The Mysterious Mr. Hastings

Chapter 05 - Chris POV

After we returned, she pointed to an empty desk between her and Allegra. “This is yours.”

I sat down and glanced over. Allegra was working in a design program.

“Do you know what we do here?” Allegra asked, not looking up.

“Designing toys,” I said.

“Then get to it,” she said. “Pick a project from the list and start.” She offered a quick smile and went back to work.

I’d reviewed some old designs a few days ago, so I tried to re-create them as if I were sketching them myself. I didn’t know the first thing about toy design, but I knew people. Everyone on the team was asking Allegra for advice, and she helped them all. I could have lied to myself and said she’d helped me on the plane because of my charm, but it looked like she was just helpful by nature. Allegra glanced at me occasionally as I sketched something on a piece of paper, but she didn’t say a word.

The announcement came before lunch, right on schedule. Miller told the team that the Hastings Group had bought our thirty-person firm.

“What does that mean for our jobs?” Josh asked.

“Nothing,” Miller said. “Mr. Hastings guaranteed there will be no layoffs for at least a year. Salaries stay the same.”

The group sighed in relief. Allegra looked like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

“What kind of man is this Mr. Hastings?” Meghan asked curiously.

“Sorry,” Miller said. “I know nothing about him. Never met him.”

He turned and left us alone.

“They should fire the Viper,” Diane whispered after Miller left.

“Who’s the Viper?” I asked.

“Mr. Miller,” Meghan answered.

“What’s wrong with him?” I asked. Meghan started to speak, but Allegra cut her off.

“Nothing,” she said quickly. Something was definitely tense between those two.

At lunch, we went down to the cafeteria together. They were a tight group. Josh had a pregnant wife, Hugh lived with a roommate, and Meghan was engaged. Diane made it very clear she was single and looking. Allegra said nothing about herself.

“Tell us, Chris,” Diane said, sitting close to me. “What’s your background?”

“I’ve bounced around a lot,” I said. “But I’ve always had a creative streak.”

“What do you know about the Hastings Group?” I asked the table.

Diane and Meghan immediately pulled out their phones. Allegra ate in silence.

“The owner is Christian Hastings,” Diane read. “But there are no photos, no personal info.”

“The billionaire Christian Hastings avoids the spotlight and has all personal data scrubbed from the internet,” Meghan took over, scrolling. “The owner’s identity is the biggest mystery among the elite. His subsidiaries span the entire country.”

She continued reading, “Mr. Hastings has a brilliant instinct for scouting talent and identifying companies with massive potential. It’s well known that he has close ties to Sonny Black and Shadow Corps, where he is currently serving as acting CEO to assist Black before his retirement.”

“He has social media profiles on several platforms,” Diane chimed in. “He posts occasional statements, but from what I can see, his followers mostly just gossip about where he might have been spotted. Even with the mystery, he has thousands of followers.”

“Social media is wild,” Allegra noted with a laugh. “We don’t even know who he is, yet we follow him.”

I let out a laugh, and so did Hugh—though he laughed much harder than the joke warranted.

“Don’t you have social media?” I asked Allegra. She just shook her head.

“I don’t,” she answered. “I have friends, and they have my phone number.” She laughed, and she didn’t even realize how sexy she was in that moment.

“What else does it say? How does Mr. Hastings make an appearance at events?” Diane asked Meghan.

“It says he’s always represented by a proxy,” Meghan replied. “At social functions, Mr. Hastings is usually represented by his employees or his vice president, Theodor McAllister.” She finished the snippet and put her phone down.

“The guy is probably some eccentric old man,” Josh said, “living in a castle with a harem of young women.”

I choked back a laugh; that was a new one.

“Or he’s a family man who wants to keep his private life safe,” Allegra said. I was taken aback—I’d never heard that theory before, either.

“If you’re a billionaire, you don’t settle down,” Josh argued.

“Maybe he settled down before he got rich,” Meghan suggested.

“Then he probably has a string of mistresses,” Hugh added.

“You’re not necessarily a jerk just because you’re a billionaire,” Allegra countered.

“You seem to be a fan of this Mr. Hastings,” I told her.

“He’s completely neutral to me,” she said. “I won’t judge him for his wealth or his privacy, but I won’t worship him for his money, either.”

They started spinning theories about me. I just listened with a smile, occasionally tossing in an idea I’d heard before. Allegra seemed the least interested; she didn’t speculate any further.