Best of Bosses 2008(143)

‘Oh, the roses,’ she said. ‘Good. Pop them in the vase there.’

A large vase already filled with water was ready and waiting at one end of Maria’s desk.

‘You must have been expecting these,’ Sally said as she lowered the roses carefully into the vase.

Maria shot a sharp glance over the top of her glasses. ‘Yes, of course. They come every Friday.’

‘Really? Someone sends the boss flowers every week?’ Sally, super-aware of the open doorway to Logan’s office, spoke in a stage whisper.

‘Mr Black has a standing order with the florist,’ Maria said impatiently. ‘He takes them with him every Friday evening.’

So the boss was the admirer, not the admiree.

Sally knew this was none of her business. Logan Black had every right to buy flowers each week for the woman he loved. In actual fact, she was very pleased by the news that he was ‘taken’ because it meant she had absolutely nothing to fear from him.

She might have asked the reluctant Maria more questions, but the PA’s attention was distracted by the arrival of a tall, imposing, silver-haired man in a dark business suit.

‘Mr Holmes,’ Maria said with a suddenly animated smile, ‘I’ll tell Mr Black that you’re here.’

As Maria lifted a phone and murmured into it, Sally’s stomach became a lead weight crashing to the floor. This was Charles Holmes, the important businessman she was supposed to escort up here. Someone else must have let him in and he’d found his own way.

She thought about trying to escape before her slackness was discovered but, from behind her, she heard the boss’s voice.

‘Charles, good to see you.’ Logan Black came out of his office, his hand extended to welcome his guest. Sally was riveted to the spot.

As soon as the two men had greeted each other, the boss half-turned and gave her a brief nod.

‘Thanks, Miss Sparrow.’

The fact that he’d got her name wrong, yet again, didn’t bother her nearly so much as the knowledge that she hadn’t carried out his request.

This was the first tiny task Logan had assigned her and she’d failed. If she hadn’t been so distracted by the arrival of his roses, she would have remembered that Charles Holmes was coming at ten. If she hadn’t been so busy quizzing Maria about the bouquet, she might have been back at her desk when Mr Holmes had arrived.

‘You got away with that,’ Maria said snakily as the men disappeared into Logan’s office. ‘But you’d better make sure it never happens again.’

Grateful that Maria hadn’t revealed her failure and feeling several versions of guilty, Sally hurried away. This mistake was yet another very clear sign that she had to focus one hundred per cent on her job. Not her boss.

Midafternoon Janet Keaton provided a welcome distraction when she called at Sally’s desk with the personality questionnaire.

‘Drop it back on my desk when you’re done,’ she told Sally. ‘It will be helpful for next week’s team-building workshop.’

‘Will I be involved?’

‘Yes.’ Janet smiled at her. ‘New employees can be very helpful in these situations. You haven’t been indoctrinated yet by the office culture. Lucy from my office will look after your desk for the day. Everyone is to meet in the conference room at nine o’clock on Tuesday morning.’





CHAPTER FOUR




SALLY was relieved to see Maeve’s friendly face as soon as she walked into the conference room on Tuesday morning. Her new friend waved to catch her attention and patted a spare chair beside her.

A cross section of employees was there—everyone from department heads to Sally, the lowly newcomer—and, to her pleased surprise, she was able to recognise nearly everybody by sight, if not by name. More than one person sent her a friendly smile or wave.

Janet Keaton called them to order. ‘I’d like to break the ice by giving you a chance to get to know each other better. You’ll find marker pens and a blank name-plate in front of you and I want you to fill in your names.’

A small babble of good-natured chatter rippled around the room as people picked up pens, but the noise died and heads turned as a tall, commanding figure strode into the room.

‘Ah, Mr Black.’ Janet met her boss’s stern frown with a warm smile. ‘I’m so glad you could join us.’

Join us? Sally’s jaw fell so hard she was surprised it didn’t hit the desk.

‘There’s a spare seat here, Logan,’ Janet said. ‘I saved it especially for you.’

The boss took the seat Janet indicated next to Hank James, the company’s Information Technology guru. He thumbed a button to open his jacket, crossed one long black-trousered leg over the other and scanned the room with a haughty, narrow-eyed gaze.