Chapter 2 #2
She still didn’t think she was the best person for the job, though. But that was a feeling she’d grown accustomed to in the last two years.
When she’d graduated with her MBA, she’d left, not only with a diploma but also a dream that had been quietly brewing as she’d completed her courses.
She wanted to start a nonprofit to promote literacy and access to books for underserved counties in rural Oklahoma and eventually surrounding states.
The plan had been the first thing to genuinely excite her since… well, a long time.
Although she had saved some startup funds and was prepared to find donors, her father had offered a significant donation that would make her plans a reality.
But only if she agreed to work for his company for two years.
She’d balked at the suggestion at first, as well as the requisite delay to her dream, but he and his money had been persuasive.
Plus, the business experience would be useful, so she’d agreed.
And she’d definitely gotten experience.
In the past two years, her father had thrown her into management roles across nearly every department in the company, from facilities to marketing to human resources.
It had been embarrassing most of the time because she’d felt like the poster child for nepotism, assuming responsibilities and privileges with absolutely nothing to recommend her except sharing a last name with the company’s founder.
But she’d done her best to learn from each position, listening to her various direct reports who all had more expertise than she did and, at the very least, trying to remove obstacles that kept them from doing the work they obviously knew how to do without her interference.
She grew to admire many of her father’s employees after learning about them and what they did to make Farrington Parks a success.
And much to her surprise, her listen and learn strategy—if you could call it a strategy—had led the people she worked with to mirror the trust she gave them.
They’d seemed to pick up on the fact that she didn’t aspire to be a lazy trust fund baby or an arrogant know-it-all and had cooperated with her.
Gazing out her office window, which overlooked a courtyard where people passed through to exit the business park, she watched as Farrington adventurers, as her father sometimes called his employees, left work for the day.
She couldn’t deny that she’d grown fond of some of her colleagues and that there were aspects of the various jobs she’d done here that she enjoyed.
But she seriously doubted that leading the FunDaze conference would fall into the enjoyable category.
Her stomach churned at the thought of it.
She hated addressing or even mingling with large groups of people.
She preferred working in the background to make an event or project a success, but this time, there would be no one else to rely on for the public-facing work.
Her phone beeped rapidly with an incoming video call, and she was grateful for the interruption, especially when she saw it was from her best friend.
She propped the phone up on her desk and accepted the call. “Hey, Fi.”
Fiona Drew’s fair, angular face filled the screen.
Her fiery red hair was pulled back in a tight bun, making her look like the serious, thirty-something professional that she was.
But Denise had also seen her much more casual in the several years they’d known each other since meeting in the MBA program.
Back when Fi had still been starting her own business and co-founding an LGBTQ youth charity with inheritance money from her late grandfather as a middle finger to his lifelong homophobia.
“Hi, babe,” Fi answered. “Are you ready for Saturday? Solange is bringing the wine, so I’m sure it will be some fancy-ass label we can’t pronounce, but probably delicious.”
Denise’s answering sigh rustled through the mic on her earbuds. “No. I can’t make it. My dad wants me to lead the FunDaze conference at the Middle Waters Resort next week since he can’t go, so I’ll need to go to Arkansas this weekend to make sure everything is organized.”
Fi pulled a face. “Ugh. That sucks.”
“Yeah, believe me. I’d rather be hanging out with y’all than dealing with all of this.”
“I’d prefer that too. Especially since you were the one in charge of bringing dessert,” Fi deadpanned.
Denise chuckled, realizing it might have been the first time she’d smiled all day. “Good to know I have some value, I guess.”
“But seriously, it’s okay. Duty calls, and all of that. It only makes sense you’d have more on your plate with your dad being hurt.”
“Yeah, but I still wish he’d gotten someone else to do the conference,” Denise grumbled. The mild irritation in her tone belied the deeper anxiety she’d been fighting right before Fi’s call.
“Why’s that? Too much to do back here?”
“Something like that,” Denise answered. She was pretty sure none of her friends knew the frequent sense of inadequacy she felt in her job nor her discomfort with public speaking.
They were all confident professionals, and she was supposed to be their peer.
She couldn’t let them see how far behind them she felt most of the time. Fake it ‘till you make it. Right?
“Aw, babe. You’re just stressed out. You need a good screw.”
Denise raised an eyebrow. “That’s the most random attempt at a seduction I’ve ever heard.”
Fi scoffed. “I’m not propositioning you. That ship sailed and hit an iceberg ages ago.”
“Hilarious,” Denise answered dryly. Despite her faux irritation, she was honestly grateful they could joke about the short-lived romance they’d had not long after they’d met.
There had been sexual and emotional intensity in their connection.
It had been Denise’s first time with a woman, after all.
But the passion had quickly fizzled out and settled into a strong friendship that Denise treasured.
“But I had something else in mind,” Fi continued with a smug smile. “You said the conference is going to be at the Middle Waters Resort, right?”
“Yes, have you been there?”
“Yeah, for a conference last year. It’s in a beautiful area.
You definitely need to explore while you’re there.
But more importantly…” Fi leaned in and wiggled her eyebrows suggestively, “there’s this younger manager there.
A nonbinary hottie. And they really know how to give interested guests some special attention, if you know what I mean. ”
“Hmm. It’s hard to say. You’re being so subtle,” Denise muttered.
“I mean it, smartass. You should take the opportunity and unwind a little.”
“I don’t mix business with pleasure.”
Fi folded her arms. “When’s the last time you mixed pleasure with pleasure? You work all the time! And I get it. So do I. But women like us have to take our fun where we can find it. Keep your eyes open. That’s all I’m saying.”
Denise rolled her eyes instead.
“Okay, okay,” Fi held up her hands in surrender. “I’ll drop it. But I still think if you’re putting your dreams on hold like this, the least you can do is enjoy yourself.”
Denise smiled at the concern hiding under Fi’s words. But she wouldn’t be taking her advice. And she seriously doubted she’d find much in the way of enjoyment at the Middle Waters Resort.