Willow sent me a smug smile. “I know these things. Give her a chance, will you?”
“If you say so.”
“I do. Take a minute to read the blogs on our website. She’s been rewriting what Crystal wrote last month.”
I called up my company’s website on my machine and scrolled through it. Crystal, my last receptionist, made a hash out of updating it, and her articles read like a child’s primer. I didn’t fire her butt because she needed the job so desperately.I’m getting soft in my old age. Have no business running a company.
“Hmm.” I rub my jaw, reading. “Not bad.”
The rewrites were intelligent, written in a flowery yet interesting voice, and made me appear in the public’s eye as a real estate genius. Hayley had definitely done her homework as she wrote, forcing me to admit that perhaps she wasn’t as dumb as she sounded.
“Okay,” I said at last. “You made your point.”
“You intimidate her, Alaric,” Willow commented. “Don’t growl at her. Compliment her once in a while.”
I glanced sidelong at Willow. “Sheiscute.”
“Cute?” Willow snorted. “Did you even look at her? She’s stunning, flawless. She’s kind, warm, smart, and afraid of her own shadow. Being a grouch won’t help her.”
“I’m not here to help her, you know. She works for me, not the other way around.”
I recognized the crusty look Willow sent me. The one intending to inform me that while I may have money and privileges, I’m still Willow’s pupil as well as her nephew. Willow still had enough authority to humble me every now and then.
In our native language, Willow said, “You must marry and soon, boy. That girl out there is an exceptional candidate.”
My jaw dropped. “You’re kidding me.”
“You cannot inherit unless you have a mate at your side. Even if you set her aside later, you will wed this girl. You have been commanded.”
***
Commanded or not, I still didn’t care much for Hayley. Nor did I want to marry her, even for a short time while I achieved my inheritance. I did my best to ignore her, permit her to do her work without interacting with her. My website improved drastically, and because of it, more sales leads camein. Richard, and to some extent Sammy, grew busier showing properties that otherwise might not have crossed our desks.
“You should reward her with a bonus,” Willow commented blandly at the end of Hayley’s first week.
“Why? She’s just doing her job.”
“You had no problem giving Crystal bonuses. Or Bertie for that matter.”
“I like both Bertie and Crystal.”
“She needs help.”
“How do you know?”
“It’s my job to know. Now, will you offer her a bonus for the good work that brought you more business?”
“I didn’t necessarily want more business.”
Once again, Willow shot me thatI know better than you and do what I saylook. “Do it, Alaric.”
“All right, all right,” I grumbled, typing out a quick e-mail for Bertie to cut Hayley a bonus check. “I should sack you and put Hayley in your job.”
“You’d never get on without me.”
“I would. Quite easily, in fact.”
Watching surreptitiously from behind my computer monitor, I observed Bertie hand Hayley the check. Hayley looked at it, and dropped it on her desk as though it burned her fingers. Bertie said something, smiling, and patted Hayley’s shoulder. When she returned to her cubicle, Hayley sat still, staring at the check.
