There was no reason to argue. Standing there while he opened the door and walked out, she waited a minute, then followed. He was already in the elevator when she got to it and would just have to wait now for it to return to her floor.
Screw it, with the day she had, she needed the exercise and went for the stairs.
It’d help with the monster warm cookie she was going to treat herself to on the way home. Maybe she’d get two.
20
HANDLE IT ON MY OWN
“Ethan, wait up,” Darin said when he was leaving his meeting on Friday morning.
“What’s up?” he asked.
“Can you come to my office?”
“Of course.” Though he was still technically above Darin on the corporate ladder, he’d always respect the senior staff who had worked for his father for decades.
Not to mention, the thin bloodline.
“It’s taken care of what happened the other day. Just wanted to let you know. It won’t happen again and the staff has been warned to prioritize all correspondence from Nora.”
He frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“You don’t know?”
“Nope.”
“Earlier in the week one of the staff sent a report to Nora with the wrong dates that were requested. When she asked for the right report the next morning, Heather not only ignored it, which caused Nora to come down personally to find someone to do it, but gave her a hard time over not catching it herself.”
He wondered why Nora hadn’t told him that. That she wasn’t at fault. Or not completely.
“I wasn’t aware of it, but I appreciate the staff knowing Nora is my assistant and if she’s requesting something, they honor if it’s marked urgent. Do you know if it was?”
“It was. Jared went through and tracked the email chain on Heather’s end. He might have known none of it if Heather wasn’t so vocal when Nora was there and then after. I believe Heather is one of the few who wanted to apply for your position, but Blair had told her no.”
“If she works and acts like that, there is a reason,” he said, letting out a laugh.
“Exactly. She’s on thin ice, and Jared is managing it. Just wanted to let you know personally. It shouldn’t happen again.”
“Thanks,” he said, then walked back to his office.
He popped his head into Nora’s and saw her on the phone. She looked up and held her finger up. “Can I place you on hold for a brief second? Can I help you, Ethan?”
“Sorry. When you’re off the phone, come see me.”
She nodded and went back to her call. He went into his office and took a seat, then realized he couldn’t and got back up to see if his father was at his desk.
Not that he’d tell his father what was going on personally with him and Nora, but it’d been so long since he’d had someone new under him in such a close capacity that he wouldn’t mind some advice.
“Got a minute?”
“Always,” his father said.
He shut the door. “Did you hear about what happened with someone in finance and Nora?”
“No. Is there a problem?”
He filled his father in. “She didn’t say a word to me. Took responsibility for it being wrong, had it fixed the next day, most likely staying late, but I wasn’t here.”
