I always grabbed lunch with Marc since Luke moved to the downtown office two years ago. We had a working lunch where he would tell me anything that I needed to know of the office that wasn't in my agenda for the day. Sometimes we would talk sports or if it were a Friday, discuss where we would go drinking later that evening. Marc started at the company almost three months after Luke and I did and he had become good friends with both of us. The weekends I would usually spend in Rawley. Luke and I would drive down Saturday morning and come back on Monday. If one of us couldn't go, the other wouldn't either unless it was absolutely necessary which was rare.
"What did you think of the new hires?" Marc asked while we ate lunch.
"How does it matter?" I ask confused.
"All of them are BD, we didn't get any new hires for sales. Luke hired them at the downtown office" he signalled me with his eyes drawing attention to the table which was welcoming the new hires. "It does matter because out of the six that started today, we're assigning all of them to Lorring. Which means they work directly with me and... you"
"Can we not assign them elsewhere?" I ask trying to not show any emotion.
"It's the whole reason we hired a BD team at this office. We needed personnel for Lorring and then Hayworth and after that GSD" he sits back in his chair and shrugs his shoulders. "I'll try warding them off of you as much as I can but you have to get familiar with them. Why do you think Sienna barged into your office to introduce you to them?"
"Get them on due diligence this week" I chew off the last bite of my wrap and crush the wrapper on my tray. We discard our trays together and walk back into the office. Once we crossed the doors of the cafeteria its like it was a machine winding us and we would start talking about work again. It had been four weeks since she started and true to his word Marc had warded them off me. Even for signatures it was usually the others who came but she never did. Our paths hadn't crossed even once in the four weeks she had been there. I was more likely running into her in Rawley than I did at the office.
"Miss Paige I don't think you understand that it is not in my power to do that" Sienna's voice pulls me out of me looking at my phone while I entered the office.
"It's not like I am coming to you anonymously, I am saying it in front of him" she angrily says to Sienna.
"Miss Paige, he is a senior manag-" Sienna begins.
"What's wrong?" I interject and there's a silence. "What's wrong?" I ask Sienna again.
"It's nothing I cannot handle" Sienna smiles "Miss Paige if you can come into my office"
"Not till you take action for what he did" she spits angrily.
"What who did?" I ask again.
"He kept hitting on me and this morning he sent me a picture of his dick unsolicited" she says to me pointing at Horace. He was a pig. But he was at the company for years and we kept him. "And since he's a senior manager I'm being told to do it quietly."
"Sienna process Mr. Levin's exit papers, we do not tolerate that at Reed, Rover and Rivers" I say plainly and she nods. "Mr. Levin, I leave it to Miss Paige to press charges but the company will stand with her whatever she decides" I say curtly to him and walk towards my office. The old me would have punched his smug face but I had had my lesson on that four years ago already. After a few hours I hear a knock at my door and look up to see Sienna with her standing behind Sienna. "Yes?" I ask and they both walk in.
"Miss Paige won't be pressing charges" Sienna says. "I-"
"I meant what I said, if you do...the company stands by you" I say looking at her.
"I'm fine" she says meeting my eyes "It's not worth the hassle"
"Okay" I purse my lips. She leaves my cabin and Sienna stays back.
"I wanted to fully support her but we have more complicated paperwork with firing a person who has been here for more than 10 years" She explains.
"This was a no brainer" I say back and she nods in agreement.
"I hope this doesn't change your opinion of Miss Paige. She is excellent at her job. She was actually referred to us by your father and in her four weeks, Marc has nothing but good things to say about her" she pushes.
"Why would this change my opinion of her? It changes my opinion of him and the system we have here but not of her" I look back at my file on the table and then back at Sienna "But it's good to know she's doing well"
Just as Sienna leaves, Marc enters. "It seems I've missed the butchering of the pig" he raises his brows and I say nothing going back to my file. "Lorring has a party tonight and has invited the entire team working on his case" he says to me and I look up from my file "I've called Luke as well. They want to know if you're bringing a date"
"No" I say flatly at go back to my file.
"Martha will have a tux sent to your apartment at 6" he says leaving.
The limo stopped in front of me and Luke's smiling face popped out of the roof. I shake my head at his silliness and get in. "I feel weird telling Damon to come now" Marc pouts.
"I don't bring dates to parties where I can find one" Luke quips.
"You're gross" I chuckle and Luke laughs as he pours me a glass of scotch. The party was at the Lorring estate in Dennison. Cars kept pulling up ahead of us and behind us. Marc went ahead to meet with Damon. Luke and I trailed behind as we entered the well lit, filled with chandeliers and flowers house.
Luke whistles low beside me "Look at you" I look at what he was referring to and she shakes her head. "Where are your hot friends?" he teasingly asks.
"Don't be gross" she laughs "Also you don't know me" she warns. "Get away" she shoos and walks past us in her breathtakingly beautiful dress.
"I need a drink. You?" Luke asks me.
"I'm going to find Lorring" I say to him and he nods.
Lorring stood with a group surrounding him. When he spots me closing in, he welcomingly smiles at me.
Part 1
Start from the beginning
