2 – AMBROSE
The charcoal grey pencil skirt Bryn’s wearing hugs her hips and ass in an affectionately intimate squeeze. The three-quarter sleeve pink blouse outlines her trim figure while her peek-a-boo cleavage peers at me from the open top button.
Damn! If I can see that much cleavage from one open button, how much is she holding back under there? She’s grown through the years in a very nice way. The thirty-five-year-old body is curvier than the twenty-two-year-old trim one she once had. It’s a damn good look on her.
“I have coffee, water, and tea here,” I say, waving my hand toward the serving table to our left. “Would you like anything?”
“No, thank you.”
Pinching my pants legs at the thigh, I sit down and cross one ankle over my knee. Bryn sits forward and crosses her legs at the ankles.
“We have a staff meeting in fifteen minutes. We’ll discuss the expectations of the new team, a few changes that I’ll be implementing, and, of course, introduce you to the team. I wanted to meet with you before the meeting to ensure we have a united front and answer any questions you may have.”
Her eyes narrow, and she sits back in her seat.
“In other words, you want to make sure that whatever changes you’re pushing their way, I’m on board to help you sell them to the team.”
I sigh and pull my hand over my face. Leaning forward and resting my elbows on my knees, I ask, “Is working for me going to be a problem for you, Bryn?”
“Brynlee.”
“Bryn.”
“No, it won’t be a problem as long as you respect the boundaries and don’t become too familiar with me.”
“Too familiar?” I ask, eyeing her slowly and allowing my gaze to stop at her bottom lip. I remember so damn well what she would do with those lips. “We’re beyond familiar. You want to ignore the past, but that’s impossible, and we both know it.”
“It’s not impossible for me.”
“Then why are you so angry?”
“I’m not angry, Ambrose. I’m setting boundaries that you have difficulty recognizing.”
“We spent two years together, and you want me to ignore those as if they never happened.”
“I want you to be the professional I expect you to be. There’s no place for our past in the workplace. If I’d known that you were working here or would be my boss, I would never have accepted the job.”
“Do you hate me that much?”
She turns her gaze away from me before saying, “I’d have to care to hate you. I simply don’t have it in me to care that much.”
“You never gave me a chance to explain or for us to discuss what happened. I need you to forgive me, Bryn. I swear that I never meant to hurt you.”
“It doesn’t matter what your intentions were. It only matters what you did,” she says calmly, belying the negative energy emanating from her.
“I apologize, Bryn. For everything,” I say, leaning forward and cupping her chin. I lift it so that her eyes can meet mine, and all I can see is the fire flashing in them. “You once told me I was your first, and I promised you I’d be your last. I still have every intention of making that promise come true.”
She jerks back. “You have one more time to reference my body, my past, or anything that happened between us, and I swear that I’ll be turning in my resignation letter so fast I won’t be more than a breeze passing through here,” she hisses.
I rear back in my seat, caught off guard by the venom in her voice and her bitter attitude.
There was no way in hell that I’d caused this much rage in her. Even after we’d broken up and gone our separate ways, I had seen her on several occasions in passing, and she hadn’t been this angry. If anything, she’d looked hurt and pained at seeing me, but nothing more than that.
“Is that the way that you want it?”
“That’s the way that it is.”
“Bryn, what happened?”
“You happened,” she says, standing and grabbing her iPad. “Now, we can keep going down this road if you’d like, and you’ll see that it won’t be easy, or we can drop the matter and be the professionals I know we’ve both grown to become.”
I watch as she heads out of my office, closing the door behind her gentler than she had earlier when she’d left.
I was surprised when Adriana brought her to my office this morning and introduced her as my new COO. I knew they’d hired someone, but I hadn’t had a chance to review her resume or learn too much about her because I’d been acclimating to my new position. I’d seen a file with the name Brian St. Clair on it so it never would have occurred to me that it was my Bryn.
When she left my office in anger earlier, I figured she needed time to calm down from the shock of seeing me again and from learning that she would be working for me. Hell, I needed time to recover from that as well. I hoped she would have calmed down when I called her back to my office. If anything, she’d only grown angrier, threatening me with a sexual harassment claim.
It pains me to see her so angry and hurt, knowing I was the one who caused this change in her. She was always a sweet girl, one I’d been warned to stay away from, but I hadn’t listened because I wanted to have her for myself.
I’d loved Bryn back then, and though I’d done something stupid, I had never gotten over her.
By the time I head into the conference room for our staff meeting, everyone is gathered around the oval glass table: Chris Shannon, VP of Operations; Adriana Aguilar, CHRO; Noble James, CFO; Beth Stevens, CMO; Gabriel McBride, CIO; Sandra Crowe, Executive Administrative Assistant and the department heads, Farrah, Christina, and Ben, and Bryn, my new COO or CAO.
“Good afternoon, everyone.”
They all respond to my greeting.
“Last week, I met most of you at the board meeting where it was announced that I would be the new CEO, working with Chris Shannon, our VP of Ops, James Noble, our CFO, and CIO, Gabriel McBride, in the interim to make my transition into this new role as seamless as possible. You’ve had many changes this last week, and more will be coming up. This week’s meeting is to introduce you to our new Chief Administrative Officer who replaces John Parham. After I introduce her, I would like you all to take turns introducing yourselves to her.
