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“Like what?” Luna gives me a look. “Men are all the damn same.” She shakes her head, turning her body away from me. She looks out the window and scrolls on her phone for the rest of the drive. I clearly offended her with what was meant to be a compliment. This is why I don’t do people or go out. I have a habit of getting things wrong and upsetting everyone. I can’t help the fact that the filter isn’t there and I say what I think—and it never comes out as intended.
The car pulls into the executive parking underground, and the driver gets out to open the door for Luna first, then me. She follows me into the elevator in silence. I can see her scowling at me in the mirrored walls as we ascend up to the sixth floor boardrooms.
As the doors slide open, she hands me a folder and asks, “Where should I hide until you’re done?” Her sarcasm isn’t lost on me.
“I have an office on the ninth floor. You can wait there or join me. That’s up to you.” Luna quirks a brow and looks at me as if I’ve grown an extra head.
“Your sister said I wasn’t part of the meeting and I’d have to find a place to wait.” She isn’t convinced. Audrey has obviously given her strict instructions, just none that cover coffee or breaking-and-entering before dawn.
“My sister is not here, and I own the place. My company, my rules.” I remind her that I can literally do whatever the fuck I want.
“Fine, I’ll come with you. Sitting alone in an office sounds boring as hell.” I loathe these meetings. They are boring. Luna might just make it less like a torture session. She certainly will get them talking smack behind my back.
“Just sit quietly. Don’t engage with any of the suits. Hopefully, this won’t take long,” I say to her, handing the papers back. She can hang onto them, I don’t ever actually use my sister’s notes. I’m convinced these monthly meetings are only so they can see I am alive, and not a robot.
“Okay.” She nods, and follows me into the giant fishbowl boardroom. The glass walls make it feel like the whole world can see you. I feel exposed in here. There’s nowhere to hide. Luna takes a seat on the extra chair in the corner of the room and looks around at the few people who are here early. The brown-nosers and suck-ups are always the first to arrive. They rush me with ideas and ass-kissing that just irritates me.
Our CFO, Lauren, comes in with a few more people, and they take their places around the table. I sit down in my usual spot at the opposite end and wait for them to all get their shit together. Each department head presents their reports and takes whatever lashing comes their way from my executive team.
When they have all had their chance, Lauren looks up at me across the table with a smirk, glances at Luna and asks, “Anything from you, Spencer?”
I look around the room, taking it all in. I never imagined any of this shit when I started the company, and while I am proud of it—I fucking hate it. She knows I would rather have a root canal than be here. Normally I just say no, so we can leave and be done with the formalities and shit.
“Yes.” She looks shocked and stops packing her things away. “Next time you reschedule a meeting I am to attend, I will terminate your employment immediately.” She opens her mouth to speak, but I stop her. “My time is my precious fucking resource, and I do not tolerate it being wasted. You took advantage of the fact that Audrey was away and pushed my new assistant into the changes. I am not stupid, Lauren.” I use her first name and glare at her. “Try me again. This imaginary power struggle you think you have with me ends now. This is my company, not yours. You are replaceable. I am not.” She’s a vicious climber with too much ambition and not enough respect.
“I understand, Spencer, but we needed to make sure we could have all our department heads here.” I stand up now and look around the table at their faces. None of them know where to look.
“Where the fuck were they going to be in two hours?” They all work in this building. “Please do tell me.”
“They had other obligations and meetings.” Lauren folds her arms, getting defensive. “We do keep this place running, Spencer.” Luna coughs behind me, and I glance at her. She’s as flummoxed by this bullshit as I am.
“Who had other obligations?” I ask. “Raise your hands.” I look around them but no one moves a muscle. “Really? No one? Hmm.” I look up at my CFO, who is now beet red in the face and wait to see what she says. When her silence annoys me even more, I ask, “Where did you have to be, Lauren?” All eyes are on her, and the silence is deafening.
“I had an appointment,” she starts and again Luna coughs. When I glance at her, she stands up and hands me Audrey’s iPad. She’s accessed Lauren’s calendar and pulled it up on screen. In red is blocked out two hours during the workday for a spa appointment. I have been looking for a reason to get rid of her, but my sister said I shouldn’t because she’s good at her job. “I am sorry.”
“Me too. You’re fired. Go see HR and clear out.” I hand the tablet back to Luna, who is smiling like a Cheshire Cat. “Anyone want her job? That can actually do it without annoying the fuck out of me,” I ask looking around the room. “No takers?” I ask again.
“I can do it,” a young guy from exec accounting says, raising his hand. He looks harmless, and I don’t care who does the job as long as they do it without bugging me.
“You’re hired. Are we done? Can I go?” The wide eyes and closed mouths in the room as they all just nod fearfully make me wonder why I don’t just sell up and be done. I could be a rich hermit on an island with no people to fuck me off. I make a mental note to consider it—again. I consider it every damn time I come into this building.
“Good job,” I say to Luna as we exit the boardroom.
She smiles and says, “That bitch did not like you. She really wanted to make you look bad every chance she could.” I stop walking and look at her because I know Lauren is a bitch, but I didn’t think she was trying to show me up.
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“She was out for you the whole time. Challenging everything you said. Did you and her have a fight or something?” I think about this for a second. Lauren is a powerful exec, climbing the ladder. She is feisty, and she once tried to hit on me. Since then, she became even more vicious in the boardroom. It wasn’t a fight, though. I shake my head and keep walking. “She has been doing a lot of stuff on company time,” Luna says. “Stuff like interviewing for jobs with your competition, even going for lunches on your dime entertaining them.” She is scrolling on the iPad.
“How did you get into that?” I ask, taking it from her in the elevator up to my office.
“I know stuff about passwords and networks. I needed information once, so I learned a few hacks. Women need resources to keep douchebags at bay. If I can look at his digital slug trail, I can see what he’s been up to. It’s a life skill really.” I frown. She shouldn’t be able to hack my company in any way. What sort of men is she seeing that she needs that level of hacking skills, and why is she stalking them online? Luna is nuts. Smart, but crazy. “I guessed her password. She was easy to read.”
“What’s her password?” I ask, curious now.
“Your name.” Luna acts like that is obvious. “She’s got issues. You were right to let her go.” It’s strange to have someone agree with me. I am not entirely sure how to react.
“I need to do a few things before we leave. You can just wait for me,” I say, processing the whole interaction again in a new light.
