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Glancing at Bennett, I tried not to smirk. He was still staring. I nudged his foot with mine to draw his attention, shooting him a look. He cleared his throat and scrubbed his neck self consciously.
“Uh… I think that’s all the questions I’ve got. Luka?”
I nodded. “Same. I think she’s ready to meet our fearless leader. Come on, his office is on the top floor.”
Letting out a slow breath, she pushed to her feet, showing the first signs that she was nervous. I grinned as I stepped up to her, putting a hand on her shoulder.
“Relax, you did well. I think you’ll work nicely with him.”
Her relieved smile was something to behold, and I stuck my hand into my pocket to hide the effect she had on me. Bennett might need to consider sharing because the idea of sitting on the sidelines when it came to this charming woman was repugnant. Of course, if she was an employee here, there’d have to be paperwork involved and a clear conversation, but Grayson never cared about company relationships as long as they were handled properly.
Stepping into the elevators, I pressed the button for the top floor. It wasn’t a skyscraper of a building, twenty-five floors, but I loved the view anyway. My office was a floor below Grayson’s and a corner office, so I got to look out over the city in my spare time. Given where we started, it was a huge step up and I looked forward to coming to work every day.
The doors slid open and I could hear Grayson shouting almost immediately. Bennett and I shot each other a look before rushing to find out what was happening. The few people who were on this floor were all staring at Grayson’s office, stunned looks on their faces.
“I don’t care what your policy is! It's in our contract!” he snarled.
When we stepped into his office, it was in disarray. Papers were everywhere, and the phone was ringing off the hook. Grayson was on his cell phone, seething at whoever he was arguing with. I spun around, locking eyes on our interviewee.
“Alright, sweetheart. It’s your time to shine. I’m going to figure out what’s going on with him. You manage to get the rest of this under control, you’ve got the job. Understand?”
She didn’t even hesitate. A determined look crossed her face, and she nodded sharply, moving to sit at the secretary’s desk right outside Grayson’s office. I tipped my head at Bennett, directing him to go sit with her in case she had any questions, before pulling off my jacket and rolling up my sleeves. Whatever was throwing my friend like this, we could handle it together. That’s how we started off and no one stood a chance when it was the two of us. Hopefully, Julie could pull her weight and help out because, by the state of this office and Grayson himself, we’d hit the critical hour. I was not going to let this job take down my friend. Not if I had something to say about it.
* * *
It took hours to get things settled. My main focus was Grayson, helping him fix the situation once he paused long enough to fill me in. Turns out, one of our manufacturers was skimping on paying their employees a livable wage. That shit doesn’t fly here. Grayson especially took great offense and immediately reported them. That pissed off the manufacturer, who threatened to pull the contract. While Grayson was arguing with them, I made phone calls and found a smaller manufacturer who could pull off the job in time and didn’t skimp on the rules. Canceling the contract with the big manufacturer would be a pain in the ass to deal with, but the little one started working immediately after the contract was sent to them so that we’d have the products in production even as we waited for all the papers to be signed.
I lost focus on Julie for a little while, but every once in a while, she popped into the room, grabbing a stack of papers and disappearing again without a word. Bennett stayed out by her desk to help her and she didn’t interrupt us. When things finally settled and I managed to get Grayson to sit down and take a break, the office was clean of papers and there was a bottle of water and aspirin waiting for him on the corner of his desk. He took it without question, letting out a heavy sigh.
“Thank you. I didn’t even notice you handling all this. I swear, that asshole was basically treating those employees like slaves. It wasn’t right.”
Moving behind his chair, I rubbed his shoulders. “I know. And we’re going to report it to the proper people and get those employees the paycheck they deserved. Take some deep breaths.”
He did as he was told, though I could still feel the tension in his shoulders. He was still brooding over it. He wouldn’t fully let it go until we fixed the issue entirely.
“I’ve got some good news for you.”
“If it’s another blind date, the answer is no. You’ve got awful taste and you know it.”
I snorted. “Bullshit. I’ve got perfect taste. You’re just the worst person to date. You don’t make any time for relationships.”
I didn’t have to look at him to know he was scowling. “I don’t have time. Not unless you want to become my secretary on top of everything else. I don’t think my office has been this clean in weeks.”
“As much as I’m sure we’d both enjoy that, I can’t take the credit, I’m afraid,” I chuckled. “That was my good news. We found you a new secretary.”
Shifting away, he turned to look at me with a frown. “Since when?”
I lifted a shoulder. “Since now.” Reaching across him, I pressed the button on his phone that would buzz the secretary's desk. Julie answered without hesitation, her sweet voice coming out over the speakerphone.
“Yes, Mr Andrews?”
“Julie, you perfect specimen of a woman, can you come join us, please?”
Grayson shot me a dirty look. He didn’t like me flirting with the staff, but it was fun and I always made sure to keep it to the people I knew were comfortable with it. I wasn’t ever going to screw around with my position here. I valued working with Grayson too much to screw it up.
The door opened, and Julie stepped in, Bennett following behind her like a puppy. She showed no ounce of fear as she marched up to Grayson’s desk, sticking her hand out and smiling at him.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr Andrews. I’m Julie Summers. I’m applying to be your new secretary.”
