Mac immediately looked irritated and bustled to respond. “If you felt that way, Cope, you should’ve outlined that in your consolidation plan.”
Not taking the bait, Ian sat up straighter. “I agree closing that office makes the most sense. But with the influx of clients we expect with the launch of this new application, it seems logical to keep some of the talent who initially created it.”
“Yes, well, your office modified it. There’s no need to keep any of the old team members,” Mr. Cartwright said as he poured a glass of water from the complimentary pitcher.
His office modified it? What about the joint effort with the other office. What about Cassie’s work? “Mr. Cartwright, I don’t think you understand. This office—”
“Easily finished the assignment assigned to it,” Mac finished, cutting off Ian’s explanation. He glanced at his immediate supervisor, and Mac was glaring daggers at him.
Mr. Cartwright stood, followed by the other two. “We need to be on our way, we have a meeting with Mr. Weiner this afternoon. We have an office to close.”
The three ill-informed executives quickly left the room, but Ian wasn’t watching them, he was staring down Mac.
“What the fuck was that about?” he asked once the coast was clear.
“We had an application to build, and you needed to create a consolidation plan. We didn’t need their help on the software changes. It was only a ruse to get in to do your real job.”
“And that’s why you didn’t want anyone else over there working on it. You didn’t want to risk the chance of that office getting any credit.” Mac was a fucking weasel!
“It’s a sinking ship, Cope. You know it. I know it. There’s no need to draw praise when it’ll fall on deaf ears.”
Ian slammed his hands down on the table. “That’s bullshit! I’m going to clear this up right now!”
Mac stepped forward, blocking his exit. “You do that, and you’re fired. You were given an order, and you followed it. I can’t help it if they want to close that office. This is just business. It’s not my fault you crossed the line and got involved with Cassie Tucker.”
The blood drained from Ian’s face. How the hell did Mac know about that?
“Don’t look so surprised. You’ve been looking for a reason to work with her for years. Of course you’re involved with her. I just hope you were smart enough not to leave a trail. We have a policy about office romance. Your texts and emails on company equipment are property of the company.” Mac gave Ian a knowing look, but Ian and Cassie had been careful. Sure, there were a few innuendos made on company cell phones and emails, but the hot-and-heavy stuff happened through personal equipment.
Ignoring the comment about Cassie, Ian glared at Mac. “You can’t fire me for doing my job. I have every right to inform the executive staff about the south regional office’s involvement in the product modification.”
“But I can fire you for becoming involved with Cassie Tucker.” Mac sighed. “You made the mistake of getting too personal, Cope. Leave this alone. Don’t make that same mistake now.”
How could he not? He betrayed the woman he loved.
Loved?
Shit shit shit shit!
Oh, yeah, he was definitely the biggest asshole who walked the face of the Earth.
Cassie grabbed her notebook and hustled into the conference room with the rest of the office. She didn’t know what all the hubbub was about. Like everyone else, she’d seen the top executives in here talking to Richard and other upper management. It wasn’t a common occurrence to see them all here, but it wasn’t necessarily uncommon, either. A couple of times a year, they’d descend and gab about quarterly profits with a speech about teamwork driving the company into the future. The same speech probably every executive at every company had given to peons across the nation.
But what was odd was that they hadn’t spoken to the entire office, only the managers, and then they’d left.
That was only fifteen minutes ago, and immediately meeting notifications went out to everyone. People were speculating left and right on what this could be about. Some were speculating about a raise. Others were less optimistic.
Cassie was in the latter group. She didn’t believe for one second that if it were good news, the executives wouldn’t want to tell everybody themselves.
By the time she got into the meeting it was standing room only. The conference table only seated about twenty and there were forty in the office.
“Marks, shut the door,” Richard said over the murmurs across the room as Sophie Marks walked in. She was so pregnant that she waddled. The woman was ridiculously adorable, and Cassie was going to miss her dearly when she went on maternity leave.
She was surprised the woman hadn’t gone on leave already.
After shutting the door, Sophie took a seat closest to it, and Richard turned his attention to the congregated group. “There is no easy way to say this, so I’ll just come out with it. Our office is closing.”
Cassie shut her eyes as her stomach plummeted. The buzz of voices picked up again as panic set in. Several people barked questions concerning why and when—including the very pregnant Sophie at the end of the table—but Cassie couldn’t understand enough to even find words.
This was her first job out of college. She’d worked here for years, moving up the ladder. She had a mortgage, a car payment, credit card bills, student loans… She was going to be sick.
“I know this is a shock to everyone. The company is doing well, and they are impressed with the work we’ve done. But they are redefining our, er, I mean, their marketing strategy.” He cleared his throat and looked down while he took a fortifying breath. Richard was obviously taking this hard too. Then he looked at everyone again. “We
