1. Anthony #2
The cynic in me saw this completely differently. My brothers simply found the right woman for them, and they were lucky. They weren’t even looking for someone. Lilac or no lilac, I was convinced the outcome would’ve been the same.
“But didn’t you say that you also had secret products for my uncles?” Bella continued.
This piqued my interest. Isabeau and Celine had been hinting at that for a while. Not that I believed in it—but I was curious. All my soaps and lotions were from Fragrant Delights. I needed to know what to avoid.
“We do,” Celine said. “We’re putting ambrose in all their products.”
“And what’s that supposed to do?” I inquired.
Isabeau smirked. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
I chuckled. “And I’m leaving right now.”
“You do that, young man. I can see you cowering in fear already.”
I shook my head but didn’t reprimand them. My grandmothers, especially Isabeau, had their own unique way of seeing the world. I loved them immensely and didn’t mind that they were having fun at my expense.
After bidding them goodbye, I immediately left the house. It was still early on Sunday afternoon, so I wasn’t going home. Instead, I headed to the French Quarter to check out one of our establishments.
Maybe I’d call Beckett and see if he had time to meet. We often hung out together. We were closest in age, so that was probably a factor. And now, since everyone else was hitched, I saw even more of him than the rest.
But before calling Beckett, I pulled up Dorothy’s number as I got in the car. Apparently, she was having some concerns that she hadn’t shared with me. That ended today.
“Hi, Anthony,” she answered after a couple of rings.
“Hi, Dorothy. Sorry for calling you on Sunday.”
“That’s fine. Honestly, I was expecting a call the second you saw the email. I figured it was better to warn you so you don’t come into the office tomorrow and wonder why you have no assistant.”
“It’s good that you emailed. Thank you,” I assured her.
“You have nothing to worry about. I’m already on it.” She hesitated. “I got a recruiter to help us out this time.”
“Why would a recruiter bother with an assistant’s position? It’s not even worth their money.” Recruiters usually searched for candidates for senior positions.
Dorothy cleared her throat. “It’s just going to make things easier.”
“What are you not telling me, Dorothy?” I pressed. Usually, I’d let this go. I wasn’t prone to micromanaging, and really, all I cared about was having an assistant. I never even got involved in the interview process. But this was bothering me, and I needed to know what was going on.
“We’ve been having trouble finding assistants,” she said smoothly.
“For everyone in the company?”
There was a pause. “Depends.”
My grandparents weren’t bullshitting.
“Chad needed a new assistant last month. Did you use a recruiter for him?” I asked point-blank.
She sighed. “No. The thing is, we’ve had a lot of turnover this year. That’s… working against us.”
“You mean against me? How would people even know that the position is for me?”
“I have to mention the industry. I don’t just put The Orleans Conglomerate. I tell them it’s for our music venues.”
The Orleans Conglomerate was huge. My brother Chad ran the restaurant branch.
Julian focused on bars, Beckett on bakeries, and Zachary on the shipping business.
Xander was the odd one out and decided not to take over any branch.
He was the CFO of the conglomerate. Of course it made sense to put down which industry the assistant was needed for, as the potential employee would like to know where they’d be working.
“So, let me get this straight. People don’t apply because they don’t want to be my assistant.”
Dorothy hesitated.
I was slowly losing my patience. “I spoke to my grandfathers.”
She gasped. “I’m so sorry about that. I’m not even sure how I ended up having that conversation with them. They were in the restaurant the day your last assistant quit, and one thing led to another, and?—”
“You are not to discuss business with my grandparents.”
“No, of course not. I never do. But I was concerned, and… never mind. I promise it won’t happen again.”
“Good. So, now that you know I spoke to them, be honest.”
“The thing is, word travels.”
“New Orleans isn’t a small town. How can word travel?” I asked.
“I don’t know, but it does. It was a huge hassle to find someone for you last time. That’s why I want to work with a recruiter.”
“That’s fine by me. As long as we get someone who’s good enough.”
