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“I told you not to do it. But would you listen to me? No. All those degrees and the fumes of money have scrambled your common sense.”
“Not today, Glenda.” I write notes across the contract I’m reviewing with the necessary revisions. Then I pass it to her. “Make these changes for tomorrow’s meeting.”
“Don't give me that look, Liam Walsh. My letter of resignation is final. You have to stop plowing through event planners. You're too hard and expect too much."
“Is that your verdict, oh wise one?”
Glenda is my oldest employee, and she thinks she's the boss. I don't have the heart to remind her that I'm the one who signs the checks around here, including hers.
“No my verdict is, you need to get laid and stop trying to send the rest of us to the nut house. This is a job for most people, and that's normal, Liam. Don’t expect us to work a million hours because you do. We have lives, thank you very much.”
I gasp, my mouth dropping open. “What do you know about getting laid?”
"You have one more old lady joke, and Imma go upside your head." Her hardy laugh sends me over the edge laughing.
“What am I going to do without you?” I ask her thankful for the comic relief.
“You’ll be rich and alone, Mr. Walsh.” She drops into the chair across from me. “I took this job because I told your mother I’d look after you. But there is more to life than these four walls. Stop building WEJ long enough to build a life.”
I look away from her probing eyes and somber tone. Glenda and my mother were best friends. Her retiring is like losing my mother all over again.
“Then I’ll be rich and alone,” I joke despite her bleak prediction. “Will you add that to my schedule?”
“I don’t know why I fool with you boy.” She snatches the contract from my hand stomping out of my office. I hear her mumble, “Asking what I know about getting laid.” Then she yells, “More than you apparently.”
“And set up interviews with more event planners for this afternoon,” I call out hearing every word of her warning. WEJ first and the rest will happen when it’s time.
“I’m going to lunch.”
I hear her huffing and puffing. The slam of her desk drawer means she's grabbing her purse. I glance at my watch, she'll be back in five…four…three…two…
“Do you want something from the deli?”
“Yes, please." I mock a bashful expression, and she flicks a dismissive hand my way.
I laugh as she mumbles and marches out of my office. The moment our suite goes quiet I realize I'm losing her. What am I going to do without Glenda? Her husband passed away a few years ago, and I am her final tie to Austin. Then her daughter gave birth to her first grandchild, and after spending six weeks in Nashville, Glenda is ready to move back home. I get it, but she's leaving enormous shoes to fill.
Glenda joined my staff after I kept changing executive assistants. It was driving me mad, and after complaining to my mother, she convinced Glenda to come out of retirement until I got it all worked out. That was ten years ago.
She calls BS, and she tells me what's on her mind at all times. It's annoying and endearing because I know she's here because she wants to see me reach my goals. She wants to see WEJ dominate the industry.
Trying to find a replacement is making my hair turn gray. The agency keeps sending these young women who think I’m on the menu or that they’ll find a way closer to my heart and my billions. But those assumptions have earned them first class tickets out of Walsh Executive Jets. Marriage is not on my menu or radar. Scratch that. Marriage is possible.
My mother always said, "You'll know her when you see her." But I don't have time. Building a first-class aircraft leasing company from the ground up is no small feat. I'm known domestically. My next major hurdle is to establish my presence in the international market. Hence, the WEJ International Aircraft Roundtable and my need for a planner.
I rock in my chair thinking of potential options. I believe this conference will singlehandedly boost WEJ into the stratosphere, but not if I can’t get through the damn thing without wifing the event planner.
I know how to bend the universe to accommodate my needs. Except I've seemed to misplace my mojo. Business burnout is snapping at my heels, but success waits for no man, including me. So I work nonstop, after this conference I can take time off before Glenda leaves me with yet another vital role to fill in my organization.
“Why?” I call out closing my eyes, letting my head fall back.
"Why what?" My eyes snap open and in the doorway is an unfamiliar face. A zap of awareness singes up my spine. She smiles, and I pull at my ear to disrupt the sound of singing. Because I know angels don't reside in my head.
"Who are you? And why are you in my office?" I scrub my tired eyes with the pads of my fingers. Clearly, my exhaustion has me delusional.
"I'm Harper Price, and I called out, but no one answered. Your assistant must have stepped away. I have an appointment with…"
I blink to clear my vision. She's turning the pages in a black planner. The curve in her hips fills the doorway and her black pantsuit. Full breast, wide hips, and her brown skin remind me of cinnamon. I have a million tasks to complete but watching her is more compelling.
