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Chapter Twenty-Two
ASS. HOLE.
Bentley
After spendingthe last several weeks with Kenzie, I keep waiting for the time to come when I grow tired of her constant company, but it’s the nights when she’s not with me that I find myself restless.
Kenzie is the bright light in my life that I wasn’t looking for. She makes fun of me when I’m grumpy instead of being offended by my sour mood. She pushes me to do things I wouldn’t normally, like skinny dipping in my own heated pool and fucking her on the steps until she screamed my name. Twice.
Even my sister has grown fond of Kenzie. Since our shared dinner, I’ve seen them texting in the evenings and as much as I’ve gotten annoyed with the distractions, I’m also grateful. Celia is my only family now, and I don’t know how I’d handle things if they didn’t get along.
Owen walks into my office holding the new marketing presentation samples for one of our subsidiaries. “Ready for our meeting?”
I wave him in. “Of course. Have a seat.”
One thing I admire about Owen most is that he almost never brings up personal things when we’re at work. I worried for a moment that Kenzie being best friends with his fiancée would become a complication, but if anything, things have only gotten better at work, as well as outside of West-to-East, Inc.
Owen takes a seat and starts spreading the drawings out. I see three different versions of branding: classic styling with standard coloring and smooth strokes, black and gray with small pops of color to draw the eyes, and then there’s one I didn’t expect—pop art.
I snag the last one and hold it closer. The drawing is bold and almost obnoxious, but I don’t hate it.
“Why this one?” I hand the piece back to Owen.
“Sampson’s is more than a grocer. They have history in neighborhoods with a variety of people. I felt this gave a classic-yet-modern style to their branding that showcases who they are.” He points to the first drawing. “This one also fits well if the latter is too bold.”
I shake my head. “No, I think you’re onto something. Keep going with the pop art, and don’t worry about checking in with me on any of these projects. You know what you’re doing, but at the same time, you should also look for someone to replace you.”
Owen freezes while gathering the papers. “Excuse me? I don’t understand.”
I smile and lean back in my chair. “This company has never had a proper vice president. I assume that’s thanks to the prior CEO, but I’d like to change that. I already talked to the board, and they all agreed that you’d make an excellent candidate. Obviously, it’s not set in stone, but if you’re interested, I’d like to officially present the position to them. I need more help directing the department heads. I don’t want to live to work, and I wouldn’t expect you to, either. If we split the workload, we should have more time to do as we please.”
A heavy breath escapes him. “I didn’t see that coming.”
I laugh. “You weren’t supposed to. Consider it, and let me know what you think next week. Everything is running fine now, but I’m always looking for ways to make things better for everyone.”
“And that’s why I’m glad you’re in that chair instead of anyone else,” Owen says with a smile, then begins gathering the papers again.
I stand and walk him to the door. “We’ll talk soon.”
He nods and waves before heading back to his office.
When I turn around, Brad is sitting there, staring hesitantly at me. “Kenzie called. She said she’s running behind and will have to meet you at Resolutions for the meeting instead of beforehand for lunch.”
“Cancel the reservation then, and please order me something from Mario’s,” I say, then head back into my office. No sense in leaving for food if I won’t be joined by Kenzie.
Today is an important meeting for the fundraiser, though. Hopefully, she can get whatever is today’s dumpster fire put out before it’s time to leave.
Joyce has been emailing everyone daily providing progress reports and asking for updates. Thankfully, nothing has gone wrong, and we have more donations and ticket sales than I’ve ever seen. Splitting the carnival into two parts was a great idea that seems to be paying off.
Hell, one of the other board members even got a band to come play, and I was able to get the radio stations and newspapers to run a few ads and articles about the event for free.
The only unfortunate part about it all was that my name ended up on that damn online gossip website again. I haven’t seen any new pictures surfacing, but that doesn’t mean whoever has been writing about me isn’t still keeping closer tabs than I like.
Glancing at the clock, I still have two hours before I need to leave for the shelter and a pile of paperwork that requires more of my attention than bottom-feeder, wannabe reporters.
I grab the first file and get to work, making the best use of my time.
* * *
