All That She Wants(11)

“Because you seem way too smart, talented, and interesting to be working for a jackass like that.”

The doors opened with a chime. I walked out of the elevator, leaving her behind me to think about what I’d said.





11





She didn’t wait long, though.

She followed me into the empty lobby, then passed me and swiped a badge across the magnetic reader. The locked door clicked loudly, and I opened it and gestured for her to walk on through.

“You sure do have it in for Klaus,” she said as we entered the Land of Deserted Cubicles.

“And you don’t?”

“I have to work with him every day. What did he ever do to you?”

“I had to suffer through a couple of conference calls with him.” I shook my head theatrically. “Forty-five minutes of my life I’ll never get back.”

“Forty-five minutes?!” she exclaimed. “Try six months.”

Jesus.

Six months of her life… gone.

Working for an asshole like that.

“Which you’ll never get back,” I said, launching into rich-guy lecturing mode. “You really shouldn’t be wasting your time as his punching bag, Lily.”

She looked unhappy to hear me say it.

“That’s all very nice, but a girl’s got to eat.”

That was always the standard reply.

I’ve got to eat.

I’ve got to pay my rent.

I’ve got to (Insert Reason Here).

I suppose it was true – but going on food stamps and sleeping on a buddy’s couch while you build your own business would be a thousand times preferable to working for Klaus Zimmerman.

And there would be a hell of a lot more honor in it, too.

Just to be clear, I have nothing against working for other people. Not everybody is cut out to be an entrepreneur or a CEO. Not everybody would want that life, either.

I need Johnny and Sebastian. I depend on them. Maybe I’m a dick occasionally – but most of the time I’m really, really good to them. In a way, they’re the only real family I have anymore.

Not to mention I pay them extremely well.

All I’m saying is, if it’s a choice between working for a Klaus Zimmerman and suffering some other way… choose the other way.

Now what did she say? ‘A girl’s got to eat – ’

“That she does,” I conceded, just to avoid a fight. “But never take bread scraps when you could – and should – be dining out on lobster.”

She drew herself up huffily. “I don’t know what world you live in, Mr. Brooks – ”

Oh GOD.

I’m only thirty years old. I didn’t want her thinking I was some old codger with grey hair.

Although there wasn’t any reason I should care what she thought of me, as long as I got my hands on the exec comp reports.

I mean, it’s not like I was going to try to sleep with her or anything.

…right?

And at that moment, things shifted.

My perspective shifted.

Because I decided I wanted to keep my options open.

“It’s Connor,” I said. “My friends call me Connor. Klaus calls me Mr. Brooks.”

She smiled at that.

Ha!

“Ah, I knew I could make you laugh,” I teased her.

She immediately clamped down and got all serious again. Adorably serious.

“That was a smile, not a laugh,” she insisted.

“I’ll get there,” I said with a grin.

“Yeah, well, I don’t know what world you live in, Connor, but in mine, bread scraps are sometimes all you get.”

I really liked this girl, but she was slave to the same notion as almost everybody in her position: that circumstances – especially money and opportunity – are dictated by outside forces.

Usually, they’re not.

More often they’re dictated by our attitudes, and how we react to those outside forces.

I wondered if I should tell her that…and decided, Yeah, let’s see how she handles it.

“We either make our own realities, Lily, or we accept the realities others impose upon us. You’ve got way too much going for you to accept a reality that includes Klaus as a part of it.”

Maybe I stretched it too far. Maybe I was too pedantic, too lecturing, too judgmental. Whatever the case, I could see her clamp down and the defenses go up.

Fuck, I thought, without even knowing exactly why I cared so much.

I came to a halt, caught her arm, spun her around gently to face me, and stared deep into her eyes.

(I have to admit, in retrospect, it was all worth it just to get to touch her again.)

“Did I have a lot of advantages growing up? Yes I did,” I said, as earnestly as I could. “I’m a very lucky guy, and I recognize that. But part of my upbringing was that I learned my strengths, and I learned what I was worth, and I never let anybody tell me differently. When I look at you, Lily, I see a beautiful woman – ”