17. Grayson

CHAPTER 17

GRAYSON

L ara looks up from her computer as I stride into the office, feeling better than I have in weeks. Things with Jade are better than ever, we're getting close to the date of the relaunch, and rumors are flying around the office that Dad is going to name the next CEO at the party.

Lara hands me one of the coffees on the corner of her desk. "Jade is already here and working on some of the last-minute paperwork. She said if you need her, she's going to be in the conference room."

I nod. "Not right now, at least. I have to look over some of the ad campaigns Mac sent over, and then I'm heading down to the kitchen to make something to eat."

"I could have grabbed you one of those bagels from the cart down the street on my way in."

"I don't think I'm craving one of Gino's bagels today. I have some leftovers from lunch yesterday that should make a good enough breakfast."

Lara rolls her eyes. "You know, you should take some time to eat some real food in the morning at home before you come to work. Maybe whip yourself up some eggs and bacon or something."

"And miss out on the half an Italian sub sitting in the fridge calling my name? I don't think so. I need that sandwich. It's going to be the highlight of my day."

Lara smirks and leans back in her seat, crossing her arms. "Are you sure the highlight of your day isn't Jade? You two seem to have gotten pretty close over the last few weeks. You're always leaving work together."

My lips press together, and I look around, making sure that nobody else has heard her.

There wouldn't be a problem with me and Jade together, but I don't want people to think less of her because we are. Maybe not together, but we are something to each other.

I just don't know what that something is.

I don't think either of us do.

Lara snorts and points at me. "You should see the look on your face right now."

"You know, you might need to be fired. I could be looking for a new assistant. Someone who doesn't look at me first thing in the morning and point out the fact that she's known about my secret relationship all along."

"If you didn't want me to know about it, you shouldn't have been making googly eyes at her from the moment you saw her."

"Look, I've known Jade for a long time, and there's history there. We saw each other again after a long time of not seeing each other, and one thing led to another."

"And now you're in love with her."

I cough, eyes bulging as I look down at her. "Why would you say that?"

"Because I know these things. And I may just be your assistant, but I'm not oblivious. In all the years I've worked for you, you've only started going home on time and actually having a life since she's been here."

"I don't know what part of that would lead you to think that I'm in love with her, but you would be wrong about that."

Lara pushes back from the desk, crossing her arms and looking up at me. "I'm not wrong about it, and you know it. The pair of you are both just too stubborn to see a good thing."

"It's not a good thing. It ends after the launch party, and then we're going to go our own separate ways."

Lara stands up and plants a finger in the middle of my chest. "I'm going to make this very clear to you. If you let that woman walk out of your life, it's because you're too scared to go after what you want."

"And why would I be scared of that?"

"Because you've crafted your entire life around what you think everyone wants you to be." Lara says the words like they're facts, each one hitting home harder than the last.

"I think I'm going to go and have my coffee and get the rest of my sandwich before you tear my entire character apart."

She smiles and shakes her head, but I can see the disappointment shining in her eyes. "One of these days, Grayson, you're going to have to stop pushing away everyone who dares to care about you."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure you don't." Lara rolls her eyes, shaking her head. "Jade cares about you, and I can see that you care about her, so you should probably just admit that the two of you are going to end up together and have little babies who wear suits all day."

Snorting, I shake my head. "Now you're living in a fantasy land. We might be enjoying each other's company, but little babies in suits aren't on the agenda."

Lara's amused smirk has me thinking that maybe they should at least be a thought. Sometime.

What would a life with Jade even look like, though? It's hard to see it through the doubts in the back of my mind.

Lara turns back to her work. "You should really think about what a future looks like outside of this place, boss. You have tunnel vision."

I raise the coffee cup to her in a silent salute before walking into my office.

She might be right about the tunnel vision, but with everything I've ever wanted just within my reach, I'm not going to allow anything to ruin it for me.

And there's still the little worry in the very back corner of my mind that thinks history with Jade is just going to repeat itself.

Our arrangement has worked until now, but that's because it has an end date.

Unless she does screw me over and become the new CEO. Which could be why she's gotten close to me, throwing me off my game, sending me spiraling when we're so close to the end.

It would be just like her.

But is it like the Jade I've been seeing over the past few weeks?

I don't think it is, but I can't be sure. Not when I know that she can be ice cold and calculating when she feels like it.

Sighing, I down a large gulp of coffee before heading down to the lunchroom. My stomach growls as I walk through the halls and down the flight of stairs.

Some people look at me as I pass before turning to whisper to each other. I glance over my shoulder at a pair of the layout designers before sighing.

I don't know what the drama is around the building today, but based on the way people are acting, it has something to do with me.

The rumble of voices comes from within the lunchroom, and for a moment, I consider not going in. If the drama does have to do with something I did, I don't want to have to be a spectacle while I'm eating.

I could listen to what they're saying about me.

It's juvenile, and I know that, but I can't help myself.

"Did you hear that Leo is going to name Jade the new CEO?" The editor-in-chief's voice rings out of the lunchroom as I stop just outside, confusion flowing through me.

Jade told me that she didn't want anything to do with becoming the CEO. She's held to that since she started here.

