AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Reaching for my seat belt, I prepare myself.
“I had roundtables with my team.” The belt clicks into place and the tick of the blinker is barely heard as Noah rolls up the partition, allowing us privacy.
“Your team who’s talking tomyteam,” Suzette stresses and I can’t help but to let out a chuckle.
Leaning my head back, I turn to face her.
“I don’t find it funny,” she tells me and there’s a hint of hurt there.
“Because you aren’t in control,” I tell her honestly.
With her hands in her lap, she fidgets with her fingers and tells me, “I just need to know what your plans are.”
“It’s after six, Suzette.” I’m soft with the reminder.
“I don’t like this.” She’s equally soft with her disappointment. It’s unsettling. Not anger; she’s genuinely upset.
“It’s okay to be uncomfortable. That’s how progress is made,” I tell her, in an attempt to ease her mind.
“I suppose I could leave you uncomfortable then?” It’s not quite a tease or a threat, but some combination of the two.
My response is firm. “Don’t tempt me to punish that mouth of yours before we’ve had dinner.” She swallows, the threat coming through as it should. To remind her that she loves what I do to her, that right now the office is behind us and we’re to get lost in each other.
Her posture remains stiff, though, and her gaze guarded.
In an attempt at a truce, I rest my hand on hers, and she reciprocates by turning her small hand to hold mine. “Thank you,” I murmur and then run my thumb along her soft skin.
“Please, answer me one thing,” she presses and I close my eyes to respond with a short nod.
“What are you going to do with it?”
“With what?”
“The company?”
I remain silent. As if it were so simple to have a one-sentence answer, or to even know what would be best so early on.
“A split-up? Go public for shares? I looked into the other companies under your LLC, so I doubt you have a merger in mind.”
When I finally open my eyes and look back at her, fear lingers in every nuance.
I debate on confiding in her, knowing how quick office rumors are to spread and the chaos that little bits of information can create. But then she utters a single word, staring back at me like I could make every little worry she has vanish. “Please.”
“The plan is a split-up and the merger of the new entity and another company I have in mind … if possible.”
She doesn’t hesitate to question, “And what about the other? The original entity? The departments that aren’t useful for the merger?”
I’m silent, half wondering if she’s playing me. If all of this was a setup and she’s pumping me for information. “There are inefficiencies that cannot be overlooked.”
“Where does my department—”
My tone is harsher than I’d like as I interrupt her. “Not everything has been decided.” Gentling it, I add, “You don’t need to worry.”
“As your lover or as your employee?”
“When I tell you that you don’t need to worry, I need you to believe it. I need you to trust me.”
She’s silent, and every second that passes feels as if another weight has been added to my chest. It’s obvious I haven’t eased her concerns in the least. She wants a definitive answer and I can’t give her one. I can’t say anything with certainty.
