Chapter 7
SIMON
As soon as Simon got Dexter’s message that he was taking the day off sick, he was furious.
He’d seen the private appointment in his calendar for three o’clock and assumed it was for the interview Daniel had mentioned.
Now he was taking a full day off and pretending to be sick?
It was obvious he needed to prep something, and rather than do it on his own time, he was going to use his sick leave.
Simon knew people threw sickies, though it wasn’t something he’d ever done himself.
He had to feel like he was dying before he’d take any time off. That was just the way he was wired.
What he hated was lying. He’d experienced enough of that with Jared.
Simon needed to trust his team, and even though he knew Dexter was interviewing for another job, the way he’d gone about it felt like a piss-take, and Simon was going to confront him.
Was he still worked up from Jared’s crazy antics over the weekend?
Probably. Was that going to stop him from letting Dexter know he’d been caught out in a lie? Of course not.
Simon had cleared his diary so he could wait until the interview was over.
He might have missed him as the building had more than one entrance, but he was determined.
The invite on his calendar was for an hour, but if this was just an informal final stage, it might not take him long, especially if it was with someone senior.
To play it safe, he was waiting outside The Gherkin at twenty past three.
Thankfully, spring was finally here, so he wouldn’t be freezing his bollocks off.
It was another twenty minutes before Dexter appeared.
The first thing Simon noticed was that he looked like shit.
There were bags under his eyes, and a brown stain down his shirt.
His hair wasn’t as immaculate as it usually was.
It looked like he’d been dragged through a hedge backwards.
It reminded Simon of when he’d run his hands through it as he’d fucked Dexter’s mouth.
No, he couldn’t think about that now. That was a mistake, and something they both wanted to move past. Simon was here as his boss.
Dexter turned away, looking at his phone.
Before he could change his mind, Simon called out.
“How did the interview go, Dexter?”
Simon saw Dexter’s body tense. He then turned around, his eyes widening when he saw who had called out to him. Yes, he needed to be fucking scared.
“I see you made a miraculous recovery in time for your little chat with Ben Morley.”
His jaw dropped, and Simon had another flashback to their encounter at Mickey’s. Now was not the time to get hard, even if it had been one of the best blow jobs of his life.
“Have you been following me or something?” There was an edge in his voice. Did he think he had a right to be pissed off and claim victim when he’d been caught out in his lie?
“Think a lot of yourself, don’t you, Dexter? I learnt you were interviewing somewhere else and discovered the final interview was today.”
“I’m entitled to interview for other jobs. It’s not a crime.”
Oh, this twat was really pushing it now. Simon wanted to make an example of him and haul Dexter through a disciplinary process. But if he did that, Dexter would mention what had happened between them at Mickey’s. Still, Simon could make him sweat a bit.
“Never said it was, but you calling in sick when you’re not actually unwell is a serious policy breach, which we’ll need to discuss.”
“I’m not the first person to take a day off to attend an interview.”
“Oh, I know you’re not, but that doesn’t make it any better.”
Simon saw Dexter’s face flash red, but this time he wasn’t embarrassed or turned on. No, he was fuming. Good. Perhaps he would understand how Simon felt about his behaviour. He knew what time it was, but made a point of looking at his watch. It emphasised the last point he wanted to make.
“There’s no point in you coming back to work now, but I expect to see you in my office at nine o’clock tomorrow morning.”
“I’m working at home tomorrow.”
Was he taking the fucking piss? The guy had balls, Simon would give him that. It was a toss-up between wanting to punch him and wanting to laugh.
“Not anymore. My office tomorrow at nine, Dexter.”
He didn’t give Dexter the chance to say another word. He was in control of this situation. Simon walked away and headed back to the office. He was looking forward to what Dexter’s explanation would be tomorrow morning.
Now he was really fucked off!
Dexter: Sorry, I won’t be in today. My mum’s in hospital.
Was that even true? It wasn’t like Simon could ask for proof.
This had to be another lie. It was something you couldn’t question as a boss – well, not a decent one anyway – and something Simon would never do with any of his team.