But what if she was only saying that to put me off my game?

It wouldn't be the first time she's played with my mind and my emotions to get what she wanted.

Years have passed since then. Jade isn't the same woman, and I'm not the same man.

But she's still the kind of woman who is willing to do what it takes to get where she wants to be.

I peek into the room, watching Daryl and Logan for a few seconds before stepping around the corner again.

"Leo is never going to pass over Grayson. You know he's been grooming him for the CEO position for years." Resentment drips from Daryl's voice. "If Leo paid any attention to how I've been running the damn paper over the last few years, he would put me in the CEO position over the two of them."

Logan snorts. "He's never going to do that. Personally, I think he's going to be putting Jade in the position. Look at how well she's bringing the company around. It looks like we're not all going to lose our jobs."

I scowl, leaning my shoulder against the wall and looking down at the ground when someone passes me and heads into the room.

They seem to forget that I've been working along with Jade to bring the company around. I've been working countless hours with her to put together this rebrand, yet she's the one who gets the credit.

It's just like college all over again.

Even though she said she didn't want the CEO position, that could have changed.

Jade barely talks about business when we're not at work. I used to think it was because we were spending the evenings wrapped up in each other.

Maybe that was all a game so I wouldn't see what she was really up to.

Logan chuckles at something someone says that I don't quite catch. "There's no way that Leo is going to put Grayson in charge. If it was going to happen, it would have happened years ago."

My teeth grind together as I clear my throat and step into the lunchroom. "I didn't know that there was a competition going on."

The color drains from their faces.

Logan is the first to swallow and meet my eyes. "From the way we heard it, Jade is going to try to become the CEO too. We heard her talking to Lara about expanding her career the other day."

This is the first I'm hearing about that conversation.

I move past them and to the fridge, hauling open the door with a little more force than necessary and grabbing my leftovers. "Well, whoever gets the position will have earned it with all the hard work that's being put into the rebrand."

Though it's not what I want to say, it's the only thing I can say.

Anything else would make its way around the office and back to Dad.

Then, he would think that I'm not ready to take over the company, even though I've done everything I can to show him that I'm ready.

I've spent my entire life trying to impress him, but nothing I do ever seems to be enough.

That is, not until Jade showed up and I started helping her revitalize the company.

Dad was starting to see me in a new light, I think, and now we're starting to slide backward. If he's really thinking about naming her CEO, then it's time I put an end to her scheming.

With how well things have been going between me and Jade, she should've mentioned if she was thinking about taking this job. She knows I've spent my entire career working for it.

She knows how much this means to me — just like she did with the internship — and yet she's still willing to take it away from me.

Twelve years is a long time, but apparently, it's not long enough to change who a person really is.

I abandon my leftovers, tossing them out before storming back to the offices. I have to talk to Dad and find out what's going on, but I have to do it without sounding like a petulant child.

Dad looks up from his desk, shoving some papers to the side. "You look like you're off to a bad morning."

"Didn't sleep well last night. Jade and I have been spending a lot of time making sure the app is entirely functional before the launch. It's a lot of back-and-forth with Pelletier Design."

"You've been working hard. I know you've heard the rumors going around about the CEO position, and while I haven't made an official announcement yet, you know that it's in the cards soon."

This is the moment.

It's everything I've been waiting for. He's going to tell me that the rumors about a competition are all just made up. Dad is going to hand over the CEO position.

Jade really didn't want any part of this company.

Dad leans back in his chair, hands folding together. "There are a couple different people the board is considering as my replacement. I'm in agreement with them and the people they've put forward, and I've spoken to another candidate."

And just like that, reality comes crashing back down around me.

I force a grin to my face. "I'm glad to hear that you're finally going to take some time to slow down."

He nods. "If there's one thing I've learned over the course of the last two months, it's that I don't have the energy or the desire to keep up with the younger market. It's time that someone more in touch with today takes over."

A tight feeling sits in my stomach, making me wish that I never set foot in here.

"When do you think you're going to make the announcement?"

"At the relaunch party." Dad smirks and leans forward, digging back into the work in front of him. "I have to finish going through Jade's proposal for the next year, then sign paperwork for the board."

"Well, I'll leave you to that."

I tuck my hands in my pockets to hide the way they shake with anger.

This whole time, Jade has been lying to me.

The conversation with Dad is what confirms it for me. If he is going through her proposal for the next year, then I'm sure she's speaking to him behind my back. She's making a play for the company, and I wouldn't have known if I hadn't overheard the conversation in the lunchroom.

As I leave his office, every moment since Jade entered my life again plays on repeat through my mind.

Was it all a lie?

Was she just using me to get another company under her belt?

Millions of dollars weren't enough for her. She needed to prove that not only could she build her own businesses, but she could take the one I've worked so hard for and breathe new life into it.

For weeks, she's been lying to me. Between the proposal I didn't know existed and the people being considered for CEO, everything snaps into focus.

She did this to hurt me, and today is where it ends.

When I pop my head into Jade's office, she looks at me with a smile, but it falls pretty quick. "Is something wrong?"

"Yeah, there is. Come to my office."