Chapter 3 Theo
Theo
“Good morning, Mr. Hurst,” my assistant, Whitney, announces the minute I walk into her line of vision from the elevators. She’s sitting behind her desk and giving me a wide smile that makes my stomach flip like I’m back in middle school, talking to a pretty girl for the first time.
My mind instantly flashes to the way that lacy bra of hers peeked through her soaked shirt on my first day. Jesus, what an entrance. I don’t think that’s something I’ll be forgetting anytime soon.
Get it together, Hurst.
“Ms. Palmer,” I greet her with a grin, unable to help myself at the way she rolls her eyes and smirks. We agreed on first names, but I can’t seem to help myself from teasing her. I enjoy the way she beams at me when I get playful. “How are you doing this morning?”
I’ve only been here for a week, but we seem to have established our morning routine. I walk in, she greets me with a bright smile that always seems to give me a weird reaction, which I choose to ignore, I ask her how she’s doing, playing it cool, and then we begin our day.
“Wonderful, as always,” she chirps. I find it intriguing how she’s always so energetic in the mornings. My last assistant at my old business was top-of-the-line, but it usually took her a few hours and at least three cups of coffee in the morning to find her groove. But not Whitney.
I think this woman wakes up ready and excited to work every morning. I find it a very attractive quality, since I, myself, tend to keep a motivated attitude. Or at least, I try to.
“Can I get you any coffee?” she asks just as I cross the threshold of my office. I stop and turn back to her, holding up the blue travel mug in my hand that she must not have seen.
“I’m all set, thank you,” I tell her. She nods again and glances at her schedule.
“Don’t forget, we have the board meeting today over lunch. I believe it’s catered.”
I look up at the ceiling. Oh yes, the wonderful board meeting.
So far, they have been less than accommodating to me and very resistant to accept me as the new CEO.
I’m guessing this meeting today is to discuss the next phase of transitioning over to my business model, and it will likely go less than perfectly.
I shoot Whitney a tight smile. “I can’t wait.
” Her lips twitch, and I know she picks up on my sarcasm.
Still slightly smirking, she goes back to tapping on her keyboard.
I stare at her a moment longer before walking back into my office.
I can’t deny there is just something about Whitney Palmer that intrigues me.
Our day gets started without a hitch. I answer a few emails and hop on a phone conference call after Whitney lets me know the other participants are on the line. After I hang up, I start pouring over some of these reports, which is the perfect way to set off my irritation right from the get go.
The deeper and deeper I get into the financials and the past reports, the more I want to pull out my hair.
There are too many things not adding up when I put two and two together.
I hate to suspect the worst, but given the notebook of accounts I wanted to double-check or triple-check, it was hard to keep myself from veering in that direction.
I’m not sure yet what scheme Vance Peterson was up to, but it wasn’t good.
I am going to figure it out, but I suspect it will still take a while until I have fully unearthed everything he had potentially buried.
And that is a scary thought. My brother Chase will be eventually joining the company as the chief financial officer, and I can’t wait to let him take over this issue.
He’s much better at numbers than I am and he’ll get to the bottom of it.
When lunchtime rolls around and my nerve endings are fully frayed from staring at problems that don’t make sense, I saunter out of my office towards Whitney’s desk feeling a wave of ease settle over me when she comes into my line of vision.
She glances up at me and then looks back at her email. “Are you ready for your board meeting?” she asks.
I lean against the edge of her desk and stick my hands in my pockets. “Honestly, I’ve never been so excited to sit in a stuffy room full of old people in my life.”
Her blue eyes fly up to me, and she laughs under her breath. “You’ve got jokes today.”
“Gotta keep it interesting,” I say with a wink. Her cheeks color, and she looks back to her computer.
Her fingers fly over the keys, and her eyes narrow in on something on her screen. Finally, she reaches for the mouse and then clicks into standby mode. Then, with a bright smile, she gathers the stack of notebooks and folders sitting on the edge of her desk, neatly organized.
“Shall we?” she asks, standing up and walking around the edge of her desk.
I dip my chin at her, letting her lead the way down to the boardroom, where I’ll be leading my first Board of Directors meeting. “We shall. Wednesdays are for winning over Board members.”
