In Love With My Personal Assistant(34)

"James," he answered in a gruff.

"Mr. Melone, it's good to finally get ahold of you, Elaine's a dud."

James chuckled. "It's not her fault. She didn't know about the last minute ride to Jersey."

"Yeah," Jerry muttered. "You could have warned us about that. I really needed your direction yesterday."         

     



 

"I got your email. Tell me where the hiccup is."

Jerry hesitated before he responded. "Well, Mr. Melone-"

"Cut that out and give it to me straight," he nearly barked.

"James, I told you HR should just hire the people. They were working on  some applicants and when I told them not to worry about it. Seogen  contacted me yesterday and said they need things two weeks ahead of  schedule. Once they started marketing their expansion, bits of New  Mexico and Utah became interested and they need something out there  fast. Their fish are ready to bite and they want to bring the boom."

James rolled his eyes. He hated the way Jerry spoke when he got excited. It was so unnecessary.

"Okay, so what have you been able to do as far as an analyst and project manager is concerned?"

"Well, I contacted some folks back in Illinois, but I got nothing. I  can't manage this and cover the slack from Seogen because we're screwed.  I still need to order office chairs and start a contract for  marketing."

James closed his eyes and sighed. There was silence and for a while, no one spoke. Jerry was the first to break the silence.

"Is it true someone in New Jersey is looking to expand into New York?"

A growl rumbled deep in James's throat. He hated rumors. Whenever he found that gossip …

"Because I just think that's a mistake. We've got Carnal but if they  want to move fast too, they we're doubly screwed. You took me off for  three days and I feel like I'm so far behind I don't even know where to  begin and-"

"Jerry," James interjected, "calm down." The man stuttered, but  eventually came to stop talking. "No one's mad at you. Let me worry  about New Jersey. Tell me what you need to get caught up on Seogen's  orders and-"

"I already did, James," Jerry said with a huff. "I sent your assistant  an email about any updates, like you told me to," he added with  emphasis, "two days ago. She never responded so I called you and-"

"Jerry," James cut him off again, "calm down." There was more sputtering  and James fell silent. "I'll talk to Jennifer. She'll get back to you  with a phone call later today. Give me HR's number and I'll call them  directly about the new hires."

"Thank you. We're so screwed," he tacked on quickly.

James forced a chuckled. "Calm down, and keep outbursts like that to yourself," he commented.

"We're screwed, right?" Jerry asked. "I mean, I don't know how we can make the time back."

"Jerry," James stressed his name. "Focus on your part, okay?" His voice was soothing. Jerry sputtered, but he agreed.

"Okay. Yes. I'll get HR's numbers and shoot them over in an email."

"Thank you. Email me when Jennifer calls you." They hung up and James  pinched the brow of his nose. "When this blows up in your face, please  don't call me about it."

He took a deep breath and ran his hands over his face. They were  screwed. He couldn't tell Jerry that though. There was still time to put  the pieces back together. He was good at that. A fixer. He could fix  this. His phone rang and he snatched it up.

"Melone," he nearly growled.

"Andrew's here to see you," Elaine squeaked.

James frowned. "Andrew?"

"Yes, he flew in for the afternoon, remember?"

"Uh, yeah. Send him in." Lying at this juncture was just out of  necessity. No, he didn't remember reading that Andrew was flying in. He  felt like the whole company had gone to shit in a matter of three days.  That didn't make sense. Then again, he had never purposefully  orchestrated such a faux pas before either.

James took a deep breath and reached for the bottle of water on his  desk. He glanced at the time. 12:17 pm. He couldn't wait for Jennifer to  arrive. She'd help him make sense of the scheduling errors caused by  their absence. She'd help him gather his thoughts to create an action  list and one thing at a time, he'd regain the ground he lost.

He was still drinking water when the door opened. Andrew stepped in and  acknowledged him with a raised hand and a nod. James took a deep breath.  It wasn't difficult to meet Andrew's eyes.

"Just the man I needed to see," James commented.

Andrew pursed his lips together and raised a brow. "Are you sure about  that?" He asked coyly. James frowned. Andrew lingered by the door and  crossed his arms. "There's no smoke without fire," he murmured.

James's brow bunched.         

     
 

Casually, and quite a bit relaxed, Andrew cleared his throat and shifted his weight. "I spoke with Jerry before I left."

"Jerry?" James blinked. "You spoke with Jerry?"

Andrew smiled something unpleasant and nodded. "I wouldn't have  normally, but after I couldn't get ahold of you or Jennifer past Monday  afternoon, I tried Jerry to see if you had spoken with him." James wet  his lips in the silence. "What the hell are you doing?"

James opened his mouth, but Andrew suddenly cut him off. "And," he  pointed a finger at him, "I want you to tell me just what the hell is  going on between you and Jennifer."