AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Have a seat, Lana.” He motions to the chairs near the bar. ”We have some things to go over.” He turns to Liz. “I know you are busy. Feel free to check back with me in an hour or so. I want to get to know Lana a little bit and go over a few things.”
Jake moves to sit on the edge of the desk in front of me as my eyes roam down his long, lean legs. I’m guessing he must be at least six feet two.
As Liz walks through the connecting door to her office, I sink into the walnut leather armchair facing his desk. Now that Jake Anders is perched on the desk, with light filtering in from the windows, I can see him clearly. He is different than I had pictured him to be. He is younger than his photos on the internet make him look. I’d guess he’s in his mid to late thirties, though that seems too young to be CEO of the company. His dark coffee-colored hair is the kind that makes you want to run your hand through it to verify it does, in fact, feel as good as it looks. And when he turns back to look at me, I’m almost struck speechless by his startling blue eyes. He is one of the most handsome men I have ever seen.
“So Lana, we have a lot to discuss. I hope you are ready.”
I do a mental shake of my head to clear my thoughts and hope he didn’t catch me staring. As his fierce blue eyes pierce mine, I get the eerie feeling that he misses nothing.
“Errm, yes. Liz has gone over the position requirements and has already started training me. I am eager to learn.” I tap my notebook with my pen to show him I’m ready.
“Okay, excellent. As my EA, you will have many large responsibilities. I see that you previously worked for the president of a manufacturing company. That’s great. It gives you a foundation to build on here. Working with me, you will be privy to sensitive information, information that can’t be shared with anyone. I need to make sure you understand how important confidentiality is to me and the company.”
I nod and say, “Of course. Liz explained everything to me, and I also signed the NDA. I understand the importance of discretion, Mr. Anders.”
“Please, call me Jake. We’ll be working together very closely. Liz and I have a great relationship, and I hope you and I will also.”
His comment and his smile when he says Liz’s name makes me curious. I wonder if there is something romantic between him and Liz. Given that she is changing departments so suddenly, it makes one wonder. Why else would someone leave such a position after all these years when they obviously have a good working relationship? Although, from what I can see, Liz doesn’t seem like the type to have an office fling. I file that away in my head to analyze later.
“Thank you, Jake. And please call me Lana.”
“Isn’t that what I’ve been calling you?”
Mortified, I say, “Yes, but now you have my permission to do so.”
And please call me Lana. This moment will live rent-free in my head forever.
Jake laughs out loud at my comment. If it is even remotely possible, he looks more handsome when he laughs. The way his eyes crinkle at the corners and the baritone of his voice send tingles up my spine. I have no doubt that women line up for a chance to date him.
Despite his looks and friendliness toward me, I know that he can be hard and ruthless at times. I was able to find out just a little about him; however, Jake must guard his private life fiercely. Besides a few articles about business ventures and a couple of snippets about his longtime girlfriend, I wasn’t able to uncover much about him. Either he leads a very boring life outside of work, or he is very good at hiding it.
“Well, Lana. I’m not sure how much you know about our business. We have different departments that are responsible for different aspects of the business. In this department, we look for struggling companies and buy them out below their estimated value. Once we own the business, we make some necessary changes and put money into it to make it profitable. Once it is profitable, we sell it or break it up into smaller units to sell. There is a lot of competition with this business model. This is why we rely heavily on our employees to keep things confidential. Also, we have a board that votes on projects. Since you work with me, you will be interacting with the board frequently. You will also be traveling with me. I like to visit these companies so that I can see them firsthand and determine their business viability. I don’t like to rely on employees to do this part of the business. Any questions so far?”
I have to force myself to keep my anger from spilling out. He just described exactly what he was doing to my uncle’s business. He basically just admitted to taking advantage of people and sounded perfectly okayabout it. This is not the type of person I want to be around, and I need to remember that.
Despite knowing this, I hold back my anger and force a bright smile on my face.
“No, no questions about the business,” I reply.
“You’ll be involved in all of this. We’ll take it slow at first, but eventually, you will have clients assigned to you, and you’ll be responsible for some really important tasks.”
“I’m looking forward to it. I do have a question, though. Liz mentioned that there is a dinner function that I may need to attend with you this weekend. Do you have details on that?”
“Yes, of course. I wanted to talk to you about that. A longtime client of ours, Bill Jeffrey, is hosting a dinner on Saturday evening. With you being new to the company, I wouldn’t normally ask you to attend. However, he insists on everyone bringing a date. Apparently, his wife has a thing about keeping even numbers. I’ve already RSVP’d that I could attend. But my date backed out on me, and Liz has plans. I’m hoping you’re available?”
Though he is asking if I’m available, I get the feeling that my answer needs to be yes. Jess and I were supposed to go out to see a play. We spent a lot of money on the tickets, and I know she’ll be disappointed. I’m pretty sure Mr. Anders won’t accept that excuse.This being my first week at the job, I’m not willing to take a chance on displeasing my new boss so quickly, however friendly he might appear at the moment.
“I do have plans,” I tell him. “However, I can move things around and make it work.”
“Perfect. I appreciate your flexibility. You’ll need formal attire, a nice dress preferably. I’m sure Liz can give you details if needed. Since theywill be serving drinks at the party, I prefer that you don’t drive afterward. So, I’ll have the car pick you up at seven p.m. We may be out fairly late as these things have a tendency to drag on.”
“That sounds great. I’ll speak with Liz about the details. She has a binder with info on all of your business associates. I’ll study that so I can be ready for the dinner party. If you have a list of attendees, that would be helpful.”
“Lana, I’m impressed by your initiative. That sounds great. If you’re not too overwhelmed with training today, I’d like to discuss some upcoming projects. You will be in charge of doing some of the research I need on the companies I am looking to acquire. I’ll be honest; we are looking for the good and the bad. In order to get the best deal on these companies, I will need you to dig deep and find out all of the issues these companies are facing. We use that to our advantage during negotiations.”
I feel a little nauseous at his words. This is exactly what I was afraid of when I took the job. I don’t know if I can do this. Purposely digging up dirt on all these people seems so unethical, especially when we are doing it for the sole purpose of taking over their companies. Some of these people could be in situations similar to my uncle’s. As nice as Jake seems, I need to remember that he only cares about the bottom line and won’t hesitate to run over those who get in his way.
It’s hard to keep these thoughts to myself. But I know that I’ll do whatever it takes. If anything, having this type of access to company files may provide the solution to my uncle’s problem.
