Her Untamed CEO

Chapter 11

Getting into the office, she feels like fainting, but she quickly eats something and has a glass of water in the hopes that by the time Mr. and Mrs. Bartlett get in, she will feel better.

She prepares Mrs. Bartlett’s desk, then rushes in to prepare Mr. Bartlett's desk when she notices the time and is just in time to see them walk in through the lift.

“Good Morning, Alicia.”

“Morning, Alicia.”

“Good morning, Sir, Ma’am. My apologies, I’m running a little late. I will bring your co… aaaachhhooooo!!!”

“Oh, goodness!” Mrs. Bartlett looks stunned, and Alicia holds her elbow in front of her blood-red nose.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m sorry. Yes, I’m fine.”

Mr. Bartlett disappears quickly, and Alicia feels terrible.

“I will bring your tea in just a minute.”

Mrs. Bartlett nods, watching her walk to the kitchen. Alicia feels Mrs. Bartlett’s eyes on her, and she washes her hands before making their coffee to make sure that she doesn’t share her germs with them.

She hands Mrs. Bartlett her tea and walks into Mr. Bartlett's office, putting his coffee down on his desk.

“Sir, I was hoping to speak to you about a personal matter.”

“Oh, wouldn’t you prefer to speak to my wife?” He frowns.

“It doesn’t really matter, but it concerns Mr. Phillips.”

“Liam?” Mrs. Bartlett is standing behind Alicia, nearly giving her a heart attack before she takes a seat in front of her husband.

“Yes, I uhm, well, he asked me out on another date. This time an actual date. I do not wish to mix business with pleasure and don’t want you to get the wrong idea if I keep telling him no.”

“Oh, dear!” Mrs. Bartlett bursts out laughing, raising one eyebrow.

“He is not going to like that!”

“Why?” Mr. Bartlett frowns.

“Oh, my darling husband. He has quite the reputation amongst the young girls in the office. He doesn’t really have to ask. They just fall at his feet. If Miss Moonvalor keeps saying no, he will keep pursuing her.”

“I don’t understand it. If a woman says no, then it should be no. Please deal with this. I don’t want him sniffing around where he shouldn’t be. He is already too involved in the business as it is.”

Alicia looks at him with wide eyes and then makes her way out of his office with Mrs. Bartlett.

“Okay, sweetie, this is what you do.”

***

Liam is sitting in one of the many meetings where the company is trying to convince him that their overheads aren’t unreasonable. He has to decide whether what he just bought is worth keeping or whether he should dismantle the company.

His phone dings, notifying him that he has received a message, and he checks it out of pure boredom.

“To Liam Phillips

From: Alicia Moonvalor

Dear Liam,

Dinner would be lovely. Pick me up at the office at seven.

Alicia.”

A grin forms on his face. He knew she wouldn’t be able to resist him and quickly replies.

“Dear Alicia,

See you at seven.

Kind Regards.

Liam Phillips

CEO

Phillips Incorporated.”

Oh crap! He didn’t remove his title and company name from the signature before sending the email. Ah well! She was going to find out sooner or later. He shrugs and rolls his eyes trying to concentrate on the old man in front of him giving him a breakdown of the family business finances.

He will have to cut the meeting short if he wants to make a reservation at a nice restaurant and get back home to take a shower after spending the day in meetings. He actually feels pretty excited!

***

“Maybe he should get the young miss Moonvalor out of his father’s office and by his side.” Noah ponders.

That sure as hell would put Melinda and all other girls that think they stand a chance with him in their place. She is the epitome of the perfect wife material if you take into account that his father accepted her as his assistant.

It would be a challenge to get her to let lose a little. He wonders how that tight body of hers would look in a bikini instead of her prim business suits and how long her hair really is if you untie the tight bun, she always has it in.

The only problem that is left is that he needs to get better to be able to ask her out on a date. He grins at the thought of the look on his father’s face if he were to ask her out, and she says yes.

Of course, she would say yes. What girl wouldn’t want to go out with him?

***

Mrs. Bartlett drags her out dress shopping over their lunch break, and Alicia feels totally uncomfortable at the idea of having to buy something for this fake date.

She looks at the dresses in the boutique, checking the price tags, and her eyes nearly pop out of their sockets. There is no way she would be able to afford any of these. They cost more than a month’s rent!

“Try this one.” Mrs. Bartlett holds up a beautiful blue chiffon dress with a low cut back.

“Oh, I couldn’t.” Alicia smiles.

“Yes, you can. My treat. Now go.” Alicia looks at her with wide eyes and Mrs. Bartlett shoos her to the fitting rooms before turning her attention back to the dresses.

Alicia looks at the price tag and is almost too scared to touch the dress!

“Let me see!” Mrs. Bartlett shouts.

“Uhm, I haven’t put it on yet.”

“Well, hurry up. We still have to get your hair and make-up done.”

WHAT?

“Mrs. Bartlett, all this is really not necessary. I could just cancel or go in my own clothes.”

She puts on the dress and her hair pulls out of the tight bun falling around her shoulders and down her back. Wow, she looks amazing! This is what she was working for. So, she could one day buy dresses like this for herself. She wipes her hands over the tight-fitting material and takes a sigh before stepping out.

“Oh, wow! You have beautiful hair! But the dress isn’t working. Try this one.”

