Page 1 of My Wildest Obsession

ONE

Clara

I wringmy hands in my lap for the umpteenth time and Bossy sighs next to me.

“Did we have to fly?” I ask him, and he nods, never taking his eyes off the stack of papers in his lap.

“Yes,” he says in that no nonsense voice.

“Why couldn’t we have driven?” I ask, trying not to sound too whiny, and he sighs.

“Because it’s a fourteen-hour drive, Clara.”

“Still.”

He lets out an exasperated sigh and I cross my arms over my chest, turning to stare out the tiny plane window.

I took the window seat, hoping that if I could see, maybe it would help with my fear of flying. Sitting here now though, I know that won’t happen.

I’m terrified. It feels like my heart is about to beat right out of my chest and I clench my fingers tight until I feel the sting of my nails biting into my palms, trying to calm my anxiety.

“If I had known that flying was part of the job description, I never would have taken the job,” I mumble.

“You’ve worked for me for a year and a half now, and this is the first time that I’ve asked you to fly anywhere. In the future, I’ll only do business with people in a hundred-mile radius to better suit your needs,” he says sarcastically.

I kick his shin.

He glares at me and I glare right back.

I pull out my diary and flip to the last page, adding a tally under his name. I slam the diary closed when I see Theo glancing over at me curiously.

“You’re always scribbling in that thing,” he grumbles, and I tuck it back in my bag and nudge my bag back under the seat in front of me.

“Am I?” I ask innocently.

He rolls his eyes and goes back to his work.

I don’t know why he doesn’t just fire me. I have to be the worst assistant that he’s ever had, but I’ve managed to last the longest. I’m sure that has something to do with the fact that I can handle his mood swings and attitude better than most. I grew up with four older brothers which means that I can give as good as I get. Despite our constant bickering, we seem to make a good team.

I started working for Theo right after I graduated college. It was meant to be a stepping stone job, but it’s been a year and a half and I’m still working for him. As much as we argue, I love working for him.

Most of the time anyway.

I would never admit that to him, of course.

“Ladies and gentlemen, please buckle your seatbelts and stow your belongings. We’ll be taking off in just a moment.”

“Shit,” I whisper, and Theo shuffles the papers in his lap.

“Calm down,” he tells me.

“Fuck you,” I hiss.

We’re in first class, of course. Bossy only ever has the best of everything. The top floor of our building, the newest fancy car, a penthouse apartment, and the brightest lawyers working for him.

To be fair, he also works hard for everything that he has. The man is a workaholic to the highest order and he’s damn good at what he does. I try to pretend otherwise though. His ego is big enough already.

The plane starts to roll back from the gate, and I start taking deep breaths as the flight attendants give their safety speech. I’m paying attention to every word but Theo has his head buried in his paperwork.