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“Listen, Tess,” she says, “I know it all seems so overwhelming at the moment, but you’ve got this. You’re strong, intelligent, and the most stubborn bitch I’ve ever met. I mean that in the nicest possible way.” She breaks off to giggle.
“Thanks . . . I think.” I laugh.
“Anyway,” she continues, “you can do this. Believe in yourself!”
“Okay, okay. Enough with the pep talk. You’re starting to sound like a motivational speaker.” Despite my protest, I’m smiling. Claire always manages to find a way to cheer me up. And now, somehow, it feels like I might be able to manage this after all. “I’ll sleep on it, and decide what to do tomorrow.”
We say our goodbyes, and I curl up on the couch with some tea. I switch the TV on, but I can’t concentrate.
Maybe this baby is what I need. Maybe it’s the universe’s way of telling me that it’s time to get my shit together. If I can’t do that for me, maybe I can do it for my baby.
Luke
I’m trying to concentrate, but it’s like pulling teeth. From an alligator.
I stare off into the distance, images of that night in Vegas still playing through my mind.
It’s been two weeks. Two weeks of the same handful of questions swirling in my brain. Questions I can’t answer.
What’s Tessa doing? Where is she now? Why was she so adamant that we never see each other again?
From what I can tell, she had just as good of a time as I did. Sure, maybe we went a little too far with the wedding, but I have far more to lose than she does, and I’m not the one freaking out.
I sigh and stare out of the window. The views are amazing from up here. Not surprising, really. InFini’s headquartered in the tallest building in downtown Colorado.
My father built Alder Investments from nothing—a small one-man operation in a rented office across the street. But now look at it. One of the biggest corporations in the country with multi-billion dollar revenues and it’s still growing, acquiring household names like InFini.
And it’s mine now. Dad decided to retire earlier this year, handing over the reins of the company to me, along with all of the power, women and influence that come with it.
I’d been looking forward to the day, sure that I was ready for the responsibility. Having spent years in Dad’s shadow, being the “Adler heir,” the crushing weight of expectation had almost been too much to bear at times.
But I’ve worked my ass off, and definitely taken nothing for granted. I’ve developed the skillset to take this role on, I’ve got the leaderships skills, and I’ve got the charisma to lead and deal with challengers and new acquisitions.
During my time as a manager in the corporation, I’d enjoyed the cutthroat nature of the business, the need to excel to beat out the competition. I’d thought that once Dad retired and handed the business over to me, that I’d be able to hone those skills further, to take the business to new heights in new markets.
But that dream is fast turning out to be nowhere near the reality.
I used to stay late in the office, bringing new investors on board, desperately seeking one last signatory to complete a deal, or buttering up a foreign CEO in a merger deal. Sure, it was stressful, but it was good, hard work that stretched me.
But now that I’m CEO? All of that shit is done for me. I sit and jerk off while other people do the hard work. I stare out of my penthouse office window while people come up and slap heavy folders on my desk. All they want from me is a signature.
Last week, we had the new InFini acquisition. I’d laid a lot of the groundwork for that deal before Dad had retired. I knew the ins and outs, the financials, everything. So when the final deal was placed before me, I started reading through it, checking it over, making sure that everything I worked towards had gotten into the final agreement.
The pencil pusher who brought it to me started shuffling, clearly uncomfortable.
I looked up at him, eyebrow cocked. “Something the matter, Welby?”
He gulped, and tugged at his collar. “Well, Sir, it’s just that the accountants want this contract ASAP so they can put the financial wheels in motion. They, uh . . . they specifically said that any delay is unacceptable.”
Heat rose in my cheeks. It was a struggle to get my anger in check. “Well, to be honest I don’t give a fuck what they said, Welby. I’m the CEO of this corporation, and I’m the one signing off on this fucking deal. So I’ll be reading every word of this before I sign a damn thing. The accountants are just going to have to wait. Tell them to come talk to me if they have a problem with that.”
