Chapter 46
Chapter Forty-Six
Hunter
I was immensely glad to be back in New York. I had enjoyed my time in Thailand for the most part, but there was something about being back here that made me feel so much calmer. I felt as though I was back in control and better equipped to handle whatever difficulties came my way. Right now, though, it seemed as though they were piling up. From the issues with the company to that leech Levi Boone, and then, of course, to the email I had received on the plane from the woman I knew now I was in love with.
If she didn’t act this way, try to escape every time things got hard, it would probably have taken me even longer to understand just how intensely I felt about her. Because if it was anyone else that toyed with my emotions and was successfully able to, I wouldn't have hesitated to get rid of her a long time ago. But the more she pushed away, the calmer I remained, I realized. Because I knew what she wanted wasn't what she wanted, and it's definitely not what I wanted either. So, all I had to do now was to be patient. In my struggles to win in business, I had accumulated quite a lot of experience, and one of the most important ones was the fact that I had to carefully judge how to handle things in steps and in order of priority, otherwise, I was going to mess up. And so, I understood that hers had to be the last. We both needed time, her more than anything else, and so I didn’t address the email.
We were both wide awake, and I knew she was aware that I had seen it, but I deleted it completely from my mind. I knew she was hurting, but she knew better. At least I hoped she knew better, but in case she had forgotten who I was and why her assumption that I had slept with that woman was insane, I was going to give her the time to come to her senses.
My driver was waiting for me at the tarmac, and as soon as I got in, I headed straight to the office. She sat in the front while I sorted through emails and communicated with the team about my arrival. I had tried to fall asleep on the plane, but after that damned email she had sent to me, I had been unable to. I was still able to remain calm though because so many times, I had felt as though everything was falling apart around me, and thus far, only my ability to remain calm had kept me sane, so this time around, I was going to employ reason as well.
At the office, my executives were waiting for me at reception.
“Sir,” they greeted, however, their eyes were only briefly on me before they turned to the secretary behind me. I glanced at her as well and realized that their eyes were too eager. I was reminded there that they weren’t aware of my personal relationship with her, which meant that they were going to smoke her. Human Resources was probably going to fire her.
Sighing, I waited until we arrived at the elevators, and then I turned towards her.
“I think I left my phone in the car, can you please help me and go check for it?” I asked. She seemed a bit startled at this, but as she looked at the other executives beside me and understood that whether the phone was there or not, she would be avoiding being stuck in an elevator with them, she immediately turned around and nearly ran away. We got in, and the elevator remained quiet, and then, then I said what I wanted to.
“Don't attack her, don't scold her. She's my secretary, I'll handle it. Just focus on damage control.”
The elevator was silent for a while, but eventually and one by one, they responded.
“Yes, Sir.”
“My Human Resource manager Derek, and my CTO however, came into the office with me. Though they at least allowed me to enjoy my office for a moment. I looked at the clean and familiar space and shut my eyes. I was so incredibly happy to be back. After a few moments, I turned around and leaned against the desk. Knowing that Derek's complaint would be the easiest to solve, I turned my attention to him.
“Go,” I said, and he smiled at me.
“She needs to go.”
“No,” I replied. “Next.”
I turned to our CTO, however, before she could speak, Derek cut in.
“Sir, I can't have her foolishness spreading as company culture. When you mess up to this magnitude, you get kicked out immediately. This is the way I run the staff, and you've never interfered till now. I don’t want to be lenient with her no matter the reasons.”
I looked at him and couldn’t believe the pushback I was receiving.
“You’re really pissed, aren’t you?” I asked.
“It's such a basic mistake. She's been so good the past few months. Was it Thailand that messed with her head? I’m so bloody disappointed. To think of what this could cost us. I haven't been able to sleep in the past twenty-four hours.”
I looked at him and truly didn’t know what to say. I could see how upset he was, and he was one of my original employees, so in this matter, I had to be delicate and also for Madison's sake. If I handled this wrongly and with force, she might not get fired since I wouldn’t let them, but she wouldn’t ever be able to enjoy herself in the company anymore, so in the end, everything would be a mess.
Sighing, I nodded and held up my hand.
“I understand how you feel and what you need to do, but you need to understand that we need to be calm. Let's wait till the dust settles, and then we can call her in and have a discussion.”
He stared at me, unable to defy me since I had responded this way. I could see the surprise on their faces since usually I wouldn’t care, and they could do whatever they wanted, and boot out any employee they wanted to that hadn’t been personally approved by me.
Sighing, I returned to my desk, motioned to the chair before me, and my CTO took her seat.
“When is the meeting scheduled with Levi?” I asked.
And then she pulled out her phone.
“I’ll ask Madison. Why isn't she here yet?”
I was the one who scheduled the meeting, and it will be in about three hours.
“Alright, you arrived right on time.”