Fiona Murphy - His Hidden Agenda

I hate him, I hate him, I hate him. Hes always so charming and gorgeous and everyone in the office loves him, but not me. Hes my competition and I hate him. I deserve the promotion, Ive given not just my nights, but my weekends and even my marriage to this company, and I deserve the promotion. Only, its Alex my bosses are patting on the back and taking meetings with. Im positive the only reason Alex is nice and smiling to me is because hes trying to throw me off my game. Men as gorgeous as he is dont let their eyes linger on fat girls like me. Hes blueblood, Im south side Chicago, below the poverty line, hes Harvard and Im night school six years to get a degree; on paper, its laughable. He cant really want me, there has to be something hes hiding, a hidden agenda only he knows.

There is, and when I finally find out, Im going to have the hardest decision Ive ever had to make. The company Ive put my life intoor a chance at the kind of love I never believed existed before.

Copyright 2013 by Fiona Murphy

All rights reserved

The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

Chapter One

I hate him, I hate him. Im careful to keep my face in a pleasant half smile, but inside Im boiling. Hes doing it again, so damned effortlessly taking a point I made and expanding on it until Alex Hutchison is getting the verbal backslaps from Tim and Edward. For the hundredth time just this week, Im picturing all the ways I would love to torture him, when I realize Tim has asked me a question and Ive missed it. Face hot from embarrassment, I apologize and ask him to repeat it but he waves it off with a chuckle and stands, indicating an end to the presentation Ive given. Edward winks and tells me good job and Tim nods his endorsement. Yet, as I stand, its Alex theyre walking with out the door, and Im left alone shutting down my laptop.

It was really a very good presentation, Grace. Edward made sure I took down several things Im sure theyll look into. Mabel reassures me as she stands. Mabel is one of the few people whos been with the company longer than I have. Shes a nice woman and I feel absolutely pathetic as her kind words soothe the frustration Im feeling.

He just, he just, hes always there, ending it better than I do, and I just hate him so much.

Mabel smiles. Ive noticed, as I still in horror, wondering just how badly Ive hidden it, and what it would look like to Tim and Edward, Mabel shakes her head. Ive noticed, but Ive known you longer and I pay attention, its what Im paid for. To everyone else its just minor resentment and competition, Im sure, which isnt a bad thing. He isnt such a bad guy, hes actually very nice if youd let yourself get to know him.

I dont want to get to know him. I want the promotion, thats what I want. I dont say what Mabel already knows. Im not one for getting to know anyone at work. On so many levels, in so many ways, I just dont connect with the people I work with. Mainly because I work and my coworkers like to gossip and plan the next happy hour and take selfies. None of those things interest me, I come in and work hard. Ive had to, to get where I am. Its something I take pride in, I started with the company when it was only three years old right out of high school. Tim and Edward had started the company in desperation when they were let go in their mid to late forties and couldnt get a job in their field in the extremely competitive city of Chicago. Theyd been willing to take on nearly anybody, even me, with skills so few I had to work my way out of the mailroom just to be a receptionist.

It hadnt been easy, but it had been clear I was willing to do anything and was eager to learn. As the company slowly expanded, Id filled in everywhere as needed, even doing payroll for a few months when someone had quit. For the first few years, there had been a rough period of more business coming in than those to do it. Just a few more checks cashed and they could add more people, Tim and Edward had promised. They wouldnt forget the hard work, they told us, and they hadnt. Tim and Edward had come to me and made me an offer, I could accept a raise and continue as an administrative assistant, or the company would pay to help me get a degree in marketing and move up.

Id taken the degree, while ignoring my husbands anger over the lost money. Hed also resented the time it took me away from focusing on him and being a good wife. I tried to tell him in the long run it would be better for us. He hadnt listened, and although our marriage hadnt been wonderful to start with, it had gradually gotten worse. When we divorced, hed blamed my job; I knew better though.

Our marriage had been a mistake from the beginning. It just took several years for us to figure it out. There was no specific moment when I knew, it was a gradual realization. I had begun to put in longer hours, and given more to work, knowing it was the escape I would need when we came to the end. Larry had pretended otherwise until the last day, but in many ways he also had spent time away from our home and marriage, he simply didnt say it out loud, failure hadnt been an option for him.

So, between school and work I had to work hard, and hadnt been one for socializing. Id finally gotten my degree four years ago, at twenty five, the same year my marriage ended, oddly enough. Everything felt worth it when Tim promoted me. The other women around me had been newer, most coming on just within the last five years, and they resented me for moving up. The men usually ignored me or did their best to talk me into bed. I wasnt interested, ever, after the way my marriage ended, sex wasnt something I cared for.

No, I dont want to get to know Alex. I want to push him under the El train. Okay, I sigh as I take refuge in my office, maybe not that bad. At least down the stairs to the El though, a few broken bones would be nice. Alex out of the office and not there all the time, smiling and charming, and making everyone in the office love him. It was grating that even Florence, the most cranky secretary in the company, smiled when Alex spoke to her.

I do my best not to slam the door to my office, and settle into my chair. Bringing up the plotting Ive done for the next campaign, Im searching for anything I could have missed. This is it, both Alex and I have one more campaign we would be in competition for. After that, Tim and Edward would make their selection to fill Stephen Prices position as VP. Stephens wife is battling cancer and, hes barely in the office. Tim and Edward were keeping him on so Stephen could maintain his insurance, but once his successor was picked, hed step down into a lower position so he could focus on his wife.

The presentation has to be perfect. I have to get this promotion because I deserve it. I had worked so hard for this company, it was my initiative to take us into computer data mining years ahead of other marketing firms, and shown how valuable it could be not just to us but to our clients. Tim had said it often, the changes had been costly, but had paid off and had taken us into places and gained us clients we wouldnt have been able to get without my suggestions. I need this promotion. I need it to prove its all been worth it. That I dont have a life outside of work that I have no best friend other than the books I escape into, it would all be worth it when I got the promotion.