Chapter 11
Quinn
Iwas sitting in the lobby of Knight Enterprises, happy with how my outfit had turned out today.
I’d worn a simple black pencil skirt with a white T-shirt tucked into the front of the skirt to crop it and accentuate my waist. I had paired it with white runners to make it more casual.
I was prepared and ready for this meeting.
I should have been calm, cool, and collected.
But my leg was shaking because I. Was. Pissed.
When Shelly, Theo’s assistant, had reached out to book the meeting she’d done it through Margret, so my ass of a boss found out and demanded that he come to the initial meeting. Like I needed him to hold my hand.
It didn’t help my mood that even though I was in a shirt with no cleavage visible, he still found a way to leer at me on our walk over as he tried to make small talk with me.
“You just sit and listen in there, I’ll take the lead on this project,” Richard said after ranting about how we should redo our offices to be more like these ones. Not only did I not care, but I also would have no influence over that kind of decision. He was just trying to emulate Theo.
It was a poor attempt and never achievable for him.
I tapped my hand on my leg. “Aren’t you leaving tomorrow for two weeks?” He’d been in town longer than usual.
“Mm-hmm.” He took a slurp of his coffee. “But I’ll be working so I’ll monitor the project closely. Mike or Cameron will oversee your progress as well.” I rolled my eyes when he looked away, him ‘working’ meant at least five hours of his day was spent on a golf course.
He’d never once supervised my work. Now, not only was he supervising it, but he was assigning someone else, a man, to do it in his absence.
I’d once walked into his office to get his signature on a new campaign for a client and he didn’t even read the paper before he signed it, hardly glanced up from his phone.
I could have had him sign a raise for me and he wouldn’t have known.
“I don’t need—”
“I honestly have no idea why he would pick you for this job.” Another slurp that was seriously grating on my nerves. I clenched my teeth to keep me from saying something I would regret. “It’s probably because he thinks he can get a piece of your sweet ass and—”
“Mr. Knight is ready for you.” A curt voice cut Richard off mid-sentence, thankfully.
We both stood to see a woman, likely in her sixties, in a pair of black dress pants, a white blouse and a purple cardigan.
She had her grey hair tied into a neat bun at the back of her head.
Her lips were pursed and her sharp eyes were focused on Richard.
It looked like she wanted to hit him, which I would have been all for. He, of course, didn’t notice.
“Thanks,” I mouthed to her and she gave me a curt nod before leading us further into the office. At least this time Richard was in front of me so I couldn’t feel him staring at me.
I used to stand up for myself more with him, keep him in line by calling out his behaviour in small and subtle ways, but I had stopped. I don’t know if I thought he wouldn’t stop or if I’d just given up caring, either way I just changed.
My ex, Lucas, had taken things from me. Some so small that I didn’t notice until I really looked for them. Like the ability to stand up for myself when someone was being a jackass.
Shaking out of my thoughts, I looked around as we followed the woman up the stairs in the middle of the office.
The office smelt new and yet they had made the space comfortable.
Couches and alternative working spaces were spread throughout the main floor, there were people talking and milling around like they actually enjoyed working here.
Probably helped that their bosses weren’t sexist assholes.
Maybe I should’ve taken Theo’s original job offer.
“Mr. Knight,” the woman said as she stepped into the already open door of a boardroom.
“Thanks, Shelly,” Theo said as he stood up from the boardroom table and looked up from his phone.
He was in another classic black suit with a white shirt.
He had a little stubble on his jaw, and his hair was pushed back off his head and damn it if it didn’t make him look sexier.
Theo’s gaze met mine and I sent him a small smile, relieved that his presence evaporated my anger and discomfort quickly.
He must have not felt the same since when he moved his eyes over to Richard, they darkened while his jaw ticked and his shoulders tensed.
“Mr. Knight.” Richard stepped forward and held out his hands, oblivious to the tension. He really was an obtuse idiot. “I’m excited to get started.”
Theo glanced at his outstretched hand, moved up to his face and then he looked at me with a question in his eyes. I just shrugged one shoulder.
Like I had a choice in this. I sure as hell didn’t want him here.
“Quinn!” I turned as Oli walked into the room with a smile on his face. He also faltered as he looked at Richard.
