Peyton
My hands were shaking. Only pure adrenaline had got me through the meeting once I laid eyes on Simon. Well, that and the love I had for my staff. Although the last thing I wanted was to accompany George to get coffee afterward, I forced myself to go. Because I liked and respected the guy and I understood his intentions were in the right place. But I hated to have to keep this a secret for who-knew-how long, and then have someone else decide who could be let go from my team.
“You doing okay?” George asked as we stood in line at the busy Starbucks.
“Not really.” Although Simon was three quarters of my off kilter, I focused on the job and the owner. “I get it, George. I mean all of your reasons make sense, but it’s still a bit of a shock.”
“I told Tom I’d like for you to pick who on your staff stays—no interviews—but I have a hunch Simon won’t allow that dog to hunt.”
“No. I don’t see that either.” It was clear the cool and unaffected man in the meeting, a person I thought I’d begun to know, was someone who typically got his way in the boardroom.
“You have my vote for CFO, and I’ll ensure they know it. But if you don’t want to stay, you’ll get one hell of a severance package.”
“I care about my team. That’s why I applied for the position to begin with.” I recognized that going off on one of the people who’d likely be interviewing me probably wasn’t the best career move.
His kind eyes brimmed with tears. “This isn’t an easy decision for me. But the last three years have been rough. In light of the fact I’ll be making money, I realize that might be hard to believe.”
I believed it. The company was too large for one man to be the end all, be all. We needed new systems, better strategy, and a long-term vision. “Don’t go getting emotional, or I will, too. At the end of the day, I completely understand the why. And you certainly don’t have to justify it to anyone, let alone me. Please know I’ll do whatever I can to make the next couple of weeks run smoothly with the audit.”
We spoke a bit more about the business until I had to leave for my ten o’clock staff meeting. Where I had to pretend everything was business as usual. To look at their faces and know there was potential some might lose their jobs.
But I managed it, simply stressing during the meeting that I’d be heavily involved with an audit over the next week and therefore not as available as usual. After that, I was anxious to get back into my office, shut my door, and check my phone to see if Simon had contacted me. But nothing. Not one text, email, or call. That annoyed me. He couldn’t even say something like he couldn’t believe the luck? Or ask me to meet him somewhere, so he could explain the coincidence?
Then it hit me straight in the gut. What if he’d known? What if I’d been targeted, so he could find out inside information about the company? But then I stopped this train of thought. For one thing, I’d been the one to start our conversation in the checkout line. For another, what had he gained by seeking me out? It wasn’t as though I’d given him any information about the company. If anything, I’d done myself a disservice by telling him I might take a promotion simply because I didn’t want my asshole co-worker to get it.
Deciding it wouldn’t be out of the norm if I were to go up to his floor to chat about the spreadsheet he’d given me, I grabbed the list, made a couple of notes to make my mission appear legit, and went upstairs. I only hoped he was half as anxious as I was to hash this out.
I was nervous when I got off the elevator. I hated being nervous, especially at work. But considering my worlds had just collided, I supposed it couldn’t be helped. As I stepped off on Simon’s floor, I saw him alone in his office typing on his laptop. His assistant, Emma, who was way too gorgeous for my liking, with her dark hair, killer body, and model-worthy face, was on the phone. Deciding fate might have given me a boon, I threw her a smile and slipped inside his office, knocking on the open door as I did so.
“Excuse me. Do you have a moment?”
He looked shocked to see me. Before he could say anything, Tom walked in, looking equally surprised to find me there. “What do you need?” Tom asked.
I swallowed hard, wishing like hell Tom wasn’t there. “I had some questions on the spreadsheet. Also George indicated I might be able to choose which staff could bypass the interview process.”
Tom spoke up. “George is incorrect. We will be interviewing everyone.”
“While taking into account the management feedback on each employee?” My gaze darted between to two men, but it was Tom who answered.
“Not if we determine, while interviewing management, that they aren’t qualified to make the assessment.”
I was about to retort to the asshole when Simon interrupted.
“Ms. Waters, correct?”
I had to clench my fist. He was acting so cold, pretending not to know me or even remember my name. “Yes.”
“This isn’t personal as we’re all here to do a job. That job includes interviewing everyone. But yes, we will take reviews and management input into consideration. Now, then, if you have questions on the audit sheet, you can email them.”
His dismissive tone sent a chill through me, and I answered on auto pilot, “I’ll be sure to do that, then.”
“Brilliant.”
I waited a heartbeat. Waited for him to make an excuse to walk me down or see me to the elevator to have a word. But nothing came. Since we had an audience, I couldn’t say anything about it.
But then as I turned on my heel to leave, his voice stopped me.
“Also, Ms. Waters, take note that I have an assistant, Emma, who sits outside of this space. In the future, I expect you to consult with her as to whether I’m free to see you. No more barging upstairs. You should have her contact information on the spreadsheet she emailed you. If you need to request a meeting in the future, she can work with my schedule to set it up.”
I sucked in a breath, all sorts of hurt from his words and dismissive tone. “You won’t need to worry about any other interruptions from me, Mr. Granger.”
How? How could this possibly be the man from Saturday night?