(Joshua's POV - Mon. 26 August 2013)

"What the hell got into you, Jones?" I ask him sternly after the young guy has left, slamming the pile of documents in front of him and returning to my seat. The CFO nervously starts distributing a copy of each bundle to us.

"It's just... he... he's been screwing this up. He's slow and inefficient... and clumsy at that!" he complains. I notice Ally's annoyance as she slightly shakes her head.

"It's not a reason to bark at him the way you did. I thought he was going to pass out!" I say with bitterness, grabbing the thickest bundle and leafing through it quickly. Respect toward employees is one of the most important values to me, and I don't tolerate such treatments within my company. You may be angry at an employee and tell him off, but not in public and certainly not in such a humiliating way. I will need to have a serious discussion with Jones later and I'd better not find out that he treats all his team like this. "Did he do this?" I ask, pointing at the main presentation.

"Mmh... yes, he did," he admits quite shamefully.

"I wouldn't call this inefficient... this presentation looks rather good actually." I ignore Ally and Allan's bewildered eyes. They are not used to hearing me taking a secretary's defense so openly. Well this is probably because I never had to before.

"It can only be good... it took him ages to do it..." Jones grumbles, obviously not taking the hint that he should shut up.

"Let's go back to the subject for now," I command, now irritated.

The rest of the meeting goes uneventful and I try to concentrate on what Derek tells us. He simply gives us a few key figures and a brief summary of the plan, and we schedule another meeting later this week to discuss it in more details, once each of us will have reviewed the documentation on our own. It is barely 4:30 when we all stand up and I ask Derek to follow me to my office.

"Pierce, I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have barked at the twink like I did..." he says penitently as soon as I have shut the door behind us.

"This is him you should apologize to. You know that I don't tolerate that kind of conduct toward employees. Is something wrong with you? Have you been particularly stressed or anything recently?" I ask, remaining professional although I could beat him down for his behavior.

"Not really stressed... but preparing this plan has been a lot of work and I am a bit pissed that Carola left on such a short notice... especially after seeing her from a distance last week-end and she seemed perfectly fine," he adds bitterly.

"Well it's no reason to take your anger on the boy," I scold him. "As far as Carola is concerned, get in touch with HR and ask them to investigate on her sick leave. If it's a sickie, they will proceed accordingly because I don't tolerate lazy people either."

"I'll do so."

"Good. And I hope for you that I never hear about such misconduct with other members of your team, Derek. You know that's redhibitory..."

"I know that, Joshua. I will apologize to him and give him a second chance," Derek assures me. Not sure I will let him...

We say our goodbyes and he finally leaves my office. I go to sit at my desk and log back into my laptop to reply to a few emails. However my mind is distracted by the memories of the young man who interrupted our meeting. He is absolutely delicious and probably the cutest guy I have ever met. And some guys, I have met! I wouldn't say that all the Subs at the club are all beautiful but there are some nice pieces of meat, to put it bluntly. But this guy, whose name I don't even know, is something else. His light blue eyes stand out on the rather paleness of his perfect skin. His button nose underlines his angelic face just as much as his pouty lips. His velvety hair looked silky and I would have loved to run my fingers through his blond locks, especially when he was kneeling in front of me.

That is exactly the memory I shouldn't remember right now; just the thought of having him kneeling before me makes me hard; I imagine him almost naked, wearing a tight pair of leather pants or shorts; he would make the perfect Submissive... My hand unconsciously reaches for my crotch... yes, I am hard as fuck. I definitely shouldn't be having this kind of thoughts while I am in the office and when Ally could pop in at any moment. As much as she knows a lot about my private life, I don't want her to find me palming myself...

I try to force more professional thoughts into my head but my brain keeps returning to the young intern and how my body reacted at the touch of his fingers. I already felt some kind of electricity when his eyes met mine and I wanted to know how it would feel to touch his skin, so I intentionally brushed my fingers against his when I took the pile of documents he was handing to me. The result was amazing. I felt the same current run through my body but it didn't last for long as he withdrew his hands at once and scurried away.

His nervousness and his frail character only increased my anger toward Derek. It was obvious that the guy was under full stress and I couldn't tell whether it was due to his boss's harshness or to the fact that he was among the top management. Whatever it was, I just couldn't take it that someone yelled at him and I was wondering if he was okay. Derek is an excellent financial officer but he is rather old school, not patient at all and quite cynical. If the boy is a beginner right out of school, Derek is definitely not the person he should be working with. I know where my train of thoughts is leading me and I should stop wasting time being in denial. I want this guy. I want him to work with me. I want to train him, in many ways, and I want him to replace Ally during her maternity leave. Without thinking any further about this, I stand up and go to open the door. Ally is at her desk and speaking on the phone.

"Hold on a second Jenny," she says as soon she hears the door open. "What can I do for you?" she then asks me.

"I need to talk to you. Now please," I simply tell her, turning around to head back to my office.

"Jenny, I'll call you back. Just contact the candidates whose profiles I have selected already and schedule them to come either tomorrow or on Wednesday," she quickly says and hangs up. I let her in my office and shut the door.

"Were you speaking about the candidates for your replacement?" I ask her as we sit down at my desk.

"Yes, I have selected a few profiles already and I'm expecting to meet s..."

"Cancel all the appointments, we already have a replacement for you," I interrupt her. Her perfectly plowed eyebrows furrow in an expression of doubt.

"I am not sure to understand..." she says hesitantly.

"I said we already have a replacement for you. I want this new guy to be my assistant while you are on maternity leave," I reply unequivocally.

"Liam???" So that's his name... I like that... it sounds nice. "He is a beginner, Joshua... he doesn't have any experience... I thought you wanted..." she argues.

