18
“ M r. Price. Mr. Dean is here to see you,” Chloe said over the intercom.
“Send him in, please, Chloe.”
Henry walked in a few seconds later and smiled as he sat across from Remy. He worked in Cayman Industries legal department. One of his current projects was the takeover they were conducting of Monroe Hygienics. Remy assumed his visit was regarding the changes that had to be made to the contracts he’d reviewed with Kieran previously. While that could have been an email or a call, Remy had an idea of why the other man decided to make the trip to his office instead.
“What can I do for you, Henry?”
“I have a copy of the Monroe Hygienics contract with the requested changes. I also made minor changes to a few other passages for a more ironclad agreement. I wanted to run them by you before sending the finalized version to Mr. Cayman.”
Yes, this could have easily been an email. It wasn’t lost on Remy that Henry found him attractive. Chloe liked to say the other man had a bit of a schoolboy crush on him. Henry always subtly flirted with Remy. It was enough for Remy to catch it, but it never went further than that. Henry had never stepped over any boundaries since the one time he’d asked Remy out when they’d bumped into each other outside of work; he made it sound like something casual. He also never outright hit on him, so Remy overlooked it .
They spent the next ten minutes reviewing the requested changes, and the minor ones Henry took the liberty of making. Remy didn’t see anything wrong with them, but he hadn’t expected to since he’d told them exactly how to change it.
“Everything looks in order. You can send it to Mr. Cayman,” Remy said, leaning back in his chair.
“Thank you. I’ll get it sent to him as soon as I return to my office.” He paused as if he were contemplating his next words, and Remy had an idea of what he was going to say before he did. “A comedian I enjoy has a show this weekend. I have an extra ticket. If you’re not busy and want to go.”
“I have plans with my boyfriend,” Remy informed. “Enjoy your show.” His parents were coming for a visit, and while he hadn’t asked Lawrence to accompany them on their outing over the coming weekend, he would.
Henry nodded, taking the documents as he stood. “Thanks. Enjoy your weekend.”
Remy wasn’t alone in his office long after Henry’s exit before Chloe walked in with a teasing smile and raised brow. “Did he flirt with you?”
“He brought me a contract to review,” Remy responded. While he was sure Chloe, Kieran, Alijah, and maybe a couple of other people in the legal department had witnessed Henry subtly flirt with him on occasion, he didn’t make it a habit of talking about it.
“Which he could have emailed. He wanted to come see you. I don’t think he’s been to our floor in a few months.” She thought briefly. “Does he know you’re in a relationship? I don’t think you were the last time he came to take in the view.”
Remy chuckled at her statement. “He does now.” The last time he and Henry had been in the same vicinity, Remy and Lawrence had not been together. It was while Alijah and Kieran were on their honeymoon, and Lawrence was ghosting him.
“That means you don’t have to worry about him flirting anymore. At least for the time being. ”
Remy would think so, but you never knew with people. He didn’t know Henry personally, which made it hard to say for sure. He did need to tell Lawrence about it. Nothing would come of it, but Remy didn’t believe in keeping things from his partner, especially when it involved someone he worked with and would see more than in passing flirting with him.
“Don’t forget about the meeting in half an hour,” Chloe reminded before exiting the office. Normally, she would send him an email reminder or have one set in his schedule, but he figured she told him since she was in there.
The upcoming meeting shouldn’t take too long. They were discussing opening another extension branch—this one in Texas. There were a few patents for products in the state that Kieran wanted to buy, and it was easier to have one central headquarters there for them when the deals went through. They would spend the meeting finalizing the plan and the launch team.
R emy leaned back in his seat after the meeting ended. He, Kieran, and Alijah remained as everyone else filed out of the conference room.
“Henry sent the finalized contract,” Kieran stated. “He made sure to tell me he sat down and looked it over with you,” Kieran smirked, and Alijah swatted him with the back of her hand.
“Be nice,” she told him.
“He doesn’t know how,” Remy countered. “But yes, he stopped by to make sure everything was in order.”
“I’m sure that’s all he wanted,” Kieran sarcastically responded. “He’s not as sly in his attempts as he thinks he is.”
“I don’t know,” Alijah said. “It’s not that easy to tell if you aren’t paying attention. That might be because of the setting and other people being around. It could be worse when it’s the two of them.”
Remy shook his head. “It’s not. He respects the boundaries of work.” He didn’t feel the need to tell them Henry asked him to hang out over the weekend .
“Does he know you’re dating?” Kieran asked. “That will probably send him the message.”
“He does now,” Remy responded.
“Speaking of dating,” Alijah started. “I’ve gotten everything together for the trip. Once the five of you give the okay for the group activities, I’ll send an email with all the information and payment link.”
“I can guarantee you we’ll be fine with what the four of you have chosen to do. You can go ahead and send it to me,” Remy replied. He’d rather get the payment out of the way since they were set to leave in a few weeks.
They spoke for a few more minutes before he returned to his floor. He was staying a bit later today and tomorrow since he planned on taking Wednesday off to pick his parents up from the airport. Staying a couple of hours later than usual would mean he’d get to leave a bit earlier on Thursday and Friday.
