10. Merrick
10
MERRICK
MERRICK: Late night, Hellcat?
WREN: Jealous?
MERRICK: Should I be?
I stare at the message, part of me wishing I could take it back and the other part dying to know her answer. Because something inside me had snapped yesterday, the part where I lead my life with control and discipline.
The part where I don’t fantasize about my employees.
Or flirt with them via text.
But I’m well past reason at this point.
WREN: I guess it depends
MERRICK: On what?
WREN: You’re flirting with me, Mr. Ellis
MERRICK: Poorly
MERRICK: Let me take you to dinner
WREN: I’ll think about it
My lips twitch the slightest bit before I school my expression, the knock at my door heralding what has always been my least favorite part of the job.
“Come in,” I say, standing as Holly comes in, a seductive gleam in her eye.
Hard pass.
“You wanted to see me?” she purrs as I motion to the chairs on the other side of my desk.
“Have a seat.”
Her eyes flash with annoyance but she doesn’t argue.
Settling back in my chair, I pull out a couple of sheets of paper and hand them to her.
“What are these?” she asks.
“They are the payments made to your social media company.”
“This isn’t me,” she protests, alarm seeping into her tone.
Steepling my fingers under my chin as I rest my elbows on the desk, I stare at her. “Miss Gould, I’ve been at this a long time. My resources are extensive,” I tell her simply. “It wasn’t hard to follow everything back to you once I figured out what I was looking at.”
“Fine. I get paid to use my influencer status to promote the spa. Big deal.”
“It is a big deal when you’re not actually doing that.” She doesn’t argue, her face pinched as she stares at me. “And to be clear, whatever agreement you did or didn’t have is terminated.”
“Whatever.”
“Whatever?” I repeat. “You’re lucky the only thing I’m going to do is suspend you for a week without pay.”
“You can’t suspend me!”
“I can and I will. I’ve also figured out whatever glitch was allowing you unlimited time off.”
Gone is the sugary-sweet expression she wore when she walked in here, fury and indignation in its place as she glares at me.
“Adhere to the rules or you’ll be terminated.”
“You can’t fire me.”
“I can and I will. Everyone is replaceable, Miss Gould. You’ve been stealing from the business your mother worked so hard for. You should be thanking me for allowing you to prove you’re worth keeping.”
She gapes at me, but I keep my face void of emotion.
Holly had no complaints from clients, and aside from taking more than her allotted time off, she had no real marks on her record. It would be a pain in the ass to replace her, but it wouldn’t be impossible.
“You can collect your things and take the rest of the day paid, but the next five days are unpaid. If I see you in this building before that time is up, you’ll be terminated. Are we clear?”
“Yes,” she says through gritted teeth, tossing the papers back on my desk as she stands. Without waiting, Holly stalks toward the door and rips it open before letting it slam shut behind her, the sound echoing in my now quiet office.
Thank fuck.
Now to deliver some good news to the woman I can’t get out of my head.