Tyler shook his head with maybe a bit too much vigor. “I wasnot…glancing at your breasts.”
“Oh, sorry. I meant ogling. You were ogling my breasts. You wanna wipe here,” she said, pointing to the corner of his mouth. “You got a bit of drool right there.”
It just keeps getting worse. Add to the agenda for today: Find an expert who can fix her brain-to-mouth filter.
He knew that she had always been straight forward, but he had not expected her to be that way inallrespects. He admitted to himself that his eyes had drifted to her breasts once or twice…but ogling? He did notogleher breasts. She had some nerve accusing him of such things.
“That’s it! I’m leaving!” He stood up and avoided looking at any part of her. “I came here to show you that I’m grateful for all the hard work you’ve been doing and you go and turn it into one of those office sexual harassment cases. You know it’s people like you who make people like me not want to do anything nice for other people.”
Jordan simply nodded. “You wanna blame me for world hunger while you’re at it?”
He sneered his irritation and marched back to his office.
*****
Tyler heard a knock on his office door before Matthew stepped in. Looking at the excitement on his face, Tyler already knew he had good news about Hampton Homes, the business venture they had been chasing for the past eight months. It would be a lucrative acquisition which had the potential to rake in millions for Diamond Properties. It was an establishment of up-market buildings and townhouses, where rentals from the tenants more than covered the costs of keeping it running. After months of hard work, it looked like they were finally going to reap the benefits.
“Timothy Coldwell finally caved,” he announced with a broad smile. “We just have to bring him down to the right price.”
“They’re gonna sell?” Although Tyler was interested, his tone lacked a certain degree of eagerness.
“Yeah,” Matthew replied. “I already got the ball rolling and set up a meeting for the first week in July.”
“Good job, Matt. I knew you’d nail it,” he said, still sounding a little despondent and Matthew noticed immediately.
“What’s the matter, Ty? You don’t seem happy about it.”
“I am,” he chipped in quickly. “I’m happy. Ecstatic. Overjoyed.”
“Well, you don’t seem like it. I mean, we’ve been after Hampton for months. I at least expected a smile and here you are looking like it’s one of those boring, mundane—”
“I’m gonna fire Jordan!”
His outburst kept Matthew frozen in place for several seconds. “Sorry, Ty. I think I misheard you. You’re gonna do what?”
“I just think this business is growing,” he explained. “And if we do buy Hampton Homes, things are going to get pretty hectic around here. Jordan can’t handle that. I just feel she’s…incompetent.”
“Incompetent? Tyler, have you lost your mind?” He placed his hands on his hips and readied himself for a fight. “Jordan knows this business inside out. Replacing her would be a nightmare. Not to mention the fact that we have no reason to fire her. She’s great at what she does. She can handle anything and you know it.”
Tyler shook his head. “No, I’m not sure that I…know that. I think you give her more credit than she deserves.”
“You will never find a better accountant.”
“It’s not just that, Matt. She’s not performing.”
“She gave you the financial statements a week before they were due.”
“She comes in late,” Tyler continued. “What time did she waltz in here on Tuesday? It must’ve been about…eleven o’ clock.”
“She was training the divisional managers on Tuesday. It wasyouridea.”
He ignored the comment and soldiered on. “And you know what, Matt? I think…I mean, I truly believe that she is stealing money from the company.”
Matthew’s mouth dropped in absolute shock, but Tyler didn’t skip a beat.
“I’ve seen her, you know.” He nodded, rubbing his jaw pensively. “Many a time I have seen her print out the bank statements, circle certain amounts. It looks rather suspicious, don’t you agree?”
“It’s called a bank recon!” Matthew shouted. “She does it every month.”
