Chapter Eleven
Nash leaned forward, his pen poised over the white legal pad in front of him. He and Kenzi had just settled down for their strategy meeting. He’d brought a plate of cookies; she’d brought enough office supplies to run a small country.
Across from him was a whiteboard, the markers lined up neatly in the accompanying tray. A mug—with a picture of Elvis on the side—held black, blue, and red pens. There was a stack of legal pads and loose paper often found in a printer’s feed. He wasn’t sure why, but she’d also brought file folders, sticky tabs to label them, and paper clips that happened to be hot pink.
He leaned forward in his seat. “After we cast our votes for CEO—“
“And it comes out a tie,” Kenzi inserted.
“Then the power to choose between the three of you goes to the board of directors?”
Kenzi nodded while she chewed.
Nash contemplated the tabletop. “I have to tell you, Raquel may have a point in selling off the company to the highest bidder. You could make millions—or more—and be set. That’s the fast track to wealth—start a company, make it viable, and sell, sell, sell.”
Kenzi stared at him. “I feel like you’re giving me a warning of some sort, but I’m not sure what it is.”
Nash sucked in his gut and went for it. “I can’t, in good conscience, vote for you to be CEO if I don’t believe it is the best course of action for the company as a whole.”
“But that’s the whole point of this marriage.”
“I know. I know.” He scrubbed at the back of his head, his hair poking into his palm. “But I can’t.”
Kenzi narrowed her eyes. “Keeping the company together is the best thing for the employees. You’ll see.” She polished off her second chocolate chip cookie and brushed the crumbs off her fingers. “How are you at schmoozing?”
Nash had a disproportionate sense of accomplishment over Kenzi’s appreciation of his chocolate chip cookies. He used the recipe off the back of the bag. If she thought these were good, she should try his mom’s recipe. But then he’d have to call his mom, and that was out of the question.
“I have mid-level experience in the schmoozing department.” He picked up his first cookie. His stomach had been in knots leading up to this meeting, wondering how far Kenzi would push him to push his morals. For now, he’d go along with her plan. He needed more information before he made his decision, so he’d just have to bide his time.
Trying to keep the spotlight off his internal dilemma, he asked, “If the vote were to take place right now, who would vote for you? Take me through the executive team.”
Kenzi snapped the top off of a dry erase marker. “Everett Vereb.” She wrote the name on the whiteboard as she spoke. “Our CFO. He’s hard-nosed. I don’t know where I stand with him. The good news is, he hasn’t fallen for Rachel’s charms either.”
“So he’s neutral?”
“An unknown.” She put a question mark next to his name. “Guy Tratto is our chief operating officer. He’s newly married and close to retirement and has an overall aura of biding his time.” She put a negative sign next to his name. “I think he’d sell just because he thinks the company can’t survive without him. Nice guy, though.
“Hugh Sebald is the head of Human Resources. He’s my biggest supporter. I can count on him to come through for me.” She placed a positive sign next to his name.
“You know, it would help if you could draw a picture of each of them too.”
Her hand paused in the air and she looked over her shoulder at him. Her hair was pulled back into a low ponytail. Besides the wedding, she’d kept her hair out of her face, making the wide planes of her forehead and cheekbones stand out. Did she know how interesting her face was to look at? Was that why she used it to her advantage?
“Trust me, you don’t want me to draw a picture of anyone.”
He fought the tugging at the corner of his lips.
She must have seen it, because she shoved his pad towards him playfully. “Be serious.”
“I am. How can I go into a meeting and schmooze the right guy if I’m not sure it’s him?”
“I’ll be sure and point out the people you have to schmooze before it’s time to do so.”
“Fine.” He added a dash of petulance to his voice.
She tapped the marker against her palm as she stared at the names on the board. “You might be on to something.”
He waited, enjoying watching the wheels turn in her head.
