Wolf

As the week wore on, Christa became more comfortable at the office. Benoit made the transition easier. Having a wolf on her side made her more confident and sometimes, she could have sworn she knew what he was thinking.
She picked up on Wolffe’s little quirks quickly. His big oddity was his disgust with technology. When she discovered this, she began printing out all his correspondence and any other paperwork he needed to see. He took his coffee black and didn’t like to be bothered with anything trivial.
She noticed the first few days that he didn’t take a lunch break so if she started bringing extra food and brought them in to him with any emails around noon. The first day he didn’t seem to notice it, which hurt a little. The next day though, he ate the food-or Benoit did-she wasn’t sure which. But by the third day there was a paper bag on her desk when she walked in in the morning. It contained a sandwich, chips and a brownie and a note that said “we’ll alternate days”.
There were other oddities about her new boss, but it all just added to the mystery that was Wolffe Reese. She didn’t think much of him taking a few days off every month; someone of his status could probably afford to barely lift a finger in running his company. But that was not how her boss worked. She learned quickly that any problem in any branch of Reese International should be immediately reported to him. He talked to his branches in other states almost daily via email or phone call. And he ran a tight ship, which was probably why he was so successful for being so young.
At least, he looked young. Some of the things he said and some of his habits made it seem like he was from the nineteenth century…
“Alright off with the infernal contraption. Lunch time.”
Christa looked up from her computer screen. “What?”
“Lunch. Chinese restaurant down the street.”
“Now?”
“Yep. Impromptu business meeting.”
“And you need me?”
He paused in putting on his coat and looked down at her. “Do you not want to come then?”
“No, no it’s not that. I just…PAs don’t usually come to business lunches.”
“No they don’t.” As he spoke he turned off her desktop screen. “Except with this client. He’s big on details but he has no respect for note taking by me. And it’s my day to go for lunch anyway.”
Christa opened her mouth to protest, but she couldn’t think of anything to say. Her eyes fell on the dozing gray form at her side. “What about Benoit?” she asked.
Wolffe looked at the wolf, as if he forgot he was there. “He’ll be alright. I’d say you’re spoiling him.”
Christa smiled. She had convinced Wolffe to buy Benoit a dog bed. The wolf never seemed uncomfortable on the floor, but Christa felt better when he had something to sleep on. So with the comfortable pillow, the wolf had taken to dozing for most of the day.
“Alright grab a pad and let’s go.”
Out of excuses, Christa resignedly put a legal pad into her purse and stood. Benoit stirred and made a move to get up. Wolffe shot him a look and the wolf closed his eyes again. Wolffe blinked; his brother truly was turning into a house pet.

The Chinese Restaurant wasn’t one of the increasingly-popular Chinese Buffets, although the man they met looked like he would have been happier with unlimited food. He was middle-aged with a receding hairline and a stomach that made it slightly difficult to sit close to the table. He rose when Wolffe and Christa walked into the restaurant and shook Wolffe’s hand.
“And who is this?” the man asked when the two men had exchanged greetings.
“This is my PA Christa Hayes.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Christa said as he took her hand.
“Oh the pleasure is all mine,” he said, holding her hand for just a moment longer than socially acceptable. Christa didn’t think much of it as the three sat down.
But Wolffe did. He kept himself tightly under control as the waitress took their drink order but he couldn’t help but notice that Harry Tillman had turned his full attention on Christa.
“So how long have you worked for Reese?” Harry asked.
“Not long, only a week or so,” Christa answered politely while she scanned the menu.
“Well that explains why I don’t recognize you; I would have remembered such a pretty face.”
Christa blushed at that and sent him a shy smile.
Wolffe didn’t like the turn Harry’s thoughts immediately took. Christa couldn’t be aware that she was encouraging the businessman.
“About that emergency business you felt was so important to drag me out of my office on such short notice,” Wolffe prompted not-so-subtly, making it clear that he was not happy about Harry’s sudden need for this meeting.
“All in good time Reese.”
“I don’t have time.”
Christa looked up at Wolffe’s tone. His face was set in stone, but there was anger in the set of his jaw and his sparking eyes. Her attention seemed to get Harry’s attention on the other man.
“Well if you’re in such hurry-”
Christa picked up her pen as the two men started talking business, only really listening with half an ear as she watched the expressions cross both of their faces. It was obvious that Harry didn’t run as tight a ship as Wolffe did and that Wolffe didn’t appreciate that.
“Hell Reese, you’re being impossible!”
“If I’m going to continue putting my resources into your business, you need to get your organization together Harry,” Wolffe had begun to calm down throughout the conversation as Harry got angrier.
“Your resources?! Hell I started you in this business Reese, your applied sciences division wouldn’t be off the ground if not for me!”
“Yes but now I hold the upper hand don’t I? I could very easily go to another company to get what I need for that department and without my business; you would go bankrupt within the year.”
“So what the hell do you expect me to do?”
“Fix the holes in your management so that when I need inventory, I get it, and not two months after I’ve requested it.”
“You know how long that’s going to take?”
“Not very long if you want to continue our relationship.”
Christa had suspended the taking notes and was just watching Wolffe. His eyes had turned to cold stone and she felt a slight shudder go through her at the thought of having those eyes turned on her for any reason.
The waitress came back with their food that they had ordered between the men butting heads. The platters seemed to dispel some of the tension, especially on Harry’s side. He dug into his shrimp lo mien like he hadn’t eaten in days.
Christa found herself watching Wolffe eat. He wasn’t a messy eater, but his attention seemed focused solely on the food in front of him, like the General Tso’s Chicken was going to come back to life and start flapping off his plate. She found herself snickering at the image the thought provoked.
Wolffe looked at her and Christa felt her cheeks heat at being caught staring. Wolffe raised an eyebrow and Christa averted her eyes to her plate.
The two men finished when Christa was halfway through and started talking business again. Christa didn’t listen much to what was said as she tried to eat and take notes. But they finally seemed to reach an agreement and shook hands.
Christa requested a box as the waitress came with the check. Harry snagged the receipt before Wolffe could. “On me,” he said. “I couldn’t think of a better way to spend lunch.”
Christa didn’t notice the look he sent her way, only thought it was odd because of the amount of time he and Wolffe had spent arguing and the still had enjoyed his lunch. Again, Wolffe noticed the look and made a mental note to sever all ties with Harry’s company.

