Six

Morgan

The next morning, I rose bright and early. I wasn’t going to let the events of this past weekend affect me any longer. Today was my first official day as CEO. Today, I was out of the transitional period. Today, I would rule the world.

I put on my power black high heels and grabbed a black suit jacket on the way out the door. Only a handful of other people were already at Wright Construction when my heels clicked across the tiled floor. I’d seen David’s car in the parking lot. He was an early bird rather than a night owl like me. He was probably settling into my office by now.

As the elevator dinged on the top floor of the office space, my heart started racing. Up until this point, it had all been just a dream. I mean…there had been the transitional period to prepare me for this. I was prepared for this.

At the same time, fear hit me fresh and new. I’d worked my whole life for this, and I suddenly felt sick to my stomach. I’d earned this. I deserved this. And yet…did I?

Of course I did. Christ. My brain was a hamster’s wheel of insecurities.

I was never good enough. I never worked hard enough. I never put in as much as I could. There was always more that could be done. No matter what. No matter that I worked hours and hours longer than anyone else or that I dedicated my life to this company. No matter that my brothers hadn’t put in half as much as I had. It still felt like I wasn’t right. Like I was stealing. Like I was cheating.

But I couldn’t show that on the outside. My exterior said Morgan Wright was ready to take on the world. My insides squirmed and shifted and wondered if this was all a prank.

I took a deep breath and forced myself forward. There was no going back. There never had been. I wouldn’t give this up for the world. I’d clawed my way to the top. Past the blatant sexism and around the disdain. I’d won their hearts with charm and magnetism. I’d won their loyalty with endless hard work.

This day meant more than I could possibly put into words. And I didn’t think a single person in my life had a clue of the enormity of the moment…or how terrified I was that I’d fuck up.

“Morgan!” David called, pulling me from my sobering thoughts.

I popped my head into his office. “Morning.”

“How does it feel?”

“Like everything I imagined,” I lied.

“I thought so. How did this weekend go?”

“Ugh! I barely got anything done this weekend. But today is a new day, right?”

“Right!”

“Feel free to move into my old office whenever you’re ready.”

“Will you be in Jensen’s?”

“Yep. It’s in need of some serious redecorating.”

David laughed. “Sounds good.”

I waved before continuing down the hallway. The door to my new office was ajar. I pushed it open and startled when I found someone already inside.

“Can I help you?” I asked the man standing by my desk.

“Yes, can you tell Jensen to hurry up? Also, I’d like a coffee with cream and two sugars,” the man said impatiently.

I took a step back at the audacity. I’d just been having an inspirational pep talk with myself about my new CEO position. I had been overcoming my own fears and taking on the challenge I knew I had earned.

Then, here comes this douche bag who thinks I’m an assistant?

There was nothing wrong with being an assistant. But considering the man wasn’t even looking at me, acknowledging me, or respecting me…I could tell it was an insult. He was in my fucking office and treating me like shit. What an awesome start to my day.

“Did you say cream and one sugar or two?” I drawled sarcastically. “I can’t seem to remember.”

The man whirled around in anger, as if he couldn’t believe I’d used that tone with him. Then, his jaw dropped open. “Morgan?”

“Ah, you’ve heard of me.” I stepped forward and came around to the back of the desk.

“I didn’t realize it was you.”

“Obviously.”

“But you don’t recognize me?”

“Should I?” I asked, finally taking a closer look at the man.

He was in his fifties with light-brown hair and a gut that he couldn’t hide in his black suit. He did sort of look familiar, like I’d seen him somewhere before but I couldn’t place where.

“We’ve never met. I’m your uncle Owen,” he said, holding out his hand.

A shiver ran through me in disgust. Uncle Owen. So, this was the man my father had hated so much that he basically sent him into exile. I didn’t know what the beef was between my father and his brother, but it’d had to be bad for that sort of reaction. Not that my dad had been known for his even temper or anything. He was an alcoholic after all. But my uncle’s disappearance to Vancouver with his wife and two sons was legendary. My father had burned all of the pictures of them together, and his name had only been used as a swear word.

Owen dropped his hand when I didn’t shake it. “Ah, so you have heard of me.”

“What are you doing here?”

I knew that he worked for the Canadian branch of Wright Construction in Vancouver. When I was a kid, I’d always assumed that it was some kind of peace terms between kingdoms. Like sending a British monarch to Scotland or Brittany or Calais while their rival was on the throne. I’d been pretty obsessed with European history at the time. It started my love for celebrity gossip.

“I had an appointment with Jensen. What exactly are you doing in his office?”

“Jensen isn’t with the company anymore. This is my office. Surely, you got the company-wide memo about me becoming CEO.”

I didn’t know why I was egging him on. Perhaps deeply ingrained prejudices were working against me, but I couldn’t like this man. Blood didn’t always equal family. This man was a stranger.

“I read that the company was in a transitional period, and you would eventually move into CEO. But my meeting today was with Jensen, and I wasn’t informed that it would now be with you.”

“I’ll take that up with my brother.”

Conciliatory. That was the word screaming in my head. I should make this right. I should make him comfortable. I should pacify his apparent aggression. But I didn’t.

“See that you do.” Owen straightened out his already impeccable suit. “It seems that you’re not prepared for our meeting today. I’ll have to reschedule for later this week. Maybe bring Jensen back in to hold your hand.”

I clenched my jaw and didn’t spit out the first thing that came to mind. Fuck you, you fucking fuck.

“Buh-bye,” I said, sending him a wave that might as well have been flipping him off. When he left the office, I slumped back into my seat. “Fuck.”

I snatched up my phone and immediately dialed Jensen’s number.

He answered on the third ring. “Hey, how’s the first day?”

“You scheduled a meeting with Uncle Owen and didn’t warn me that it was happening on my first day? What the hell, Jensen?”

“Shit. Was that today?”

“Who are you, and what have you done with my brother? Shouldn’t you have warned me about this? I didn’t even know you had ever met him before. Let alone that you were having some meeting with him this week! He’s creepy!”

“Yeah, yeah. Sorry. I should have double-checked the schedule for you. I would have postponed the talk until later in the week. But, yes, unfortunately, Owen is a pest that you have to deal with as CEO.”

“He thought I was your secretary.”

“His people skills are lacking. When I first got the job, he tried to stake his claim on it, as if he somehow deserved it since Dad was gone.”

“God, he really does think we’re royalty.”

Jensen chuckled. “Don’t worry about him. You’ll have a meeting about the new environmental changes we’re making, moving forward, and look over updating the contracts to bring them to code. He’s usually a nuisance for a week or two, and then he’s gone.”

“How often do you meet with him?”

“Rarely. I try to do as much as I can through email. He likes to assert himself upon Lubbock like a long-lost hero. I think his version of history is different than the one Dad told us.”

“Well, first impressions make me believe Dad.”

“Just try not to antagonize him.”

“It’s hard not to.”

“Morgan,” Jensen said in that voice that only my brother could pull on me.

“All right. I’ll do what I can.”

“Just another day in the office. See you, Mor.”

“Bye.”

I hung up the phone and slouched in my chair. What a fucking start to my day. Somehow, a man I’d never met had just confirmed all the fears I’d had about starting the job. The positive energy I’d been searching for had been sucked right out of the room with his departure.