AllFreeNovel
Share Us
We filed out of the office and walked toward the stairs. As we did, Nancy and Dave came out of one of the conference rooms.
“Is there a problem?” Nancy asked.
“No problem! Not a problem at all,” I said. “Just filling them in on my trip to Italy.”
“She means with our paperwork,” Dave replied. “Did you suddenly change your minds? Oh God, we’re totally getting fired, aren’t we.”
“Nobody is getting fired,” Owen snapped. “Something came up. We’ll sign your disclosures tomorrow.”
As we went upstairs and into my office, I asked, “What did I miss?”
“Dave and Nancy are a thing,” Owen said.
“Aww, good for her!”
“That was my reaction,” Jude chuckled.
“I knew they were getting awfully friendly,” I mused. “Dave has been moving his bean bag closer to her desk every day…”
Owen closed the door and rounded on us. “Focus. We have our own problems to discuss.”
Jude blinked as if coming out of his own daze. “You’ve been sleeping with both of us? At the same time?”
I sank into my office chair. Jude took the chair on the other side of my desk, while Owen stood and crossed his arms. It was a strange reversal of the situation: getting grilled by your boss usually happened intheiroffice, not your own.
“I don’t know how it happened,” I said. “It’s not like I planned it this way. I liked Jude, first. I liked him from the start, when we met at my sister’s birthday party. When we finally hooked up, he told me we couldn’t become too serious. He was my boss, and the company was still growing, and it would lookverybad for ACS if one of the founders was dating his employee. Especially with the Series A financing still pending.
“And then things started happening with Owen…” I smiled weakly. “Hacking prank with flirty undertones. And then we…”
“Spare me the details,” Jude said. “I don’t want to know.”
“Owen made itveryclear he wanted to keep things casual. He got upset when Melinda found out and made me sign the disclosure. So I didn’t feel too bad, since both of you didn’t want anything long-term! Again, I didn’t plan it this way. It just sort of happened.”
Both of them processed this for a moment. Jude removed his glasses, cleaned them, and then put them back on, frowning in thought the whole time. Owen paced the length of the room, arms crossed over his chest.
My shock was wearing off, and I steeled myself for what would happen next. Both of them would break up with me. They would say that they couldn’t be with someone who had secretly fooled around with both of them, and that it was best for everyone involved—including ACS itself—if we ended things here.
And the worst part? I knew that they would be right.
But then Owen stepped forward, and there was a new kind of intensity in his eyes. “I’ve given it some thought, Amber. No, that’s not true. I’ve given it alotof thought. I’ve thought about nothing but this since you’ve been in Italy. I don’t want a casual relationship with you anymore.”
“I know,” I said. “I understand if—”
“I want something serious,” he told me, which erased whatever I had been about to say. “I want arealrelationship with you, Amber. Not just a booty call.”
Jude stood up, knocking his chair back. “I was going to say the same thing. I want to take you out and not be afraid of someone seeing us. I want you to be my girlfriend, Amber. Even if it means taking a demotion so that I’m not your direct superior.”
“Let’s take a step back there, Boston,” Owen said. “If you rearrange the org chart, then who will you both report to? Me?”
“That makes the most sense, yes,” he replied.
Owen gestured angrily. “Did you ignore everything I just said? I want a real relationship with her too! If she reports directly to me, then you’ve shifted your problem over to me.”
“Then we promote Amber,” Jude said. “Find a new C-suite role for her to occupy. One that is equal to us.”
“Giving a female employee a promotion so you can fuck her guilt-free?” Owen scoffed. “Bro, that doesn’t create the good optics you think it does.”
“I’m trying to think of solutions!”
