Fire and Freedom - Book One of the Café Latte Trilogy

Chapter Two - Ross

Thank you for continuing to read! I hope you enjoy Chapter Two. 

Love, Cam

♡

Chapter Two

Ross

I checked my watch, becoming even more irritated when I saw that fifteen minutes had passed since the meeting had begun, and I had no solid information from the person in front of me.

"Mr Stone, sales are increasing and-"

"Good," I said smoothly, trying to cut him off. "And the profits?"

"Higher than last month's, but-"

"Brilliant," I said. "Any bad news?"

"Umm," the boy said, getting quite flustered as he tried to get his words out. "Well no sir, but-"

I fixed him with a stern glance. "Anything important that I need to know? Any changes we need to look at? Any boards coming to pay us a visit? Health and safety? Tax issues? Dissatisfied clients? Branch dilemmas? Anything?"

It nearly overloaded his brain, I could tell, so he just swallowed and shook his head. "No sir-"

"Oh, good," I said, standing up. "So I can cut this meeting short?"

"But I had a presentation-" he began, but I cut him off.

"No need," I said, waving my hand. I left him practically a nervous wreck, but I knew he'd get it in the end. I didn't like corporate bullshit, I liked clarity. The staff were paid good money for hard work, not sitting around making pointless presentations and dragging out a ten minute meeting into a forty-five minute meeting.

"Ross, call on line one," my assistant Louise said, joining me the second I stepped out of the conference room. "Also, Terry called and asked if the new boy is doing alright?"

"He'll survive," I said dryly. "Once he gets over the panic attack."

"Ross..." Louise sighed. "The poor guy."

"He'll live," I rolled my eyes. "Honestly, I've told you before – no mollycoddling the newcomers. They're used to buzzwords and jumping through random hoops, I'm not into that."

"Fine," Louise said, and then a thought occurred to her. "Oh also, Aaron wants to know if you need a suit."

"For what?" I asked, frowning as we walked down the corridor at a fast pace. I had a million things to do, and I wanted to make sure I was out of the office by five so I could relax before going out.

"The benefit tonight," Louise said, taking out her notepad. "Should I call him with your measurements?"

"No, he knows them very well," I said, smirking to myself.

Louise rolled her eyes. "Is there anyone you haven't slept with? I'd like to know so I can send them a thank-you card."

"You're my secretary, not my therapist," I smirked. "And no, you don't need to let him know my measurements, they're on file anyway."

"What colour would you like your suit to be?" she asked me. "I thought grey, but he thinks black. Maybe a nice navy?"

"I don't need a suit," I said. "I'm not going."

Louise groaned. "You can't miss another work dinner."

"Oh, of course," I said absently, walking into my office and picking up a file report on another branch that had recently opened in another town. "Why would I want to miss a dinner where I sit around in a hotel dining room that I don't really like the design of, conversing with people I don't really enjoy the company of and eating food that I don't really like the taste of? I must be mad to miss out on such glorious experiences."