The Night Operator Book 2: An Ex-CEO

“Boss?” she choked out.

He shot her a puzzled look. This was a new one for him—being mistaken for someone else. That was something that happened to regular folks, not Noah Ryder.

“Why are you here, boss?” she asked again.

Pushing his bewilderment aside, he focused on her radiant face and moved closer. She retreated, but he continued to advance, guiding her toward the bamboo wall of the beach bar. His intention was to corner her against it.

And he did. She collided with the wall with a soft thud. A tiny yelp escaped her as she looked up at him, her face still etched with confusion. Whoever she was confusing him with, he was determined to make her forget by the end of the night.

“I’d be your boss anytime, anywhere you want,” he smirked, resting his hand near her head but careful not to lean on the fragile wall. “On any surface you prefer,” he added.

For a moment, she looked taken aback. Then her expression shifted entirely. She leaned into him, her lips tantalizingly close to his but not touching, her breath warming his face. He found it enticing, and his body responded in kind.

“But you’ve already been my boss,” she purred. “For about a year before you abandoned everything, including me, and left.”

Her words took a moment to sink in. When they did, he jumped back in surprise, looking her up and down. It couldn’t be.

It just couldn’t be. But the more he studied her face, her dark blue eyes, and her multiple ear piercings, he realized it could be—and it had already happened.

Oh, shit!

All she wanted was two weeks of lounging makeup-free on the beach. And she was determined to get it, one way or another.

Her boss had refused her request. Thinking she had the power to do so, Lillian wasn’t about to back down. She would get her summer vacation, come hell or high water. She deserved it. She even deserved a raise for putting up with her current boss, but she wasn’t going to push her luck. Not yet.

One thing at a time.

Her boss wasn’t against her taking leave; she just didn’t agree with the timing and duration. But that wasn’t Lillian’s problem. She had the right to choose when she wanted to take her leave. It wasn’t stubbornness—it was her right. All employees got to choose their summer leave, and it was the supervisor’s job to accommodate it.

In her case, it should’ve been easy. She worked alone, so there was no conflict with other colleagues.

“I have ten important business meetings in July, seven of which coincide with your requested leave,” her boss had said, giving her a disapproving look. “And you should do something about your appearance. I can’t keep making excuses for you at every meeting.”

Her boss always found a way to bring up her appearance. Lillian was on the verge of telling her to take a hike, but she bit her tongue. It was a miracle she’d kept this job for three years, and she wasn’t about to get herself fired. She also wasn’t about to change her persona just to please her boss.

It had worked for her so far, and having a female boss wasn’t reason enough to change. Her boss could be gay for all she knew (though unlikely), and there were plenty of men in the company. Being ogled or hit on wasn’t her thing. And if it happened, she’d have to take action.

Not that she hadn’t received inappropriate glances since she started working at the company, but they were far from flattering. Ignoring them had become second nature. She had to overlook a lot to keep this job, considering how lucky she was to have landed it in the first place.

She wasn’t about to take her vacation time lightly. She’d made that mistake the previous year. If her boss wouldn’t budge, she’d have to try a different approach.

To increase her chances of success, she decided to tone down her makeup. Her black gel liner was nearly used up anyway, and she needed to buy more. For now, she simply drew a thin black line above her dark purple eyeshadow. She opted for nude lips and swapped her usual assortment of hoop earrings for simple studs.

Her outfit was the same as any other day, but she hoped these subtle changes might be noticed and work in her favor.

“Move my next meeting back thirty minutes. I’m going out for lunch,” her boss announced around noon.

“Yes, Miss Coleman,” she replied.

Her boss looked at her, slightly taken aback.

“Aren’t you going to ask if I’m meeting a man or something?”

“No.” Lillian shrugged, doodling on her notepad.

She usually asked just to annoy her boss, not because she actually cared. But today, she was determined to play nice. It wasn’t her business if her boss was sleeping with anyone, though she had a hunch she wasn’t. If she were, she’d probably be less grumpy.

“Since when are you so discreet?” her boss scoffed.

“Since you stopped answering that question. Plus, we still haven’t settled the issue of my vacation time. I can’t be worried about your love life right now.”

“As far as I’m concerned, it’s settled,” Miss Coleman said flatly. “You’re taking your vacation in August, like most of the staff. It’s the most convenient time considering our workload, and you shouldn’t make a fuss about it any longer.”

Before Lillian could respond, her boss had clicked her heels and walked away. Lillian sat, fuming at her boss’s attitude. Then, she realized it was a good time for her to grab lunch as well. She didn’t leave the building, though. She just took the elevator down to the company’s cafeteria. Thank goodness the food was decent.

After lunch, she returned to her desk, more determined than ever to resolve this issue. When Miss Coleman returned, Lillian jumped up from her seat and followed her into her office. She didn’t ask for permission, which was bold, but she was still frustrated.

“With all due respect, the summer vacation isn’t convenient for me. I need it earlier,” she said as calmly and firmly as she could.

Her boss gave her a surprised look before regaining her composure.

“And I need my personal assistant present during meetings. As you can understand, my needs are more important than yours at any time because I’m your boss. So, you’ll take your vacation in August and not a moment sooner. Dismissed.”

Lillian walked out of the office without another word and slumped in her chair.

“As you can understand, my needs are more important than yours at all times,” she mimicked in a low voice. “Well, I beg to differ, bitch boss.”

She sat up straight and unlocked her computer screen. She bit her lip, hesitating for a moment. But there wasn’t much more to consider. She’d done her best and given her boss a chance to approve her vacation request. Her boss had chosen to deny it again.

“New email…,” she murmured softly. “Hmm, let’s see… Yes, that’s it… Here we go…”

Subject: Lillian Astaire (Europe Branch) – Summer Leave.

To: Asher Ryder.

She snorted at the last sentence she wrote, but it was necessary to show that she wasn’t trying to badmouth her boss. If Ryder thought she was doing this out of spite, he’d either ignore her or reprimand her.

She paused for a moment to arrange the postponement of the next meeting, then continued typing.

She hit Send, her fingers crossed, wondering if she should have gone to HR before emailing the CEO. This could go one of two ways: Asher Ryder could think she was overstepping and ignore her, or he could help her out, which would probably tick off Miss Coleman.

Actually, there was a third option: he could send her to HR.

Normally, she wouldn’t know what to hope for, but right now, she was rooting for option two or three. She could handle Miss Coleman’s wrath, but she was not going to miss seeing her family.

If she didn’t get the time off, she’d call in sick. She’d figure out how.

She needed to be away during that time, and she wasn’t lying about the cruise. Her whole family would be gone all of August, and she wanted to be with them before they left.

Being around the people who loved her most, where she could be herself, would do her a world of good.

Nothing had turned out the way she’d planned in this big, exciting city. Not a single thing. But she couldn’t tell her family that.

They’d want her to come home, and she couldn’t do that. She loved her hometown, but not enough to settle there. She’d always dreamed bigger, wanted to see the world.

That’s why she’d jumped at the chance to work for this company, even if it meant moving continents. When she’d applied, she’d hoped for a position in the States, but there were no openings.

So she’d taken the job here, and her dream of seeing the world was put on hold.

Ironically, her family was about to live her dream.

She’d moved to the city for school, then moved again after her first couple of paychecks to be closer to work. Leaving the city where she’d studied to chase a good job didn’t feel like she was giving up anything important.

She’d been seeing someone, but he wasn’t worth risking her future. No man was.

Had she ever been in love?

No.

But she had her whole life ahead of her, so she wasn’t too worried.