Family always came first, and that was something he always said.
His ex-husband aside, Simon had a good relationship with his family.
His parents lived in the Canary Islands, having emigrated, and his sister lived in the Midlands, so he didn’t see her as much as he’d like.
If anyone in his family were in hospital, he would be there in a second.
Simon knew Dexter was avoiding him, and using this as an excuse, even if it was true.
He was probably waiting for an offer to come through so he could hand in his notice and wouldn’t have to deal with the confrontation.
He’d be wrong. Even if he resigned, Simon would still have it out with him.
This wasn’t behaviour he’d tolerate from anyone on his team.
“Simon, do you have a minute?” asked Harriet, poking her head into his office.
“Of course.” He smiled. At least he had one team member who didn’t hate him.
“Alex wants some changes to the Remco paper. Can I just check a few things with you?”
It wasn’t like Alex to go straight to his team leads.
He always came directly to Simon. He didn’t have an issue with it, as it was a great opportunity for his team to get visibility with the CEO, but it just seemed out of character.
The remuneration committee had been the bugbear of Simon’s working life for the best part of twenty years.
Anything that affected employees’ remuneration was dissected by the board committee, and in all his years he had never known a remuneration paper to be approved in full.
There was always something they didn’t agree with, and every CEO stressed about those papers more than any other committee.
Alex was no different. In a way, he was grateful Alex was bothering Harriet with it instead of him.
“What’s the issue?”
“It’s the share scheme launch details. He wants to propose a change to SIP.”
Simon couldn’t help but groan. The Share Incentive Plan was a way for employees to buy shares from the company from their gross pay, reducing their tax burden. It was a great retention tool. The scheme here was one of the best Simon had seen, so why did Alex want to mess with it?
“Actually, his suggestion is amazing. Let me show you.”
She walked around his desk with the draft paper and talked him through it.
To be fair, it was an appreciable change, which would be popular with employees, provided the committee approved it.
The way Harriet was talking, it was like she was fangirling over Alex, which Simon found amusing.
He had no idea if she had a partner herself, and realised he knew little about her.
He would suggest they had lunch together in the next couple of weeks so he could get to know her better.
It was a massive oversight from him, and something he would usually do when he joined a new team, but the whole Jason drama had consumed a lot of his time in those first few months.
Simon made one minor suggestion to her paper, but it was a solid piece of work, which he told her.
Once Harriet had left, Simon looked at his schedule.
He had interviews this week to replace Jason and Gabriel.
They had a headhunter working on it, but Dexter had handled all the negotiations and ensured the candidates put in front of Simon were excellent.
He was brilliant at his job. That went without question, but Simon didn’t like having the piss taken out of him.
Rather than risk causing a load of drama, Simon would let it go for today, and speak to Dexter tomorrow.
It was Friday evening, and Dexter had been MIA all week.
He’d put in a request for compassionate leave.
Apparently his mother was still in hospital, but Simon wasn’t sure what to think.
He’d done five days in the office this week, but thankfully he had some strong candidates to put through to the next stage with some key business stakeholders.
Being in the office had been preferable.
He didn’t feel comfortable at home after last weekend with Jared.
It was six o’clock, and he was ready to call it a night. He’d been to the gym every morning this week, so he felt he deserved a takeaway when he got home. That was something to look forward to. He was powering his laptop down when his phone rang.
“Hello Daniel, what can I do for you?”
“Where are you?”
“In the office.”
“Same. Let’s go for a drink at Knights Corner.”
“I just want to go home and relax.”
“With a takeaway?”
“I hate how well you know me.”
“They do great food at Knights Corner. My treat.”
“Shouldn’t you be doing unspeakable things to your boyfriend?”
Daniel laughed. “He’s with his sister tonight.”
“Ah, so I’m second choice.”
“Well, third, but Oscar didn’t want to come out and play either.”
“Play?”
“You know what I mean. Maybe we can get you some dessert while we’re out.”
“How do you make everything sound laced with innuendo?”
“Because I was a slut before I met Josh.”