Chapter 1: Molten Chocolate

Chapter One 

Jasmine's POV

"This can't be the proposition she was going on and on about for weeks with her annoying ass voice, which always makes my damn ears ring! Miss Rhino can't be serious! This has absolutely no benefits or profits behind it and, as matter of fact, if we invest, we would be at a loss! I'm not interested in this. Why the hell did I hire her?"

He looked at the documents in the folder on his desk I had brought in for him by his Chief Operating Officer, Miss Rhino. 

"Get Ms. Rhino on the line and instruct her to find herself in my office immediately!" 

"Yes sir," I answered sharply. 

"And, Miss Blackman, reorganise my schedule for the upcoming week. Cancel that nonsensical meeting with Mr. Hoggers since I'm not interested in investing one billion dollars in his shitty business. Also, fax those documents to the sixth level and proofread these for me before one p.m. And can you send Julia a bouquet of white roses with a note attach to it that reads 'thank you' and get my father on the line," he ordered. 

I nodded yes and took two stacks of paper from his hands and exited his office immediately. 

I called Ms. Rhino and informed her that she was needed in Mr. Hollen's office.

"Sir, your father is on line one," I said once I had phoned his father. 

"Mmmh," he answered back and took the other line. 

I ordered the bouquet of white roses and had it delivered over to Julia's apartment then began faxing the documents to the sixth level as he said. 

Afterwards, I began to proofread the other stack of papers he had given me. I would call Mr. Hoggers last because I knew he would request to speak to Mr. Hollen directly, and since he was on the phone with his father, and Miss. Rhino was on the way to see him, he wouldn't appreciate being distracted by Mr. Hoggers' call.

Evan Hollen was my boss and a very successful, rich and powerful one. I had been working for the company for a total of one year. Finishing college, it was a drag finding a decent job that paid well within my city but, lucky for me, I applied to Hollen Tower when I saw an ad in a newspaper for a personal assistant role. 

Hollen Tower was established and operated by his father before him. The company was one of the most successful and well developed organizations around the world. A great cooperative, solid partnerships, and a body of well-educated and experienced and trained staff took the company to its highest peak, and Evan Hollen stood above it with his father's relinquished crown and well-deserved title. He would be damned if anyone tried to damage what his father started and worked so hard for. He had the temper of a shark, the personality of a dragon, and the untimely patience of a baby. 

But let's not forget about his best features. His dark, silver grey eyes were everything. His sexy fit body always carved sharply in his expensive Armani suits. Okay, you got me. I had the biggest and most unstoppable crush on my boss and I couldn't help myself. Evan Hollen was too fine not to have a crush on.

It's okay to have a secret crush on a very attractive man, right? Even if he is your boss.

"Miss. Blackman! Can I be buzzed in please!"

A voice snapped me right out of my lustful thoughts. 

Ms. Rhino was at my desk, pencils and folders in hands, and tapping her left foot impatiently on the tiled floor. 

"Yes, one moment please," I responded, putting the images of my boss to the far back of my mind. 

I called Mr. Hollen's line and informed him that she was here. After he told me to let her in, I hit the buzzer and she strolled into his office with her head held high. She always thought she was above everyone else working at Hollen Tower. I hated the best bone in that woman. 

She was a tall, slim woman with pale cream skin. She was thirty years old but she liked younger men like Mr. Hollen. There was once a rumor circulating about the two of them but I found that very hard to believe. She still had the body of a model, but she was utterly not his type. The woman had a personality of a beast and she thought she was better than everyone in the company, except Mr. Hollen of course. She possessed a high position, she was the COO after all, but she still had to answer to Mr. Hollen.

I continued to proofread the documents in front of me, making the necessary changes and corrections. I enjoyed my job because it made life easier for Mr. Hollen. He had a personal assistant but he fired her on the spot when she developed feelings for him and began flirting with him in his office, and, since then, he hadn't hired another one. I was the one doing the duties a personal assistant ought to be doing, plus my secretarial duties, but I didn't mind or complain one bit in light of the fact that I was being paid double my monthly salary until he hired another personal assistant. 

