Almost, he thought, with dark amusement,as if she didn’t trust herself to open them.
But he could ponder that later, when he was alone with a glass of wine and could give Jay and her thighs the proper consideration they deserved.
Right now, he had to deal with Annica and this.
Whateverthiswas.
She was taking her sweet time, lingering over adjusting her headphones. Nobody was that compulsive. He watched her slow approach through narrowed eyes, taking in the khakis and the preppy stewardess blouse.
She lookslike a fucking J. Crew ad.
“What can I do for you?” he asked, even before she was fully through the door. She gave him a look before snapping it emphatically closed. He wanted to roll his eyes but instead, he kept his face carefully composed. Jay would have been proud.
“I want to discuss my title.”
Nicholas frowned as she seated herself in one of the chairs across from him, pulling at her pants to shake the wrinkles out. “What about your title?”
“I’ve been here for over two years. I think my title should reflect that.”
“We don’t promote people for warming chairs.” He leaned back in the seat, crossing one long leg over his knee. “Tellme about some of the contributions you’ve made lately. Any innovations you’ve come up with to improve the company’s workflow or morale. That’s what we promote on.”
Annica’s eyebrows shot downwards. “My workload has increased significantly since I was assigned as your assistant. I’ve been here twice as long as Jay and now I’m doing twice the amount of work, but we both have the same title. That doesn’t seem fair.”
“That’s your benchmark for defining your performance?” he kept his tone careful, deliberate. Inwardly, he was seething. “The work of other employees?”
“I’m not saying I think that she’s a bad employee,” Annica said, which suggested she thought this plenty in private, “but my duties are extensive,andI have seniority, so I think I’m at least entitled to a discussion about becoming a Senior Administrative Assistant—or what I need to do to get there. Since I was assigned to you, we’ve never discussed my career growth.”
I wonder why.He remembered Arthur casually asking if he had limited Annica’s lunch hours, saying that her lunch with Jay had seemed rushed. He’d forgotten to look into it, not really caring enough to dig into details that didn’t concern him, but as he watched Annica fidget in front of him, he found himself now considering other, possible implications of her behavior.
Could Annica have been the one spreading the rumors that Jay had overheard?
Still pleasant, he said, “So what you’re saying is, you’d like my feedback.”
“Yes.”
“Myhonestfeedback.”
A wary expression crossed her face. “Yes,” she said again, though less surely. “Why? Is there an issue with my work that’skeeping me from moving ahead?”
“Meeting expectations isn’t a guarantee for promotion. It’s doing the job we pay you for. If we go by your logic, Jay should have been making more than you when she was first hired—for doing twice as much work. And if that’s the case, perhaps we do need to revisit the description of the role. But in the meantime, I’d like to see more of a team player mindset from you.”
Nicholas didn’t think he imagined the flash of anger that crossed her face. “Define team player, please,” Annica said tautly. “I don’t think I understand what you’re asking me to do.”
“You’ve told me what you’re doing to meet expectations, but you did so at the expense of another employee, whose workload and performance is, quite frankly, none of your concern. I’ve also been informed that you seem reluctant to participate in work events.”
She definitely looked angry now. “So you’re saying I have to participate in work events even if I don’t want to, or don’t find them to be a good use of my time?”
“No. I’m saying that your efforts are satisfactory but don’t exceed expectations.”
Annica let out a harsh breath. “With all due respect, I don’t think your assessment of my work is particularly impartial or fair.”
“Oh? Why not?”
Tell me. Give me a reason to fire you.
I’ll fucking do it.
She flinched when their eyes met but didn’t back down. “I think you know why.”