After two hours they finally found her a red dress with an open back in silk. It’s also tight-fitting and comes up to her mid-thigh with a slit down the right side. It’s nothing she would even think to wear. Mrs. Bartlett insisted on buying her a fur coat to go with it.

“Every girl needs a proper fur coat.”

Alicia tried her best to stop Mrs. Bartlett, but nothing would stop her from shopping. She bought a set of accessories and shoes to go with the outfit, and then they were off to the salon to do Alicia’s make-up and hair.

“I really don’t think all of this is necessary.” Alicia nervously tried to convince her boss that they should get back to the office.

“Honey, if there is one thing, I know it’s men. You are like a little lamb, and he is a lion, and all he wants to do is catch you. But if you were to become a lioness in your own right, he will no longer see you as prey and will soon tire of chasing you.”

“Oh, that’s a fact!” The hairdresser bursts out laughing.

“These uptight men hate it when the girls take the spotlight off them. Who are you going out with, sweetie?” Patrice asks while washing her hair.

“Liam Phillips.” Mrs. Bartlett rolls her eyes.

Patrice as Mrs. Bartlett introduced them is her personal hairdresser. He is the best in the business although he prefers to be referred to as she which confuses Alicia a bit but to each their own. The one thing she can agree with is that she can give one hell of a head massage!

“OH, Mr. Phillips is definitely a lion who likes his lambs.” She giggles.

“What are we trying to do?”

“Get rid of his advances.” Mrs. Bartlett frowns.

“Oh, honey, that’s easy, just cling to him like glue, and he will drop you like a hot potato in the summertime.” Patrice laughs.

“I don’t know if that saying is correct.” Alicia frowns, but Mrs. Bartlett and Patrice are busy with their own discussion and don’t even notice her.

She sits in the chair watching them put foil in her hair and then move to under a huge dryer that covers her entire head while another girl sits in front of her doing her nails. She picks a neutral color for her nails not wanting them to stand out too much, and when they are done, she is shown back to the basin, and the color is washed out.

Patrice lets her sit, and she starts moving around her hair snipping here and there, and then starts blow-drying her hair. The highlights they added make Alicia look like an entirely new person! She sits looking in awe at the transformation.

She doesn’t even want to know how much this is costing Mrs. Bartlett and all that to get rid of Mr. Phillips… She has to find out why they would be willing to spend so much money on her to get rid of him.

Patrice turns her around and the make-up artists move in while Patrice takes a seat next to Mrs. Bartlett and they sit and talk like two best friends. Alicia has never seen this side of her boss and finds it pretty interesting.

Then something comes to mind. His email! His title on his email! It didn’t say that he was the CFO of Bartlett Industries… She quickly searches for her phone to the irritation of the girl trying to do her make-up.

Yes, there, Liam Phillips, CEO, Phillips Incorporated.

“Eyes closed, please.”

“Sorry. Tell me something… Do you know anything about Liam Phillips?”

“Oh, sweetie, the fact that you have to ask. Where have you been all your life? Hiding under a rock?”

“I guess you can say so.” Alicia shrugs.

She spent her days studying, not paging through the society pages.

“Well, he is one of the biggest business tycoons and most sought-after Batchelor's in the country. Many women have tried, but nobody seems to be able to catch that man. Is he the one you are going on a date with?”

“Yeah,” Alicia’s voice wavers.

“Oh, aren’t you a lucky girl? What I wouldn’t give to spend the night with that piece of hot meat.” She giggles.

“I didn’t want to go. This is purely business.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were, uh,” she whispers, "A call girl.”

“WHAT?” Alicia sits upright in the chair. “I’m not!!”

“Oh, crap, sorry. When you said business, I misunderstood!”

“Well, I’m not!” She sits back down.

Alicia explains the situation to her, and the girl bursts out laughing. She explains that from her point of view she doesn’t necessarily agree with Mrs. Bartletts' plan, but that she hopes it all works out for Alicia.

Alicia finds out that she’s actually a nice girl once the misunderstanding is sorted out, and they start talking about their backgrounds and where they came from. They are both just the girls next door who are trying to make it in the big city.

“There, I’m done, Patrice.”

“Oh, goodie!” Patrice claps her hands together, and she gets up together with Mrs. Bartlett.

“Perfect.”

They turn Alicia around to see herself in the mirror, and she can’t believe the girl she sees in the mirror. With the light make-up that feels as if it took forever to put on, and her hair hanging lose around her, she doesn’t look like herself. She looks like one of those girls on the cover of a magazine.

“Thank you, girls.” Mrs. Bartlett beams happily and drags Alicia out of the salon and on their way back to the office.

She takes Alicia through everything she is allowed to talk about and all the subjects she should avoid. They get back to the office around six, and Mr. Bartlett frowns when they walk in.

“Lunch is an hour, not six! Oh, wow…” He looks at her as if she grew a third head, and Alicia feels her cheeks turn bright red.

***

Liam steps through the lift expecting to see the uptight Miss Moonvalor behind her computer happily typing away, but nobody is there.

“Hi,” He hears her voice behind him, coming from the kitchen, and when he turns around, there is a vision in a red dress that greets him.

He can’t believe his eyes.

“Hi, you look stunning. Are you ready?”

“Yes,” she smiles and grabs a fur coat from her chair.

This might just turn into a more interesting evening than he thought.