Saved By The Firefighter
Chapter 55

Lucy's Point of View.

I wake up, feeling the bed is empty beside me. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I sit up, wondering where Ben has gone. I do not need to wonder for long, as he arrives with a tray filled with breakfast, and a pot of hot tea. "Morning sleepy head." Ben grins down at me.

I giggle up at him slightly. It has been a few nights since I moved into his room, and they have been the best nights of my life. We kiss, cuddle, and explore each other's bodies, but as yet, Ben is to take me, and I have to admit being more than ready for the next step in our relationship, however I feel a little shy to tell him that. "What do you have here?" I grin at him.

"This is another attempt to convince you to move in permanently." He grinned down at me mischievously.

I laugh, shaking my head, he is not giving up. The truth is, I already know I am not leaving anytime soon, I just haven't told him yet. Cruel? Probably, but I just want to be triply certain we are doing the right thing, me moving in permanently.

Ben places the tray onto the bed beside me, then crawls in, getting under the covers.

"I will get showered, take you to work, then head to the gym. What time will you finish today?" he asks.

"Around lunch time, Anders said he has booked the hotel, so we don't have to worry about getting home. We can check in at three. The event starts at 6pm," I tell him.

"Do you have to go to these black-tie events a lot with work?" Ben asks.

"No, well, I didn't, but being the sales director, I guess I will have to attend more of them now. It is good to build relationships with the chamber members, will make the team's jobs easier, when ringing them to see if they want advertising opportunities." I smile. Ben nods, and grabs some toast off the tray, then motions with his hand towards the full English breakfast.

"Tuck in." He smiles, whilst starting to eat the toast.

"I will pick you up from work when I am finished at the Aquatic Centre, we can go grab a light lunch. Are you all packed?" he asks.

"Nope, I will do that when we get back, I only need my dress, PJs, and a fresh set of clothes and of course underwear. Josie said she will bring make up, and we can do the dressing up bit together." I grin at him.

"Oh, I see, so I don't get to play dress up with you." Ben chuckles at me.

"Nope, you can go down to the bar with Anders and wait for me to arrive." I laugh.

"Ahh, I get it, the grand entrance." Ben smiles then bends his head down placing a soft kiss on my lips.

"Josie's idea." I laugh.

"You two seem to be getting along really well. I'm pleased; she is like a sister, and definitely one of my best friends." Ben sighs out.

"Yes, she's lovely. Anders said yesterday when he got into the office, after you were both called into work, that we should double-date. I mean, it was so cute, but seriously, double-dating with my boss feels a little bit weird," I tell him.

"We should, and who cares if he is your boss. I talked to Josie yesterday, I don't think he has many friends; he always works. From the little bit she told me, his childhood wasn't very good, so he just turned his attention to his businesses," Ben tells me. "I kind of got that from him as well," I say, munching on the bacon, and hash brown.

Finished with my breakfast, I look at the clock.

"I need to shower and get ready," I say, getting out of bed.

"Want me to help wash you?" Ben laughs.

"No time, maybe tomorrow morning at the hotel." I giggle, because there is nothing I want more than to shower-share with my big man.

"I will hold you to that." Ben winks at me.

Ben drops me off at work, and I make my way up the square shaped staircase and into the office. Linda sits behind her reception desk, looking like she had lost a pound and found a penny. Maybe I should stop to ask if she is okay, but honestly, she is not the nicest of women, and her mood is more than likely due to Anders dismissing her from his office again as she hangs about him uninvited and unwanted. Still, I rise above the foul look she gives me, and say my good mornings, then head onto the sales floor, dropping my bag by my desk, then settling down to open up my emails.

"Lucy, can you come in for a moment please?" Anders shouts through.

"Two minutes, I got an email from that Norwegian flight operator," I shout through.

My hands shake, as I go to open the email. I had pitched them a few times when I looked after this magazine at the other publishers, but they always refused to advertise. However, this time, with the app and extra digital exposure, their marketing manager was a lot more receptive, and it is worth a lot of money, a 100,000 in total on a three-year contract. Suddenly Anders is by my side, looking at me impatiently, just as nervous as I am about this potential deal that will set the business up very nicely, and get me a ton of money at the end of the month. Hesitantly I read the email, then open my mouth in shock.

Dear Lucy,

Thank you for this opportunity, we would like to proceed with the three-year deal, at £100,000.

Would you offer any discount for immediate payment, rather than split it into three, so I can take it out of this year's remaining budget?

Soren.

I look up at Anders, my mouth wide open as he shouts, "GET IN!" loudly.

"Offer them 10-percent, if they pay this week. I will cover the cost of that, do not take it off your figure." Anders grinned.

"You are amazing," Anders shouts with joy.

I start to uncontrollably laugh, as I jump out of my seat, and make my way to the sales board, placing 100,000 on it, beside my name singing my sales song.

