Replacing my ex

Chapter 13

“What’s your obsession with standing around?” he asked after he swallowed.

I quickly regained my senses and plastered a professional smile onto my face.

“Would you like me to return later, sir?” I asked, motioning toward the door.

“No,” he replied. “Just get your tablet. We’ll work from here.”

I left his office, a triumphant little smile tugging at the corners of my lips, scooped up my tablet, and headed back in.

“We’ll start with these,” he said, motioning to a folder he had placed on the coffee table.

“Right. What would you like me to do, sir?” I asked.

He explained that we were going through a proposal from an outside party looking to partner with Legacy. He already had a preliminary report from the development team detailing their recommendations, but he wanted to comb through the original proposal himself to form his own opinions before signing off or rejecting it. He wanted me to take comprehensive notes and run any quick online research that came up.

“Understood, sir,” I responded.

We settled into a smooth rhythm, my pen flying across my tablet. The proposal was from a foreign group looking to construct three massive business parks on the West Coast.

About midway through, I paused.

“Sorry, sir, but wouldn’t each of those sites need to follow separate, state-based zoning regulations?”

“Yes. It should be in the proposal,” he answered, not bothering to look up.

“I don’t see it mentioned here, sir. It looks like they’re assuming identical zoning requirements for all three sites,” I pointed out.

He flipped quietly through his copy, his eyes scanning the pages.

“You’re right. Good catch. Put that in the notes,” he instructed before swiftly moving on.

A tiny jump for joy echoed in my mind.

We continued working. I noticed that even while having me take notes, he was jotting down his own. Just like he had during that morning’s meeting.

An hour later, he declared,

“That will be all for now. We’ll go through the recommendation report tomorrow.”

“Yes, sir,” I replied, standing up. “How was lunch, sir?”

“You may leave now,” he replied, shaking his head at me in disbelief.

I gathered the utensils and takeout containers, which he had surprisingly neatened and organized to one side of the table, and walked out.

After cleaning and putting everything away in the kitchenette, I sat back down at my desk. I typed up the detailed minutes for the morning meeting as well as the notes from Cole's proposal review. Once finished, I emailed both to him, making sure to CC the morning meeting attendees on the minutes.

By the time I hit send, it was almost 7:00 PM. Official closing time was 5:00 PM, but I felt hesitant to leave before my boss.

Suddenly, the intercom buzzed.

“Why are you still here? Go home,” Cole ordered sharply, hanging up before I could reply.

I gathered my things, slinging my purse onto my shoulder. I knocked on his door.

“Mr. Sterling, I’m heading out for the day,” I announced.

He only offered a low grunt in response, completely glued to his computer screen.

“Goodnight, sir,” I said, turning to leave.

“Ms. Storm,” he said.

When I turned back, he was holding out two crisp hundred-dollar bills.

“For lunch,” he said flatly.

“Oh,” I blinked.

“It wasn’t-

“Take it,” he commanded impatiently.

I stepped forward and accepted the cash.

“Thank you, sir.”

“Ask Will to get a company card processed for you,” he added, waving me away for good.

“I will, sir.”

As soon as the elevator doors slid shut on my way down, my phone rang. I fished it from my purse to see Viola’s name flashing on the screen.

“Lila,” she cried. “Are you lying in a ditch somewhere?”

“I’d happily lie down in a ditch right now,” I groaned, a wave of exhaustion washing over me.

“Why aren’t you home yet?” she asked

“I’m leaving the building now,” I responded

“What?!” She exclaimed. “It’s … 7:00 PM. Why are you leaving so late?”

“I’ll tell you everything when I get there,” I promised.

“Okay. Be safe,” she said

I walked to the subway station. I had decided to hold off on driving for a while. To beat traffic, but mostly to cut down my expenses.

I had to actively keep myself engaged so I wouldn't doze off and miss my stop.

When I finally walked through the door, Viola was waiting with a hot, steaming bowl of supper. I could have wept with pure gratitude.

“Here,” she said, stopping just short of spooning the food into my mouth.

I wolfed the food down hungrily, took a hot shower, and finally made the adult decision to sleep in my own bed instead of Viola’s.

As I laid out my outfit for the next day, Viola wandered in and flopped onto the mattress.

“Well? How did it go?” she pressed.

I turned to look at her, a grin breaking across my face.

“You’ll never guess who my boss is.”

“Who?” she said, sitting up.

Right then, my phone buzzed on the nightstand. It was Sam.

“Don’t you dare leave me hanging,” Viola warned.

Laughing, I answered Sam’s call.

“Hi Sam.”

“Lila! You sound chipper. I was worried about your first day at the job from hell, so I thought I’d check in. How did it go?” Sam asked

“You’re actually right on time. I was just about to tell Viola,” I said.

“Let’s switch to FaceTime so I can see both your reactions.”

“That good?” Sam asked right as Viola said,

“That bad?”

Once we switched to video, I repeated my opening line: “You’ll never guess who my boss is.”

“Just spit out already,” Viola groaned.

“Remember that guy who gave me his jacket on Friday outsi-?“

I didn’t even get to finish. They both erupted into overlapping squeals of excitement, firing off rapid-fire questions until it was impossible to make sense of anything.

“Guys, I can’t understand you if you all go at once,” I yelled, laughing as I waited for them to calm down.

Eventually, they quieted into an expectant hush.

“Lila? Speak,” Sam ordered.

“Now, please,” Viola added

I walked them through the entire day, having to pause multiple times so they could scream, gasp, or express righteous anger on my behalf. By the time we finished recapping, we had made firm plans to hang out at Sam’s place on Saturday.

I slept soundly, waking up the next morning to a heavy, relentless downpour. Despite braving the subway, the rain, and my dripping umbrella, I made it to the office by 7:00 AM.

However, I was an absolute mess.

As I stood in the main entrance shaking out my umbrella, a low, smooth voice dripped with sarcasm from right behind me.

“Questionable fashion choices today. What is that? Drowned-rat chic?” Cole smirked.