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I won’t lie to either of my parents. I’m their only child, and even though they’ve used their wealth to open doors for me, they expect me to be a thoughtful, compassionate, and honest person.
Telling them that I landed this job will make them both happy, but I need to be sure that I’m not making a mistake before I do that. I hope that talking to Keats will help put my fears to rest.
This isn’t my dream job, but if I accept it, I’d like to keep it longer than the last four people who worked as Keats Morgan’s assistant.***I step off the elevator and into the middle of what I can only call a team meeting .
Keats is standing on the desk that’s right outside his office door. If that’s my future desk, I’m going to use a portion of my monthly expense budget to buy disinfecting wipes to clean the entire surface. The shoes on his feet are expensive, but I have no idea where the hell they’ve been.
I glance to my left and then the right. People have gathered around. I can’t spot one without a wide grin on their face as Keats addresses them.
“Remember what I always say.” He drops his hands to his hips. “Quitters never do anything worth talking about, so don’t be a goddamn quitter.”
The room erupts in laughter.
Several voices all call out the same thing in unison. “You swore.”
Keats raises a hand in the air. “I know. I owe a hundred to the fund.”
“A hundred times eight.” A female voice rises above the noise. “We all heard it, so you owe for every single one of us.”
“Eight hundred dollars?” Keats shakes his head. “Sh…shish kabob on a skewer.”
I crack a smile when I hear laughter roll through the room again.
Keats smiles too, and it’s glorious. The man is strikingly handsome with his hair slicked back into place today. He’s wearing a charcoal three-piece suit with a white shirt and a gray silk tie.
The grin on his face widens when his eyes lock on mine as he scans the room.
As much as I try to erase the smile on my face, I can’t. I toss him an awkward wave, and he reciprocates with a nod.
“I think I have a meeting,” he announces to the crowd. “Get your asses back to work.”
“That’s another eight hundred bucks.” A man’s voice bellows over all the others trying to convey the same point.
“Nine hundred,” Keats corrects him with his gaze still pinned to my face. “I owe an extra hundred. Maren heard it too.”
Heads turn in the direction he’s staring. I suck in a breath when eight pairs of eyes land on me.
“I’m Maren,” I mutter as if it’s not apparent.
“Clear the way people. I need Maren in my office right now,” Keats says as he jumps from the desk. He nails the landing before he buttons his suit jacket. “With any luck, she’ll be part of our team by the end of the hour.”
With whispered hellos, the people gathered move aside to make room for me to walk to Keats’s office.
I greet them as I pass by.
This office is a lot more laidback than the last place I worked. Staff meetings don’t exist at Knott Public Relations.
I barely knew my colleagues even though I worked side-by-side with them for years.
“Welcome aboard, Maren.” A woman passing by me smiles.
A man with graying hair perks both brows as he steps out of my way. “It’s great to meet you. I’m Everett.”
I nod. “It’s nice to meet you too.”
As I near the open door of Keats’s office, I take one last look around. Maybe working here won’t be so bad after all.Chapter 5KeatsA million questions are swimming in Maren Weber’s eyes. I saw it when she stepped off the elevator to find me standing on a desk talking to my employees.
I treat most of the people who work for me like family. We’ve cut our teeth together in this business. I opened shop with two employees seven years ago when I was fresh out of college with a dream and a small inheritance from my grandfather.
He was a sports fiend.
All he wanted was to meet his favorite baseball player, so I made it happen. In the process, I made some friends, and when it came time to sign my first client, I had my eye on a college ballplayer who had an older brother in the majors.
I was introduced to the younger brother by his sibling before the first game of the World Series. By the third inning, I had a verbal agreement in place to represent him.
That lit the fire beneath me. I’ve upped my game since then, adding employees and clients at a steady rate.
The only thing I haven’t been able to master is hiring an assistant to replace the one who was by my side for the first six years I was in business. I’m hoping this time I got it right.
