He makes a big deal of looking down at my knees. “As often as you must be getting on your knees, I’d think they’d be all bruised.”
The people in the elevator snicker, and I’m pissed.
Through clenched teeth, I say, “Dan, I suggest you apologize immediately.”
“Or what? Are you going to tell your precious Mr. Graham? When will you do that with his cock slammed down your throat?”
It takes all my willpower not to slap the stupid grin off his face. He’s staring me down, and I’m not going to give him the satisfaction of reacting. There are too many people in the elevator.
When he gets off on the twenty-fifth floor, Brian looks at me. “Is that the kind of crap they’re dishing out?”
“Just ignore it,” I warn.
We exit the elevator on our floor, and I spot Dawn from HR sitting outside Jackson’s office. I smile at her, but she won’t look at me.
“Does he know you’re here?” I ask.
She shakes her head.
I take off my coat, put my things away, and pick up the calendar I printed before I left last night. Jackson’s not on the phone, so I walk in with his coffee and a copy of the schedule. “Dawn Decker is outside waiting for you.”
“And Jeremy?”
Jeremy? He was the one who asked Dawn to start a search for my replacement? I blame Heather and her big mouth for that one. “I didn’t see him.”
He runs his hand over his face. “What’s on my schedule today?”
“You have senior staff at nine. At noon, lunch with Dave Wilkinson of Blue Energy at Waterfront Café. A marketing call at three. Project development at four-thirty. Review of the training curriculums at five. And drinks with Devin Abbot at six-thirty.
“Thank you. Have Dawn come in, ask Jeremy to come in when he arrives, and please join us.”
“Yes, Mr. Graham.” I step out of his office. “Dawn, you can go in.”
She looks frightened. I don’t blame her. Neither Jeremy nor Heather are in the office to join her for the potential verbal lashing, which is not fun.
I knock and stick my head in Jeremy’s office, but he’s not there. I call his cell phone, and it goes directly to voice mail.
Returning to Mr. Graham’s office, I stand in the back.
“Where’s Jeremy?” he asks.
“He’s not in his office, and his cell phone goes directly to voice mail.”
Jackson takes a deep breath. “I see.” He looks at Dawn. “I want to be abundantly clear that I’m not looking to replace Ms. Woods. You were misinformed.”
“Yes, Mr. Graham. My apologies to you and Ms. Woods.”
Jackson nods. “You can leave.”
She gets up, and I follow her out the door.
“Ms. Woods?” Jackson calls.
I stop and turn around.
“Please let me know when Jeremy arrives. And, can you get me Emerson Healy at SHN on the phone?”
“Of course.”
Chapter 5
Jackson
I’m so angry right now. Jeremy’s up to something. This crap of calling HR to replace Corrine is the last straw.
Jeremy worked for me at my last company. He was a good accountant and was looking for a growth opportunity, so I didn’t have any problems bringing him along when I sold my last venture off. But recently, he’s been really negative. He was sure we wouldn’t get funding for the new solar film product, and he really put Corrine through the ringer when she needed financials. She covered for him at times, and I knew it. But when I talked to him about it, he consistently blamed her. For some reason he doesn’t like her, and it’s affecting me. If I have to choose, he’s going to be very disappointed, because it won’t be him.
What does hiring someone new do but set us back?
“Emerson Healy is on line one,” Corrine informs me over the intercom.
“Thank you, Corrine.”
I pick up the phone. “Hi, Emerson. Thanks for taking my call so early.”
“Hello!” she singsongs. “Please forgive me if you hear my son in the background. The nanny will be here anytime, and Dillon is watching him, but there’s no telling how well that will go, and I didn’t want you to wait.”
I grin at the idea of Dillon Healy, Emerson’s six-foot-five husband, bending to the will of a toddler. I have a feeling the toddler will win every time. “I don’t mind the noise. I need some help from your team. It’s looking like Jeremy will be leaving us, so I’m going to need a new financial officer. You guys are in the process of greenlighting my project, so that should give you some guidance on our needs. Of course, we prefer someone with alternative energy experience.”
“I may have some people in mind,” she says. “We just had one of our investments bought by a wind turbine company that may be a good solution. Their CFO is Cheryl Wedgwood. Do you know her?”
“I do, and if she’s on the market and willing, I’d love to talk to her.”
“She might be a good fit for you. Before I commit, I’ll sit down with Dillon and Cynthia.”
“Perfect. You also have Jeremy’s contract. Can you have Sara in your legal group look it over? It looks like he may be in breach, and I’ll be looking for what needs to be done to violate without any golden parachute.”
“Of course. Are messages through Corrine okay?”
“Yes, she has access to my email, and that works, too.”
“I’ll be in touch soon.”
I hang up, and I’m preparing to buzz Corrine when she steps in.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but neither Heather nor Jeremy is in.”
“Does that strike you as odd?” I ask.
“Yes, it does.”
What could they be up to? This doesn’t make any sense. I look through my emails for something from Jeremy, and it’s been several weeks since he’s sent me anything. Another troubling event.
“Have someone come up from IT,” I tell her.
“Right away, Mr. Graham.”
Fifteen minutes later, Dan from IT is in my office.
The door is hardly closed behind him when he starts in. “Mr. Graham, please let me explain.”
I nod. I’m not sure what he needs to explain, but I’m going to let him talk.
“I was furious at Ms. Woods over the box incident on Wednesday.”
What the hell is this guy talking about?
“I had a big project, and it was almost completed, but because she sent herself the box and we were out of the office all Wednesday morning, I had to start over. I was upset and said some inappropriate things. But I apologize, and it won’t happen again.”
What kind of madness is going on at my company? “That’s not why I asked you up here but be assured I will have HR fully investigate your actions and determine if you should remain employed here.”
He shuts his eyes, and I almost laugh. Corrine set him up. She’d never tell on anyone because she knows I’d string them up and fire their asses.
“Please give Ms. Woods access to Mr. Knowles’ and his assistant Heather’s emails immediately.”
“Yes, Mr. Graham. I’ll give her the admin password. It will give her access to any computer in the company, including yours.”