“Well he seems nice enough,” Christa said when they returned to the office. Benoit raised his head at their approach and heard his brother’s thoughts about how nice Harry Tillman was. He came fully awake. This morning Wolffe had been on great terms with Harry Tillman.
“Nice is not a word I would use,” Wolffe said as he stalked towards his office. Curiosity got the best of Benoit and he followed Wolffe.
Wolffe almost slammed the door in Benoit’s face, but the wolf managed to squeeze in.
“Well this is interesting,” Benoit said, sitting next to the door.
Wolffe stalked away without saying anything.
“Oh you’re no fun, you’re really not going to tell me what happened? You’ve got Christa confused as well by the way.”
“I don’t need your snide comments,” Wolffe snarled.
“Touchy, touchy.” He caught the stray thought that Wolffe wanted to drop Tillman Industries. “Whoa there, hold on. You’re going to let Tillman go? He must have really pissed you off.”
“I don’t want to discuss this.”
“Even though that wouldn’t be the best business move you’ve ever made. Tillman has the cheapest products and some of the best scientific minds in this country on his payroll. But hey, you’ve made stupider decisions before.”
Benoit was shocked when Wolffe actually seemed to be contemplating his thoughts. He sat down heavily in his desk chair and put his head in his hands.
“I almost just made a very stupid decision based on personal reasons.” Wolffe thought.
“Which were?” Benoit prompted.
Wolffe didn’t respond for a full minuet. “He made a pass at Christa.”
Benoit’s hackles rose and his bared his teeth. “Well don’t sever ties, give me an address and I’ll go kill the bastard!”
“Benoit!” Wolffe said sharply as the wolf went to leave. “I over exaggerated. It wasn’t a heavy pass, just a few compliments.”
“Fine then, I’ll just tear his balls off.” Benoit was only half-joking.
“Hell look at us. We’re both ready to go to war over a woman.”
“Wars have been fought over less.”
“We’re both letting our emotions get the best of us. It needs to stop.”
Benoit was silent for a moment.
“We’re both already too attached to this girl.”
“Then you need to let her go.”
Wolffe felt something inside him break at the thought of never seeing Christa again. And the businessman in him rebelled against it. “You know I can’t. She had some pretty substantial bills piling up, probably the most I have ever lent anyone. I would lose all that money if I let her go.”
“So you’re strong enough to stay away from her, watch her date other people, watch other people flirt with her for the next several years?” Benoit asked cynically.
“When hell freezes over.” It was the first thought that came to his mind that he was unable to block.
“Then why don’t you just screw her and get it over with? That’s your problem; you haven’t gotten laid in how many months? You’re more of an animal than a normal man so that sex drive is more active. Once you’ve slept with her a few times, she’ll be out of your system like all the others and your life can return to normal.”
“I don’t care for your vulgarity,” Wolffe said with a glare.
Benoit shrugged. “I just speak frankly.”
“You speak crudely.”
“I’ll show you crude.”
Wolffe blocked out the wolf’s thoughts. He couldn’t bring himself to just sleep with Christa and just leave her. She was entirely too innocent for that. And he still had the feeling that she was different. So he was just going to have to repress that animal instinct, although in the coming weeks it was going to get harder, he always got worse as the full moon neared.