“You should wait for me in your apartment,” he says as he jumps out of the car and opens the backseat door.
“I didn’t want you to wake my roommates. Plus, I’m locked in the lobby, so no one can nab me.”
“You don’t lose many arguments, do you?” he asks sardonically.
“I wish that were true. People have confronted me about what happened on Wednesday, and I haven’t done so well there.”
Brian becomes hyper-alert. “Has anyone confronted you with a weapon or touched you?”
Crap. “Brian, I’m exaggerating. I hear whispers. One person told me he was sure I sent the box to myself and got on my knees for Mr. Graham to keep my job. The others are contributing to a death pool.”
“Death pool?”
He’s looking very serious. I need to tone it down and be factual.
“Meaning the death of my employment at Soleil Energy, not death of my person.”
“Have you spoken to Mr. Graham about this?”
“Absolutely not, and you won’t either. I also get slaps on the back and praise from the lazier people in our office, but many are angry with me because they think I was behind the mess. If Mr. Graham gets involved, it’ll only get worse.”
“I think you need to speak to him,” Brian insists.
“No. He’s not going to fight my battles, and that will only make it worse.”
When we arrive at the office, Brian parks in front of Starbucks. As we cross the busy street, he’s close behind, making sure I’m safe. At the counter, our coffee is waiting. I hand a cup to Brian. “Doctor this as you need, and I’ll order you a proper drink tomorrow.”
“Thank you. Black is perfect, but you didn’t need to get me coffee.”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s the least I can do if you’re getting less sleep than I am.”
“It’s part of the job,” he assures me.
We walk across the street and into the building. It’s just before seven, and we get into the crowded elevator. I see looks of disdain on several people’s faces. I cringe when I see Dan from IT.
He makes a big deal of looking down at my knees. “As often as you must be getting on your knees, I’d think they’d be all bruised.”
The people in the elevator snicker, and I’m pissed.
Through clenched teeth, I say, “Dan, I suggest you apologize immediately.”
“Or what? Are you going to tell your precious Mr. Graham? When will you do that with his cock slammed down your throat?”
It takes all my willpower not to slap the stupid grin off his face. He’s staring me down, and I’m not going to give him the satisfaction of reacting. There are too many people in the elevator.
When he gets off on the twenty-fifth floor, Brian looks at me. “Is that the kind of crap they’re dishing out?”
“Just ignore it,” I warn.
We exit the elevator on our floor, and I spot Dawn from HR sitting outside Jackson’s office. I smile at her, but she won’t look at me.
“Does he know you’re here?” I ask.
She shakes her head.
I take off my coat, put my things away, and pick up the calendar I printed before I left last night. Jackson’s not on the phone, so I walk in with his coffee and a copy of the schedule. “Dawn Decker is outside waiting for you.”
“And Jeremy?”
Jeremy? He was the one who asked Dawn to start a search for my replacement? I blame Heather and her big mouth for that one. “I didn’t see him.”
He runs his hand over his face. “What’s on my schedule today?”
“You have senior staff at nine. At noon, lunch with Dave Wilkinson of Blue Energy at Waterfront Café. A marketing call at three. Project development at four-thirty. Review of the training curriculums at five. And drinks with Devin Abbot at six-thirty.
“Thank you. Have Dawn come in, ask Jeremy to come in when he arrives, and please join us.”
“Yes, Mr. Graham.” I step out of his office. “Dawn, you can go in.”
She looks frightened. I don’t blame her. Neither Jeremy nor Heather are in the office to join her for the potential verbal lashing, which is not fun.
I knock and stick my head in Jeremy’s office, but he’s not there. I call his cell phone, and it goes directly to voice mail.
Returning to Mr. Graham’s office, I stand in the back.
“Where’s Jeremy?” he asks.
“He’s not in his office, and his cell phone goes directly to voice mail.”
Jackson takes a deep breath. “I see.” He looks at Dawn. “I want to be abundantly clear that I’m not looking to replace Ms. Woods. You were misinformed.”
“Yes, Mr. Graham. My apologies to you and Ms. Woods.”
Jackson nods. “You can leave.”
She gets up, and I follow her out the door.
“Ms. Woods?” Jackson calls.
I stop and turn around.
“Please let me know when Jeremy arrives. And, can you get me Emerson Healy at SHN on the phone?”
“Of course.”
Chapter 5
Jackson
I’m so angry right now. Jeremy’s up to something. This crap of calling HR to replace Corrine is the last straw.
Jeremy worked for me at my last company. He was a good accountant and was looking for a growth opportunity, so I didn’t have any problems bringing him along when I sold my last venture off. But recently, he’s been really negative. He was sure we wouldn’t get funding for the new solar film product, and he really put Corrine through the ringer when she needed financials. She covered for him at times, and I knew it. But when I talked to him about it, he consistently blamed her. For some reason he doesn’t like her, and it’s affecting me. If
