Chapter 27
Twenty-Seven
James
“I’ll fight you for it!”
James held the donut above his head. “Stay away!”
Philip grabbed onto him, reaching one arm up, his fingers wiggling for the treat.
James stepped back, his lower back hitting the counter in the break room. He tried to lift the pastry even higher, but it didn’t matter.
Philip was six-four, same as him, and the attempt was futile.
James grunted. “Go to the cafe down the street!”
“I want this one!” Philip whined. “You know, you’re being a terrible CEO, right now. Talk about not caring about employee satisfaction!”
He grunted, waving his arm. “Didn’t you just get the thing with Sophie cleared up, too? You don’t want people talking shit about you again!”
“I don’t think they’ll care if I don’t give you a donut,” James growled. “And don’t bring her into this!”
“I was going to see if you two wanted to get lunch, but never mind.”
Luc leaned in the doorframe, his arms crossed. He sauntered into the room, stopping in front of Philip. “By the way, here.”
Philip relinquished James and dusted himself off before taking the stack of one-hundred-dollar bills Luc brandished.
James eyed the money. “Do I want to know?”
“This idiot bet you would only see Sophie when you got back without bringing her something.” Philip shook his head, muttering under his breath as he counted the bills. “Ay, you’re two hundred short.”
“In my defense, I was drunk when I made that bet,” Luc said as he pulled out his phone.
“Whatever.” Philip waved his hand. His phone dinged and he glanced at the screen. “Thanks.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Luc grumbled. “Enjoy your exploitation.”
James rolled his eyes.
Luc was doomed to lose from the start.
“Anyway, lunch?” Luc gestured toward the door. “Pip, you’re treating, okay? Now that you’re richer, it’d be the right thing to do.”
James nodded and pulled out his phone. “He’s right, you know. Let me look up places.”
“Make sure it's expensive,” Luc said.
“I like how you think.” James lowered his other arm, alleviating the slight ache that had started up.
Philip stole the donut and crammed half into his mouth.
“Hey!”
“That’s what you get.” Philip flipped him off and ate the rest of the pastry.
James grumbled and walked out of the breakroom. He turned the corner and nearly crashed into Jackie.
She wobbled and tightened her grip on her armful of files, but she dropped a few anyway. “Sorry!”
“It’s fine,” he said, and looked at his friends. “Go, I’ll meet you two downstairs.”
Philip and Luc hesitated for a moment, then headed toward the elevators.
James stooped to get the files and schooled his face into a neutral mask. Keeping a hold of the files, he took half the stack from Jackie.
“You look like you’ve got your hands full,” he said. “I’m assuming you want these on your desk?”
When the news broke about him and Sophie, Lotus lost almost all the clients they gained since Delacroix. But with Marilyn’s fix the other day, they experienced a significant rise in cases again.
And to think we could’ve lost it all thanks to Jackie.
Red clouded his vision, but he kept his expression cool as he headed for the elevators.
He had to let Covey take care of things, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t speed things up a little.
Swiping open his message thread with Jackie, he tapped a simple message in and sent it off.
“Thanks for dinner again.” Jackie cut into her steak, looking around. “This place is nice. Why are we here if it’s just for a standard work dinner?”
“You’re right, it is a bit upscale for business.” He shrugged, lifting his wineglass to his lips. “But you know I like this place, and I thought you’d like the food.”
Truth be told, he wanted to put her at ease and turn her mind off the inkling that anything was wrong.
She snorted, narrowing her eyes. “James Tian, are you using your negotiation voice on me?”
“No …”
She laughed. “Nice try. I’m a mother, James. I worked for your father while you were growing up, and I’m your assistant. I know when someone wants something.”
He sighed and set down his wine, tracking a bead of red rolling down the side. It hit the tablecloth, a brilliant bud blooming against the white.
He should wait for Covey. He had gotten a message from Marilyn that she would give him a solution in the next few days, but so far, there was nothing.
He couldn’t wait that long, couldn’t keep on pretending.
Jackie raised a brow. “Well?”
He tugged at his tie, loosening it slightly. Here went nothing.
“Why’d you do it?”