He’d been in his office for fifteen minutes when an email came through from Alijah. The subject told him it was the vacation information. Opening it, he scrolled to the link, clicked on it, and paid for his and Lawrence’s trip. He would remember to look at the itinerary at a later date.
He exited the email and returned his attention to the operation reports of all regions for the previous month.
“W hy are you giving him to me again?” Mary, Lawrence’s office neighbor, asked. She worked directly under him like everyone on their side of the sales floor. He’d already told her once, but the woman was nosey, and if she sensed there might be a reason other than the one given for something, she didn’t mind asking as many times as possible to get the answer.
“I’ll have more than I can juggle on my books when he signs next year. It also gives you more experience dealing with high-demand clients and larger orders. ”
Neither of those reasons was false. Lawrence had several clients lined up for the first two quarters of the following year when their contracts with other companies expired. Mary also usually stuck with clients who ordered right at their minimum. He wasn’t sure if that was what she preferred or if it was all she thought she was capable of, but this would give her a different experience. The main reason he was passing John Cross on was the obvious.
Lawrence had no desire to do business with him personally, but he wouldn’t cause the company to lose out on the contract because of it. Once he had it signed, he’d transfer him to Mary as the contact person.
He could admit he’d been a little surprised when he’d received the email from the other man informing him that he would be switching to their company when his contract with his current supplier ended. At first, Lawrence thought it was some ploy to get close to him or that he hadn’t taken Remy’s threat seriously for whatever reason. However, the last line of the email stated that all future correspondence should be in writing. Lawrence figured the other man didn’t want to miss out on what was offered.
“Okay. Thank you for thinking of me.”
Lawrence could have put John with anyone, but he thought Mary would be the best fit. She was a people person and could handle any type of person. He didn’t anticipate John giving her issues, but she would be able to handle him with grace if he did. Lawrence had witnessed her do so with other clients.
“You’re welcome. I’ll get the contract drawn up with the effective date and send it to him. Once I get it back, I will send you all the information you need,” Lawrence responded.
Mary thanked him again before exiting his office. The end of the workday was approaching, and he had a couple of emails to respond to before he left.
L awrence walked through his front door as his phone notified him of a text. He placed his satchel by the door and pulled it from his pocket .
Mom: Hey, honey. I was thinking about you. I wanted to check and make sure that client wasn’t hassling you anymore.
Lawrence had been on the phone with his mother one of the days John called, and before he’d realized it, he’d groaned aloud at the prospect of having to speak to the man. He’d asked reception to ask if he could call him back, though he knew the other man would phone again before he ever got the chance to if he’d been inclined. When his mother asked if everything was okay, he gave her a quick rundown on John asking him out and how he had been constantly contacting Lawrence.
Lawrence: Hey, Mom. He hasn’t bothered me since that week. We ran into him at an event, and Remy put fear in that man.
Mom: What happened?
Lawrence gave his mother the cliff notes version of what happened when they ran into John. After that, he hadn’t heard from him for a couple of weeks until he sent the email that morning wanting to go forward with the switch. He’d spoken to his mother since the event, but neither of them had brought the other man up.
Mom: Wow. To be a fly on the wall. Speaking of Remy, send me a picture.
Lawrence: No, that’s weird. You’ll see him when the two of you meet.
Mom: If you say so. Well, I have some vacation time put in for October. It’s the week after your trip.
Lawrence: Great! You’ll get to meet him then.
Lawrence placed his phone on the coffee table and went into his bedroom to remove his tie and dress shirt. He put the tie on the rack inside of his closet door with the other ones, folded the shirt, and put it into the bag he took his dry-cleaning in. He’d placed his shoes in the closet when his phone began to ring. He returned to the living room as Remy’s name flashed across the screen.
“Hey, baby,” Lawrence greeted.
“Hey, babe. How was work?”
“The same for the most part, but I did get an email from John Cross. He still wants to sign the contract and make the switch when his current one is up.” Lawrence wanted to get that bit of information out in the open. “But I’ve already spoken to one of my team members and told her I’d be assigning him to her once he signed. He also requested that we only correspond via email. I won’t have to speak to him directly.”
“I’m not surprised that he still wants to continue doing business. I am surprised that he requested you speak only through email.”
“I’m not. You put fear in him,” Lawrence chuckled, heading into the kitchen. “But anyway. How was your day?”
“It was fine. Someone asked me out today.”
Lawrence paused in opening the refrigerator. “Who was it?”
“Someone who works in one of the departments. No one important.”
“It’s someone you work with?”
“I only see him occasionally,” Remy responded.
“It’s a man?” For some reason, Lawrence thought it was a woman. He knew that Remy didn’t hide his sexuality, but he also didn’t broadcast it to the world either.
“It is. They throw out subtle hints now and then when I see them, but I told you, there’s no one you have to worry about as long as you want to be here.”
Lawrence knew he meant it and had no reason not to trust Remy. The fact that the other man was telling him about it when he could have kept it to himself proved as much. He changed the subject to an upcoming movie release as he warmed up leftovers from the night before. They spoke for over an hour before hanging up, and Lawrence decided to turn on a crime drama and do a puzzle for the rest of the evening.