10. Lauren
10
Lauren
Yup. Confirmed. He’s definitely ignoring me.
My stomach twists as I stare at the funny video on my phone screen, one of many I’d sent Marcus over the last three days, the blue double ticks confirming they’ve all been left on read. I can’t believe he’s ghosting me over a simple incident. It wasn’t all that bad.
Sure, I was stark naked and facing the hallway when he came dashing in, which meant he saw everything, but he can’t be mad at me for that. Gabriel and Zyon weren’t due home for another hour, so I didn’t expect anyone to be there. Besides, when I called him and he didn’t pick up, I assumed he was preoccupied. To see him standing in the living room, those hazel eyes roaming for a beat before he turned his back on me, it brought a shock and took about a minute for me to gather myself and run upstairs. While getting my clothes on, I heard him moving around the house, then he left without saying a word to me.
“Are you going to chair this meeting, or should I, Boss ?” Oliver suddenly whispers beside me, his harsh voice yanking me back to the present .
The phone falls from my hand, dropping with a loud thud on the conference table, though it’s not loud enough to disrupt the chatter in the room. Ten booming voices, all belonging to the members of my leadership team.
All men.
I clear my throat, and of course, no one misses a beat. “Gentlemen,” I call loudly.
A few of them glance my way, but no one stops the heated discussion about the ball game last night. Apparently, a 70-113 trouncing of the Knicks by the Lakers have left them all traumatized for life.
“Gentlemen,” I raise my voice, pounding on the desk. “Can we please call this meeting to order?”
No one even looks at me this time. The chair slides back with a scraping sound as I stand. “For goodness’ sake, can you all please pipe down?” I scream.
The chatter stops abruptly. In unison, all eyes turn on me, staring at me with uniformed frowns. Someone mutters, “Why is she going on like that?”
“Careful, Boss.” Oliver stands, patting my shoulder with fake concern. “I don’t want you bursting a blood vessel over a simple meeting, not because of these wayward men .” He raises his voice on that last line, competing with the renewed chatter in the room.
“Folks!” Oliver shouts. “Get it together! We don’t have all goddamn day!”
Silence. Instant surrender, every expression reminding me of a kid who got caught doing wrong. No one’s even looking in Oliver’s direction.
For fuck’s sake. What am I, chopped liver?
With a huff, I sit down and slide my fingers across the iPad screen. It’s been six months since I started running this company, and I’m still not getting through to these hard-headed men. I glance at their little ringleader on my right. Oliver looks mighty pleased about my struggle getting control. His argument that I’m not fit to lead is being proven right before his eyes .
He’s wrong, and I’m going to prove it to him. I’m going to prove them all wrong.
“Okay, so I’d like to start with the Procurement department,” I begin, looking at Mark, the manager sitting to the left of me. “What are the updates regarding the new fleet of trucks we ordered—”
Oliver clears his throat loudly. “Uh, Lauren?”
“Yes.”
“I already told you; this isn’t the order in which things are done,” he says, speaking slowly, staring at me warily. “We start with Quality Assurance, then ends with R&D. Procurement falls in the middle of our updates.”
“Right, but I’m doing things my way,” I reply firmly. “What’s the issue?”
Oliver sweeps his arm toward the group of men now wearing matching smirks. “The issue is that we’ve all been working here for at least five years, and we’re used to a particular structure. A structure that works,” he emphasizes. “It makes no sense changing things now.”
“Agreed,” everyone says in unison.
I lean back in the seat, surveying their smug expressions. One against ten. Dad has always warned me to choose my battles carefully.
Throwing up my hands, I concede. “Fine. Let’s start with QA.”
“Good girl,” Oliver mutters beside me. I pretend not to hear.
The meeting continues and ends without a hitch, but I still feel defeated as I leave the conference room. Earning the respect of men who are being led by my biggest rival, how the hell am I going to accomplish that?
Well…
I could fire Oliver.
Swiping the access pass over my office door, I step inside. I should fire him. Once I sever the head of the snake, I’ll get the respect that I’ve been working so hard to achieve. It has only been six months, but I’ve been making a mark. Finance just reported the first increase in company profits since Gabriel resigned two years ago.
I did that. Me .
Yet, they still treat me like a newcomer, forgetting I’ve been a part of Cain Industries since I was in diapers. I was born to do this. Like hell if I’m going to let an outsider scare me away.
Firing Oliver would be the most satisfying thing to do.
It would also be the most foolish. I’m quite aware of his value to the company, and I can’t lose that. Also, from what I’ve learned of him, I can’t trust that he won’t give away our trade secrets to our competitor. He seems like someone who’ll stir things up out of revenge.
With a sigh, I reach for my cell phone as it rings. I smile at the name on the screen. “Hey, Rosh,” I greet Zyon’s best friend. She and I have become quite familiar since the engagement.
“Hey. Ready for tomorrow?” she asks.
The excitement in her voice, plus the reminder of the weekend ahead, gives me an instant mood boost. “Oh, girl. You have no idea how much I’m looking forward it!”
Since Zyon was so adamant about not having her bachelorette party in Vegas, Roshell and I backed down. Instead, we’ll be hosting in Miami on Friday, which gives us a decent break before the nuptials two Sundays from now. After the day I’ve had, I’m already psyched about drunkenly dancing my ass off.
We get into a discussion of whether we still want to proceed with the male strippers popping out of the cake, especially after I overheard Zyon warning Gabriel about him having strippers at his bachelor party. The last thing I’d want is to cause any tension right before the wedding.
Roshell snorts with amusement. “From what I’ve discovered about his best friend, I doubt Gabriel will have any control over that. I can’t imagine Marcus hosting a party without a handful of strippers, half of which he’ll probably take up to his hotel room.” She laughs.
I don’t join in.
There’s nothing funny about my longtime crush being intimate with other women, especially when he’s not even a tiny bit attracted to me.