She chuckles, and I smile to myself too.
This isn’t my first rodeo. At my old job, the Board of Directors loved me.
They thought I could do no wrong. Every meeting turned out to be a victory lap, going over my most recent stats and reports.
For some reason, that’s what I was expecting to be the case here too.
What I was not expecting was this board meeting to turn into a war zone.
Which it did.
Rapidly.
“You’re making a laughingstock of our business, Mr. Hurst. When we hired you, you assured us you were capable of taking on a business such as this and promised to drive our numbers to heights our competitors would not be able to reach.
Not to mention your goals of easing Nexus into the hotel division.
But so far, you’ve been nothing but a disappointment. ”
I shift uncomfortably in my seat, feeling the weight of everyone’s eyes falling on me expectantly. I clear my throat and go for a pragmatic response. “This is simply a transition period, Elena. I’ve been here for only a week. Surely you can’t be gauging my performance already.”
The aged woman, Elena, head of the Board of Directors, purses her lips as she looks down her nose at me. “I’m simply bringing it to the attention of the rest of the board. You promised us one thing, and we’re not seeing the fruition of that yet.”
“Elena makes a good point,” one of the other board members—I haven’t had a chance to learn his name—adds in. He has a spreadsheet pulled up on his tablet. “I believe we should’ve at least seen some positive headway by now.”
A few of the other board members mumble amongst themselves. The older man passes around the tablet, and they take a look at the spreadsheet before sharing grave looks with each other.
“It’s only been a week,” I protest again, pulling on my necktie. All of a sudden, it feels like it’s strangling me. Is it hot in here? Sweat beads on my forehead. “I did send over my action plan to start in on acquiring some hotel properties. Did you not receive it?”
“We did. But after reviewing it, I am concerned that perhaps we made this decision too prematurely,” Elena says, looking awfully pleased at herself with this ambush.
“I believe we may need to take another look at your contract. We did say you would be hired with a ninety-day probation, correct? Don’t get too comfortable here, Mr. Hurst. I don’t believe this is the right fit for you. ”
Irritation, laced with a side of apprehension, travels down my spine and I find myself gritting my jaw maybe a bit too tightly. How could I be fucking this up so badly already? I want to do well in this position, and I know that I can. But I won’t succeed if I’m not even given the chance.
“I think that’s enough,” Whitney says out of the blue, interrupting Elena in the middle of her rant. My attention snaps toward her, as does the rest of the Board.
“Excuse me?” Elena hisses. “It would be wise of you to know your place. Ms. Palmer, is it?”
I raise my eyebrows in surprise. From my understanding, Whitney has been a part of this company for years.
I can’t imagine Elena wouldn’t know her name.
Whitney straightens in her chair and meets Elena’s gaze head-on, ignoring the obvious dig.
“Yes, and you know that Mr. Peterson respected my opinion just as much as he did anyone else in this room.”
I hope my jaw isn’t hanging open in shock.
Whitney glances at me quickly before looking back at Elena and then staring down at everyone else at the table.
“If Theo’s contract says ninety days, then I think it’s only fair that you give him ninety days to work through the transition period.
That’s what Mr. Peterson would have wanted—for his successor to succeed.
Not be burned at the stake within his first week of employing the position. ”
The Board of Directors all watch her with grim expressions.
Finally, Elena exhales and looks down at her wrinkly, manicured fingers.
“I suppose you’re right, Ms. Palmer. Alright.
Theo, you have ninety days to present us with a report of your short-term and long-term goals with the company.
This includes your operational and marketing reports, as well as a risk management evaluation. ”
“Of course,” I say before I glance over to Whitney, sitting next to me. She furiously scribbles down every challenge Elena is laying down on the table.
“You have until the end of your probationary period, Theo,” Elena says to me. I suddenly have the strongest urge to glower at the older woman sitting at the opposite head of the table. “If what you present to us is deemed not adequate, we will reevaluate.”
I nod my head at Elena, who still stares down her nose at me. Her face is pinched like she smells something bad, and her eyes are narrowed as she sizes me up. Finally, she pushes her chair back and looks around the room. “I suppose we’re finished for today.”