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I start the car, and I’m about to leave when I realize that her car seat isn’t in this car. I groan.
The process of retrieving the seat from the Escalade and bringing it to the Rover is physically demanding enough for me to understand why I pay Jordan and Marie so much.
Those things are heavy, especially when you already feel like dropping.
I strap Skylar to the seat, and away we go.
I don’t take Burton’s Drive this time, and it’s obvious why. Jordan isn’t with us at the moment. It would be stupid to move through the den of the lion without proper guidance.
Once we get to the office, I set Skylar down, and she immediately sprints ahead of me into the building as I lock the car up.
This isn’t her first time here. Occasionally, she comes with me to the office. National holidays that I refuse to adhere to are one of them.
Despite the few times she has been here, she knows the place almost like the back of her palm, and she quickly moves through the rotating doors.
I envy her enthusiasm as I walk behind her.
Before I exited the car, I put the finishing touches on my makeup and slipped on my heels. A deep breath is all it takes to acclimate me to the composure of the boss I’m meant to be.
Most of my tiredness is already hidden behind the coat of foundational power and prima. I wouldn’t let it show now in my eyes after going through all that effort.
“Gretchen,” I acknowledge her as she comes my way with a surprise?a wiggling Skylar in her arms.
“Ma’am.” She drops Skylar on the ground but holds on to her, so she won’t get too far.
I wish Jordan were here.
“Oh, yeah. I dropped that by accident when I was coming out of the car.” I nod to the struggling girl, who doesn’t seem to even care about me anymore.
Gretchen laughs and turns around to lead the way. “What we’re facing concerns the resources. There’s been a lot of…discrepancies.” She winces as that word leaves her mouth.
I know she’s implying miscalculations, but discrepancies could also mean missing funds, which translates to embezzlement. That’s a hot topic that an oil establishment like this tries to avoid.
“Don’t worry, Gretchen. We’ll solve all that.” I scroll through my phone to reply a few texts. “Just…leave the child alone. She’s making you more uncomfortable than you’re making her, trust me.”
She does, and Skylar stays by her side as we all walk to my office. That was where she was heading anyways.
As I pass various offices, I look towards one and almost as if my luck is on point, Travis peeks out of the office, and his face meets mine.
I give him a small wave, to which he returns with a heartier one.
Travis and I have gotten closer over the months since my separation with Thomas. He’s one of the silent members of the board and one of the only few, apart from Thomas, that holds a position in the company.
He’s the human resources manager, which is an official way of saying he’s practically the therapist of the entire company.
When I was having problems, I started going to him and, somehow, he became a safe haven. He helped me get out of depression and was even the one who enabled me to make the decision to separate from Thomas.
Since that time till now, our friendship has never dwindled, and there are even peaks, little slivers of romance that, like the childish girl I innately am, I try to naively brush off.
Gretchen and I eventually move to my office and get to work on the discrepancies that she pointed out.
For the most part, everything is sorted, and it would have been a lot easier if she had just emailed me the documents.
Gretchen has a way of making situations look a lot more dire than they are, and honestly, I do not blame her. It’s better she draws too much urgency than too little because then there would be a problem that we wouldn’t notice, or think is urgent until it’s too late.
As soon as we’re done, I begin to prepare myself to go back home, but first, I think I must pay Travis a visit.
I usually wouldn’t go to his office because for the most part, I know he’d be busy, and since I don’t have as much emotional dissatisfaction as I used to, I would just be a bother.
