Chapter 6

As the day progressed into the late afternoon, the two people in the office moved around it to make it seem like he had always been there, and this wasn't new. He watched her as she helped him unpack his boxes from the other office, which was smaller and more to his tastes in the first place. He didn't like to be seen to much. It was better for him if he wasn't. This office was higher up. It was where the management was. It was closer to the top levels he wanted to avoid as well.

It was also about four times the size of his last one. He never had to think about how to fill that space. Now he was left with huge areas of the blank office that screamed for something. He had no idea what that something was, though. He hoped she would. He wasn't lying when he had said he had been told he had a horrible taste when it came to things. He had been, numerous times throughout his life.

"What else does it need?" he asked as he looked at her as she put the last book from the box she had been emptying on the shelf. She turned and looked around the room.

"A few plants, maybe." She said.

"Really, plants?" he asked with a laugh.

"Well, you need something to break up the open feeling. When you meet with people, you want them to be relaxed. Isn't that how you do your job?" Petra asked.

"Sweetheart, you don't need to know too much about that part of my work. But I could see I want them to relax a bit." Mikael answered as he looked around too. "I guess I should get a few things for that as well."

He was looking at the small couch in the corner as well. It was black and leatherish. It was one of the things his father, the old man, had insisted on when he took this office. Mikael had no idea why, though. He walked over to it and then pulled the cushions off one by one. "Well, I will be damned."

"What?" Petra asked as she turned to look at Mikael as he was unfolding the couch into a bed. "A sleeper sofa?"

"The old man said I was the most like him." Mikael laughed as he set it down on the ground. "So it is either he has had numerous affairs in his office, or he is a workaholic."

"Which do you think?" Petra asked as she moved closer to him and the couch.

"Knowing him, both," Mikael said and then sat down on the couch. "This would be something very much like him to get. Something useful and probably practical as well."

"So, have you had many affairs in your office?" Petra asked quietly.

"No.," he said as he moved his hand to take hers. "only once."

"Recently or before?" She asked as she looked him in the eyes.

"Only you." He replied as he tugged her to sit next to him on the edge of the now bed. He moved his hand to her face, "I try not to mix work with pleasure. My job, for the most part, is not very pleasurable either. I take no pleasure having to comb through people's lives to see if they could be a threat to the growth of the company despite how many see me. To answer your next question, I have not been with anyone else from here or anywhere else in a few years."

"That wasn't going to be my next question." She said as she looked at him.

"Then what was it?" he asked as he brushed his thumb over her cheek softly. It left a small wave of warmth in its wake as well.

"I was going to ask, is this how things will be, Mikael?" she asked, "I mean, will you want things like what happened today to happen all the time?"

"Petra, I don't know, to be honest. I have never entered a relationship like this. I know I put you in a weird position. I wanted you from the start. I still do. I will understand, though, if you want to back up and try to keep this work only. I won't hide that part of me from you, but from the start, you have all the power to control what happens." Mikael said.

"Well, that is a start, at least. Mikael, I don't know if I want to stop this. I haven't felt like this in a very long time." Petra said.

"Well, that I can work with. I wasn't looking for a one time or two-time thing with you, but I wasn't looking to rush you either. What happened earlier is in the past, and now we can move on to the future. Whatever that might be." Mikael said. "Either way, what we do is only for us. I can separate the two, and I hope that you can as well."

"Why do I have the feeling you will be sleeping on this often?" Petra asked with a laugh.

"Probably because I often do most of my actual work at night after everyone calls it a day," Mikael said.

"What is it that you do exactly?" She asked.

"Why?" he asked.

"If I am to be working for you, I should know what my boss does." She said as she tilted her head to look at him. It seemed he really didn't want to talk about his job and what it entailed.

"You're right. As my new front line, you should know what I do. However, I can't really tell you. I will have to show you instead. Did you have plans tonight?" Mikael asked.

"No." She said with a sigh, "I was planning on going shopping for clothes, but someone already took care of that."

"And after everyone leaves, we can go down to my car, and you can actually show me what I bought you. Like I wanted in the first place." He said as he leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips.

"We will have to see about that." She said. "It could be a possibility."

"I think you should have one or two outfits in the closet here for any mishaps during the day as well." He suggested. "Also, I would suggest bringing in the others to be dry cleaned with my stuff once or twice a week. Any other clothes can be done as well. I have to send my stuff out every other week, so it won't be an added thing to add yours to that. We can't have your new things go missing any more. They are an investment that you should be happy with and one you should keep for a while."