“The thing is, we need to address the demands you make of your assistants. Exit interviews indicate you’re very difficult.”
“Really? I think the people we hire should have a better work ethic.”
“Well, that may be, but while you are very relaxed—even friendly with most employees—it seems you’re tough with your assistants. Every single one in the past year thought you had something against them.”
I scoffed. “That’s ridiculous.”
“Is it? I’ve noticed too. You treat everyone on your team like family. Except your assistants.” She paused for a moment, and when she spoke again, her tone was softer. “Forgive me if I’m overstepping my boundaries here, but could it be related to the incident?”
I drew in a deep breath. Five years ago, I made a cardinal mistake. I got involved with an assistant. Things turned ugly fast.
“I just don’t want my assistants to misinterpret friendliness for anything else.”
“That’s good. But you might be overdoing it.”
I was sure she was right, and that was why I couldn’t keep any administrative help.
“Can you give me an example?”
“You regularly have one-on-one lunches with everyone on your team. Yet you’ve never taken an assistant out… you know, since then. They notice these things.”
“True.”
“I could give you a million examples.” She paused, then tried a new tactic. “You know my life story. And that of my kids. We talk all the time about our families and have developed a certain rapport. Can you give me one detail about your last assistant?”
Dorothy had a point. I racked my brain and found one. “She studied mathematics.”
“Oh, Anthony. That was in her résumé. It’s not a personal detail.” She sighed. “My point is, you’re friendly and warm with the team but cold and distant with your assistants.”
“I didn’t realize,” I said honestly. “Why didn’t you mention this before?”
“It took a while for me to put two and two together. And then I figured you’d see it eventually.”
“Clearly not.”
“My only piece of advice would be to treat your assistants the same way you do everyone else. That way it won’t seem like you’re…”
“I got the message.”
“Right, right.”
“You should’ve brought this up sooner. ”
“I know. But I was just as surprised by what happened back then as you were. For a long time, I thought you actually had the right attitude so as not to give anyone the wrong idea. You know, just to ensure that history doesn’t repeat itself.”
“Never again will I make the same mistake,” I assured her.
There was a pause, and then Dorothy said, “Look, far be it from me to encourage office romances, but we just had bad luck with Annie.”
Annie was not who I thought she was. After our one night together, she threatened to sue me for misconduct if I didn’t continue dating her. She was certifiable.
“Still, my mistake. I’ll never get involved with an employee again.”
“Good plan. Anyway, the recruiter and I will hit the ground running, and I hope to have an assistant for you by the end of the week.”
“Thanks.”
“In the meantime, I’ll step in.”
“That’s perfect,” I said. I’d compensate her with a bonus or something, as I felt bad that I’d put her in this situation.
“I thought you’d be happy about it.” She sounded pleased.
“And why can’t you just be my personal assistant?” I double-checked, as if I hadn’t asked her a million times already.
She laughed. “Because I love working in HR.”
“Right.” And she was damn good at it too.
“Enjoy the rest of your Sunday, Anthony.”
“Thanks, you too.”
After hanging up, I called Beckett.
He answered immediately. “Hey, brother. Just narrowly escaped the grandmothers and Bella, huh?”
I laughed. “How the hell do you already know that?”
“Felix called to brag about today’s catch. One thing led to another…”
Yep, that was typical.
“Want to grab a drink in the Quarter? I need it,” I said .
“Sure.”
I made a mental note to share with him the info the grandmothers mentioned about the ingredient ambrose.
He’d been even more curious than me ever since they first mentioned products for us.
Not that he believed any of their items had powers either, but we were both very close with our grandmothers and liked to indulge them.
“Special occasion? The family annoyed you too much?”
“No. My assistant quit.”
“Again?”
I groaned. I really needed a Sazerac. “Yeah. And Dorothy just said she needs a damn recruiter to get me another one.”
“Shit. All right, I’ll bite. Let’s meet for drinks, and you can fill me in.”
“Perfect.”
I couldn’t believe I was looking for my seventh assistant this year. This time, I was going to do things differently.