Chapter 38
THIRTY-EIGHT
SHAE
U sually, work is my happy place, but right now, being here is just weird.
“You’re back!” Melissa croons as soon as I walk into the Orisun building. She meets me in the foyer as planned, but I can tell, despite being briefed, she’s unprepared for the battalion of security guards surrounding me.
“It’s…” I pause, pressing my red-painted lips together. I should say, “It’s good to be back,” but the words stick in my throat with their falsity.
Even though the world has been spinning off its axis, and I’ve been through the emotional wringer, work isn’t the balm it’s been in the past.
To be honest, I don’t really want to be here, and I’m not quite sure what to do with that.
“It’s good to see you, Melissa,” I say, smiling. That’s a true statement. Melissa has been my right hand for so long, I haven’t realized just how much I’ve missed her until seeing her in front of me.
“Likewise. Listen, there’s a lot happening right now, so we need to hit the ground running,” Melissa says, taking my bag from me without my asking.
With her ever-present iPad strapped to her hand, she shuffles everything around neatly and grabs the stylus to tap on the screen.
“I’ve cleared out your day until three p.m. to give you time to get settled back in.
I tried my best with your email inbox, and I think it’s pretty clean, but I know you’ll want to go through every folder.
That will take some time. There are—” she taps her screen several times for a silent minute.
“Two hundred and thirteen emails flagged for your follow-up.”
She looks at me, biting her lip.
“But at three, you have a meeting with the board,” she says, almost as if she were saying, at three, you’re going to the guillotine.
A sense of calm washes over me, where I’d usually expect panic. This board meeting has been pushed back and pushed back, but now that I’m in the office, I know it’s time to face whatever’s coming down for me.
In the years since starting Orisun, I’ve never been passive about incoming pain. Now, I’m accepting what is.
“Hey, Mel?” I ask, stopping her softly. Her eyes snap toward mine, startled either by my tone or the nickname.
I pull her into a hug.
When I release her, she stares at me wide-eyed. I’ve never hugged another employee—well, Zane notwithstanding, but we didn’t really…hug.
“Liv, thank God you’re back.” I startle at the new voice and being called something other than Shae. Turning to my right, Zane exits the elevator as if I’d summoned him from the void.
Goddamn it.
“Zane,” I say coolly, but before he can get more than six feet in front of me, one of the guards, whose name I do not know, steps between the two of us.
“Close enough,” the man says, and Zane stares at him slack-jawed, a red flush blooming from his neck.
“Excuse me?” Zane says, indignant. “Liv, tell your guy to move aside.”
I tilt my head as I examine him, taking in his slightly disheveled appearance and the paleness around his mouth.
He looks stressed.
“It’s okay,” I tell the guard, and the man eyes me for a second before stepping aside.
“Thank you,” Zane grits out, immediately moving closer.
“What’s wr—” I choke up, freeze, when Zane pulls me into a tight hug. On instinct, I try to pull away, first starting with cocking my pelvis as far from his as is possible, but before I can make a fuss, he releases me.
“First, don’t ever disappear like that again. I had a heart attack every day wondering how you were and if you were safe.”
I give him a confused look.
“Why wouldn’t I be safe, Zane?” His eyes widen a fraction before settling his face back into its worried expression.
“I don’t know, Liv,” he says. “I don’t fucking know anything anymore.” He runs his fingers through his hair, which is longer and greasier than I’ve ever seen it.
Gaping at him for a second, I say, “Zane, is everything okay?” You’d think he’d be the one potentially losing his job and not me.
“I just…we need to talk, Liv,” he says, whispering, but Melissa steps forward.
“Liv, you do have meetings to get to,” she says pointedly. I look between the two of them.
“I’ll meet up with you later, Zane,” I say. He looks frustrated, taking a step away and throwing up his hands. “This can’t wait, Liv!”
I give him a cross look, but something in Melissa’s tone makes me stop. I look at my assistant, and she’s telling me very pointedly not to go with Zane.
“I’m sorry, Zane. I can’t meet right this second but come by before the board meeting. Okay?”
His lips tightening, he nods jerkily and heads toward the glass facade of the building.
“That was fucking weird,” I mutter, but Melissa gives me a tight-lipped smile and gestures toward the elevator.
We’re silent on the ride up and all the way to my pristine office. In the corner, a new pothos plant thrives near the window.
“This you?” I ask, knowing that of course this is Melissa’s doing. Who else?