"That sounds like a good plan." She said with a laugh.

"Well, I do aim to please if I can." He said softly. "Now, I think I should put this back before I get too many ideas."

"You already had them." She said.

"I did, but no more for right now. My ideas would have you on your back and busy with many other things besides helping redo this entire office, which for right now is the goal. Maybe after we finish that, I can let my ideas happen." His grin took over as he stood up and reached down and pulled her up to stand before him. "Now be a good girl and go look at what plants can go in here that don't require much work. I happen to be horrible with plants."

"Good to know." She said with a smile, "I happen to be excellent with them. I think a few jade plants and a tree of some sort would be nice."

"A tree?" he asked as his eyes widened. He was beginning to wonder if she was serious. He didn't want to think about a tree in his office.

"A patio tree would go nicely in here. I mean, you have the window space and whatnot." She replied. "The sunlight would be good for it. Another thing about a patio tree is they don't grow like other trees. It wouldn't really require too much more then a small plant would. It would be able to give you the shading as well.'

"Whatever you want to get." He smiled at her. She seemed to have ideas already. He had to just watch her as she thought of things as she started to make a mental list for the things, he had no idea about. It was a beautiful sight to see as it was plain to him that she had no idea how radiant she really was.

"Maybe a few trees with some nice planters. It would still allow the light to come in but give you a sense of privacy as well. I think a flowering one or a fruit tree would be nice." She said as she sat in his chair and started to do a search.

"I am not sure how a few plants turned into a few plants and a few trees, but okay if you think it will work. I like the idea of privacy. You will probably find out that your job will be less what you are used too and more trying to keep people away from me during the day." Mikael laughed. "Simply, you will have time to take care of the things you get. So get them all and make your heart's content."

"Well, I do love plants." She said with a smile. "The only thing about city life. I don't like is there are no gardens. If people do have them, they are on the roof, so others can't enjoy them either."

"You want a garden?" he asked, somewhat surprised that something so simple was something she wanted. Though he did understand in apartments, it was unheard of to have one unless you had space or a ground floor.

"I miss growing things, but here it isn't possible." She said with a smile. He filed that into the back of his head and nodded. It looked like he was agreeing with her, but instead, for some unknown reason finding her a place that she could have what she wanted seemed to be the most important thing on his mind. That almost took him by surprise.

Almost.

He felt things stir in him that he didn't know exactly what they were. There was something in the idea that he could get her something that would make her happy. It seemed like he was completely losing his mind for a few minutes as it all hit him. He had already lost that. He had lost much more than that as well. He just looked at her as she looked for things, and he wanted nothing more than to keep that look on her face forever.

She looked up from the screen and smiled at him. "I think I found some things." She said with a smile.

"What are they?" he asked, and then he walked over to stand behind her as she sat in his chair. His hands found her shoulders as he looked down at the screen. She had indeed found a few things. She went over them, and he just looked at the peaceful look she had just thinking about them. Mikael knew it was too much for just his office, but he didn't care. He fished out the company card and handed it to her. "Order them."

"Are you sure?" she asked as she looked up to him, surprised. "I figured you would want to cut a few things from the cart."

"Order them. We will find a way to make them all work. Even if you have to be surrounded in your space as well." He said. "Also, make a note of the card number for yourself. Anything that you want to get for here or your office, just use the card."

"I can't do that." She said as she looked up to him.

"What not?" he asked as he looked her over.

"Because it isn't right." She said.

"I am telling you to use it. You won't be spending anything out of pocket for this place again." He said as he moved over to the window. "You know the old man gets mad at me when I don't use it. I guess it is perks of being his kid."

"Well, I am not his kid." She said as she moved over to the window as well. The view from his office was something she could never get used too. All the buildings around them and she never had felt so small. The entire side of his office was nothing but glass. It was full of natural light, but at the same time, it was too open. The things she just ordered would help cut some of that.

"No, you aren't, and I am grateful for that, but I can never spend enough. Maybe with two people using it, he will leave me alone." Mikael said with a laugh as he tucked her under his arm. This was the best first day in this position he could have ever hoped for.

"We will see." She said.

"That is all I can ask." He smiled and looked down at her. They both turned to the window and looked out. The silence of the office filled the air as they both grew comfortable with each other some more.