AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The post below the pic read:
Best anniversary ever brought to me by my Prince Charming!!![Heart emoji, heart emoji, heart emoji, cat emoji, prince emoji.]Meet the two newest members of our family, Garbo and Garland. I can’t wait to marry this man in exactly 240 days!!![Heart emoji, heart emoji, bride emoji] #soinlove, #newcatmama, #kittensarethebest, #princecharming.
Kittens?Ugh. Who would want permanent poop factories living in their house? Layla, of course. Alanna stared at her sister’s smiling face and shook her head in befuddlement. Layla was still stuck in their small, hopelessly boring hometown of Yucca Hills, not to mention set on marrying her high school sweetheart. If Alanna were in that position, she’d be desperately gnawing off her own foot trying to escape such a suffocating life, but, instead, Layla seemed… completely content.
For reasons she pointedly chose not to explore, that irked Alanna. A lot. Why was Layla so happy when she had so little? Alanna was the successful one. The high-earning girl boss with the sleek car and trendy condo in Silver Lake. What did Layla have besides cats and evident fulfillment?
Alanna glanced at the plant sitting on the edge of her desk. The peace lily had been a gift from Layla at the beginning of the year for her agency’s five-year anniversary.
See,Alanna thought,I have a pet… kind of.Then she noticed the plant’s sagging leaves were tinged brown around the edges.Oh, right. Bea, the sweet office cleaning lady, had retired two weeks ago, and the new cleaning guy obviously didn’t consider plant care as part of his job description. Alanna jumped into her calendar and scrounged up five free minutes on Friday.
Water plantshe typed into the line and sat back in her chair.There.See?She was a born nurturer. Satisfied, Alanna turned away from the plant and cracked her knuckles. Time to sail right into the storm.
The following hours didn’t so much fly by as teleport away. She gobbled down the delicious sandwich Renee had brought while on the phone with a sobbing Derek before patching him through to his therapist. Next, she checked a batch of press releases, reviewed a guest list for a symposium, held a 30-minute mentoring session with one of the most promising interns, and furiously typed out emails whenever she could grab a free minute.
And then, just like that, her phone dinged with a meeting reminder at the same time Renee knocked softly on her open door.
“Partner meeting,” her executive assistant said.
“Right. Let me just armor up.” Alanna pushed her short blonde bangs to the side, opened up a desk drawer, and pulled out her weapon of choice. With practiced strokes, she added a new layer of Scarlet Leather lipstick to her lips.
Now she was ready.
Heading down the hall, Alanna pushed open the glass door of the main conference room and sat at the head of the table. Chip hated when she took the head seat. Alanna was usually above petty power moves, but for Chip, she always made an exception.
Sabrina already sat at the table furiously texting on her phone. Her short-sleeved navy dress accented with a pale pink scarf looked amazing with her porcelain complexion and strawberry-blonde locks.
When Chip had insisted on elevating his protégé and personal ass-kisser, Raul, to the role of junior partner last year, Alanna had relented only when Chip agreed to promote Sabrina to the same position. And Sabrina had deserved it. Starting as a wide-eyed, bushy-tailed intern when the agency was nothing but dreams and grit, Sabrina had spent long days and nights alongside Alanna building the company brick by brick. Together, they were a bulwark, vetoing Chip’s worst ideas and keeping Fresh Perspective pointed on an upward trajectory.
Speaking of the devil, Chip Rupert the Third strolled into the conference room, grumbling under his breath. Probably something to do with the indignity of having to be conscious before noon. Raul, his black hair slicked in the same style as Chip’s, scampered just behind his boss. Both men wore nearly identical Armani suits and loafers.
Chip noted Alanna’s seat and scowled. She offered him a tight-lipped smile as she put her phone into silent mode. Neither senior partner bothered to hide their mutual loathing. To both, the other was a necessary evil. Alanna put in the sweat equity that kept the agency running, while Chip used his oily charm and seemingly endless contacts to bag many of their top clients. Alanna still didn’t know his secret. Maybe the Armani store was a front for a secret coven of gassy, over-tanned sorcerers fueled by unearned confidence.
Chip flopped into a chair next to Alanna and planted his elbows on the table. His sleeve rose, showcasing an $80,000 platinum black Rolex strapped to his wrist.
“Let’s keep this meeting short,” he began. “Jordan Boon is ready to sign. We’ve all had a chance to review hisvery lucrativerepresentation contract—”
“We’re not signing him,” Alanna interrupted. “Next item. I’d like to review our employee salary caps.”
“Of course we’re signing him,” Chip shot back. “He’ll bring us Momentum Therapeutics.”
“Momentum isn’t on the table,” Alanna replied deftly. “Jordan Boon wants us to represent him personally, not his company.”
Chip rubbed his temples and spoke slowly as if explaining to a child. “If we rep the CEO of the company, he’ll serve us Momentum on a platter.”
Alanna would give her left ovary to rep Momentum. The plucky startup had just completed a successful venture capital funding round and was set to begin human trials on its genomic lung cancer treatment later this year. If those trials were successful and the treatment received FDA approval, the company would be worth billions.
Billions! And some of those dollars would trickle down to her agency. Representing Momentum Therapeutics would be the big break Fresh Perspective had been building toward for the past five years. It would cement their position as the top biotech PR company in the US.
“No.” Alanna shook her head. “Jordan Boon isn’t going to be the CEO of Momentum much longer. Three women have already come forward with sexual harassment claims.”
Chip waved away her concern as if swatting a house fly. “You tell a girl to smile, and she calls HR on you these days. Two of the women have already taken payouts and signed non-disclosure agreements. The third bitch is only making threats to go public to get a higher payoff.”
Bitch?Alanna’s blood started to simmer. This, right here, was exactly why she needed to get rid of Chip. Sure, he brought in well-heeled clients, but Fresh Perspective could stand on its own now. It didn’t need the stench of his flop sweat spoiling all her good work. If only she could find a way to turn Raul against him and vote him out.
“Three women, Chip,” she repeated. “Who knows how many others are out there?”
“There’s no evidence of additional claims against Mr. Boon,” Raul replied, then quickly corrected himself. “Alleged claims.”
