Chapter 31 – Remington
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
I’ll be a complete asshole. Tomorrow
Remington
We’ve made it to Thursday, and Mindy has exactly zero strikes against her. Zero. She’s been the perfect employee, other than her morning greetings, which actually are starting to amuse me. Yesterday she called me Your Grace, and today was El Presidente, pronounced with a perfect Spanish accent.
Trust me, I’ve searched for something to reprimand her about, but I’ve come up with nothing so far. I have no complaints, except maybe…
I march out to her area and stand beside her desk until she looks up at me with a professional smile. “Can I help you with something, Mr. Hale? Another coffee?”
“No, I wanted to ask you not to wear that red suit anymore,” I announce like an imperious prick. I’ve only seen her wear this one and the navy-blue one. She seems to alternate days.
She glances down at her clothes. “Is there something wrong with it?”
What am I supposed to say to that? There’s really nothing objectively bad about it. The top isn’t low-cut, and the skirt hits at an office-appropriate length. It’s the color that reminds me of peeling that red dress from her body and leaving it on the floor of the hotel room.
On the fly, I say, “The color isn’t exactly professional now, is it?”
Her eyes drop to my red tie, and she lifts an eyebrow but doesn’t comment on my hypocrisy. “Okay, so I guess I’ll just wear the blue one every day?” It’s more of a question than a statement.
I sigh and run a hand over the top of my head. “Don’t you have a black one? Gray? Even a forest green?”
Her lips turn down at the corners. “I only have two. This one and the blue one.”
“Then buy a new one,” I order.
Mindy stares at me for a long moment before shooting out of her chair, sending her red hair flying. There’s a fierceness in her eyes that has me taking a step back.
“I would if I had the money, Mr. Hale. Do you think I enjoy wearing the same damn two suits every day?”
“Oh bullshit,” I shoot back. “Are you forgetting I know what you make?”
“Yeah, and that would be super if I had actually gotten a paycheck.”
I wait for her to say something else, but she doesn’t. I shake my head because this doesn’t make any sense. I do the calculation in my head. “You’ve been here for… going on four weeks, and you’re telling me you haven’t been paid?”
“That’s what I’m telling you,” she says definitively, propping a hand on one curvy hip.
I’m stunned. “Why?”
“You tell me. It’s your company, and you’re the boss,” she says saucily.
“Have you talked to payroll?”
She tilts her head like that’s the dumbest question in the world. “Of course I have. Several times. They don’t know what’s going on either.”
I sigh and pull at the back of my neck. Do I want to make her quit? Absolutely. But do I want her to quit because she’s shown up and been a stellar employee for almost a month, and my goddamn company hasn’t paid her a penny? A million times no. Not even I am that big of an asshole.
Meeting her gaze, I say, “I’m sorry, Mindy. That’s not how we treat our employees, and you have every right to be angry. I’ll get to the bottom of this, okay? Today.”
She gives me a mollified nod and a soft, “Thank you, Mr. Hale.”
I make my way down a couple floors to the HR and payroll office and pull open the frosted glass door. The receptionist’s eyes widen comically.
“Mr. Hale.”
I check her nametag. “Good morning, Alise. Could I speak with Sharon, please?”
“Of course. Come on back, and I’ll show you to her office.” Alise lifts the hinged counter to let me through and then leads me through a maze of hallways until we reach the payroll director’s office.
Sharon Morgan stands as soon as she sees me, holding out her hand. “Mr. Hale, what can I help you with today?”
I shake her hand and gesture for her to sit down, taking the uncomfortable metal chair across from her desk. “I’m hoping you can tell me why my assistant has been here for almost a month and hasn’t been paid.”
Her face droops. “Oh, you’re talking about Mindy Espinoza. That poor, sweet dear has been so patient with me. I’ll be honest with you, Mr. Hale. I’ve never encountered this problem before. I’ve sent the money to her bank by direct deposit several times, and they reject it every time.”
“That makes no sense, Sharon.”
“I agree.” She lowers her voice and tucks a gray curl behind her ear.
“You see, Mindy is going through a divorce right now. She filed the paperwork to have her name changed back to her maiden name, and that went through. She also had it changed on her driver’s license, but she hasn’t gotten her copy of the license in the mail yet.
You know how the DMV can be.” Her eyes roll dramatically.
“I’m aware. I’m in the process of getting mine redone now that I’m living back in Texas. But what does that have to do with Ms. Espinoza not getting paid?”
“I’ve called the bank, and there’s apparently some kind of glitch because the system flags it and won’t let the direct deposit go through.
Mindy said she gave them the official name change paperwork with Espinoza, but the account manager insisted they had to put the account under McCoy. That was her married name.”
“Because that’s what matched her driver’s license,” I surmise.
“That’s what I’m assuming,” Sharon says, lifting her shoulders in a shrug. “I really am sorry, Mr. Hale. I’ve been doing my best to get Mindy the money she’s worked for, but unfortunately, I don’t control the bank.”
“I know you don’t, and I appreciate the effort you’ve put in. Which bank is it?”
“Reliant Bank and Trust. The branch down the street from here.”