“Yeah,” she says with a shy smile. “It helped me feel like you were here if I kept your office up.”
I chuckle.
“Thank you,” I say, and she gives me a genuine grin.
Rounding my desk, I stare at the setup in overwhelm before jiggling the mouse and starting up my iMac.
“While that’s doing its thing, why don’t you get me up to date on how these people plan on firing me in a few hours?”
Melissa’s expression morphs into one of pure determination.
“Not if I have something to say about it,” she grinds out. “With what I found? You’re not going anywhere.”
With her words, I don’t feel the resignation and peace I’ve lived in for the last several weeks when it comes to all things Orisun. Instead, I feel a spark of the fire that got me to the top over the last eight years.
“Oh, yeah? Well, don’t keep me waiting in suspense.”
I am the daughter of Opal and Reginald Rivers. Top of my class at Asheford University. I made my way through Harvard’s MBA program while raising two beautiful, intelligent children. I’ve faced down dragons and slayed them.
I’m not afraid of some pretentious men in suits.
I enter the conference room before anyone else and sit casually with one leg crossed over the other, my hair neat without a strand out of place, and my red lipstick refreshed. My phone chirps again, and I ignore it, knowing it’s Zane searching for me since I gave him the slip.
I don’t want to see him—hell, I can’t see him right now. I’m liable to start beating the shit out of him due to what I’ve learned from Melissa.
God, every CEO needs a Melissa, because that woman just saved my ass, and my company.
“I’ll be right behind you, Liv,” Melissa murmurs in my ear after she places the dossiers at each board member’s empty seat. She puts a printed stack in front of me. The warm pages still smell like fresh ink.
“Thank you, Melissa,” I say, rising from my chair to give her my full attention. “Truly.”
Melissa gives me a sideways grin.
“Don’t mention it,” she replies. “Just remember this moment when it’s time for my upcoming evaluation.”
“Done,” I say, feeling calmer than I ever would have if placed in this situation a few months ago. Before everything went down, I’d likely want to burn everything to the ground in a great conflagration. Now? I’m ready to set things right with controlled power.
No need to go scorched earth when I’ve got the truth right in front of me.
Just then, the board members round the corner in one big cluster, Zane leading the pack. He looks angry and flustered, his face a ruddy color that speaks to his stress level.
And good. He should be fuckin’ stressed.
“Gentlemen,” I say, greeting each person as they enter the room. There is a total of five voting board members in Orisun. Zane and I are two of them, then there’s Trance Jackson as a shareholding advisor, Jaime Figueroa from Figueroa Venture Capital, and Ralph Sumner, one of Zane’s college mentors.
At least Trance is a friendly face, and he gives me a wary smile.
Looking at the people streaming in, I realize one of the initial errors I made when starting Orisun Technologies with Zane was that I failed to trust myself.
He had more money than I did; he didn’t need to have his parents mortgage a house to get the seed funding like I had to, so I trusted him to have better connections.
It appears I was wrong to trust him there, just like I was wrong to trust him at all.
Once the last person enters, I leave Melissa to close the door and walk to the head of the table. I’m grateful I chose my spiky Louboutins today. It’s like with every step, I channel energy and power from the ground up.
“Thank you all for coming,” Zane starts, moving to the opposite end of the long table.
“Ah, Zane, I’ve got it,” I say, cutting him off. He looks thoroughly perplexed, and I push down the smile that threatens to curl my lips. “This meeting is essentially about me, right? So let me lead it.”
The conference room goes dead silent, every man sitting at attention.
Zane gapes at me for a long minute before sputtering, but I cut him off anyway.
“Thank you all for joining me today,” I say, and Zane shuts up as if stunned. He slumps into his seat, and everyone except Trance shares a glance. I hold my palms up.
“Now, while I know you may be sitting here wondering why I’ve commandeered the meeting Zane seems to have called, I want to provide some insight before we get to the vote.”
Jaime murmurs something to Ralph, so I click my tongue like a schoolteacher.
“Gentlemen,” I croon. “I promise, this will only take a few minutes of your time. Then you’ll be able to go about your day as you please.”
I smile like a shark scenting blood in the water. They lean away from each other.
“Now,” I say. “I know we’re all here to determine my fitness as CEO of Orisun Technologies, and while I could say I’m hurt by the upcoming vote, I’m not. This is business, after all.”
Trance picks up the packet in front of him, and I use that opportunity to start my speech.