8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

JAMESON

The day passes with very few incidents, every company’s books lining up as they should. I don’t audit the huge accounts so if anything does go wrong with the smaller accounts, they tend to be quick fixes. Something someone missed in a general audit or a few pennies off here and there. The closer it gets to 5 pm, the more excited I am to be spending my first-ever dinner date with Wyatt.

This has been years in the making and I’ve scoured every last restaurant in the city before finding a small Italian place a few blocks from his house. It’s not usually busy on Monday evenings and I’m hoping it stays that way long enough for me to dote on my new boyfriend.

“Looks like someone took a new step, eh?” Kylie pops into my office, hugging a portfolio to her chest. She wiggles her eyebrows before plopping into the chair in front of my desk. “That big teddy bear of a baker, right? God, tell him to make more of those blueberry cupcakes. I’ll pay double if they’re out of season or whatever.”

I snort. “Kylie, that’s not how it works. I’m sure he’d be more than happy to know someone enjoys his creations and yes, I’ll ask him.”

“It’s not fair that you’re not 300 pounds with all the sugar I’ve seen you consume. You’ll come in with all these treats and half of them are gone before they even hit the break room. And yet, you look like this .” She waves to my body and then sighs before placing the portfolio aside. “Jokes aside, I have something for you.”

“It’s 4 pm, Kylie. Don’t give me anything. I have a date tonight.”

She sighs again. “Cancel it. This is big. Maybe not big but… whatever.”

“Then give it to-”

“I’m bringing it to you.”

I lean forward, intrigued that she would skip our boss and bring me a portfolio. Granted, it would trickle down to me anyway but I would have dealt with it tomorrow morning rather than tonight. I flip open the leather case and frown at the company letterhead that was sent to us a few weeks ago.

Hollandeck Automotive

“Why is this on my desk? Kylie, Eugene updated these numbers last week.” I flip through a few pages, my frown turning into pure disappointment as I realize nothing is adding up correctly. “How did Eugene miss this?”

Kylie stands up and flips to a certain page before pointing to the timestamp at the bottom. “He didn’t. The problem is that Hollandeck sent in two sets of paperwork hoping we wouldn’t notice. If we report this file as is, it’ll look like the company is pulling in more profit than they are. They’re inflating their value.”

I still don’t understand why this is my problem. “Kylie, take this to Eugene and he’ll fix it.”

She flips a few more pages and then points to the finance team. My heart drops into my stomach when I see a name that shouldn’t be there. Reginald Katz. “He’s had to sign in when he’s visited you a few times but I thought it was weird when he decided to work with Eugene and not you. You told me he was your best friend. You’re dating his brother! Oh, don’t look at me like that. I remember everything you tell me. Not in a creepy way.” Kylie takes a deep breath and falls back into the chair. “I don’t think this was a simple mistake and I know we’re not supposed to do things like this but I would hate for your friend to get caught up in whatever this is.”

I want to believe that Reggie just found a bad batch of friends but it’s very clear on the paper that he’s been lying to all of us. He’s been in sales for as long as I can remember but part of a finance team? He doesn’t know the first thing about money, let alone a company’s. Reggie has called one too many times for a few extra dollars to pay utilities that I know no company in their right mind would take my best friend on.

“What do you want me to do with this, Kylie? I’m not taking Eugene’s client from him.” It feels harsh to categorize Reggie like that but in a professional setting, that’s all he is.

“Just take a little look. Eugene is off today and this has to be submitted so I would have asked someone on the floor to submit it anyway. If the numbers aren’t right, we’ll have to speak with the company but I’d rather you be there to soften the blow.”

She has the spirit but the wrong mindset. Outside of this building, Reggie is my best friend, bordering on acquaintance if he doesn’t stop fucking blowing through people’s boundaries. Inside this building, he’s just a client. The pill I’m about to fucking deliver to his company is going to be harder to swallow coming from me than Eugene. Still, I can at least investigate it so that we know whether or not we can meet the deadline.

“I’ll look into it. When are you leaving?”

“Probably around 6:30. Everyone’s reports need to be submitted by 6 so I thought that would give me enough wiggle room.”

I thank her as she skips out of my room with one last ‘congratulations’ and I dive right into a portfolio from my nightmares. The company sent in their documents on time but it looks like a few more important documents have since arrived, one as early as this morning. None of them have been filed by Eugene and since his work is spectacular, no one thought to double-check this particular portfolio.

However, it’s all wrong.

The new documents completely twist the narrative. The previous paperwork showed off a small mom-and-pop car shop, making a few tens of thousands in profit. This new paperwork details an entirely different narrative. They're bordering on mid-size with profits that would be outrageous for such a small shop. Something happened in the first quarter that makes the second quarter look like it’s a completely different company. I flip through the pages again, growing more irritated when I start seeing a pattern.

The finance group that has met with Eugene consists of Reggie and two other familiar names. It takes me an ungodly amount of time to figure out that we all came from the same fraternity and I probably saw them yesterday. This whole thing stinks.

The worst part is that I won’t make dinner, not with the way this portfolio is laid out.

Hopefully, Wyatt doesn’t hate me when I have to cancel.