Noah's POVEven by my own standards, I'm in a terrible mood on Monday morning. I had the weekend from hell. There was a leak in my apartment and I spent the entire two day break hunting down a plumber. My kitchen is ruined. Like utterly destroyed.Eden is waiting for the elevator when I get there. She has a coffee in her hand and it smells divine. I would kill for a cup right about now."Miss Winters," I say a little bit sharper than I intend."Mr Grisham," she replies after a slight jump."Have you drunk any of that?" I eye her drink."Er… Not yet.""Great," I say, taking it from her. She glowers at me as I take a gulp. "That was mine!" she complains."Yup," I agree, nodding my head.She's clearly not impressed and I can't really say I blame her. If she were to steal my coffee first thing in the morning, I might fire her. Or worse.Eden reaches to try and take the drink back, clearly unimpressed."You can't just steal my drink," she says sassily."I already have," I retort, holding
Eden's POV:Noah might hate Mondays. It's weird because I thought he loved working for Clancy's Comforts. Apparently, not so much on Monday mornings.I'm supposed to be recording the minutes but that's a bit difficult when no one is speaking. You could hear a pin drop. Staring at the clock on my laptop, I wait as patiently for their three minutes to be up.I glance up at Noah. He looks completely relaxed, leaning back in his chair. Everyone else on the other hand look like they're about to crap themselves."Right, who is going to go first?" Noah asks eventually and I breath out a sigh of relief.But then the silence is back as no one volunteers.I tap my nails on the table, awkwardly looking everywhere except at the others in the room."Surely, someone has something," Noah says impatiently.Still nothing. He opens his mouth and I flinch. I recognise that look. He's going to shout. Fortunately, I'm not the only one who has recognised the expression on his face and Rob speaks up."Does t
Knocking on Noah's office door, I let myself in using my elbow to push the handle down."I got you a coffee, sir," I say happily, "and I thought you might want a cake.""A cake?" he asks, looking up from his work. "What do you want, Eden?"He's suspicious. Damn it."I was just wondering…""I'm not telling you," he cuts in."But…""Let me guess," he says. "Everyone is asking you which product concept won?""Er… yeah but…""But you're not asking for them," he continues, leaning back, his arms crossed. "You want to know too?""Yeah. That's right," I reply, placing the coffee and cake on his desk."I'm not telling you," he repeats.Frowning, I want to argue back but he doesn't look like he'll be moved. Instead, I pick up the coffee and cake once again."Hey! Hang on," he says, getting to his feet. "Where are you taking my cake?""When you refuse to be bribed, you don't get to keep the sweetener."His eyes are dark. He's not impressed as he leans forward over his desk."You're not serious?"
Over the next few days, I spend most of my time being sent on coffee runs. The team have barely left the conference room except to eat, sleep and hopefully shower. Although that last one is questionable, based on the awful stench in the conference room.We've been working late every day and Noah has been coming in earlier and earlier each morning. It's a real challenge, trying to arrive before him, one I'm failing to meet.We're working around the clock but no one has complained yet, at least not that I've heard. They're excited, eager to make the rocking beds the company's best product ever. It's not enough for it to be this year's bestseller, the goal Noah set them. No. They're on a mission to achieve more than ever before.I've got to respect them for it. They really love this job.I can't help but wonder if the other teams are the same. Do they have the same drive? It's hard to believe anyone else being as invested as Design Team One.It's intriguing, watching them work, the random
Noah's POV:The team work solidly on the new product for the best part of two weeks. Their energy is infectious and at the end of the second week, I can't wait to tell Mrs Clancy and the other managers about our new product. I gather the designs and head out of my office, telling Eden I'll be back in an hour or so.She smiles at me a wide, brimming smile. She's not the only one. I feel like the entire department is watching me. They all know where I'm going and they're anticipating Mrs Clancy's reaction just as much as I am.I don't want to pre-empt it, just in case Mrs Clancy hates our idea – I don't think it's likely but it's certainly not impossible – otherwise I'd tell everyone that I'll buy them a round of drinks after hours.Instead, I leave acting as if I'm completely indifferent to their excitement. By the time I reach Mrs Clancy's office it's a lot harder to hide my excitement. Lewis and his uncle, James Artie are standing outside whispering amongst themselves.I'm automatical
It takes everything I have not to let my rage show. I keep quiet as much as possible, only speaking when asked something directly and when the meeting finally comes to an end, I'm the first to leave.I stride purposefully in the direction of my department but the closer I get the slower my stride becomes. I don't know what I'm going to say to them. My team are going to be so disappointed.Turning the corner, the first thing I notice is Eden sitting at her desk. She's talking to someone and that someone has their back turned towards me. I can feel everyone's eyes on me. They're expecting me to say something. They're expecting good news but I haven't got any.The only people in the entire department who haven't noticed me are Eden and her guest.Approaching them, my temper boils as Holly Sinclair turns to look at me, a wide smile on her face."Thanks for that, Eden," she says. "I really owe you one."She nods her head at me before waving goodbye to Eden and walking away.I'm gobsmacked.
'Who the hell does he think he is?' I ask myself, grabbing my bag. I avoid looking at the others. I don't think I can face them.Did they hear? I really don't want them to think badly of me. Surely, they can't think I'd do that to them. That I'd steal their idea…Talk about assumptions! How could he? I've done nothing wrong. Nothing at all to suggest that I'd ever do what he's suggesting. I've worked hard! I've worked endlessly in the last few weeks and I haven't complained once. Not ONCE.Not when he practically spat out his sandwich on me, just because he apparently doesn't like gherkins. Who doesn't like gherkins? I kept quiet every single night when I desperately wanted to go home and sleep but he insisted on staying late. I didn't say anything that time he made me go to his apartment to pick up clothes because he'd decided to pull an all-nighter.I've done everything he's asked me to.I should have quit when I first wrote out my resignation letter!It's takes all of my pride to wa
"What are you doing, Miss Clancy?" Martin asks, looking down at me.I've ducked down so I can look around the corner. I don't want anyone to see me. It might be the weekend but that doesn't guarantee that the company is empty. For one thing, I'm pretty sure Noah will be in his office."SHH!" I whisper. "You can't call me that.""There's no one here. It's eight in the morning on a Saturday." The way he says it, makes it clear he would much rather be at home than here helping me.I don't say anything as I get back up, darting down the corridor as quick as I can.Martin's eyebrows are sky high. I probably look ridiculous. I'm wearing sunglasses and a scarf around my head."What do you look like?" he asks, rolling his eyes at me.I've known Martin since I was a little girl. He's more like an uncle than my grandma's assistant. Grinning at him, I pull the scarf closer around my face."Don't I look pretty?" I ask, trying my best to keep a straight face.Laughing, he presses the call button fo