankly staring at the lift after he has gone.

“Oh, f**k!” She grabs all her stuff, quickly packs up, and makes her way out of the office.

She needs to get home as quickly as possible. She needs to make sure of her numbers before presenting them! But she has to send them to the board before tomorrow!

***

It has been a beautiful sunny day out on the water, and Noah watches his friends riding around on jet skis, grabbing the last bit of sun before it sets. Melinda comes running up the steps and slides her arms around his waist.

“Come on! Come play with us!” She giggles, and he smiles at her.

He has been trying his best to relax but keeps catching himself thinking about the fight he had with his parents and, of course, the lovely miss Moonvalor. What he would give to break through her icy walls and see what is hiding behind them.

“Go, have fun.” He smacks Melinda on her perfectly rounded ass, and she squeals, running down the stairs to join the rest of them.

“Dammit!” He swears when he tries to take a sip from his glass but finds it empty.

As he turns around, a stewardess is making her way outside with a glass of bourbon, and he grins.

“Service excellence as always.” He winks at the young girl who blushes bright red.

She must be new to the crew because she quickly rushes back inside the boat. He knows he is sexy, and he knows the effect he has on women, and he loves it. It has made his life easy in always being able to find someone to entertain him.

He grins, looking at Melinda, deciding he will join her after all. The staff gets him geared up and she slides in behind him on the jet ski.

“Hold on tight.” He winks and feels her arms pulling tighter around his waist.

Her warm skin pressing up against his back, he can feel his arousal forming in anticipation for later. Pulling away from the boat, he takes off and she squeals again in excitement, grabbing on tighter. He loves the wind in his hair and the water lapping around them.

The adrenaline of rushing over the water at a high speed pushes his hormone levels higher.

He loves his life and can’t understand why anyone would want to spend a second in an office when they can be out here enjoying life. Alicia’s green eyes come to mind, and he loses focus and shortly after the control of the machine that is roaring underneath him, causing him to hit a wave the wrong way and throwing both him and Melinda through the air and into the ocean.

He quickly surfaces to find her and is upset when she is swearing at him for letting them fall. So, he lost his focus for one second! They are on the ocean… She is in a bikini, why is she complaining about being wet?!

The staff boat arrives, and they help her inside. He refuses their help and swims over to where they are holding the jet ski, climbing back on and taking it back to the boat. The moment he steps on the boat, the stewardess gasps.

When he looks at where she is looking, he sees the blood pouring from his leg. Great! It starts burning the second he looks at the huge cut on his calf, and the captain rushes over to find out what is going on.

“It’s nothing. It’s just a cut.” Noah tries to wave it off, but the captain doesn’t look happy with it and calls for the small boat to be brought in.

The cut is bleeding all over the place, and they bring the first aid kit for the captain to clean the wound.

“I’m afraid you will need stitches, Noah.” He frowns.

“Fine.” Noah sighs.

Melinda has already spoiled his mood, so why not spend the rest of the evening in a hospital waiting room to have stitches put into his leg! The staff moves quickly to load him onto the small boat, while the captain shouts instructions for the toys to be brought back in.

Melinda starts crying terribly, holding her hands in front of her mouth, but when she wants to go to the hospital with him, he refuses and tries to tell her that he will be okay and will see them at the docks once the boat is safely back.

It doesn’t take much to convince her, and he sighs a breath of relief when they finally leave the yacht to go to the hospital.