Chapter 1

She focused on her reflection as her fingers expertly caught the final few of her remaining long brown curls, twisting them upwards into a neat spiral and fastening them tightly with a small clip so that they sat in an intricate ensemble: perhaps more Audrey Hepburn than work would have required but it certainly looked more formal than her usual rush of wild hair. She turned her head on catching the last curl ibn place, inspecting the effect that having her hair pulled back had upon her features. Everything about her was delicate: from her slender neck and narrow shoulders to the outline of her collar bones and the pointed angle of her chin. She had to admit she was a little taken aback on the effect that it had upon her face with her cheekbones seeming to draw upon a new sharpness she hadn't noticed before. She found herself smiling, the deep red of her painted lips seeming to pop a little more and seeming to hold a little more attention in their fullness.

She smoothed her dress over finally, slipping her feet into her heels as she hurried off. She knew so very little about this new position: the agency who had hired her had seemed impressed - the man who had interviewed her, who had instantly struck her as too young and full of himself, had seemed quite charmed by her but that was always the way. She felt a knot in her stomach as she thought back to the interview, hoping that the obvious flirtation she had been forced to endure was not going to transfer over into the job. Although she was yet to meet him she had guessed by the correspondence that her new manager was a man. Secretary and personal assistant; she felt a knot in her stomach realising that she would be in very close contact with him. All day, every day.

She was nearly at the office before she noticed the small bakery on the street corner. In fact, she had almost walked past it when it occurred to her this was her first impression. The man had taken her on, without so much as a meeting with her, this was her chance to be memorable. She ordered a box of 20 donuts; trying her hardest to guess at the number of people in the office and then some, hoping desperately she had picked enough.
The office was on the sixth floor: she found the stairs fairly quickly after eyeing the crush of people making their way towards the elevator. Most people might have found the prospect of so many flights of stairs daunting but she regretted it only a little as she approached the last flight feeling the slight pain from her heels. Regardless she fixed a smile on her face as she pushed the door open, tucking the box under her arms.

On first glance around the office she felt her smile falter a little. The floor space was huge and could easily have fitted the twenty or so people she had suspected. But instead, there were only two desks: one particularly grand one with its back the large wall to wall glass window, and the other facing the window with its back to the elevators. There were an assortment of bookshelves, and expensive looking ornaments and plant pots scattered around the office but it was clear. This space was for two people. Again the thought of close contact, all day every day occurred to her.

However, she didn't get much of an opportunity to consider it as it was exactly the elevator doors began to creak open.

He ground his teeth at the slowness of the elevator. Typical, he snorted, and not surprising since the thing was installed by his grandfather 60 years ago. Back then it was a properous company, one that could afford such luxuries, but during his father's tenure it had slipped...in performance, profits and thus accumulated decades of deferred maintenance.

Times were different now and he had turned things arround...the company had surged into the 21st century and with that surge profits multiplied. Unfhortunately it took all of his time and one of the casulties of his workaholism was his wife. Soon discovered to be a nagging shrew, is wasnt long before she hit the road. The other casulaty was his waistline.

All work and no play combined with fast foods and his greatest downfall, pastries, he had ballooned. Nothing grotesque of course but he noticed the other morning in the shower he was developing a distinctive gut when he relaxed under the hot water. Well, he told himself, who cares...it feels good and you know what? He found he was a little turned on by , taking to wearing his old shirts, savoring the tightness as his newly pronounced belly pushed out against the fabric, sliding against it as he walked.

The ding of the elevator door brought him to the present and as the door opened, he was struck by a vision, a gorgeously curved young woman bearing a huge box of his most sinful downfall.

She had to admit she was a little taken aback at the figure she saw exiting the elevator. He was fairly handsome she noted quickly; with light brown hair and strong facial features framed by a goatee. And, he was notably older than her... Of course, he had to be - he owned this. He had broad shoulders, and even through his shirt seemingly somewhat burly arms which were noticeable indications of the muscles beneath. But the thing that made her bite her tongue a little, behind her widening smile, was another thing causing his shirt to strain a little. Above the waist band of his trousers sat a still fairly small to her taste but nicely round gut. It was obvious, she thought, that it was a fairly new development by the way that his buttons strained over it. They weren't stretched to the point of bursting; just clinging a little too snuggly around the rounded globe, as if he wasn't quite ready to admit it was there. She felt his eyes drift over her body; hoping he was noting the curves beneath her dress.

"You must be my new PA...are those for me? " He winked. "You know the way to a chubby boss's heart.. Just kidding...Welcome to Paxton Energy, your desk is over there...get settled and let's get to know each other...I hope you're ready for long hours, because thats what this job takes and from your impeccable resume you're the lady who can help me pull this aging goliath of an enterprise over the top."

"Yes, I am indeed the new girl," it was easy to smile in response as she introduced herself, briefly looking down at the box in her hands as she continued "I'm Orla. I hadn't known how many people would be on our floor so I thought I'd over estimate it. I would always rather too much than not enough."