I didn’t protest him walking away.
I scrolled down to Andrea’s name, but a junior accountant suddenly stepped into my doorway.
“Mr. Cross, may I come in, sir?”
“Sure.”
“Thank you.” He rushed to my desk.
“Here are the calculations you requested from me late last night, sir,” he said. “If it helps, all the latte blend sales are stronger than they’ve ever been.”
“What about merch?”
“Same.” He shot me a quizzical look. “You had me run those numbers, too… They’re in there.”
“Did you find a way to make five hundred million in profit appear in the next two quarters?”
“No, I…” He paled. “I’m just the raw equations guy, sir. Miss Stone probably can, though. She’s the best at that.”
“Get out.”
He rushed away without another word, and I walked to my secretary’s desk.
“Heather?” I cleared my throat. “Did Miss Stone say she’d be late today?”
“No, sir.”
“Can you call her and ask what time she’ll be arriving?”
“Right away.” She picked up her desk phone and called. Then she covered the receiver. “It sent me straight to voicemail. Would you like me to leave a message?”
“Yes,” I said. “Then send her an email.”
“Miss Stone, this is Heather calling on behalf of Mr. Cross.” She was far nicer than me. “He’s just wondering when you’ll be coming into work today. Call me back when you receive this, please.”
She hung up and typed on her keyboard.
“Okay,” she said. “The email is sent as well, sir. Anything else I can do for you this morning?”
“My breakfast is late for some reason,” I said. “You can also tell me why Andrea isn’t here.”
“I just called and emailed her seconds ago, sir.” She arched a brow. “Remember?”
“Maybe. Send an intern in with my breakfast and reschedule all my morning meetings by two hours.”
She nodded, eyeing me suspiciously as I returned to my office.
Subject:Unauthorized Time Off
Miss Stone,
Given the fact that I have generously spared you from any disciplinary action over ruining a certain meeting and that you seem to be feeling better, I will not tolerate you taking any additional time off.
You need to make an appearance in my office no later than noon, or I’ll be forced to take action.
Thank you for your attention to this issue.
(I’m still your boss.)
