04. New assistant
"William," I said, pressing the button for the intercom, waiting for him to enter my office.
"Yes, Sir?" William asked once he stood before me, looking down curiously.
"The extra desk on the floor out there set it just outside of my door," I said without looking up at him, concentrating on the email I was typing out.
"Yes, Sir." He said, before leaving and closing the door softly. I had to hold back a chuckle as I heard him carrying the desk, then setting it down outside my door as I'd asked him. 'The man couldn't pretend as he isn't using his vampire strength? We're expecting company.'
I quickly read over the email before clicking send, knowing the recipient would see it once she came into work for the day. I looked down at my phone as it buzzed, indicating I had a new message.
"She has been picked up, Sir. On her way into the office now." The message read, and only moments after, a picture came through.
'Good morning, little kitten.' I thought as I looked at the picture of Mercy getting into the backseat of the company car I'd sent to pick her up. Today she wore a mid-thigh length white dress, with a light pink cardigan. She'd pulled her hair back into a loose ponytail, exposing her delicate throat, with a small gold necklace, the pendant dipping down into her cleavage, so I couldn't tell what it was from the picture.
"Make sure she arrives safely." I send back before opening the picture again.
I stared at the picture for a while, drinking in every inch of the beautiful girl until I heard the light footsteps approaching my door. Before she could knock, I stood and opened the door, smiling softly down at the girl. I stepped to the side and motioned for her to enter my office before closing the door behind her.
"Oh, Good morning, Mr. Vincent, Mrs. Cho, told me to see you this morning before I did anything?" She asked me softly, her golden eyes as bright and beautiful as ever.
"Mr. Vincent, Mercy?" I asked, trying to ignore the sight of her delicate throat, but found it incredibly hard to do so, as I felt like her veins were calling to me, begging me to sink my fangs into them.
"I thought you'd like me to greet you professionally while we were at work, I'm sorry for assuming." She said, biting her bottom lip softly.
'Oh, little Mercy, if you keep doing things like that, I may leave all chivalry at the door when in your company.'
"I gave you permission to call me Alaric, Mercy. That permission has no limitations, I assure you." I said as I motioned for her to take a seat, pulling out the chair. Once she sat down, I went behind the desk and set my laptop off to the side, so we were face to face. "Did Mrs. Cho tell you why I requested you to come up to my office when you came in today?"
"No, Alaric. She just told me to come to see you as soon as I stepped onto the floor."
'Of course the lazy slob didn't, that would require doing something for once in her pathetic excuse for a life.'
"You are my new secretary, Mercy. You will use the executive elevator and take the company car to and from work." I said, leaning back in my chair, hiding my smile as I watched her eyes widen in shock.
"Oh, Alaric, that's a huge promotion, and I'm sure there are hundreds of others here much more qualified than I am!" She exclaimed, shaking her head. "I'm sorry, but I don't think I can accept that."
"You continually interpret my words as options, Mercy. I'd suggest you learn that I do not give options I give orders. Do you understand?" I said in a much harsher tone than I intended, resulting in her flinching.
"May I ask why?" She whispered, hesitantly bringing her eyes up to meet mine.
"You may, but I've no obligation to answer," I said, reveling in the sight of her discomfort for a few moments before answering. "Because you have a good head on your shoulders, and you'll go far if given the opportunity. Promoting you is me, giving you that opportunity."
"So, it's not because you feel bad for me, or pity me?"
"I don't waste my time on things such as empathy or pity, Mercy. I see the drive to go far, and I wish to help you do so. Others who are qualified, do not have the drive, or the fire needed to survive in a position such as this. I am a demanding man, and I demand the best from those working in concert with me. That is why I chose you." I responded, watching her as she thought this through for a few moments.
"Thank you, Sir." She finally said, trying to hide her blush as she stood and held her hand out to me.
"No need to thank me for doing my job," I said, standing to shake her hand. As I took her hand in mine, it was impossible not to notice how tiny it was in comparison to mine, like holding hands with a child.
"Oh, I did also want to thank you for last night as well." She said as she pulled her bag off of her shoulder and pulled out a medium-sized container, filled to the brim with goulash.
"You didn't have to do this," I said with a soft chuckle, taking the container thankfully. 'You are getting yourself caught in my trap, little kitten. You'd better tread carefully, otherwise, I may never allow you to leave it.'
"I wanted to," She said with a soft smile, showing off her perfectly straight and white teeth, before looking back down at the ground. "So, what do I need to do?"
"Come," I said as I stood and walked around the desk, putting my hand on her lower back and guiding her to the door. I hated that the distance from my desk to the door was so short, as once we arrived at the door, I had no further reason to continue touching her. "This will be your desk. William, did you set everything up?" I asked over my shoulder.
"Yes, Sir," William called from his office.
"Good then, I'll leave you to get settled in. William brought your things up for you, and he will give you your first task." I said with a curt nod before returning to my office, leaving the door open so I could still see her as I worked.
I returned to my work, looking up at Mercy every so often to make sure she was doing alright until the middle of the day came, and she still hadn't moved from her desk.
"Mercy?" I called from my desk, closing the lid to my laptop to watch her as she came into my office, her dress hiked slightly up her thigh. Even the small amount of her thigh I could see nearly drove me innate, making me realize I was much more attracted to her than I'd originally thought.
When she realized that I was looking down at her legs, she followed my gaze, then gasped softly when she realized what I was looking at. Her heart rate spiked as she adjusted her dress, straightening it back out. "Yes, Sir?"
"It's nearly twelve-thirty, why have you not gone to lunch yet?"
