I squirmed.
“Truth.”
“Yes.”
“Good. That’s what I want to hear. Look, I have no doubt that you could run the clerical support program when Lola decides to retire. The money would be good. It wouldn’t be a huge challenge. There’s nothing wrong with wanting that type of job.”
“But?”
“But PR is faster paced. We have more autonomy. That’s not to say we don’t have rules—we do; it’s just no one knows them.”
I laughed.
“Let’s cut to the chase. There will be an opening in PR in three weeks. Are you interested?”
“You want honesty? Here it is. I’m not interested in the creative side. I like order. I like lists. I like checking things off my list. I like checking to see if others have checked things off their lists. I like to work with other employees, not clients. I can’t sell anything to save my life.”
Annika stared at me and I thought I’d blown it.
Until she said, “I have a crazy girl crush on you right now, Lennox Greene.” She laughed. “You are exactly what my department needs. That’s why I was vague on the details of what the job entails, because I wondered if you wanted to be on the creative side. Now that I know you are more the math brain type like Brady, I want you to come to work for me. You’ll be challenged—you’ll be the queen of lists in Post-it note creative chaos. And the money is rockin’.”
She gave me a starting salary amount that dropped my jaw.
“Now your turn for truth, Annika Lund. Is that number because I’m involved with your brother?”
“That’s industry standard salary for one year’s experience.” She sipped her second drink. “Look it up.”
“I will.”
“I understand you’ll probably want time to think it over, but don’t take too long, because the job gets listed on Tuesday. And before you ask, yes, I have full hiring and firing authority, and it is not a requirement for me to post the job opening. I can hire and promote at will.” She grinned. “It’s good to be me.”
I drained my drink. “You know what? I don’t need time to think about this. I’d be delighted to work for you, Annika.”
She clapped her hands. “You won’t regret this. And you know you’ll fit right in.”
I’d loved working in PR, and I would’ve snapped that job up except for the fact I’d wanted more experience and a more solid employment record. Now that I had that . . . look out. I glanced up at her. “Will it bother you if people in the company assume that I got the job because I’m involved with Brady?”
“Nope.”
“What if things go south between me and your brother?”
Annika rolled her eyes. “I’m hiring you, not him. I wouldn’t put it past him to do some dumbass thing to test your commitment to him, because he is a man, but it won’t be intentional. Just do me a favor—don’t tell him I hired you until you officially give notice.”
“Sure. Should I give notice tomorrow?”
“Yes.” Annika held up her glass. “To you making my work life easier.”
I touched my glass to hers. “Sounds like a plan.”
“Now. Tell me every little thing about you, Lennox.”
That’s when I burst into tears.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Brady
‡
I didn’t have time for this bullshit personnel meeting. I had fifty other irons in the fire, and trying to get everything done in forty hours—okay, maybe fifty hours—a week instead of eighty hours had proved to be a serious challenge. Jenna had picked up some of the slack and had delegated her basic secretarial duties to Patrice. When Patrice heard I had a girlfriend, she’d stopped being moon-eyed over me and actually began to do her job.
Before I walked into the sixteenth-floor conference room, Jenna took me aside. “I just heard about this.”
“What? This meeting? Join the club.”
“No, the topic of this meeting. There haven’t been any whispers about it from my usual sources, which should’ve set off my alarm bells.”
“Whatever. I need to get this over with.”
“Brady.”
I froze. And turned around slowly. My admin never called me by my first name.
“You have to know this so you don’t go in there blind.” She grabbed the sleeve of my suit and dragged me around the corner. “Anita has a problem with the temp department. That’s why she ordered a thorough investigation.”
“I know. The oversight committee ended the investigation last week. I’m still waiting on the results.”
“The results are in. I just heard that from—never mind. The point is, they gave the results and their recommendation to Ash, not you.”