We hang up the call just as my driver pulls up in front of our building. I thank him and step out onto the sidewalk, buttoning up my suit jacket and looking up at the large skyscraper in front of me. The air is still frigid, and winter is now in full swing here in Chicago. I’m quickly learning that in the Windy City, the colder months come with a vengeance.
Not wasting any more time standing out on the cold sidewalk, I hurry into the warm building. I say hello to the reception desk down in the lobby as I step into the elevator. When I make it to my office, I drop my suit jacket down over the back of my chair and pull up my email and agenda, scanning over what the day’s schedule looks like.
Already, I’m due into the Board meeting in a little under an hour and a half. I busy myself by collecting everything I’ll need for that meeting. It will be different not having Whitney there to help keep me organized or give gentle reminders when we’re getting off task.
When I’m less than half an hour out, I’m confident I’m as well prepared as I’m going to be, so I pack up my things and wander down to the conference room. As expected, I’m the first one there. As I’m setting up—getting my presentation pulled up, and the note packets handed out to each position at the table—my mind continuously wanders back to the events of this morning and my conversation with my brother.
I replay everything he said to me as he attempted to talk me down out of the panic I was feeling. Though I’m not sure I’ll be able to take a step back and view it how he wants me to, I’m grateful that he was readily available to lend an ear.
However, as I think about it more, I think he might be right that I need to look at it from a different perspective. So that’s exactly what Itry to do.
Eventually, though, the three remaining Board members walk into the conference room together. I stand up and shake each of their hands. They take their seats, and then we dive right into work. Our main agenda for today is to look at some of the possibilities to fill the open positions on our Board.
We run through each of the candidates, and then I catch them up on where I am in my transition period as well. The meeting goes smoothly for the first time since I’ve been here. I think that largely has to do with Elena no longer having a looming presence.
As the meeting is wrapping up, I’m busy sliding my papers into my folder and powering down my laptop when the last matter of business is brought to the table unexpectedly.
“Mr. Hurst,” Johnson, now the oldest member on the Board of directors, addresses me as he folds his hands on the table. His expression is grim, and I brace myself for whatever he’s about to say. “We have been discussing your—predicament with your assistant, and unfortunately, we cannot condone a relationship of that matter in your position.”
I nod my head slowly, trying my best to take this curveball in stride. “Okay, so what does that mean moving forward?”
The Board members share a quick, uneasy look, and then Johnson continues, “You’ll have to end the relationship if you’d like Ms. Palmer to continue to work under you, or resign.”
I lean back in my chair. Those are not great options.
I stare at them silently, running over the potential outcomes of either of those decisions. The first one, I’d have to publicly stop dating Whitney. We’d go back to keeping our relationship a secret, and it would be vital that no one was aware of otherwise. No one would know how much she means to me.
Or, I resign from my position as CEO.
As I mull it over, I really only see one option here.
But now, it’s a matter of making it happen.
Whitney
My nerves are shotfor the rest of the morning. As I drive from my dentist appointment to the office, my stomach churns, and my mind swirls with vertigo. Every molecule of my body feels like it’s stuck in fight or flight mode. I want to run. I want to hide, but I know the best thing is to face this issue head-on.
Theo said we’d talk about it later, so while I sit at a traffic light, I rehearse what I’m going to say to him over and over, perfecting my words and working through the best way to say how I’m feeling.
Even as I sit in the elevator, waiting to get to our floor, I mouth my speech to myself over and over so I don’t forget it.
But it’s a useless endeavor.
Outside Theo’s office, there is a flurry of activity. People in matching ‘Mike's Moving Co.’ shirts are stacking boxes onto a dolly and wheeling them down the hallway to the elevator.
“What’s going on?” I ask as soon as I’m standing in front of our office space. I glance down at my desk to see everything completely untouched. But there’s still a stack of boxes outside Theo’soffice. A few of the movers each have a box in their arms as they walk down the hallway to the elevator to go down.
I step closer and frown. “This is Theo Hurst’s office, you know that, right? He’s the CEO of this company?” I ask them, wondering if they’ve gotten lost from where they were supposed to be moving things out of.
“Not anymore,” a familiar, sinfully sexy, deep voice says from his doorway.
I turn to see Theo leaning against the frame with his hands in his pockets. He’s not wearing his suit jacket and has the cuffs of his baby blue dress shirt rolled up, making the veins in his forearms stand out.
“Theo…” I trail off, hoping my tone states that I’m not interested in playing games.
“Whitney,” he says back, almost like he’s bored of this conversation already.
“What’s happening? Why are you moving out of your office?” I ask him, trying to sound polite, though secretly wanting to scream at him and shove this girl away from my chair.
