Page 11 of Once Upon a Prince
“Interesting,” I admitted. I had felt there was more than met the eye when it came to Ella. It was good to know a bit of her background. “Had she been working for Taylor Medical?”
“Since she was a child. She’s a lot like you that way. Learned from her father and has a lot of ambition. It’s too bad her dad died before she could really work with him.”
“Who is running the company now?” I asked.
“Her stepmother, Cheryl, took over as CEO when her father died. She wouldn’t have been my first choice but not my decision to make.”
“Did you ever think about going and helping out?” I asked.
“Funny you should mention that, I did, but Cheryl wouldn’t hear it. Said she knew how to run the company and would do as she saw fit. She had no knowledge of the medical field or how to run a warehouse but it wasn’t my place to say.”
I could hear the sadness in my father’s voice and his need to do right by his dear friend and his daughter. He hadn’t been able to help his company but that didn’t mean he couldn’t help in other ways. Giving Ella a place to work, a way to get away from her stepmother, and to learn about how to run a successful business were things he could do.
Knowing what my father had done only made me respect him more and to be determined to make it work. I had no idea that Ella had ambitions to run her own company but if she did, it was something I could help her with. Though if what my father said was true, she might help me, too.
Suddenly, the idea of working with Ella took on a different meaning. I had never mentored anyone and relished the idea of doing it for her. The thought that I might be working with her more closely, that I would get to know her better, and spend more time with her was a much-appreciated perk.
As I ended the call with my father, I walked out of my office to see Ella sitting at her desk. She looked over at me and our eyes locked. Recognition of what I could only describe as a similar soul came over me. I wanted to help her; I wanted her to help me. We would find a way to work together and make this work for us.
It didn’t help to squash my interest in her personally, but that was something I was going to have to figure out how to get over. Now all that mattered was helping her and making sure I was the best worker for my family’s company. Then I could do what I was born to do, run it. But as I held Ella’s gaze, I knew that was going to be harder to do than I had originally thought.
Chapter 7
Ella
There was something about the look that Dax was giving me that was different from any of the other looks before. It was a look of understanding, even interest, but not sexually, more like he suddenly found out something compelling about me and he wanted to know more about it. I had almost gotten used to the looks that he had given me. There were a few, one was of mild annoyance, another was of concern, as if he wasn’t totally sure of me or what I was doing, the last was one of basic sexual desire.
The annoyance I could understand as I had not started off on the best foot with him. The concern came from the same place, but more that he was worried about me and how well I would do in my position. The last, I had expected, the man had a reputation and probably couldn’t look at any woman without thinking about how she would look naked in his arms. I had taken all the looks in stride. I knew I had a lot to prove to him, to myself even, and I was willing to do the work so I could.
I had never thought I would see intrigue and interest in his eyes. It was as if he was trying to sum me up, to understand me. I could tell by his expression that he was succeeding.
“Are you ready for the meeting? Did you need me to go over your notes?” I asked as I stood.
“No. I think I have it handled. Please confirm my appointments for this afternoon. If the meeting starts to go long, can you come and move it along, say, in about an hour?” he asked.
“Certainly, sir. Your afternoon appointments were confirmed yesterday but I can reconfirm if you would like or move anyone if you think you’re going to be delayed. Mr. Garcia is usually early and does not like to be made waiting. Do you want me to reschedule his appointment to later in the day?”
He looked at me as if he was seeing me for the first time, I stood and waited silently for him to answer me.
“No. Pablo will be the perfect excuse to end this meeting. Mr. Parker likes to talk and tell stories; if I don’t have anywhere to be he’ll keep me in the conference room all day. Thank you for reminding me about the meeting.”
“Of course, sir,” I said.
Dax nodded and then headed to the door; before he got there, he stopped and turned to me. “I’ll be gone for the rest of the day but if you need me for any reason, you can reach me on my phone. Do you have my cell number?” he asked.
“Yes, I have your number.” I was well aware of his schedule.
“Good. Um, do you have enough to keep you busy? Do I need to give you something to do?”
I wanted to laugh. If he needed me to do something, he should have told me what he wanted done. There was plenty to do, not only for the day, but for the next several months. I didn’t want to tell him but his last assistant had no organizational skills and it was going to take some time to get everything sorted out. That was on top of doing all the day to day things that I would need to do.
“Thank you. I’m sure I can find something to keep me occupied. I’ll come and get you in about an hour,” I said.
He looked embarrassed by his statement. If I had been a nicer person, I would have told him what I was going to do; I would have put his mind at ease explaining all that I had planned to accomplish that day. I didn’t want to. He seemed to still be underestimating me and what I could do and I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of having to explain myself. Though, as my boss, that was exactly what I should have done.
“Okay,” he said and left.
I didn’t watch him go but instead went about my day. As requested, I went to the conference room in about an hour and found that they were wrapping up the meeting. I didn’t talk to Dax as there didn’t seem a need, but we did exchange a quick look. He was in the middle of a conversation with Mr. Parker but the look told me he appreciated me coming down and that he had everything handled. I went back to my desk and the rest of the day flew by. I didn’t realize how late it was until I heard Dax come back into the office.