Reaching out, I take his hand.
8
“Hey, Tess!” My assistant Rhonda slips out from behind her desk as I approach.
“Hey, girl,” I call. “You have a good Christmas?”
“Well, Steve’s parents were in town,” she replies, which is answer enough.
I unwind my thick scarf one-handed, holding my coffee with the other. “Yeesh. How bad was it?”
“Wendy informed me that she thinks my children are going to hell because I wouldn’t let her baptize them when they were babies,” she replies.
“Seriously?” I cry, handing her my coat.
“Yep.” She hangs my coat and scarf up with hers. “Oh, and she accused me of stealing sleeping pills from her purse. Twice. Turns out she had them in her makeup bag the whole time.”
“Oh god. Is she gone, at least?”
“Yes, thank God. They left for Akron this morning.”
“That’s a relief,” I say with a sympathetic grimace. I pick up my bag and coffee from the edge of her desk.
“Hey,” she calls as I turn towards my office door. “Your meeting with Dalton Holdings Limited got pushed to 10:00 a.m. Some HR thing was just scheduled at the last minute. You’re meeting with them at 9:00 a.m.”
I glance over my shoulder, lowering my voice so the other secretaries in this suite can’t hear us. “Do we know what it’s about?”
“No idea. I just saw your name was added to the meeting invite. Dale is running the show.”
I fake a snore, which earns me a soft laugh from Rhonda.
Dale Eubanks is the head of HR for Powell, Fawcett, and Hughes, and a duller man has never drawn breath.
“Give me ten minutes to charge the batteries,” I say, gesturing with my coffee hand. “Then you and I can head down together.”
“Oh, I have a mandatory accounting training,” she replies. “But…I can probably get out of it if you need me—”
“No,” I say with a laugh. “No need. I’m sure this will prove to be nothing. Probably a mandatory refresher on reporting client gifts. Don’t they make us sit through that every Christmas?”
I wave her off as I enter my office. I’ve only got fifteen minutes. Just enough time to sign one of the contracts stacked on my desk. And just like that, Tess Owens closes another multimillion-dollar deal before nine in the morning.
I take a sip of my iced caramel macchiato with a smile.
Fifteen minutes later, I’m on my way down to Human Resources, tablet and coffee in hand.
“Good morning,” I singsong as I hurry my way across the seventh-floor atrium. My heels click as I sweep past the pair of girls working behind the desk. They’re cute things fresh out of college with matching blonde ponytails.
Oh, and they’re both named Katie.
“Morning, Ms. Owens,” says Katie One. She always wears a slightly startled look on her face, like she’s constantly surprised to find herself sitting behind a desk.
“Are they in conference room B?” I say as I walk past.
“Actually, Ms. Owens, they might not be ready for you yet,” says Katie Two, scrambling out of her chair.
“The meeting doesn’t start for another two minutes.” I walk right past them, angling for the frosted glass door of the conference room.
“Ms. Owens, wait—”
The door whispers across the carpet as I push it gently inward. “Good morning, I—”
I pause in the open doorway, my hand pressed against the cool glass. My gaze darts quickly around the room. Two of the three partners are here. Oh, and Dale, of course.
“I thought I was early,” I say. “Did I get the time wrong?”
“Tess, we’re not quite ready for you yet,” Dale replies from his seat at the head of the table.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Eubanks,” calls Katie Two from just behind my shoulder. “I tried to tell her.”
“It’s fine, Katie,” he says with a wave of his hand.
“I don’t understand,” I say, glancing around.
My gaze lands on Troy sitting to the left of Dale at the opposite end of the long conference table. He’s wearing a holier than thou look as he takes me in with those dark eyes.
“What happened?” I say. “Oh god, did someone die?”
“Come in, Tess,” says Dale. “Let’s get the door shut.”
I take two steps in, letting my hand drop to my side so the frosted glass door swings shut in Katie Two’s face. “What happened?” I say again.