CEO's Pregnant Lover (2 page)

“Did she say what she needed to see me about?” she inquired, trying to figure out what she might have done wrong. Usually when people were called up to HR, they returned to clean out their desks and pick up their final paycheck.

“Hey, I wouldn’t worry about it. Maybe she’s going to give you a big promotion,” Pete answered, half-joking.

Brianna shook her head as she replied, “I haven’t been here long enough for that. Do you think someone told her I was a little late this morning?”

Pete looked at her and then realized she was really concerned. Placing his hand upon her arm, he gave her a quick squeeze of encouragement as he said, “Don’t worry about it. You do great work around here, there’s no reason to assume it’s something bad.”

Brianna absently nodded as she stacked the copies together and then stapled them. When Pete saw that she was a little distracted, he attempted to take advantage of the fact, “So, do you want to grab a bite to eat after work tonight? My treat.” He crowded her a little and noticed that the shirt she wore today was just a tiny bit small for her, but it gave him a great vantage point as he leaned to the side and caught a glimpse of bare skin in the vee where her shirt opened.

Pete had been trying to get Brianna to go out with him since she started working for Coldwell Enterprises, but so far, she had been giving him one excuse after another. She was always friendly and had a smile for him, but that’s where it ended. Every time he asked her out, she gave him the excuse of needing to go see her mother.

Brianna was a diamond in the rough, and while Pete absolutely hated her clothing choices, he also figured it would keep the bigger sharks away from her. Most of the guys he knew wanted a piece of eye-candy to take around town. Not Pete, he had spotted the potential in Brianna on her first day at Coldwell Enterprises and had been slowly softening her up.

She kept her hair contained in a matronly bun at the nape of her neck, and what a neck it was. Pete had happened to come upon her one afternoon when she had been twisting her hair back up. It had come partially undone while she sat and ate her lunch outside and he was stunned at the magnificent length of it. It reached to the middle of her back and had streaks of brown and copper blended together in a gorgeous mix. The effect was lost when she had it twisted up, and on first glance, most men would see only a rather ordinary looking woman with plain brown hair.

Pete knew better. He had begun to notice other things about her as well. She always smelled of strawberries, she didn’t wear makeup, and her clothes were thrift store specials. While they covered the necessary parts, they did nothing to highlight the exquisite body hiding beneath.

After six months of playing it nice and friendly, he was ready to take their relationship to the next level, if only she would agree.

Brianna grabbed her papers and left the copy room, not sure why Pete had been crowding her against the table, but letting it go for the moment. She was too worried about why HR wanted to see her.

Brianna looked up at Pete as he followed her back to her desk, realizing that she hadn’t answered him yet. Shaking her head she replied, “I can’t. I promised my mom I’d come by and see her after work tonight.” She quickly placed the copies into the appropriate folders, glancing at Pete when he didn’t head back to his own work area.

Pete was getting tired of her excuses. Then it came to him and he nodded; he would work with her excuses and take them off the table, “That’s no problem. We could stop by there before we went to eat.”

Brianna knew what he was trying to do, the same thing he had been trying to do for the last three months – get her to agree to go on a date with him. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Pete, he was a really nice guy, but her previous relationships had ended badly. Besides, she had enough on her plate taking care of her mom and paying her own bills. She didn’t need the stress of trying to please a guy on top of everything else. Not that she was capable of that particular act if the opinion of her last boyfriend was anything to go by.

“Pete, thanks for the offer, but I don’t think so.”

“Brianna, come on. You never go out with us on Friday nights. You say you don’t have a boyfriend right now. I don’t understand what the problem is.” Pete sounded a little exasperated, and she hated the fact that he thought she owed him an explanation. She didn’t.

Brianna stepped back around her desk and headed for the elevator before saying, “Pete, I would prefer we be friends. I don’t have time for anything else. I need to go upstairs, I’ll see you later.” As the elevator door closed, Brianna could see the look of disappointment on Pete’s face but knew he would get over it. She had never known Pete to be lonely for long and she figured he was already chatting up the next name on his list. Smiling, she was proud of herself for standing her ground.

