Shifting Ideas

Adam tilted his head and his eyebrows scrunched. Tsuki's scent became heavy as she flustered. Her flustered state was oddly endearing. "If I cared I would've told you when you said something." He took another sip of the tart coffee, letting its strong sharp scent overtake him. Which was a mistake. Because as soon as the scent hit his stomach roared and rumbled in emptiness.
 
At least he didn't seem upset. Maybe... amused? A bit? Tsuki bit back a smile when she heard his stomach grumble. "You appear to have missed an important appointment. Would you like for me to fetch you some lunch, sir?" she asked with a perfectly straight face.
 
"Um," Adam felt his ears heat up. If Tsuki would've been laughing it would be worse, but she stayed completely natural and calm. He didn't know what to do with that. "Um, no. No." He shook his head, trying to force some words into it. "I've got work to do. I can't work and eat." As he avoided her eyes he noticed the time. She had a few more minutes till lunch ended. "Crap!" He looked back at her, eyes blinking. "You're still on lunch."
 
"Not anymore, sir," Tsuki said calmly, trying not to sound resigned. "If you will forgive my saying so, sir, but I do not think you will be able to work if you do not eat. There is a little place only a few minutes away. I could walk there and bring you back some sandwiches and maybe some soup. You will be able to eat quickly and not take much time away from work. Besides, you appear as if your eyes could use a break." She started moving back toward the door. "Do you have any requests for your soup or sandwiches, sir?"

She knew how cheeky that sounded, assuming he would let her go fetch him lunch, but he looked like he could really use it. And hadn't he been on that same folder when she was in here last time? Progress that slow from someone so work-oriented could only mean a tired, starved mind who needed a bit of food and a break. He needed more than just a sugary doughnut. Maybe she should just go get it and slide it under his nose.
 
Adam blinked, trying to wrap his mind around everything she said. Bring him lunch? He looked like he needed a break? Soup and sandwiches?

“Uh, I,” Adam straightened himself. “I’m fine.” He said as he set the coffee down hard. It sloshed over a bit onto his hand, burning it. “Ar!” He yelped, unnormally. Like a dog.
 
"Sir! Are you alright? Do you need me to get anything?" Tsuki yelped, hurrying forward. She grabbed a napkin and tried to mop up the spill before it could hit any important papers. As she did so, however, she accidentally swiped a fair amount of liquid off the desk and into his lap. "Oh dear, I'm sorry!" Thankfully, she'd grabbed a few extra napkins when bringing him the doughnut, and she dove down, trying to wipe up the coffee off his pants, her mind scrambling frantically. She hadn't meant to do that! Why was everything going so wrong right now? On her first day? Why couldn't she show how clumsy she was a couple of days into the job?
 
“Ah,” She didn’t notice. If anything, she was trying to help. He wanted to tell her that he was fine. He didn’t need anything. But her calm demeanor from before disappeared and in a blink, she was trying to clean up the mess. By spilling it onto his lap.

“Grnnnn,” Adam stifled his yelp by gritting his teeth. It hurt, but not as bad as his hand. Then she was touching him. Well, she was trying to wipe his pants. But she was in his space. Her scent, her small frame, her dainty hands were-

“Stop.” He growled lowly as he quickly grabbed her wrist, his hand easily wrapping around it. “Just,” he huffed, hoping to push down his growl and instincts. Her calm ocean scent didn’t help, so he focused on her green gray eyes. “I’m fine.”
 
It wasn't until he grabbed her hand that Tsuki realized exactly where her hand was. She sprang back, almost dragging him with her with how fast she was moving and his hand still wrapped around hers.

"Sir..." she said, her voice shaking, her face turning red. "I am... so sorry. I... I was afraid for your papers, and then I just... automatically... I am so sorry."

She stood still, hanging her head in shame. She'd lost jobs before, but barely half way through her first day? That was a record even for her!
 
“Oof!” Adam grunted as Tsuki pulled him too when she jumped back. Her scent was getting heavy with a sour tang to it.

Her shaking voice and elevated heartbeat affirmed that she was scared, nervous, maybe even embarrassed. Usually he didn’t care. She did do something a bit shameful, no matter how well-meaning her intentions were. In all accounts, it was her fault. Adam sighed.

“Next time,” He gave her wrist a light squeeze. To make sure she was looking at him. He did not like the feel of her skin on his or the gentle rhythm that played against his fingertips. He didn’t. “Remember to help when I ask you to. Okay?”
 
"Next time?" Tsuki repeated cautiously, her heat still thundering. "Does this mean... you are not firing me, sir?" she asked tentatively, barely daring to hope. She might have fired him had their situations been reversed.
 
Fire her? Adam’s eyes went wide as he blinked.

“I can’t fire you.” The deal with his father would be over if his father found out that he fired another assistant. And she was the only one qualified that responded to him when he needed. He needed her. His grip on her tightened a bit, instinctively.

“I, you’re,” Adam took a deep breath, her ocean scent washing over him. He noticed how he was still holding her wrist. He dropped her hand and rubbed his face. The feel of his rough facial hair scratched away the gentleness that seemed to be embedded in her skin.