“Ms. St. Clair is from Charleston, South Carolina and obtained her MBA at Clemson University. She’s worked for the Everett and Wyatt Building Group in Atlanta, allowing her to gain experience in operations management and business functions, working on projects like the Hartsfield-Jackson expansion, the renovation of the DeKalb County schools, and many similar projects. She also earned fiscal and capital planning experience as CFO at Layla Amara Cosmetics at their headquarters here in Ocean Falls. Please help me warmly welcome our new Chief Administrative Officer, Ms. Brynlee St. Clair.”
Everyone applauds and welcomes her, and I watch as she bestows the brilliant Bryn smile and charm on them that I’m familiar with. That same bright light that always drew me into her in the past, but now she hides away from me. Even now, the light goes out when her eyes land on me again.
Fuck! If Brayden had even a clue that not only I’d dated his sister for two years but that I was responsible for the pain in her eyes and the darkness lurking there, he’d kill me.
I ponder our past, pondering everything I would have done differently if given another chance. I don’t hear them as they take turns introducing themselves. I only tune back in when she speaks up, needing to hear the sultriness of that slow, Southern heat she emits. That’s what I call her voice. It’s deep, rich, and honeyed with a thick Southern accent.
“As Mr. Charles stated, I have spent several years working at Everett and Wyatt Building Group. In addition to the DeKalb County school renovation project and the Hartsfield expansion project, I headed up the project to overhaul the 75-85 connector that runs through downtown Atlanta and implemented a new process for our treatment plant facility projects.
“After several years of learning and growing there, I transitioned to Layla Amara Cosmetics as the CFO, where I remained for a few years before I saw the opportunity for growth again when I learned of this position.”
“I can tell you all that she’s one sharp cookie,” Farrah says. “I sat in on the interview process for your...was it your second interview?”
“The third panel of interviews,” Brynlee announces.
“Yes. She impressed us all with her resume, skillset, and executive-level positions at her young age, especially Mr. Cape. God rest his soul,” Farrah says.
The group grows solemn, and I know I’ve got my work cut out because I have a team missing their previous COO with whom they had a close relationship, in mourning of their former CEO’s unexpected passing, and a hostile new COO who shares a past with me that she refuses to acknowledge.
Fuck!
“We’re glad to have you on our team, Brynlee,” I say.
She smiles, looks at her iPad, and mutters, “Thank you,” before glancing around at the rest of the group and acknowledging them with a broader, more genuine smile.
I blow air through my nostrils before I stand and begin my speech.
“We’re in a high-pressure, fast-paced environment that requires lots of last-minute decisions. As most of you know, there have been changes in OSHA regulations regarding safety protocols and building materials that will impact our projects across the board with a focus on education, multi-family high-rises, and healthcare and hotel facilities,” I say, ticking each item off my fingers. “As a result, we’ll be implementing changes across the company. This will require forming several special project teams to which I will assign leaders.
“The leader of each team will be reporting to Brynlee,” I say, glancing at her as she looks down at her iPad. “Brynlee, in turn, will report back to me on the progress of each team. She will meet with each team lead weekly and follow up with me.”
“Have you already designated who the leaders will be? Will it automatically be assigned to the directors?” Ben asks.
“No.”
“That’s how it was allocated in the past,” Cristina says.
“Again, this is a new day. I will not pretend I’m coming in to fill Mike’s shoes,” I say. “One of the things that Mike said to me during my mentorship was whenever I had the opportunity to head something up, I should make it my own. He said I couldn’t go wrong if I ran it with the same passion and dedication as I would in running my business.
“It’s impossible to fill his shoes, so the only thing that I can do is come in and make the department my own by doing what I do best. Finding the cracks, finding what’s broken, and then fixing it. We will always be a work in progress, never arriving at a destination.
“Why? Because if we arrive, then we’ve done our jobs and worked ourselves out of a job. That’s not my intention. I’m seeking continual improvement in an ever-changing environment. Regulations, specifications, trends, and materials are always changing. We have to be ahead of the change. We need to not only manage and navigate it, but we also need to influence the direction of that change. Therefore, I’ll be seeking leaders who don’t just think outside of the box but who know how to deconstruct it, constantly destroying our former structure and incessantly creating a new one using fewer resources and less cost where possible. Creative destruction.”
There are some groans and whispers, and I dare to look at Brynlee’s expressionless face. She’s not looking at me but just beyond my shoulder. There once was a time when the girl thought I walked on water. I don’t know how to get through to this woman she's become.
“I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not always the easiest person to work for. I can be demanding. Sometimes, getting in touch with me for hours when I’m out in the field is hard in my new role, which will be required more than ever. In other words, I have no time for handholding. I need leaders who can make important decisions without relying on me. Brynlee will be my right hand during this process, so she may not always be available. She and I will meet with Adriana and Chris to hand-select the leaders for each team.”
“What are the qualifications?” Ben asks.
I glare at him. “If I need to repeat to anyone what I’ve already expressed, I trust you’ll understand those are not the people leading these teams.”
Brynlee cuts her eyes my way before she rolls them and stares down at her iPad, keying on it. What the fuck is so important that she’s always looking at that goddamned iPad when I turn her way?
“Brynlee, do you have anything you want to add?”
She inhales deeply and exhales loudly. “No. Sir,” she says in a stilted manner, pausing between each word. “I have nothing to add, Sir.”
She’ll fucking wish she hadn’t started that “Sir” shit. I will cause Brynlee to remember our past and long for it. I won’t stop reminding her of how special we were and what we meant to each other.
She will soon come to learn that I’m not the same foolish boy that I once was, but a grown fucking man in charge of his emotions and his hormones. She will soon learn I’m in charge here, not her and her fucking threats. The sooner she learns, the better off we’ll both be.