He should get a male assistant who doesn't have a thing for the handsome boss. 

The ladies always lusted and drooled over him, always wanted his attention and time, always talked about him. He was indeed handsome, one of the most handsome man I'd ever laid my eyes on. His skin tone was perfectly tanned and I always wondered why. 

Is his mom a black woman or does he have black people in his family? 

He didn't talk about his parents much and he didn't like the beach and the outdoors much either, so how the naturally tanned skin?

Half an hour later, I was already finished. I was a quick, but assertive, employee. I had to be because the boss hated it when his employees were skylarking on the job or not meeting his deadlines. 

My deadline was one p.m. 

I looked up at the wall clock, it showed fifteen minutes to one. 

Then Miss Rhino barged out of his office and stormed passed me with a frown and unpleasant look on her face.

I peeled myself off the chair and knocked on his office door afterwards. 

"Come in Miss Blackman," he spoke.

His voice was August Alsina to my ears. I gave a smile and walked into his office. 

"Here are the papers you asked me to proofread. I've made the necessary changes and corrections for you. Before I leave for lunch, I will get Mr. Hoggers on the phone because I strongly believe he will request speaking to you." 

"Mmmh. I've been thinking about something," he began, leaning back in his big leather chair and staring at me with those beautiful, grey, luminous orbs. 

I gulped my fear but his eyes were easy to read. One thing I had quickly learnt when I began working here was that his eyes were a tell. 

I avoided trouble and getting mixed up with gossip and falling in with the wrong crowd. I couldn't afford to lose my job any time soon. It paid very well and my mom and my younger sister were depending on me. Mom had Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease-- a lung failure condition. My younger sister was still in college and depended on me financially to put her through. It was just us living together in my apartment in the city.

Recently, my mother's condition had gotten worse, but, with the medication and treatment I was managing to pay for, she always pulled through and felt better again. 

"How would you like to be my personal assistant and I'll hire someone to fill your place?" 

I was dumbfounded for a moment. Me as his personal assistant? I would be honored.

PA's had a higher salary than the basic secretary and I couldn't do both jobs forever so, obviously, I was going to pick the one with the higher income behind it. It wasn't just about the money though. I had the knowledge, skills and experience to be his Personal Assistant, and that was what I had applied for at the very beginning but the position had already been filled. However, since my resume was so impressive, Mr. Hollen didn't want me to work any where else but Hollen Tower, so he hired me as his secretary. 

I worked my tail off in high school and all throughout college. I hardly had time for boyfriends and dates and fun. My mom was diagnosed with COPD at the beginning of my freshman year of high school, but it wasn't that bad back then as it was now. She managed to work and she supported me in every way a child needed support from their parent. I never knew my dad, and mom never talked about him much. She would only mention him when I asked about him; but as I grew older, I saw the pain in her eyes every time, so I stopped when I understood what he had done. Bottom line, she was there for me, so now it was my turn to be there for her.

"Thank you Mr. Hollen, and I accept," I said as I beamed a bright smile. 

He nodded and gestured for me to leave his presence. He was a man of very few words; he only spoke to me when he was commanding, and he hated repeating himself to people, even to his father and the women he dated. 

Don't get me started on those women he usually dated. He was always spotted with famous celebrities or they were frequently throwing themselves at him like prostitutes. The last one he dated, he dumped because she was annoying and nagging and always popped up at his office without notice. He hated those things in a woman, and whenever he was done with them, he sent them white roses. 

I don't get why he does it. Roses are nice flowers so wouldn't it just lead the women on even more?

I took my purse and changed into my flats and went to lunch. I always changed my heels when I left the office. I hated heels. They hurt my feet so much, but Hollen Tower had a dress code one must abide by or else be out on their ass and searching for another job without recommendation or references from the company. 

As I walked out, Julia Starlet, a famous movie actress and the woman Mr. Hollen already dumped that morning, walked in.