“You’re fine.” He crossed his arms. “Just go finish your lunch and your trainings.” He waved a hand dismissively to the door.
 
Tsuki backed away, confused, rubbing her wrist. "Yes, Mr. Gonzales," she said meekly then fled.

She ducked into her cubical and tried to hide behind paperwork she wasn't actually reading. That had been so embaressing! And so risky. What must he think of her? At least he was willing enough to accept it was a true accident and wasn't too mad. Hopefully he would forget about it by tomorrow.

Forget... oh darn. She hadn't gotten him any food. Oh, well. Tomorrow she'd pick something up for him when she got her own lunch. And maybe put his coffee in one of those lidded cups.
 
When Tsuki left, he rubbed his face again. His hair was still rough and he felt calm. But there were so many slips! She didn’t seem to notice his more, unnatural sounds or tendencies. But she seemed preoccupied with her own embarrassment. Speaking of...

Adam looked down at his pants. The scent of coffee still lingered in the air. Luckily, his pants were black slacks and the spill wasn’t noticeable. Second day of getting coffee on his clothes, he should probably reconsider his beverage of choice.

Instead, he shrugged and went to work. With another sip of his coffee, he was reading in a more linear effort. Though his stomach’s rumblings were starting to hurt. Still, this time it only took him about five minutes to read a paragraph. He was doing better.

“But I can do better.”
 
Tsuki threw herself into her work after remembering to put the ear piece in. She really hoped he wouldn't call for her. She needed to get over what had happened before she saw him again. Ugh, now if only she could get it to stop replaying in her head.

Although... come to think of it... he had acted rather strangely. No, not acted, he had acted about how she'd expect a guy to react when someone spilled coffee on their laps then tried to wipe it up when it was right next to his...

Nope! Not thinking about that! She shook her head firmly and forced herself to focus.

About an hour later, she noticed something odd about one of the mannuels. Or rather, the fact that it wasn't a manual. She clicked on it and scanned it quickly. This shouldn't be in here. Hmm, but it looked important.

About half an hour after that, she stood at Adam's door and gathered her courage before tapping softly. "Mr. Gonzales?"
 
It had only been an hour and Adam made it a quarter through Robert's book, checking and writing his notes down, but overall it was good. And maybe he did sneak a look at the end, and it seemed satisfying, so far. Then he heard soft footsteps approach the door. He kept quiet. Hoping that whoever it was would continue to pass his office.

Knock-Knock

They were soft taps. The only person he knew that tapped softly was Paige and maybe Tsuki. Everything about her seemed soft.

“Mr. González?”

Tsuki. He sighed.

“Come in.”
 
Tsuki took a deep breath before stepping into the office. "Excuse me, sir, but I found something very unusual in the files I was supposed to be doing as part of my training," she told him. "I think it might be something left behind by the last occupant of that cubical, but I cannot be certain." She stepped closer to the desk and held out the flashdrive. "If you would be willing to look at it? I copied it over as it does not seem to be a virus or a trojan."
 
Adam took the flash drive with raised eyebrows. Agatha didn't have anything important. Well she shouldn't have anything important. He didn't give her that much power. Quickly he browsed through the files.

"Damn!" Adam slammed his desk as he read the unauthorized submissions. She had accepted extra stories for the anthology without telling him. And now since she was fired, he had what appeared to be double the amount of work for the anthology.
 
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Tsuki jumped at his sudden reaction. So it hadn't been good after all. No wonder someone had hidden it by tucking it amongst the trainee files, but what was it exactly? It looked like more stories to her, some of them not that great and most in need of a good editing.

"What is it, sir? What is wrong?" she asked.
 
Adam blinked at the voice next to him. Tsuki was there. Tsuki was asking him something. He had to respond. With another blink, Adam took a deep breath through gritted teeth.

"It's nothing. Go finish your trainings." It wasn't a complete lie. All that needed to be done was an extra veto on the stories then send rejection letters. Though he also had to make sure Agatha hadn't accepted any money for the submissions. He had a feeling she did. Another issue he would have to fix. He let out a deep snarl.
 
Tsuki jumped at the animalistic snarl and involuntarily took a step back, her heart pounding. She wouldn't call herself an expert on men, not by a long shot, and definitely not powerful men, but were men supposed to literally growl like that? She swallowed hard and took a steadying breath. She was the assistant. She was supposed to assist. Granted, she was new, but this looked like a case of computer work and tracking down information. Why would she need publishing-specific training for that? She could do this and earn her keep. Possibly even make up for the coffee incident.

"Sir, if you will forgive me for speaking out of turn, but I believe the whole purpose in hiring me was to lessen the strain upon yourself," she said, surprising herself with how steady her voice was. "You are clearly in need of help with this extra work. If I understand the contents of that flash drive properly, those are stories that I am not familiar with being in the anthology you had already approved. If I may, I will go through them and see how far each one has gotten in the approval process and what the authors believe is happening with their work."
 
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