Brian arrives as promised. A week ago, I was enjoying Corrine by my side in the beautiful sun in Maui. Now I’m here in San Francisco, Corrine isn’t talking to me, and despite the sun not being up yet, the rain indicates it’s going to be a gray day.
When I get to work, I can’t concentrate. But I know what I need to say, and I know how I’m going to say it.
I watch for her, and when she arrives, I’m flooded with relief. There was always the chance she’d never come back to the office. She comes in as usual with my schedule and phone log, along with my coffee.
“Please shut the door and sit down,” I ask.
She takes a deep breath. Her eyes are red-rimmed, and she looks exhausted. It pains me to know I did that to her. She shuts the door and takes a seat across from me. Without any chance for me to talk, she begins walking through the phone log.
“You need to return phone calls to Mason Sullivan, your IP attorney at Dunn Gibson, and Jeff Wong.”
My head whips up. “What does Jeff Wong want? Did he say?”
Corrine shakes her head. “No, his admin called and asked for you, and when you weren’t available, they asked that you return the call.”
“Corrine, please? Can we talk about what happened last night?”
“No. We’re two professionals, and our relationship will remain that way.” She looks down at my schedule and tells me where I need to be and when.
“Corrine, this isn’t acceptable to me. I’m so sorry. When she called, she told me she needed my help.”
Corrine stands to leave. “We have no commitment to one another. I think we should keep the relationship professional. I have four interviews today for my replacement, and I’m hoping two will make it to you for final approval.”
“I don’t want you to leave,” I say much more forcibly than I mean to.
Her shoulders fall. “I guess I shouldn’t have had sex with you in Maui.” And with that, she turns and leaves.
She’s infuriating. Why won’t she listen to me? And what is she even talking about? I really fucked up yesterday, but I wouldn’t change our weekend in Maui for anything. I don’t regret our personal relationship.
She can’t leave me.
“I left a message with Jeff Wong’s admin to call you back,” I hear over the speaker. I feel completely gutted. She’s not giving me any room to fix this.
My phone rings, and it’s Cheryl Wedgewood, my new CFO. “Good morning. How are you today?” I ask.
“I’m doing okay,” she says. “I was here somewhat late last night, and I will be here this weekend. Can I come in and show you a few things this morning?”
“Of course.”
I sit with Cheryl for the next two hours, going through some puzzling things Jeremy did.
“You’re privately held, so we won’t have any stockholders upset, but these three ‘vendors’ have a monthly payment of just under ten thousand dollars,” she says. “And I can’t find them registered with the Secretary of State as real businesses. I need to go back, but it looks like these were set up a while ago.”
I take a deep breath. “That means our investors’ money is at risk.”
“I have some forensic auditing experience, but I think we’ll want to get ahead of this with Dillon Healy at SHN.”
A sharp pain in my head starts at the base of my skull and works its way to between my eyes. How is everything falling apart at the same time? “This is not good. Let me know what you find. Do you think you’ll have answers by Monday? I’d like to get on Dillon’s calendar.”
Cheryl nods. “I’ll work all weekend.”
I call Corrine.
“Yes, sir?” she answers.
“We need to finish our conversation. Are you free for dinner tonight?”
“I’m sorry, I’m not. Is that all you need?”
“I need you. But I’m also asking if you could please call Dillon Healy and see if he can meet with Cheryl and me on Monday. Move anything I have scheduled around to meet him at his convenience.”
“Would you prefer a meal?”
“No, I think this will be better in his office or ours.”
“What should I tell him it’s regarding?”
“Cheryl would like to go over the P&Ls with him.”
“Okay, I’ll get it on your calendar. Your ten thirty is here.”
“Send him in.”
Chapter 21
Corrine
I’m holding to my resolve to keep my relationship with Jackson professional. It’s hard, because I can see he wants to explain, and I can tell he didn’t sleep well last night, but in the back of my mind, I wonder if his panic about my leaving is more about the strong work relationship we’ve developed.
I don’t know what Cheryl’s found, but setting up a meeting with Dillon is not a good sign.
My phone rings.
“Corrine, Lisa Dixson is here for your ten-thirty interview.”
“Send her up to the executive floor. We’ll meet in the conference room.”
When Lisa steps off the elevator, I like her immediately. She’s a bit older than I am, if I had to guess. Her resume told me she has strong admin skills, and while she’s never worked for a CEO, she has worked for other senior executives.
After we make some polite conversation, I launch into it. “Tell me about how you’ve managed your hours in
