10: Ronan
Scott leaves my office after a meeting with me and Janine, the HR Director. He’s a good kid, but I talked Sarah into coming up here for at least the next six months. She should arrive any time. Janine and I found another position for Scott, so I didn’t have to let him go. I think he was actually relieved—I’m not an easy guy to work for.
I swing my chair around to look at the view through the big windows while I return a few calls. The sky is clear, the sun glinting off the glass windows of the buildings across the street. I feel a familiar twitch: the desire to fly. It’s been too long since I’ve had a good hit of adrenaline. I’m starting to get edgy.
There’s a knock at my door, and I glance over my shoulder. Sarah stands in the doorway, dressed in a dark blue dress with a slim gold belt, a pair of sunglasses on her face. Her blond hair is pulled up and she has a black bag hanging from her shoulder.
“Great,” I say. “Email it to me, and we’ll talk more next week.” I hang up the phone, look at Sarah. “About time.”
She pulls the sunglasses off and makes a show of rolling her eyes at me as she takes a seat on the other side of the desk. “You’re giving me a raise.”
“Am I?”
“Yes,” she says, meeting my eyes. “Or I’m going back to San Francisco.”
I crack a small smile. I already had her raise processed through HR, but I like fucking with her. “Guess you better go back to the airport, because you’re nuts if you think I’m paying you more than I already do.”
She pulls her laptop out of her bag and sets it on my desk. “I’m nuts for working for you.”
“This is the best job you’ve ever had,” I say, leaning back in my seat.
“Right,” she says, with another eye roll. “You’re still giving me that raise.”
I look up at the knock on my half-open door, to find Selene looking in. Her hair is down, which is definitely my favorite look on her. She’s wearing a fitted white shirt with a wide collar and a pair of dark slacks that remind me of how long her legs are. Fuck, she’s spectacular.
“Sorry to bother you,” she says. “Do you have a second?”
“Absolutely,” I say. “Come on in. Sarah, this is Selene Taylor. Selene, Sarah Reynolds. Sarah works for me at Edge, and she’s transferring here.”
Selene smiles and shakes hands with Sarah. “Nice to meet you.”
“You too,” Sarah says.
“Again, sorry for interrupting, but Marketing wants to move the meeting this afternoon to noon instead of three,” Selene says. “I want to be sure you can still make it before I respond.”
I look at Sarah.
“Don’t look at me,” she says. “I just got here and I don’t have your calendar synced yet.”
“Noon is fine,” I say. “Thanks.”
“Great, see you then,” Selene says and walks out the door, closing it behind her.
Sarah looks at me with her eyebrows raised.
“What?” I ask.
“What was that?”
“What was what?” I ask.
Sarah nods toward the door. “That. Is there something going on with her?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Sarah gives me her I know you’re lying through your teeth look. She’s worked for me for about four years, but we’ve been friends since college. I can’t get much past her. “I saw the way you looked at her. Please tell me you aren’t sleeping with an employee.”
“Not yet.”