I nod. “I know the bank president. I’ll go down and talk to him. The next payday is tomorrow, and if it’s not straightened out by then, I want you to change Mindy’s name to McCoy in our system and send it that way. For both payroll periods.”
“Will do. And good for you, sir. You should do everything you can to hold onto Mindy. I’ve never seen such a hard worker. She’s so bright and always has a smile on her face. You’re very lucky to have her.”
My smile is tight and uncomfortable. I wonder what Sharon would say if she knew I was trying to get rid of my bright, hard-working assistant.
I’m ushered immediately into William Gladstone’s office at Reliant Bank and Trust. The pot-bellied man stands and shakes my hand enthusiastically.
“Remington Hale, how are you?” he asks heartily.
“I’m doing well, except I’m having a problem with your bank.”
His jowls quiver as we sit down. “A problem? With which account?”
“With my payroll account for the business. My payroll director has sent over a direct deposit for my assistant’s wages, but your bank keeps denying it.”
The wrinkles in his forehead grow deeper and he turns to his computer. “What’s the employee’s name?”
“Mindy Espinoza, but from what I understand, you have her surname as McCoy.”
He types for a moment and then nods, giving me a sad smile. “I see where the deposits have been denied due to not matching up with the name we have on file.”
I cross my arms over my chest. “And do you also have the paperwork showing the courts have officially changed her name to Espinoza?”
William clicks something with his mouse and nods. “I do see that, but unfortunately, I would need her license to verify that. Our bank doesn’t accept temporary licenses, which is what she tried to use. Her old license still says she’s Mindy McCoy, so that’s what we went with.”
“Well, just change it,” I say.
He laughs nervously, a high-pitched sound that grates on my nerves.
“I wish I could, but we have to be careful of identity thieves. The temporary licenses are too easy to manipulate. That’s why we need the real one.
We should be able to get this straightened out as soon as her new identification comes in the mail. ”
He sits back like the matter is all settled, but it’s far from over in my mind.
“Surely you’ve dealt with bank clients getting divorced before, right?”
William nods eagerly. “Of course we have.”
“And sometimes their names change,” I prompt.
“Well, yes.”
“You have court documents stating her name is now legally Espinoza, so I don’t see what the problem is.”
“The license…”
“Fuck the license, William. I will vouch for the fact that Mindy Espinoza is not, in fact, an identity thief. She just wants the paycheck she’s entitled to.”
His eyes widen and those damn jowls twitch again like he’s an old hound dog. “I’m not sure…”
I cut him off again. “And I’m not sure I want to bank at an establishment that can’t use some goddamn common sense.
” Leaning forward, I rest my forearms on his desk, and my voice goes scarily low.
“Between my personal holdings and all the Hale Cosmetics accounts, do you have any fucking clue how much money I have in this bank, William? And do you have any fucking clue what it would do to your bank if I have every cent transferred to First National by the end of the business day?”
Five minutes later, I leave the bank with a smug smile on my lips. I immediately call Sharon. “Everything is fixed with the bank. Can you go ahead and send over the direct deposit for the last pay period?”
“Of course. I don’t know what you said, but thank you.”
“Just a little friendly persuasion,” I reply airily.
And making a grown man almost shit his pants.
Mindy is staring at her phone when I re-enter my office suite at noon, but as I approach her desk, she lifts her hazel gaze to mine.
“I just got a notification that I have a direct deposit in my account.”
“Good,” I say.
“Thank you, Mr. Hale. For whatever you did to fix this.” Her voice shakes and I avert my gaze, noticing she’s eating a croissant from the office coffee shop.
Come to think of it, she’s eaten lunch at her desk every single day this week.
She had a scone and a peach Monday through Wednesday, and today she’s only eating a damn croissant?
Does she not have enough money for food because she hasn’t received a paycheck in almost a month? Fuck me, I feel like shit.
“Don’t thank me. This shouldn’t have been a problem in the first place. I’m a little angry you didn’t let me know about it sooner.”
She nods and picks a piece of the flaky croissant from her plate and eats it. I’m supposed to be acting like an asshole so she’ll quit, but I can’t seem to find it in me to do that today. So I formulate a plan on the fly.
“Ms. Espinoza, I need you to work through lunch today. I want you to go over the Task-Pro app with me so I can better understand it. Phoenix and Helix outvoted me, so I guess we’re keeping it.” I make myself sound exasperated at the idea.
“Sure,” she replies, pushing away her meager meal and standing.
“Before you come into my office, order us something to eat. Whatever you want is fine,” I say nonchalantly. “There are several places around here that deliver.”
She blinks at me, brows narrowing. “You’re buying me lunch?”
I chuckle. “If I ask you to work through lunch, then yes, I provide the food. That’s how a working lunch works. You have an expense card, right?”
Mindy unlocks her top drawer and pulls out the black card. “I have it. I’ve never used it before though.”
“Great. Anytime you work through lunch, even if I’m not here, I insist you use that card to pay for your meals. Otherwise, I could get in trouble with Human Resources.”
That’s complete bullshit, but she doesn’t know that.
I sigh as soon as I enter my office and close the door. I’m not doing a great job of making her want to leave, but I promise myself I’ll do better tomorrow.
Tomorrow I’ll be a complete asshole.