17. Dylan

17

DYLAN

K issing Jessica before I left for work was as natural as breathing. I was going to have to take the necessary steps to make sure she understood that she was much more than just some nanny I was having a fling with.

As I navigated the curving roads out of the gated community and to the office, my thoughts shifted from family bliss to work. More specifically, where the two collided. Jessica had confessed there had been a working relationship and more between her and Ryan. They had been lovers.

My jealousy needed to take a back seat to the rest of the information she had shared with me. Ryan scared her. He could be pushy. It was actually effective in business, but had he taken it too far in their relationship?

I couldn't shake the feeling that I needed to manage this situation. This wasn't a case of so what, my girlfriend used to sleep with a business colleague . This was more.

I huffed out a grunt, almost a chuckle. Girlfriend. If that's what I wanted from Jessica, I was going to have to tell her. And if that's what she was to me, I was going to have to support her emotional needs. Again, home and work collided. If she was afraid or had legitimate concerns about a work partnership, how did I support her and still do what was the best for my business and investors?

"Good morning. I didn't expect you this morning," Sarah teased.

"Why do you say that?" I asked.

"You never take time off in the middle of the week unless it's a childcare issue, and those never seem to get settled in a single day," she said.

"I didn't feel like working." I shrugged as I passed her desk and continued into my office.

"I certainly understand that feeling." She followed me in. "You have emails and only a few calls that need your attention. I'll let you catch up, and then let me know when you're ready, and I'll give you all the scoop."

"We have a scoop?" I looked up from setting my stuff down. "What do you mean, scoop? I'm out for a day, and suddenly, something happens?"

"Ah, if only it were that interesting," she said with a sigh. "Just chatter over the Carmichael Proposal. Mr. Thompson with Frisco Investment Banking had some concerns. You'll see it in your messages."

I pushed the slips of paper around on my desk. I saw the one from Thompson, but there were calls from a few other key players.

"This looks more involved than one person having some questions," I admitted.

Sarah was shaking her head and crossing her arms. "Trust me, it's much ado…" She unfolded her arms and flapped one hand about. "These little old men are more up in each other's business than a bunch of gossiping grannies. That's pretty much all this is. Mr. Thompson didn't like that you weren't immediately available to answer his questions, and so instead of waiting and sending you an email you could answer in the evening, he had a temper tantrum. I swear, Max is better behaved than this man. He needs to learn some emotional regulation. I bet he yells at teenagers who work at fast food restaurants."

"You assume someone like Thompson eats fast food?" I laughed. I knew what she meant. The man was short tempered. Max did display better emotional regulation.

Unfortunately, I was raised by a man who responded more like Thompson with emotional outbursts and anger. It was hard to identify in myself but embarrassing to witness in others.

I clearly owed Jessica another apology. My behavior the previous day in the car had been an old-school male tantrum. I needed to start taking the same lessons as Max for self-regulation. I should buy her a present.

Sarah huffed. "He wields power like a weapon and holds it over people with threats. I told him he wasn't allowed to speak to me like that. I'm sure you have a demand for my termination in your messages somewhere."

"Don't worry about it. I will speak to him," I grumbled. It wouldn't be the first time I'd have to tell him he can't boss my employees around or be rude to them. My business ran because of the work Sarah did.

"I'll leave you to it," she said before she turned to head back to her desk.

I was going to owe her an official apology as well. I'd have to go shopping on my way home. I knew exactly what to get each of them.

I stared at the phone messages. Thompson left a couple, and then there were calls from Gonzales and Robertson. Gonzales tended to be reactionary. Robertson was younger than me and pragmatic. I called him first.

"You never should have taken a day off. Heck, never sleep and never go home," he started as soon as I asked what the commotion had been.

I chuckled. "That man spends more time on a golf course than I do. Next time, that's what I'm telling everyone. I'm out of the office for golf."

"Don't. Let the dinosaurs spin themselves into retirement. He had a question I don't even think you have a direct answer for. You'll need to reach out to your contact. If he didn't email you the details of his question, that's on him. But what I got from everything yesterday is that he had concerns over the numbers on page ten."

As we talked, I opened the presentation document. Page ten was a spreadsheet of cost analysis. I had read it multiple times. I couldn't even begin to second-guess what Thompson could have questions on.

