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Sadie groaned when her alarm blared through her room, the tune synonymous with work. Sliding from her bed proved to be the most difficult task but an essential one in getting her day started. She didn't bother taking off her scarf and instead slapped her shower cap over it to begin her morning routine.

After she'd finished her shower and hair, she checked the time to see if she'd be able to do her makeup. With a little over an hour before she'd be needing to leave, she quickly sat at her vanity to begin beating her face.

The ringing of her phone let her know it was time to go and she quickly finished swiping on her nude gloss. Slipping her feet into some simple black stilettos, she placed on a diamond necklace as she made her way into the kitchen to grab her keys and purse.

An hour later she was scanning her I.D. to get into the Core employee parking lot. She still had ten minutes before her shift began so she stopped at the cafeteria to get a muffin and apple juice on her way to her office. The elevator opened on the 50th floor just as her phone chirped letting her know it was time to clock in.

"Good morning, Ms. Winter! I've placed the quarter three reports on your desk as well as scanned them to your email. We have a meeting today at 10am with the board of directors to discuss the trends of section three. In addition, the CEO has returned from America and will be hoping to schedule  a meeting with you soon. Is there any time you prefer? Your schedule is clear at 12pm or 5:15pm." Tiffany Robinson, her assistant, rattled off the itinerary for the day as usual.

"Good morning Tiffany. Thank you for the reports and 12 is fine. Mark me down as busy from 5 to 6 as well." Sadie spoke as she placed her purse into the locked drawer at the bottom of her desk. Booting up her computer, she clocked in before opening her email to look for the scanned reports.

"Very well. I'll be outside if you need anything." Tiffany smiled brightly before softly closing the door as she left. Sadie let out a sigh as she realized the reports had been shifted off the scanner- an issue they had often as the scanner seemed to catch an attitude at times.

Pulling the heavy stack in front of her, she reached into the glass jar on her desk for a red pen. She began reading the numbers carefully, keeping in mind last quarters data to cross reference, and searched for errors.
...

"Ms. Winters, it's almost 10am." Tiffany sent the reminder to her computer- the notification knocking her from her counting. Her eyes went blurry for a second before she blinked it away. Standing from her chair, she slipped her heels back on and gathered her notes for the meeting.

"Tiffany, could you email maintenance and tell them the scanner is acting up again? I don't know why we don't just buy a new one." She rolled her eyes as they entered the elevator to head up to the board room.

"Yeah I heard it's been acting up again, sorry about that. I'll get right on it." She spoke as she scribbled the memo into her notebook. The elevator dinged and the two women gracefully exited, the synchronized click of their heels against the spotless tiles caused heads to turn.

"Good morning, Ms. Winters. Ms. Robinson." Greeted a man in a sleek suit with silky brown skin and a bright smile.

"Good morning, Mr. Gilly." Tiffany chirped while Sadie simply smiled. It always amazed her how Tiffany could retain the names of everyone she'd met. When they finally made it to the appropriate room, Sadie took a deep breath before pushing on the silver handle.

As usual, eight white men sat around the polished wood table with either slicked back hair or bald heads- their faces set in holier than thou expressions.

"Gentlemen." She made her presence known, her head high, as she made her way towards the head of the table. Strings of grumbled greetings left the men as she sat at the table, Tiffany meekly by her side. Although Sadie never let their attitudes get to her, Tiffany was on the sensitive side and Sadie often found herself sticking up for the woman.

Logging into the tablet attached to the smart board, Sadie quickly pulled up the information she would be displaying. The men around her quickly began taking out utensils to take notes.

"Wait, the CEO will be joining us for this presentation." One of the men spoke after looking down at his phone for a moment. Each of them suddenly began smoothing out their appearances, sweat pooling at their brows, and hands began to shake. While Sadie could feel the butterflies in her stomach, she knew she had prepared extensively for this presentation and nothing or anyone would get in her way.

It was no more than three minutes later before the door opened. A jaw dropping woman stepped inside, clad in a skin tight red dress with flawless black hair and stunning green eyes. The man that followed her put everyone else in the room to shame.

All the men in the room jumped to their feet as they stared in awe at the man

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All the men in the room jumped to their feet as they stared in awe at the man. Sadie immediately knew this was Kade Winchester, CEO of Core. Shifting her shoulders back, she ignored the heartbeat that traveled down south.

"Good morning, Mr. Winchester. If you'd, please, have a seat we can begin the presentation." She smiled politely but her stomach flipped as the words left her mouth. It almost sounded like she was rushing him and from the way his eyebrow cocked at her, she knew that's the way it was perceived.

"I suspect you're Ms. Winter- my new CFO." His voice was like warm honey mixed with a spring time thunderstorm. Sadie had to remind herself that not only was he her boss, but they were in a professional setting.

"Yes, sir." The woman, his assistant she presumed, strutted to the front to slip Sadie a piece of paper. It held a series of issues that had been in the process of being solved. Pulling out her pen, she added the scanner issue to the bottom.

"Mm, very well. Floor's yours." He motioned before tapping Tiffany's shoulder. After a whispered exchange, Tiffany put her head down as she vacated the seat and headed to the back of the room. Now Kade sat in the seat closest to her left side.

"Mr. Winchester, if you could switch seats with someone else that'd be preferable." Sadie spoke up keeping her eyes on the man. It irked her how people in this company constantly walked over Tiffany.

"Oh? You're telling me to leave this seat? Or asking me?" He cocked his head to the side and Sadie immediately knew he wasn't used to people expressing their thoughts to him. Regardless of title, there was a certain level of respect she demanded.

"I'm telling you my assistant was in that seat for a specific purpose and am asking that you switch seats with someone else. If sight is an issue, I'm sure Mr. Birdu will glady give up his seat, correct?" She turned to the man, her eyes communicating the issue wasn't up for discussion.

"Y-yes, sir. You can sit here, I don't mind." The man jumped from the seat as if the Queen had asked for it. Kade simply stared at her for a moment, a storm of emotions swirling within his eyes, before he smirked lightly and moved from the seat.

"You alright?" Sadie whispered to Tiffany once she had returned to the seat. The woman shyly down cast her eyes as she nodded yes. Sadie briefly squeezed her hand before turning back to the tablet before her.

"Hello my name is Sadie Winter, Chief Financial Officer at Core, and I'll be presenting the trends and cost benefit analysis for section three."
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