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I gestured to the man to sit in the chair opposite mine and dismissed Phil. I waited for the doors to shut before I began.
“Mr. Cooper, to what do I owe this pleasure?” He was dressed in a light tan suit with a white cowboy hat on top of his head. It was a look that only this man could actually pull off.
“I heard your father was around. I thought I'd be able to catch him,” he said, his deep Texan accent reverberating through his words and in my ears.
“I'm sorry, but you just missed him.” Aaron Cooper, the biggest investor in Reed Biotech. He was also a very successful businessman, richer than my father, according to Forbes. Being the biggest investor, he and my father both took the full brunt of the stock falls. He also owned one of the biggest whiskey companies in the United States. I had only met him on two occasions before now and with what I had observed, he was a very mysterious man, and men like him were dangerous. Not only was his major source of wealth questionable, but the aura he had was intense. It almost felt like the entire office was going to catch fire because of his presence alone.
“Danny, boy,” he drawled in that prominent accent of his that irritated my ear drums. “We have a situation.”
Oh boy. I knew this wasn’t going to be anything good.
“What would that be?” I asked. My voice sounded thin in my ears.
“I am losing a lot of money every day, Daniel,” he chastised, leaning back in the chair, which squeaked under his large frame.
“The whole company is hurting but we are going to pull through. We always have.” I barely believed the line myself.
“You better,” he laughed. “Your father told the board that he gave you a six-month ultimatum. I am giving you half of that,” he threatened, raising his eyebrows.
“With all due respect, I am the CEO of this company, and as much as this issue is affecting you, it affects me too.” I tried to sound as polite as possible.
“Another arrogant one, I see,” he laughed as he stood up from his seat. “You and your father have three months, Danny, to fix this shit,” he said as he left the office.
I took a deep breath. This was becoming rather tiresome but I knew I needed to find a solution. Fast. Aaron Cooper influenced many decisions in this company because of his power. By giving me and my father an ultimatum, the pressure pot was on. My brain was in a vice and my stomach was churning. God. Gotta love this CEO-shit. I need to clear my mind.
I decided that I would check to see if Amy made it in this morning. I stood up and walked toward the door before I could examine that thought too closely.
Chapter 25
Amy
Iranintothehall leading to the laboratory in my blue dress that just barely reached my knee. It was a beautiful dress, and it had been untouched in my closet for a very long time. It was a birthday gift from Jennifer and made me feel special-and today I needed any boost I could get.
It was almost noon. I had to wait until Jordan was able to breathe without the respirator, and thankfully, it didn’t take long this time. Jennifer had convinced me to go to work after I told Daniel that I might not be able to make it to work at the normal time. Of course, I might not be there physically, but I was determined to work and focus on planning. I had also informed my research team but knew they would likely react with relief that I wasn't coming in, given the general reception I had been getting.
I pushed the doors and walked into the lab. They were all there, of course. I casually greeted them and quickly made my way to the office, but something felt different. They were all focused on their work. Even Harvey didn’t give me his usual scornful look, even though I almost got him fired. I quickly downed the cup of coffee I had walked in with and opened my computer.
“Dr. Palmer?” Auburn called as she walked into my office.
“Yes, what can I do for you, Auburn?”
“I just wanted to let you know that your reports were eye-opening and well-detailed.”
“Oh, thank you.” I replied, trying to hide the huge smile already coming to my lips.
“We were all impressed.”
“Even Harvey?”
“Especially Harvey.” We both laughed.
They truly loved my work. They all trooped into my office one after the other to ask questions and make various concerns known. I was not expecting this, my work had been turned down a lot of times by people who didn’t see the need to invest in curing a disease that only affected a minuscule part of the population but now it was being appreciated by one of the best research teams in San Francisco.
After the last conversation, I sat back, savoring the moment. I couldn't help but feel this was a huge victory and perhaps the validation I had been looking for all this time.
Suddenly, I remembered Daniel had told me he wanted to see me later today. My legs shivered at the thought of it. I still didn’t know what to make of the relationship between us. Was it purely sexual or would it become something more? He was definitely something of a distraction to me, and I couldn't say I didn't like it. But, going from highschool nemesis and bully to … well, whatever we were.
I forced myself to think about what just happened with my team. Their reception to my research and papers was a kind of validation I think I wanted. A researcher shouldn't want or need validation. They needed to believe in their work and do their job by proving or disproving a hypothesis. Besides, this meant more to me than just work, so it shouldn't matter. But, somehow, it still did and I couldn't help but feel a satisfied grin grow on my face.
