Chapter 3 Jada
I stared into the curious blue eyes of the man inside the office, adrenaline racing through my system.
No amount of talking with contractors or complaining to assistants had helped; I was done being pushed off.
I needed to talk to the man in charge. The daycare owner wouldn’t do it, so I was handling this myself.
Maya, a tall, willowy woman without any hints of wrinkles, said, “Our acting CEO just arrived.”
“Good,” I replied, stepping into the office because you couldn’t fix things without having a seat at the table. “Let’s sit.”
Bryce Madigan didn’t seem bothered by my intrusion. Instead, he wore an amused look in his blue eyes as he gestured toward the table in his office. He stood at least three inches taller than me, which was incredible considering I was an inch over six feet tall.
I forced my gaze away from him as I went to the table and felt dizzy at the view from his office windows. I could see all of Dallas from up here, and I wondered if he liked looking down on the people below like ants, if it made him feel like a big man.
“Look, we’ve got a problem,” I said, deciding not to sit. I folded my arms across my chest. He followed my lead, standing across from me, but his hands stayed loose at his sides like nothing could rattle him.
“Fill me in,” he replied calmly. “I’m sure there’s a solution.”
I took a breath and pressed on, refusing to be placated into submission.
“There’s construction happening above the daycare.
It’s loud, and it’s upsetting the children.
They can’t nap, which makes afternoons exponentially harder for them and the staff.
Everyone I’ve talked to in this building has given me excuse after excuse.
” I held my fingers up, counting them off.
“‘The work will be done shortly.’ ‘They’ll see what they can do about rescheduling the louder work.’ ‘Let me talk to my supervisor.’ On and on. ”
A frown tilted his lips down. “The noise is keeping the kids awake?”
I nodded and braced myself for him to tell me it wasn’t that big of a deal if the kids missed a midday snooze. Of course he wouldn’t understand—he was a single guy in his thirties, no wedding ring in sight.
“I’m sure their parents love picking up grumpy kids after work,” he replied, surprising me. While I stood dumbfounded, he walked to his desk and pushed a button on the phone. “Maya, can you get the construction supervisor on the phone?”
“Yes,” came the voice made to sound mechanical by the speakers.
Then Bryce lifted the phone to his ear, asking me, “When is naptime?”
“Noon to two,” I replied.
He nodded, a look of focus on his face as he waited. After a moment, he said, “Rob? This is Bryce Madigan, acting CEO. Yes, we’ll need your workers to pause construction from noon to two every day.”
After a moment, he asked, “How much more?” He nodded. “I’ll sign off on it... Yes, start today.” Bryce hung up and looked at me. “Done.”
My eyebrows drew together. I’d spent two weeks dealing with the noise and waiting for phone calls to be returned. “They’ll stop?” I asked. “Just like that?”
“Just like that,” he replied lightly.
“Must have been expensive,” I commented.
A small smile lifted his full lips. “Good thing I have money.”
Damn. Him solving my problems so quickly was hot. But after having to work so hard for everything in my life, I was suspicious of anything that came too easily. “What’s the catch?”
“Get a drink with me after work today?” The confidence of his stance and how effortlessly he asked me out had missing puzzle pieces falling into place.
Bryce Madigan was used to getting what he wanted.
No doubt that was part of what made him so successful.
Maybe I was just feeling spicy, but I didn’t want to be another one of his accomplishments.
“After dealing with all that noise, I have a headache,” I retorted, turning to leave the office.
He called after me. “Think you’ll feel better tomorrow night at seven?”
I smirked to myself. “Hard to tell.”
The door to his office closed behind me, and his assistant said, “Was that helpful?”
I nodded. “Very.”
Bryce’s voice came through the speakers. “See if you can get her number before she leaves.”
He must have thought I’d be at the elevators by now. Maya smirked at me, looking like she was holding back laughter. “Care to respond?”
A small smile touched my lips. I leaned over her desk, making sure she was pushing the button that connected the phone to his office. “You know where I work.”
Maya chuckled as I walked out of the reception area to the hallway with a row of elevators.
Soon after I pressed the singular button for down, one dinged open and I stepped inside the empty, mirrored square.
In a few floors it would begin filling up.
But right now, I was at the top of The Tower, all by myself.
The elevator whirred, making my stomach bottom out. I hated how fast these things went. I had to put my hand against the wall to keep myself from spilling my guts on the marble tile. At least I felt a little better when we hit the ground floor.
The bottom floor of The Tower was just trendy and functional—not quite as opulent as the top floor. Half of it was occupied by a two-story cafeteria area open to the floor below. The other half had been renovated to become a windowed childcare center with an indoor-outdoor park.
When I reached the center, I used my keycard to unlock the first set of doors. The director of the childcare center, my boss, was in the nursery, watching the little babies for me while I took this meeting.
After setting four-month-old Jack down in his crib, she gave me a sad look. “Told you they wouldn’t care,” she whispered. “The suits never do.”
Feeling successful that I’d done what even my boss couldn’t do, I whispered back, “This one was different.”