Just as quickly as her smile had come, it went when she saw the elevator drawing closer to her destination. Brianna wasn’t sure why she had been summoned to Mrs. Marshall’s office. To her knowledge she hadn’t broken any rules in the employee handbook, and she had only been two minutes late this morning. Surely, they wouldn’t fire someone for two minutes?

It wasn’t even something she could have prevented. The light rail had arrived on time, but then someone had ridden their bike in front of it. They hadn’t been hurt, but by the time the driver had discovered that fact, several minutes had passed and the light rail was behind schedule.

The not knowing had her stomach tied up in knots. She couldn’t afford to lose this job, not right now. The next monthly payment for her mother’s nursing care was due in two weeks and she would just barely be able to pay that by combining her next check with what she had saved from the previous one.

Brianna’s mother had suffered a stroke seven months previously, which had left her unable to use her left side at all. The nursing facility had taken a reduction in their normal fees, being that her mother didn’t have any insurance to help, but with only Brianna to help pay the remainder, things were very tight. Brianna had been trying to finish her degree when her mother fell ill, but had been forced to quit school and had taken a job to cover the expenses of her long-term care.

Her then boyfriend, Todd, had tried to be understanding, but when all Brianna could do when they finally found time to be together was fall asleep from exhaustion, he called it quits. He also called her some very unflattering names that Brianna had tried to ignore, but whenever she thought about starting up a new romantic relationship, his hateful words came back to haunt her. Cold. Frigid. Sexless.

Brianna had convinced herself that caring for her mother and working to pay the bills was enough for right now. At some point in time, she hoped to finish her degree, but right now that was a distant thought and required too much energy. For the last six months, she had been existing; barely.

When her mother had first had her stroke, she had stayed in the hospital and Brianna had become a temporary resident on the fourth floor. The nursing staff had quickly learned her name, and had even set up a portable cot in their lounge so that she could rest. The first weeks were very critical and she had been afraid to leave the hospital, sure, that if she did her mother would die all alone.

When it came time for her mother to leave the hospital, the hospital social worker had suggested a nursing facility. Her mother was unable to walk or use her left side at all. She had to be cared for in every respect and the social worker had strongly advised Brianna against trying to care for her mother at home. Brianna had finally agreed and located a place that promised to care for her mother and work with her on the payments.

The secretarial position at Coldwell Enterprises had been like an early Christmas gift and it paid her just enough to cover her mother’s expenses, the rent on a room at the little rundown motel on the other side of town, with a few dollars left over for food. After moving her mother into the nursing facility, she had cancelled the lease on their small house, sold off all of the furniture and other valuables to pay the hospital bill.

It still hadn’t been enough, and at some point in the near future, she would need to start making monthly payments to them as well. Since the hospital was part of a Catholic charity, they had agreed to give her some time to regroup and find a job before beginning to make payments. She had two more months before that kicked in.

When she had interviewed with Mrs. Marshall, she had been told that the chance of promotion was high and that if she performed well, she would receive a ten percent raise upon completing her ninth month of employment. That ten percent increase would allow Brianna to vary her diet some, make a small monthly payment to the hospital, and also purchase some little extras for her mother. She couldn’t lose this job!

Knocking once upon the office door, she slowly turned the handle upon hearing the request to enter. She quietly entered the office and then closed the door. If she was about to be fired, she didn’t want anyone else lingering in the hallway to hear about it until she had left the building.

Janet glanced up and inwardly cringed at the veiled look of terror on the young woman’s face. She thinks she was called in here because she’s being fired. Boy, is she about to get the surprise of her life
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“Brianna, thanks for coming up so quickly. Please, have a seat while I get this paperwork sorted out.”

Brianna took the offered seat and sat primly with her hands in her lap. Mrs. Marshall seemed very happy. Would she be that happy if she were getting ready to fire someone? One would hope not!