"Thanks, I'll handle it from here." I ended the call. It would have been good to have a firmer idea of what the situation was before I called Thompson. It would have been easier to keep him on track.

By the time I got him on the phone, whatever had been bothering him seemed to be forgotten. He was perfectly pleasant with me. And then he started to insult ‘the girl in your office'. I decided dealing with Thompson over how he treated Sarah would serve as a warm-up session for when I spoke with Ryan.

"Look, I get it, you're from an older generation. But that doesn't give you an excuse to be an ass to my assistant. Just because I am also a man, it doesn't mean I'm going to sit by while you are sexist and demeaning to a very capable business woman."

"If you continue to speak to me in this manner, I will see that we pull funding," he rumbled.

"No," I said. "You won't. Because if you were to do that, I'd have to bring up your behavior with your board. Katherine Newton is the current president over there, isn't she?"

Thompson made more grumbling sounds.

"The Old Boys' network isn't how I get things done around here, and I'd appreciate it if you kept that in mind when dealing with my assistant. Yelling at her doesn't change the fact that I wasn't in the office, and had you emailed me your question, I could have given Carmichael a call, and instead of getting the details of your concern, I could have been providing clarification."

The call ended with him complaining about my slack work ethic.

My ‘slack work ethic' was going to make that man and his colleagues a lot of money. I was beginning to think Robertson was right. The dinosaurs of the business world needed to retire.

I stared at the phone on my desk for a good long while before I picked it up and dialed Ryan Carmichael's number.

"Anderson! Tell me you are calling to find out where to FedEx the signed paperwork."

I let out a bitter chuckle. "I would presume to your office."

"I am living the life of a digital nomad these days. My office is my laptop and my phone."

"What happened to your headquarters in San Francisco?" I asked. It was better to grease the wheels of this conversation with friendly chatter before I got into the weeds with a confrontation.

"Oh, it's still there. I'm not. I'll be back next week. In the meantime, I'm out in the world collecting ideas and enjoying getting the same work done without the limits of office walls."

"Sounds like the life. Look, I have a question about…" I proceeded to get into the details that had wound Thompson into a snit.

We spent a good hour number crunching. I asked every side question I could possibly think that Thompson would bring up. I made Ryan run through those numbers forward and backward until I felt that there was no possible way to be any clearer.

"I think this will set the ball rolling," I said. "Look, before I let you go, I should let you know that I spoke with Jessica. She told me about your history."

"That's not going to be a problem, is it?" he asked.

"Are you going to make it a problem?" I countered.

"She told you everything?" Ryan started. "She mentioned that she worked for me?"

"Yes, and that you had an affair. And that working for you was why she no longer works in corporate spaces."

"Did she now? So I guess that means she also told you all about working for the competition and passing their secrets to me?"

I swallowed hard. No, she had not, but she had told me he'd coerced her into doing things she wasn't proud of. I was going to take this as what she was talking about.

"She told me everything. That doesn't change things between us. Me and her, and your dealings with my company. I just thought you should know there are no tricks to be had."

I spent the rest of the day focusing on getting the deal pushed through. Jessica hadn't given me all the details, but she was scared. I promised I would back her up, that she could trust me. I needed to follow through on that.

"Don't stay too late, boss," Sarah called out with obvious sarcasm as I passed her desk closer to the end of the day, my bag already over my shoulder.

"Seeing how the boss wasn't here at all yesterday, I figure he can let thirty minutes slide," I joked.

"Point taken. See you tomorrow," she said.

I wanted to get home to Jessica, but I also had an errand to take care of on the way home. She needed to know where she stood with me. I needed to remind myself that I'd promised to back her up.

The small jeweler near the country club had exactly what I needed. One gift to convey emotion and expectation, and one to convey a tasteful apology.

The small gold chain bracelet for Sarah was simple and elegant. There was no reading anything more into it than the boss was really sorry. And yes, I was. Sarah had been putting up with a lot from me lately. I should probably also give her a bonus.

The gift for Jessica, earrings, those were more personal. There was something intimate about rubies glinting at a woman's earlobes. I couldn't wait to see how they looked against her skin, peeking out from her hair.

I stopped to see Mother before heading upstairs to check on Jessica and Max.

"That woman took your son and left!" Clara practically screamed at me the second I walked in the door.