“Please,” I begged, my voice threatening to go full chipmunk. “Please don’t fire me.”
Brittany Dawn’s phone rang. She held up a finger as she answered it.
“Understood … Yes, sir.”
She pressed the end call button. “Mr. Richmond would like to see you.”
“Uh, he would?”
“He would?” Anthym was shocked.
“When?” My stomach churned.
“Now,” Brittany Dawn said, picking up her key card.
“Likenow, now?”
4
GRAYSON
The door opened then closed with a softclick. Marius stepped into my office.
“What did this girl do, exactly, where you had to get the legal department involved to fire her?” he asked, coming over to stand next to me at the window.
Marius and I went way back. We had been roommates at Harvard then had stayed in contact. I appreciated him tolerating my presence as his roommate and had offered him the position as head legal counsel when I had formed my company.
I always trusted Marius’s judgment, and he had been worth his weight in rare earth metals just in structuring the initial contracts with the venture capital firms all those years ago.
I was sure what he did now was probably beneath his skill level, and I expected him to leave any day.
People always did.
There was always a better opportunity.
And better assistants.
“I cannot have my assistant working for me anymore, and Ms. Collins seems like the type to cause trouble. Hence legal.”
“Uh-huh.” Marius crossed his arms. “This is technically an HR issue, but it’s been a slow morning. So sure, I’ll be your emotional support lawyer.”
I glanced at him.
A smirk played around his mouth.
“You didn’t hit on her, did you?”
The anger, always close to the surface of late, rose up.
“I would never.”
“Dude, you have to lighten up.” Marius clapped me on the shoulder. “Why don’t you come out for drinks tonight?”
“I have to work,” I lied.
I had plans, but not work. It was Tuesday, after all.
Marius sighed. “I thought after you built all this, you’d take a break.”
