Chapter 3
“I’m Tanner. Thanks for being here today,” is by far the dumbest shit I’ve ever had to say in the history of ever. So much so that I’ve fixated on how stupid it sounded coming from my mouth for the past two hours.
I didn’t have much of a choice, seeing as my dad practically demanded I say something nice—encouraging—to the people who now work for me. He argued it’d make me seem more personable to the employees. Well-liked, or something like that, but I don’t care who likes me. I’m not the boss so people like me. I’m here to fix my dad’s sinking ship of a company that he knowingly forced into my hands when I protested doing this for years.
“Oh, and make sure you let Tonia down easy. She isn’t going to take the news well,” my dad says while pacing his office, technically mine, with a scowl on his face. His hand runs through his brunette hair and down the side of his face while the other rests on his hip. He’s been going on for an hour now, wanting to make sure I know and understand his employees and their needs before informing them they’re being let go. Terminating people has never been my favorite part of the job, but I don’t care about empathizing with everybody’s situation. My dad did that for far too many years, and look where it’s gotten him—needing to ask his son to step up. I can’t be the guy who cares enough about how termination will affect others. It’s either getting them out and hiring new people to help skyrocket the business again or completely losing everything my dad spent mine and my sister’s lives building.
The weight is enough to crush me.
“Oh, and don’t forget about Carla. She’s been with me—“
“Since the beginning,” I repeat the same sentiment he’s already told me over a thousand times before standing from my chair and rounding my desk to lean against it, shoving my hands in my pockets. “I’m not letting everybody go today, Dad. Just a few.”
He frowns. “A few is still a few, Tan,” he calls me by my nickname, and I stifle the urge to roll my eyes. “Everybody is stressed out about whether they’ll still have a job by the end of the day. Cut me some slack, okay?”
I bite back my sigh and drop my head to my chest. This is the problem with my Dad. He’s too personable, hindering him from making the best decisions for the company. He’s the greatest man I’ve ever known outside of the office, but he’s a terrible boss. He doesn’t know when to put his foot down, gives people raises like candy, and cares enough to know everybody’s life story. This business is failing because of his limited insight into knowing when being professional matters more than being personable.
“I’m trusting you to turn things around, Tanner,” he continues, causing me to lift my head. “I don’t want to see my company tank worse than it already is.”
“It won’t,” I reassure. It can’t because it’s the only thing left I have going for myself.
Don’t get me wrong—I have great friends, a sister I’m extremely close to, and the best family anybody could ask for, but professionally…I’m getting bored. Antsy. Maybe that’s why I finally made the move after Yasmin and I broke things off. Boston was my home, and moving back gave me a chance to start over. A chance to make something out of not only myself but my family. I wasn’t focused on settling down any time soon, nor did I care to, so putting all my energy into this job would hopefully be the perfect solution for my problems.
“Oh, hang on—“ Dad pulls me from my thoughts again to hurry to the door. My office has glass windows that overlook the entire floor, and through them, my attention is drawn to the girl from earlier. She’s standing in front of the reception desk talking to a guy with pink hair. Her eyes widen when my dad calls to her, her gaze slowly dragging from his to find mine. A weird thing in my chest squeezes. My stomach flips nervously for some reason but disappears the minute she turns her attention back to her friend cautiously.
“Daisy, come here! I want to introduce you to my son.”
Daisy. Her name sparks something similar to curiosity in my mind because she’s one of the employees my sister and I have been hearing about for years. I’ve seen her a few times in passing when I’ve visited my dad throughout the years in college when he nearly forced me to see what my future office looked like, but never thought much about it. About her.
Apparently, she was hired at the company five years ago, and for some reason, she and my dad became close. He talks about her quite often, and if I didn’t know him the way I did, I would’ve found their relationship weird. But he assured my sister and me over and over how great she was and mentioned that she didn’t have anybody in her life, explaining that her family dynamic was fucked up, if I’m putting it nicely. Outside of work, I empathize with her. Inside of work, I don’t care. I’m not in the business of being friends with her, and my list of people set to be terminated by the end of the day is my priority. On top of reviewing the remainder of this year’s budget. And next. And trying to find new businesses to partner with.
My head hurts.
