Belle:Don't freak out, but you're going to see a $108,000 charge on your credit card for Christmas decorations.
“Who spends that much money on Christmas decorations?” I said aloud.
“Probably the Holbrooks,” Walker replied. “Their decorations are all over social media, tagged of course, with #TechBizTopCompany. All the tech blogs are already speculating on who's going to be at the top of the list.”
“And that brings us back to the topic of the meeting,” Greg said. “For the last two years, Owen, Quantum Cyber has not been hiring the best and brightest. We're opening that new facility in Harrogate in partnership with Svensson PharmaTech. At this point, I'm highly doubtful that we will have qualified workers to manage it.”
“It's this idioticTechBizlist,” I said, trying to keep my cool. “Not only do the Holbrooks vacuum up all the good workers, but they also have first dibs on any start-up trying to sell.”
“It's all because of the corgi,” Walker said. “Kate and Grant just post random pictures of him. Look, here's another one. They decorated their sign, and they have Gus the corgi in front of it. It's so blatant. All Kate wrote is, 'You know you want to work here.' Here's another picture of Grant and the corgi in matching hats.”
“And yet here you are, Owen,” Hunter said. “Complaining as opposed to taking actionable steps to correct the problem.”
“He's trying,” Walker protested, attempting to stick up for me. “We have a nice Instagram post with him and the puppy. Penny's decorating the lobby.”
“It's all so petty,” I complained. “Quantum Cyber pays very well, and our employees have a lot of autonomy. The Holbrooks are terrible, but they throw up a picture of a corgi in a Santa hat in front of a Holbrook Enterprises–themed Christmas tree, and everyone is falling all over themselves to work there.”
Hunter gave me a flat look. “People are sheep. They want a shallow Instagram moment, and they want to feel good about where they work. You two need to try harder. You know how I feel about the Holbrooks. I'm taking this as a personal affront if their company is at the top of the list again this year. If the Holbrooks are using the holidays to lock in the top spot on theTechBizlist, then Owen, you better get on board with Christmas.”
*
“I need a drink,”Walker said after several more hours of Greg and Hunter picking apart the company finances, the progress of the new gene therapy facility in Harrogate, and their general disappointment with me.
“Both Hunter and Greg are usually difficult to deal with, but Greg especially seemed in a worse mood than normal,” I remarked.
“It's because Crawford came back,” Walker said.
“Your brother? I thought you said he moved to Tokyo.”
Walker shrugged. “He's back. Greg won't even let us say his name. He's still furious at him. I didn't think he could despise anyone more than Hunter, yet here we are.”
“Speaking of people we despise,” I growled. Sloane was waiting in the lobby. She waved to me, uncrossed her legs, and stood up, smoothing her hands slowly down her body.
Holly does it better.
“You should be nice,” Walker insisted. “Give her the Owen Frost five-star treatment. Can't hurt to have an edge in the competition. We do need to, if not win, at least achieve a higher ranking. I did a poll of our employees, and eighty percent of them wouldn't recommend the company to a friend because it's not a fun place to work.”
“It's a company specializing in cybersecurity and cryptoanalytics. There's nothing fun about that,” I retorted.
“Exactly,” Sloane said, sauntering up to us. “That’s why you have to try extra hard to make it exciting.” She slid her hands down the collar of my jacket, pretending she was doing it to smooth out my tie.
“I really enjoyed our last date,” she said. “We should do it again.”
“It was six months ago,” I said, trying to push her off me.
“You're a busy man. I can come by tonight and wear something sexy. I'll be your elf on the shelf.”
“No, thank you.”
“You need to relax,” she said. “Being a billionaire and running a huge company must be stressful. I can help you strategize about increasing yourTechBizranking.”
“I am not interested,” I said firmly. “I have a lot on my plate right now.”
“We'll catch up later,” she said, her hand drifting around my waist before I pushed past her.
“I can't believe you're rejecting her, dude,” Walker said as the valet handed me my keys. “She's pretty, and she could help your business. Win-win.”
“Lose-lose. She's crazy. We went on one date. Sloane hasn't left me alone since then. I've tried ignoring her. I've tried telling her clearly that I do not see a future together. It's like she doesn't even hear me. Every few days, she texts me. It's insane! Six months, this has been going on. Isn't she exhausted? It's not like she doesn't have a job.” I blew out a breath. “I will never date again.”