"Forget what I said. I don't care that he is beginner; I want him to replace you. You have three weeks to train him."

"Three weeks are not enough to learn the tricks to work with a CEO!" she exclaims. I bend forward to lay my forearms on my desk and lace my fingers, adopting my bossy attitude.

"Ally, you are the best personal assistant and I place all my trust in your skills to teach him the basic knowledge in three weeks. I am persuaded that this young man is not as stupid and slow as Derek told us. Obviously he is good at working on Office. I'm sure he only needs a few tips and tricks and he'll be perfect to replace you." Ally's frown increases and I'd rather not know what she is thinking about.

"I know he is clever and having him work with Derek first was probably not the best option; but I've had lunch with him a few times over the past two weeks and Liam is extremely shy and quiet..."

"Then that's perfect. I'll make him work on his shyness and... quietness will be a nice change from you for a few months," I add with a smirk. "I want this guy." Maybe that is a sentence too much... Ally straightens on her chair and narrows her eyes at me.

"Josh..." she says, all serious.

"Ally..."

"I'm not sure this is a good idea..." she warns me.

"Ally, this is an order. Go and cancel these appointments. Tell HR that from tomorrow this Liam boy will be working with you so that you can train him before you go on maternity leave. Tell them that they can interview these persons to replace Carola if necessary."

"As you want, Sir..." With a resigned expression, she stands up and walks back to her office.

"Ally!" I call her before she closes the door. "I'm sure you can do this," I assure her with a smile when she turns back to me. "Please also summon Liam to my office at 8:30 tomorrow morning." She nods and walks back to her open space.

Satisfied, I get back to my emails with a huge grin and reply to a few more emails. Ally knocks on my door about an hour later, apparently ready to leave. She looks a bit upset but I know that she will get over it as she obviously seems to appreciate the young man too from what I have heard.

"Joshua, before I leave for tonight... HR have launched the investigation on Carola's sick leave and they are going to interview some persons to replace her during her maternity leave. I have told them for Liam so Elena will make the necessary arrangements to amend his contract. Unfortunately... I wasn't able to ask him to be in your office at 8:30 tomorrow because... he had already left." I peek at my screen and see that it is already 6:00 pm, so I guess it is normal.

"Is that what upsets you?" I ask seeing that she looks worried.

"Hmm... Elena saw him when he left the office this afternoon. She says he looked really upset and almost sick. I didn't tell her what happened in the meeting room but I think it affected him more than I thought. Are you really sure you want to work with him? He is a kind person and he deserves a true chance to pursue in this career... and not with someone who will give him a hard time," she says, concluding with a warning tone. That hurts...

"Are you saying that I wouldn't be a good boss for him?" I ask quite bitterly.

"No!! That's not what I am saying! Just admit that sometimes you can be... a bit difficult..." What CEO wouldn't be difficult? I wonder to myself. However she might be right.

"I'll treat him right, Ally. I am not a monster and I can be patient," I argue. Lies... patience has never my forte.

"I know..." she sighs. "Anyway, Elena has left a note for him on his desk regarding the appointment and he'll find it when he arrives at 8:00 tomorrow."

"Perfect. Thanks Ally! Have a good evening!" I say, returning my attention to my screen.

"Good evening, Joshua."

Once she has left, I lean back in my chair and loosen my tie. A small part of me tells me that I am right to take the young man under my wing because I know that I will treat him better than Jones. Contrary to what I told Ally, I am not an extremely patient person, but I have faith in him. His eyes held that clever brightness when I saw him this afternoon... he will mostly need to fight his shyness and gain some self-confidence.

Now if I have to be totally honest to myself, I should admit that my expectations go way beyond professionalism. There is something in him that appeals me with such force that I made this decision without really thinking about it. Having him work with me might not be the best move in the end... What I have just done suddenly hits me. Damn!! Josh!! What were you thinking about! He is an employee and you don't even know if he is gay! Well I can scold myself all I want! It doesn't change a thing to the fact that I am still irresistibly attracted to the young man and that I want to spend time with him and get to know him.

I know I won't be good at anything for today so I pack up and leave the office. As I meet Tony outside, I suddenly regret that the club doesn't open on Mondays because I would have definitely appreciated an evening with my friends tonight or at least Aaron. I have just put myself in a difficult situation, my ultimate goal being to drag Liam into my net, and I know that I will need to take each step very cautiously. As a plan forms in my head, I realize that Aaron will be the perfect person to advise me so I fish my phone from my pocket and dial his number.

"Hey! How's the most gorgeous CEO doing?" he starts off as he picks up the phone.

"Hi Aaron! I actually need to talk to you... seriously... Are you available for dinner tonight?"

"Huh... I don't like that tone..." he replies warily. "But of course I am. Just don't tell me that you are intending to take Devin back because I terminated his membership this morning..." he warns me.

"No, nothing like that. I'll tell you more later tonight. Are you coming over?"

"Definitely! I wouldn't miss a meal from Lizzyyyyyyyy!!!" he chuckles.

"Alright, I'll let her know that you're coming and I'll see you later then. And stop calling her Lizzy or she might add some arsenic in your food..."

"See ya!" he replies with a chuckle.

Published on 27 Aug. 2016

Some intentions are clear, here... Someone wants a new Sub! But that's not as simple as that when the Sub in question isn't in the lifestyle... It's not like going to the club and picking one randomly... In any case, he is still a fair manager and as you can see, he is not friend with Mark for nothing. They share similar values :) It was a very small chapter, but the next one will be a bit longer :)

This chapter is dedicated to one of my first ever readers, Sara. Thank you my dear Italian neighbor for all your support and encouragements throughout the publishing of I Was Shooting For The Moon and the writing of this story. I hope you don't get bored with re-reading the new version of the story ;)