“Tan.” My dad pulls me from my thoughts yet again, and my eyes slide over to the girl standing uncomfortably next to him. Her arms cross over one another, but I still take my time roaming her from head to toe. She’s a beautiful girl, with curly brown hair bouncing past her shoulders, a lime green top hugging the curves in her waist, and high-waisted, black dress pants that curve along wide hips. Her features are defined in a way that makes her uniquely beautiful. Pretty pink soft lips and a cute button nose. I smirk upon seeing the clown socks peeking out from her combat boots from the infamous movie It before finding her gaze on mine.
Her skin is a warm caramel color that deepens in richness when my smirk widens into a grin. I make her nervous, and something that I haven’t felt in a long time settles over me.
“This is Daisy,” he smiles, stepping off the side to get a better look at her.
Her focus slides to Duncan, sharing a look with him before her eyes narrow and turn on me. “Are you planning on firing me today?”
I rear my head back in complete shock. Not only did I not expect her voice to sound both brassy and soft, but I wasn’t anticipating her directness.
Is it wrong to say I’m turned on by that?
I look at my Dad, an all-knowing smirk on his lips as he stares at the girl. I’m not sure who he brought into this office, but it’s clear that he knew I wouldn’t expect her to be so brazen right off the bat.
“I’m Tanner,” I offer instead.
“I don’t care,” she says calmly, but there’s a slight bite to her tone. Her hands are now balled at her sides, and if her behavior from earlier this morning is any indication of how she is, I’d assume a lot of this ‘show’ is anxiety. Or maybe it’s just her, but I have a hard time believing that fully. She doesn’t seem brash or irrational with misplaced anger but rather somebody that wastes no time getting straight to the point. I like that. Respect it, even.
“I want to know if I’m getting fired today.”
This time when she says it, her voice is softer, gentle, further proving my point that it’s most likely an anxious reaction. It’s almost as if she unintentionally blurted out the first thing she thought of. I lean back to reach for the piece of paper resting on my desk, quickly scanning it for her name. “You’re not on my list of people.”
“You seriously have a list of people you’re firing?” her head rears back, some of the edge lifting from her voice to show her surprise. Before I can get a word out, she turns to Dad. “What about Sam?”
“Sam Alberdeen is set to be terminated this afternoon,” I interject after spotting his name and setting the paper back down behind me. Her eyes turn into saucers before her fingers reach to press against her bottom lip.
“You can’t fire him,” she breathes, stepping forward as if ready to declare her love for this man. “You can’t—“
The concern laced in her eyes nearly punches me in the gut. I lied earlier when I said I hated terminating people. This is the part that I hate more than anything: seeing the shock and disappointment wash over people’s faces. I don’t particularly enjoy hurting people’s feelings, but I can’t be worried about that over the success of our company.
“The IT department is too big for what we’re needing at this time,” I say casually before shoving my hands in my pockets. “We’re going to have to outsource our IT needs to—“
“That doesn’t make any sense!” she exclaims, a flair of frustration pooling behind her eyes. “Sam is the best person in our IT department, and you’re talking about wanting to outsource the entire department? No offense,” she briefly looks at my Dad, “but Moore Enterprises doesn’t have the finances for that.”
A smirk pulls at my lips over her frustration.
“If you fire him,” she continues. “I’m walking out.”
Dad’s eyes widen at the same time my eyebrows raise. It’s pretty ballsy for anybody to walk into their boss’s office and not only stand up for their coworkers but knowingly quit on the spot if her needs aren’t met.
It’s admirable. But because of the power dynamic here—her being an employee while I’m her boss, I say, “You don’t get to make that call, Daisy.”
Her eyes dart between mine, her features slowly morphing into a scowl that forces me to purse my lips instead of smiling. While I know her anger is valid, it’s cute how much of it is balled in a girl who barely meets my shoulder.
“You fire him,” she repeats, “And I’m gone. It was great meeting you, Mr. Moore.” Her eyes fill with utter disdain as she looks me up and down before storming out of the office.
Dad and I look at each other, but a small smile pulls at his lips. Like something happened in the time she talked to me that made him proud. Something shared between them that I don’t understand. But all he says before walking out the door is,
“There she is.”