38. A Strategy to Increase Sobriety
38
A Strategy to Increase Sobriety
From Barry Wright’s manifesto:
During Prohibition, the US government gave tax breaks to industrial alcohol manufacturers who added poison to their product. When people drank the alcohol, they died.
TESSA
O liver’s grandfather was the last board member to file out. Although I’d met him at my first and only Discovery Diagnostics board meeting as COO, I didn’t know the exact size and weight of his grandson’s penis then. My cheeks went hot as I shook his hand.
“So you’re the one who made my grandson a leader.” His eyes were the same color as Oliver’s, and they sparkled with mischief.
“Respectfully, Mr. Bond, he was already a leader. I only shared my experience with him.”
His white eyebrows lifted, and I winced at whatever innuendo lurked in those intelligent eyes. But he simply turned to Oliver, who was frantically cleaning the mess he’d made of the conference table when he’d yanked his laptop out of the video cable, and the speakerphone had knocked into the coffee carafe.
“I’m proud of you, Oliver,” he said.
Oliver turned to face him, leaving Gemma to her much more effective cleanup efforts.
“Thank you,” he said. “And thanks for voting with me.”
“You presented a compelling argument. Now you need to deliver on those promises you made.”
“I will, sir.” He glanced at me.
“All right, all right.” Mr. Bond chuckled. “I know where I’m not wanted. Come on, Gemma. We’ll leave these two to…discuss next steps.”
Gemma threw the wad of soggy paper towels into the trash, snatched up the carafe as if to protect it from any further clumsiness, then walked out ahead of Mr. Bond, who shut the door.
I met Oliver at the head of the conference table. We didn’t touch, but we stood closer than was appropriate in a boardroom.
“Sorry I barged in on your meeting. I should’ve called to make sure you wanted to see me after I walked out on you.” I didn’t know what to do with my face, caught between my happiness for his victory and guilt over what I’d done.
“Sorry? I’m glad you’re here.” His fingertips teased mine like he wanted to grasp my hands but couldn’t forget the glass wall of the room. “I missed you. And I’m sorry about everything Dr. Perrell said about you.”
“Why? It was all true. Our relationship was inappropriate.”
“No, it wasn’t. West’s paperwork would’ve made it board-sanctioned.”
I snorted. “What I’ve always wanted, a board-sanctioned relationship.”
“When you say it, it sounds sexy.” He’d edged close enough that it was definitely improper. I filled my nostrils with his aftershave and remembered burying my nose in his skin.
I glanced through glass wall. “Better step back before someone sees.”
“I’m not stepping back,” he growled. “Are you?”
I lifted my chin. “No.”
“Then I guess we’re doing this.” His lips crashed onto mine. I hesitated only briefly—my reputation was already in tatters—before I relaxed and let his tongue invade my mouth. He’d gone from mild-mannered scientist to corporate raider during the course of that hour-long meeting. Power tasted good on him.
After a few seconds, I reluctantly broke the kiss and stepped away.
The line was back between his eyebrows. “Second thoughts?”
“None. But you still work here. You should keep some semblance of respectability.”
“With Dr. Perrell leaving?—”
“My god,” I interrupted, “did you expect her to have already secured a position at Greenwich?”
He shook his head. “Contingency plans are her superpower. But that means we have an opening for a CEO. We need someone with operational experience, since we’re also down a COO. Know anyone?”
“Are you offering me a job, Dr. Bond?”
“I’m absolutely offering you a job.”
“Wait,” I said. “How will that work if we’re, you know, sleeping together?”
“I’m giving myself a promotion. As Chief Scientific Officer, I’ll report directly to the board. We’ll be peers again. Partners. Will you do it?”
If I were anyone else, I’d have played coy, made him beg for it. But I wanted this. I believed in the employees, the science, and most of all, him. And us. “I will.”
“Good.”
“But first, I need to apologize for walking out on you and for not returning your calls. I was triggered, and I couldn’t be rational.”
“I hid the truth from you,” he said. “I’m sor?—”
“No.” I stopped him. “This is my grovel. Don’t fuck it up.”
“Your what?”
“Yeah, I know. I don’t watch rom-coms either. But apparently, when the hero has done something terrible, she has to apologize and make amends.”
“Wait, are you the hero or am I?”
I threw up my hands. “I don’t fucking know! All I know is that it was terrible of me to desert you when you needed me. I didn’t like that you didn’t tell me about the potential sale, but I should’ve trusted you to make the right decision. I respect you.” I lowered my voice. “I love you.”
He stepped into my space and cupped my elbows in his palms. “You love me?”
“I do. I didn’t mean to. I’m sorry.”
“Sorry for loving me?” He scrunched his nose.
“Sorry I didn’t admit it sooner. To you or to myself. Then I would’ve understood why I was so angry about the sale. We could have talked about it. I could’ve been reasonable.”
“Please stop apologizing. I fucked up too. Let’s promise to love each other today and tomorrow and all the next days. Everything else will work itself out. Okay?”
“Okay.” My knees trembled.
“Did you eat lunch?”
My stomach flipped over. “Let’s not talk about food. The tequila would only kick it back out.”
“Tequila?”
“There may have been an intervention last night. It helped me pull my head out of my ass, but today has been rough.”
He grasped my elbows. “You should rest. Want to get out of here?”
“What’s this?” I flashed him a flirty smile. “Dr. Oliver Bond is leaving work early?”
“I think I deserve it after saving the company from a takeover. Besides.” He leaned down to whisper in my ear, “I want to fuck my girlfriend now.”
My skin tingled from my scalp to my toes. “I can get on board with that plan.”