Graham likes to do his own thing. To be left alone. To exist in his own little bubble. He takes after our dad that way.
Everett is likely in charge of tethering Graham to reality, reminding him of deadlines, and outlining business plans. As CFO, Everett is in charge of the money, contracts, and things like that. The numbers, and probably the employees.
Graham is, of course, great with numbers, but not necessarily communicating them to other people or letting them dictate what he wants to do. If he thinks something is a good idea, he’ll want to do it at full speed and with no restrictions.
I’m sure Everett has to babysit my brother sometimes.
I just really hope he doesn’t intend to babysit all the employees too.
One of the reasons I was offered the promotion in Chicago was that I am extremely independent, self-motivated, and self-disciplined.
Meeting my new boss as a guest for Thanksgiving at my parents' house is going to be interesting.
But Graham assures me I have the job, and I can’t screw it up just because we’re all going to be hanging out, stuffing our faces, probably drinking, and playing board games.
Fingers crossed that’s true.
I just need Everett to be slightly laid-back and able to have some fun.
“I’m sure if we didn’t have cake, Everett just would skip dessert,” my mom says easily. “It’s not like he demanded cake instead of pie.”
“But what kind of sociopath doesn’t like pie?” I ask.
My mom rolls her eyes, but then smiles. “Graham said he doesn’t have much of a sweet tooth at all.”
I gasp. “And we’re letting this man sleep in the guest room?”
Mom nods. “Oh, I even bought fancy new sheets and a sound machine for the guest room.”
I look over. “You did not.”
“Oh, I did. I want him to be totally comfortable here. He’ll be staying with us when he comes to oversee the building project.”
“The guy is a multimillionaire. He can afford a hotel room if he doesn’t like our guest room.”
The guest room that used to be Carver’s bedroom. Now that he and Kaelyn are married and live here in Sapphire Falls, they, of course, don’t need a bedroom at my parents' house. If there were any such occasion, Kaelyn’s parents also live in Sapphire Falls. Of course. We’re just one huge, happy, crazy family.
“Yes, but he’s going to be working with your father, and he’s already your brother’s partner and best friend. He’s part of the family, Ginny. Family doesn’t stay at hotels,” my mother says.
“I’m just saying hecouldif he’s going to be picky,” I say.
“You need to be a little bit more welcoming and accommodating. He’s our guest and your brother’s friend,” my mother says.
Yeah, well, accommodating is not a word that people often use to describe me. If I’mtoonice, my friends and family will think I’m sick.
“I intend to be fully professional and friendlyenough,” I say. “But he’s going to be my boss. It would be totally inappropriate to be too friendly.”
That’s another thing I am concerned about. Working for my brother already raises the potential for other employees to think I’m getting preferential treatment. But if my co-workers find out that our CFO is sleeping at my parents' house just down the hall from me on a regular basis, that could cause all kinds of problems.
I’ve been in a similar situation before. I’m not doing that again. Stephen and his betrayal at work was not my first time having a professional conflict that fucked up a job for me.
Prior to the pharmaceutical company, my college roommate’s father hired me at his company in the marketing and PR department. I rose quickly through the ranks because I was damned good at my job, I’m a hard worker, and I’m fucking intelligent. But when one of the guys who hated women and specifically hated women who got jobs he thought he should have, found out about my personal connection to Mr. Stern, he started spreading rumors. And, like all the best rumors, there were pieces of truth in them. Things like the fact that I spent New Year’s Eve in Mr. Stern’s New York penthouse apartment overlooking Central Park, and that he took me on a Hawaiian vacation.
Yes, technically both of those things happened. I spent New Year’s Eve in George Stern’s penthouse apartmentwith his daughter Kammy. He wasn’t there.
I also went to Hawaii as Kammy’s guest. George was there that time, though we didn’t see much of him.
Should Mr. Stern and I both have realized it wasn’t a good idea for me to spend personal time with his family? Maybe. Did I get considered for the job initially because of Kammy? Yes. However, I earned all three promotions on my own. Mr. Stern didn’t award them. I never saw him at work. He had nothing to do with my job assignments or evaluations.