"I noticed you and Willaim didn't go to lunch, so I wasn't sure." She responded softly, shrugging.
"You may take your lunch whenever you please, Mercy. Do not watch William and me, or try to do as we do."
"Yes, Sir," She responded, then nodded softly before returning to her desk.
I groaned when I saw she pulled out a sandwich and stood, grabbing my jacket off the coat rack before walking to her desk. "Get your sweater, Mercy," I said, eying the sandwich she was beginning to eat suspiciously. When she set it down, I immediately swiped it into the trash.
"Oh, um, okay." She said as she scrambled to her feet, then put on her cardigan, waiting for me to tell her what we were doing. Instead of telling her, I led her into the elevator, then out the door, and to my car. "Where are we going, Alaric?" She asked softly, as I drove out of the parking lot.
"To lunch. A real lunch, and not a sandwich." I said as I pulled into the parking lot of a high-end restaurant, handing the key to the valet as I waited for Mercy to come around. I gladly put my hand on her lower back, leading her to a private booth, and waiting for her to sit before sitting across from her. "Why would you make me a meal, and only pack yourself a sandwich?"
"I saw how much you liked it, and I wanted to thank you." She mumbled, looking down as she folded her hands in her lap.
"I won't tell you not to do that again, but you must eat a meal, three meals a day," I said, leaning back in the booth with a sigh. "When will you quit that job?"
"I was fired last night."
"Why?" I asked incredulously, thankful that the waitress came back with our drinks just then, otherwise, Mercy may have witnessed my eyes turning red in anger. 'I took care of that piece of shit, what reason would they have for firing her?'
Mercy smiled politely at the waitress as she set down the glasses of water and tried to order, but the waitress ignored her to stare at me instead.
"Are you hard of hearing?" I snapped at the woman, feeling my upper lip twitching in anger as I glared at her, "She is trying to order."
The woman opened her mouth to respond but didn't know what to say, so she turned her attention to Mercy and wrote down her order. It took everything I had not to grab this woman by the back of her throat and slam her headfirst into the table, for having the audacity to roll her eyes at Mercy, my Mercy.
"They said because I hadn't come into work when I was on the schedule, they fired me." Mercy said once the waitress finally left.
"Despite them telling you not to come in?" I asked, shaking my head. 'Worthless blood bags, the lot of them.'
"Alaric, can I ask you a question?"
"Of course."
"Why were you in the public elevator yesterday? Isn't that the entire point in you having a personal one?"
I chuckled softly before responding, 'And smart to boot.' "My elevator was having issues, I had an overnight repairman come in to fix it." I lied as the waitress returned with our food. She smiled at me as she was setting Mercy's food down, spilling the hot soup all over her white dress, causing her to jump up with a cry of pain.
"You dumb slut!" I roared at the waitress as I stood and led Mercy to the bathroom, then cornered the waitress, ready to rip out her throat before I heard Mercy calling me from the bathroom.
"Alaric?" Her soft voice rang out from behind the door, snapping me out of my anger, just in the nick of time.
"Yes, I'm here. How can I help?"
"Could you please ask one of the ladies to bring me like a rag or something? There are only paper towels, and that's not cleaning it." She whispered, her voice shaky and uneven as she fought back her tears.
"Hold on. I'll be back shortly." I said softly before walking out of the restaurant and across the street into the clothing store. I didn't want to make her wait too long, so I quickly picked out the first thing I saw that would fit her and made my way back to the restaurant. "Mercy?" I called, knocking softly at the bathroom door. "Open the door a bit, darling, take this bag." 'Darling? Did I say, darling? My god, what is this girl doing to me?' I thought as I leaned against the wall, opposite the bathroom, waiting for her to come back out.
A few minutes later, Mercy opened the door and stepped out, wearing the pink dress I'd bought her. If I had a heart, I'm sure it would have skipped a beat when I saw her tear-stained cheeks. I wanted nothing more than to take her into my arms and kiss away those tears, then rip the head off the waitress who caused those tears. But instead, I took her hand and lead her back to the booth, where the spilled soup had been cleaned; and a fresh bowl set in its place.
"Alaric, this dress cost more than I make in a month!" She gasped out as she realized there was still a tag attached to one of the straps.
"You needed a new dress, so I picked the first one that looked as if it would fit you," I responded honestly, shrugging softly. "Are you alright? Why aren't you eating?" I asked when I saw her playing with her soup, rather than eating it.
"I'm not hungry anymore," She said, but still tried to force herself to eat some of it.
"After having it dumped in your lap, I can understand not wanting to eat it any longer. Let's go." I said as I stood and offered my arm to her, leading her out the door to the valet, watching her as we waited.
I noticed the way she was rubbing her thighs in the car as we drove back towards the office, and pulled to the side of the road so I could turn my full attention to her. "Let me see," I said and raised an eyebrow when she tried to argue. "Let. Me. See." I growled at her and swore when I saw the burns on her thighs, where the soup had spilled. Her thighs were bright red and quickly swelling from the burns. I shook my head as I turned the car around and headed to the hospital instead.
"Alaric, it's just a burn. It will heal in a few days!" Mercy said, trying to fight against me as I lead her into the hospital.
"You need to get them checked, so you can get ointment for it. How many times must I tell you, stop trying to argue with me." I said as I sighed and pulled her into my arms, carrying her the rest of the way, then setting her softly on a hospital bed. After waiting for a nurse to come into the room, I stepped out and sent a text to William.
"Katherine, restaurant down the street from the office. Take care of it." I sent him and leaned against the wall outside of Mercy's room, waiting for the nurse to finish inspecting her burns.