Janet straightened the last of the file she had in front of her and then looked up at Brianna with a smile. “So, tell me how things have been going here?”

“I really like working here, Mrs. Marshall,” answered Brianna timidly.

“Please, call me Janet. Mrs. Marshall sounds like my mother.” Janet accompanied that directive with another smile at Brianna and a wink. Brianna gave her a weak smile and a nod in return.

“So, you’re probably wondering why I called you up here in the middle of the day?” Seeing Brianna’s nod, Janet continued, “Well, it seems there has been a family emergency that has taken the CEO’s personal assistant away for a while and he needs a replacement immediately. That is where you come in. I have had nothing but good reports from your supervisors, and I’m recommending you for the job.”

Brianna swallowed and tried to comprehend what she was being told. She was being given a promotion? “Mrs. Marshall,” she began, but at a raised eyebrow, she started over, “I mean, Janet, is this like a promotion or…”

Janet nodded, “Sort of. It’s not a permanent promotion, as I understand that Pam plans to return at some point in the future. Her daughter was injured and has newborn twins at home. Pam is going to stay with her until things return to normal.”

“So, it’s like filling in for someone when they go on vacation.”

Janet nodded, “Yes, and no. Yes, you will be filling in for Pam while she’s gone, but you may be the one who wishes you could go on a vacation after you spend a week working with Trent. He’s a real slave driver and I’ll warn you now, he’s a perfectionist of the worst sort. He’s also extremely arrogant so you’ll want to correct his mistakes very carefully.”

Brianna tried to place the name Trent but came up blank. Her employee folder had stated the name of the CEO was a Mr. Coldwell.

Janet saw the look of confusion cross Brianna’s face and continued, “Trent is expecting you to start right after lunch today. He has some big contract negotiation thing and needs the corrections made before 3 o’clock. Pam had to leave before that could be completed. I know it’s only 11 o’clock now, but maybe you could take an early lunch break today and that might give you a few extra minutes to get things sorted out upstairs.”

Brianna nodded, “Sure. I can do that. Where exactly is her office?”

“Pam’s office is the foyer outside Trent’s office and it takes up the entire top floor.” Janet smiled at the stunned look on Brianna’s face, and then reached into her desk and pulled out a special key card and handed it to her.

Brianna took the offered card, looking at it first and then Janet for an explanation. “The top floor is only accessible with that key card. You’ll see the slot on the panel, just slide it through and it will take you right up. Oh, and I forgot to mention, but I’ll need you to sign these forms for payroll so that they can adjust your salary accordingly.”

Brianna took the offered forms and began to read them only to have her hands start to shake at the salary she would be making. It was five times what she was making now, and the idea that she would not have to worry about money while filling in brought a huge relief to her. She looked up once at Janet to confirm she was actually reading the numbers correctly and Janet just nodded and said, “Keep reading. It’s a great opportunity for you and you definitely deserve it. If you could just sign where I’ve indicated, I’ll send them down to Payroll immediately. You should start to see the increase with this Friday’s check.”

“This week? Really?” Brianna was in complete shock. She quickly signed her name and then handed the papers back. When Janet just smiled at her, she asked, “Should I go then?”

Janet nodded, “Yeah. Hey, and don’t take any guff off Trent. You tell him I said to be nice or he’s going to answer to me. And remember, his bark is much worse than his bite, I promise.”

Brianna nodded and wondered at the strange statement as she went back to collect her things. She wasn’t sure that she should tell her new boss “to be nice” and would probably just ignore that bit of advice. She also hoped the advice was ill-given and that her new boss wouldn’t need anyone to tell him “to be nice.”

Brianna collected her purse and lunch, and then made a stop at the ladies room to make sure her hair was still neatly collected at the nape of her neck, and that her attire was presentable. Having little resources at her disposal, Brianna brought her lunch each day and usually ate it under one of the shade trees located in front of the building.