"That's the way... ah-ha ah-ha

I like it... ah-ha a-ha."

Then dance back to my seat.

"Let me just confirm the payment and percentage to them, and I will be in your office as soon as they reply," I tell Anders.

"See Team,... Lucy had been told no from this client multiple times at her old place, but with the added extras we can, and do, provide, she turned that into a yes, and the biggest deal I have ever seen in publishing." Anders proudly announces to the sales managers as they all clap and cheer.

Finished with the paperwork, and with the client confirming they will pay the invoice within the next hour, I get up and head to Anders office.

"Close the door," Anders states, nodding towards the glass door.

I close it, then take a seat, waiting for him to tell me what he wants.

"f*****g hell Lucy, that deal is amazing. Well bloody done," Anders praises me.

"Thank you." I grin happily at him.

"So, the reason I called you in here, is to do with Linda. It is not working; she has to go." Anders sighed.

"What happened now?" I ask him.

"When Josie finished work last night, she left a message at reception as I was on my phone, to let me know to pick her up, as I am using her car at the moment, till Headache fixes mine. Linda did not give me the message, so Lucy was hanging around the station for ages waiting for me. Good job I text her to see if she was okay, and if she had to work through the night. I pulled Linda this morning, and she told me that the reason she did not disturb me with the message was that I was a busy man and shouldn't have to worry about girlfriends being needy." Anders growls out.

"What, she actually said that?" I exclaim.

"Oh, it gets better, she then proceeds to complain about the heat in the office and undoes two of her buttons on her blouse. I lost my s**t, really gave her what for, firstly for failing to pass me the message, and secondly for acting inappropriately. I need to fire her, but I am a little concerned as I do not trust her, so would you sit in with me?" Anders asked.

"Yeah, of course. Was there anyone else in the office, when she did that this morning?" I ask him, suddenly concerned she would turn the tables on him.

"Yes, Simon was in, and saw the whole thing." Anders sighed out.

"Good, I will have him write up what he witnessed, and hold it on file, just in case she gets any ideas." I nod at him.

"Yeah, that is what I am concerned about as well. Josie was fuming with her last night. I don't want my girl angry at anyone other than me." Anders sighed.

I let out a laugh, after all we all know how much Josie pretended to hate Anders when she first met him.

"Should we call her in now?" I ask him.

"Yeah, but I need someone to man reception." Anders sighs.

"To be honest, Carol, she is a lovely girl, sounds great on the phone, but lacks the ability to close a deal, maybe we could offer her the receptionist's job, as she is out of her depth in the sales department," I offer.

Carol had been someone who was already on the team when I joined, and I doubted she would be able to close a sale, as she just felt embarrassed asking the client if they wanted to go ahead.

"Yeah, that might be a good shout. Maybe we should chat to her first then deal with Linda." Anders agrees.

"I will go get her." I smile, then walk into the office to call Carol in.

Thankfully she is more than happy to take over the receptionist role, and so with strict instructions to keep the change confidential till we make the announcement, she returns to her desk.

I head out into reception, to find Linda sat, filing her nails. I mean what, like ... who does that anymore!

"Linda, could you come into Mr. Maxwells office please?" I politely ask.

Huffing she walks from behind her desk, and I let her go first, following behind. As we reach the office, I close the door behind us.

"Linda, it is with great regret, that we are unable to continue with your employment at Maxwell Publishing," Anders begins.

"Why?" she asks, looking like she was about to throw a hissy fit.

Anders looks at me as if to say, 'is she really asking that?'

"Unfortunately, you have not passed on important messages, you have behaved inappropriately towards our CEO, and have been told multiple times about your attitude and constant attempts of soliciting his attention. You will need to leave immediately and will be paid until the end of this week," I tell her, sounding more confident than I felt, having never sacked anyone before.

"You know what, stick your job up your a*s. You are going to hear from my lawyer," Linda shouted, as she pulled the office door open and rushed out.

I follow her, to ensure she only takes her own things, and doesn't do anything that might cause an issue with calls, then take her office keys, and escort her out of the building.

With a sigh of relief, I walk back into the office.

"Ding-dong the witch is gone," Simon sings as everyone laughs.

"Guys, back to work please," I say to them, then head back into Anders office.

"She is gone, but I would change the locks, just in case," I tell him, something about that woman sets my last nerve on edge.

"Sure, have Carol take up her new position, I will call the buildings manager and get the locks changed, then you can head off and Josie and I will see you this afternoon. Well done with the order, shame we could not celebrate it a little more before having to deal with the shit." Anders smiled.

"Okay, I will give Ben a ring. See you at the hotel. We can celebrate it tonight." I smile and head into the office to make the official announcement that Linda has gone, inform Simon to write down his statement of the events from this morning, and set Carol up on reception, before texting Ben and head out the door, knowing exactly what I want to do as a personal celebration for that deal, and Ben has the staring role.