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She was right about that. “So what is your recommendation?” he asked.
“We’ll say that Mr. Newman realized he had some health issues and wanted to spend more time with his family. You have been working behind the scenes at an effortless transition. The timing had to be ramped up.”
He nodded.
“You’re stepping up to help him out. We’ll do our best to make you look good. Like a hero.” She gave a half shrug, as if that weren’t possible. Then without giving him the opportunity to respond, she continued, “At this morning’s meeting, we’ll announce the date of Mr. Newman’s official retirement party.” She nodded and began scribbling notes on a pad. “We’ll host a company-wide event, a barbecue or something, for Mr. Newman as soon as he’s able.”
“We’re watching the budget.”
“Employee turnover will cost you much more than a party,” she countered. “I’d suggest you don’t rob people of the opportunity to say goodbye and pay their respects. Many people have spent their careers here. Unheard of in today’s business environment. Like it or not, you will be the target of their anger.”
He didn’t want to be swayed. After Connor’s wedding and the centennial celebration, he’d had enough events to last him for the next decade. All he wanted was an evening at Deviation to recharge. On the other hand, he recognized she had a point. “Very well.”
She nodded. “You’ll need to present him with some sort of token of appreciation. A plaque, award…” She tapped her pen. “Something. And it will be a good time to distribute corporate goodies. T-shirts, duffel bags, lanyards, the like.”
“Budget, Ms. Lane,” he said.
“Don’t be a penny-pinching miser, Mr. Donovan.”
This woman… In all his years in business, he’d never worked with anyone who challenged his authority as much as she did. “Do you often have frivolous gatherings?”
“You mean morale boosters?” she corrected, undaunted. “Yes. Twice a year for the entire company. With pizza parties for each profitable quarter.”
“You’re serious.”
“Each team has discretionary spending for that that purpose too. Teambuilding.”
He sighed. At least he saw areas to cut spending going forward. “Is that something you arrange?”
“No. I generally hire it out.”
“Good. My sister-in-law’s company, Encore Events, will handle it.” At least he’d have some form of control that way. “Sofia Donovan. Call her once you’ve come up with a date. She’ll be in my contacts. And add it to my calendar.”
“You’ve given me access?”
He tapped his watch. The annoying hologram of Julien Bonds popped up. Nathan swiped it away.
“What the heck is that?”
“A product I’m beta testing,” he replied without looking up.
“Was that Julien Bonds? How did he do that?” she went on without waiting for a reply to her first question.
“Some sort of electronic wizardry. If it weren’t so irritating, this would be the most useful tool I’ve ever worked with.” Since he’d already entered her name and company email address, granting her permission to his files and calendar took only two taps on an icon.
A message scrawled across the screen.
Would you like to add a picture of Ms. Lane? For yes, upload now, or tap button to take a photo. Or we can find a picture of her on social media. That could be interesting.
How the hell did Julien’s program do that? Freaky as hell.
Nathan tapped a button, tilted the watch toward her and said, “Smile for the camera.”
She didn’t.
Nathan took the picture anyway.
With her mouth set in a stern line and a slight furrow between her brows, she was quite appealing.
Upload complete.
He glanced at the picture and the beating heart returned to float above the screen. Irritated, he swiped it away then glowered when it moved to the upper right hand corner rather than vanishing as he wanted.
Would you like to notify Ms. Lane of her accessibility, Mr. Donovan?
“Yes,” he replied.
Message sent.
Her phone dinged. Good to know that her work email went to her phone.
“You can talk to that thing?” she asked.
“It’s intuitive enough that it interacts however you want.” Except for the damn glitchy heart-rate monitor.
She glanced at her phone. “My email address has already been changed to Donovan Logistics,” she said, sounding incredulous.
“Handled yesterday.” Or sometime early this morning. After Friday evening, everything was blurred.