“Hey Oli.” My eyes widened and I bit my lip. I worried for a moment that I’d crossed the line by not only calling him by his first name in a professional setting, but by the nickname his friends used. But when his smile returned as he looked at me, my worries disappeared.
“Hi Oli, I don’t believe we’ve met.” Richard stepped around me to get closer to Oli and I took a few steps back.
This time the use of his nickname had his smile dropping and his eyes narrowing.
These men were intimidating with their suits, glares and cold nature.
It seemed they had a work mode that was much different from the friendly open vibe they had on Friday.
“Richard Walters, I’m Miss West’s boss.” He held out his hand again, this time though Oli did grab it.
“Oliver Thornton,” he said briskly, emphasizing his full name.
“Oliver is our CFO so I wanted him to join to advise on budgets,” Theo said curtly as we all turned to settle in.
“I’m eager to get the team started on this project,” Richard began as he sat beside me, his body turned so he was partially facing me.
“I think you’ll be pleased with what we have to offer.
” Theo and Oli took seats at the other side of the table.
Theo was directly across from me looking unhappy, his one hand resting on the table clenched into a fist.
“I don’t believe I requested your presence. Mr. Walters.” Theo’s tone was clipped.
“Quinn here isn’t senior enough to handle an account of this magnitude on her own.” The jackass patted my hand as his gaze flicked over me before turning back to Theo with a condescending smile on his face.
Theo’s eyes had caught the unwanted contact and his jaw tightened. “I was quite clear that I wanted Quinn to head up the team.”
“I wanted to ensure that you were set up for success.” Richard wasn’t bothered at all by the gruff tone Theo was using on him. “I wanted to be here to make team recommendations as well.”
“Today was really more about brainstorming and getting budgets aligned. We weren’t planning on kicking anything off since it’s our first time telling Quinn what we’d like.” Oli tried to throw Richard a bone, but he didn’t take it.
“Understood. I was planning on assigning Mike Chambers. You’ll love him and he’s excellent with budgeting.
He’ll be a great addition to the work you want to do here.
” I met Theo’s eyes and gave a quick shake of my head.
Mike Chambers was not good at his job, he made shit decisions and someone was always cleaning up after him.
“We should also look at Emma Lane.” Again, I subtly shook my head since Theo was still watching me, not even glancing at Richard as he spoke.
I liked Emma but she didn’t work well on most teams, and she wasn’t interested in the demographic that Knight Enterprises was trying to target.
“I don’t think you need to be assigning anyone.” Theo finally looked back at Richard. “I requested Quinn for a reason.”
“She’s fine,” Richard started but instead of going on he stopped talking to look me over, probably remembering that I was sitting right here. His eyes lingered too long on my chest.
I was about to say something when Theo cleared his throat loud enough to startle Richard and I. My gaze flicked to Oli who was covering his mouth to hide a smile, but it wasn’t directed at me.
“I suggest if you want to keep your job and your eyes, you look the fuck away from her right now.” Theo’s voice had a low menacing quality that had Richard reaching up to adjust his tie.
“Apologies,” he mumbled. “Let’s talk strategy.” He tried to push through the awkwardness and the redness in his cheeks.
“Richard, I don’t think—” I tried to step in to calm the fuming man across from me. Dick clearly didn’t realize what I was doing for him.
“I think we should do a full court press. We need to get you on TikTok and reels, you all will sell the brand well. We’ll make you the faces of it, get you everywhere.
Just a bonus that you’ll have enough women in your DMs to keep you busy for a while.
I bet a video of you all doing one of those dances would go viral.
” He winked at Theo who blinked at him coolly for a few moments before speaking.
“Miss West,” Theo looked at me, “do you agree with that strategy?” I sent a subtle glare at Theo for calling me out like this before everyone looked at me.
“While those are effective strategies for some businesses, I don’t believe that it should be yours.” I sat up straighter, although I agreed with Richard, it was a little weird that Theo picked me. I wasn’t planning on letting him down.
I’d done a ton of research over the last few days and even looked at what some of their competitors here were doing that they weren’t and what they’d done in London. I was over prepared, just how I liked it.
“Please elaborate,” Theo said as he rubbed a hand on his jaw, like he was trying to hide a smile.