4 Chapter 4: Project Leader

Samantha watched with a slowly growing dose of agitation as Gerard explained her own designs in the exact opposite way from how she intended them to be interpreted.

Not only had Gerard stolen one of her ideas again, which was something she had become wholly familiar with, but, this time, he did not even show the common courtesy of asking her to explain her vision to him. He was just here to sell something to someone with a lot of money, and that was what irritated Samantha the most.

She must have looked as upset as she felt, because, when Richard asked a particularly specific question about the design and Gerard was unable to answer, the young CEO suddenly turned to her with a raised eyebrow.

“Do you agree with this?” Richard asked, evidently taking note of the concerned look in Samantha’s eyes.

“No, I am sorry. I cannot say that I do.”

“What do you mean?” he indulged her.

“Um—well, pardon me if this is a bit weird-sounding, but I did some research about your company beforehand, as well as who your main competitor is at this current moment,” Samantha said as she flipped through the catalog.

She tried not to make eye contact with the band-aid on his hand as he held the folder open. But it was so damn bright and pink she had to stop herself from laughing by biting down on her own lip.

“And, although Washington Industries is rising at a steady rate and taking over much of the market, it still has some ways to go.”

“Doubtlessly I will be able to climb the ladder faster than you presume—” Richard replied offhandedly. He seemed somewhat offended by her statement, and Samantha shook her head as she quickly tried to clarify.

“I have no doubt in my mind this company will become the industry leader, from what I can gather so far.” She could tell that the honesty of her statement struck Richard. “Which is why I believe the only real competition you have is Werther Inc.; so I took the liberty of visiting their main office headquarters downtown.”

“You did what?” Gerard seethed.

Samantha shot her boss a cautious look, but, at an encouraging nod from Richard, she continued: “And, as you can see from this city map, their building is situated at the heart of the city, surrounded by banks and very upmarket stores.”

“Yes,” Richard said as he tilted his head, intrigued at where the conversation was leading. “We are well aware of the location advantage their main building has over ours.”

“Not quite,” Samantha said as she flipped to a different page. “This is where your current main building is placed—about ten minutes from the city, and even less time by bus from local stores you supply.”

“I am failing to see your point, Miss Williams,” Richard stated as she tried to explain, and she sighed deeply at having to go into further detail.

“Your company concerns itself with economics, and economics is a social science. It’s about the value of things—and the only entity that assigns value to anything is people. Werther Inc. made the mistake of placing itself far away from the local population which is serviced by the bulk of its distributors.”

Samantha continued, “Here, you have a chance to show the public that you are different from Werther. This placement allows you to have quicker reaction times to the public’s needs, as well as respond more efficiently in your corporate social investments and responsibilities.”

When Richard did not interject, she flipped to the main design that she had spent so much time working on. “Therefore, once someone approaches your door, you want them to stay—which is why I suggest this layout and design for your main building, which is meant to draw people in.”

“What makes you think keeping my clients and partners will be a problem for me?” Richard asked as he leaned back in his chair.

For a moment Samantha was taken aback by the sheer presence of the man. Despite the fact that she was standing above him and he had to lift his gaze to meet hers, she somehow felt like it was her looking up at him. She tilted her head and averted her eyes as she looked over the design of the building.

“Do you want the truth?” she asked, looking back at him with a raised eyebrow. She was challenging him, in a way.

Richard might be an heir who came from old money, and he might know more than her with regard to his business. But she would be damned if she let herself be intimidated in her own field, in front of her boss, by a man that was just asking simple questions.

The corners of his mouth upturned slightly, and he nodded to her once.

“I am sure Werther Inc. thought the same thing.” It was a simple statement. But it made him do a double-take on the woman before him.

Samantha knew he knew she was right. In a business that relied on people, Richard did not have the luxury of taking a risk when it came to the satisfaction of his clients or the value they brought to his business.

Richard nodded once, and then slammed the file shut as he rose from his chair.

“I like you, Miss Williams. You are efficient and thorough.” Then he was extending his hand out to her—the same one that had the pink band-aid—and she had to bite her lip again to stop a smile from taking over her face.

He continued, “Which is why I would like you to be the project lead for the next six months.”

Samantha had to do a double-take herself at this proposal. And then, without another second more of doubt, she clasped his strong hand in her small one and shook it firmly once as she accepted his offer.

------------Three Weeks Later

Samantha heard a loud and vicious curse coming from the printing room.

Now, she was not a woman who believed in ghosts and horror-filled manifestations of the deceased—but when one was alone in a dimly lit office building, what else was a woman to think?

The glow from the printer-room light cascaded out into the dark hallway, and, from where she sat, Samantha could see a shadowed figure. The curses came again accompanied by a loud banging sound. Against her better judgment, she walked toward the room.

She slowly pushed open the door, and the sight of a large back covered in black satin greeted her.

“Why are you bullying the office appliances?” She asked her boss as she laughed and walked in to stand next to him. She took a small step back afterward, when she realized standing right next to him would force her to bend her neck to look up at his face.

“It is the office appliances that are bullying me,” Richard grumbled; he almost sounded like he was whining. She had to hold back a smile at his somewhat pouty face.

“Let me have a look at it.” When she crouched down and opened the paper tray, it was a simple matter of removing a dislodged piece of paper that had gotten stuck and realigning the tray again.

She raised the offending paper in one hand as she shot the man a questioning look. He almost looked sheepish as he rubbed the back of his neck.

“Ah, well…” He began to give an excuse. “I do not have my glasses on, as you can see, so…”

“You wear glasses? I’ve never seen you with them on before.”

She walked over to the bin to discard the ink-stained paper and wiped her hands with the wet wipes supplied at a dispenser.

“I usually wear contacts, but—” He stopped speaking for a moment as the printer whirred and gave him his desired document. “—they become irritating when I work late, so I took them off.”

“Why are you working so late?” Samantha heard herself say. Usually, she was the only one at the office at this hour, going over the plans for the building and looking through tips that Barbara and the other members of her team had given her.

This time, it was him who raised his eyebrow at her. “I always work late. You haven’t seen me?”

Her mouth formed an “O” as he described how he would always see her sitting at her desk with her head in her hands as she held her hair back. He told her that she looked more tired than he did.

“Are you insulting an employee, Mister Washington? I could file a complaint against you, you know.”

He chuckled lightly, and it took Samantha by surprise. His usually dark and deep voice sounded very different from his laugh, which was light and airy, and she found herself frozen by the sound.

“If I didn’t think you couldn’t handle it, Miss Williams, I wouldn’t push you as hard as I do.”

There was an underlying tension to his words as he walked past her, and something familiar began to bubble in her stomach.