A loud guffaw fills the room as we walk out of his office. “I’ve always enjoyed your pluck, Charlie. Keeps a man on his toes.”
“I try.”
“I probably don’t tell you this as often as I should but I’m grateful to have you here. Working with you every day is a joy, Charlie. An absolute joy,” he mutters and heads toward the elevator bank. “See you bright and early!”
I chuckle. “Goodnight, Thomas.” His words make my heart catch. Once he moves down the hall and I’m sure he’s actually leaving, I turn back around and look over his impressive office.
The corner office is amazing. All floor-to-ceiling windows with a stunning view of Manhattan, beyond spacious and there’s even a full bath attached to it.Hopefully one day,I think.
After a moment of fantasizing about calling this place my office, I turn around, ready to head out, when something snags my attention. Beneath a file, a picture frame hangs out a little over the edge of the desk. I slide the file over and pick the overturned frame up.
It’s a framed photograph of Thomas with his children. Of course, my eyes instantly zero in on the tallest, oldest son. Even from the distance the picture was taken, I can see his bright blue eyes and it annoys me. He’s not smiling, more like smirking, with just a subtle lift of his mouth.
Even in a photograph, the man knows how to irk me.
For as well as I’ve come to know Thomas Beckett, I barely know anything about his children. Other than the obnoxious, arrogant Nash who I had the misfortune of working with for a year. Before his little temper tantrum when I got promoted over him. I like to remind myself of that fact every now and again.
In the picture, Thomas is surrounded by his four sons and youngest daughter. I know their names, of course– Nash, Tanner, Sawyer, Crew and Sierra– but, other than that, not much else. From what I’ve gathered, they all had a falling out over the years for one reason or another.
Thomas has made the comment time and time again that his children don’t give a fig about his company. He said if it were up to them, the doors would close forever, and they’d sell it off in a heartbeat. I know Thomas would never let that happen and that’s why I’m fairly confident that he will pass the reins on to me when the time comes for him to retire.
Nash is the only one with any experience running a Fortune 500 company, from what I know, so if anything, ever happened to Thomas, I can’t imagine any of his kids wanting to step in and take over the day-to-day operations.
But I’m not going to lie. Seeing this picture of them all together makes me a little uneasy. I’ve never seen it before in here and I wonder where it came from and why it’s out now?
God forbid anything happen to Thomas Beckett. But, if it did, and he decided to leave TB Tech to his children, even though he claims he wouldn’t, the very real fact is I could be left out in the cold, fired and with no job.
When I think about all of the time, effort and hard work I’ve put into this company, the very idea makes me nauseous.
But that’s the absolute worst-case scenario. I study Nash a moment longer than necessary and hope his life is miserable. I hate the way he and his father always argued and even more, I hate the way he used to walk around here like he was the second coming of Christ or something. Or God’s gift to women.
The women who work here, mostly assistants, used to drool over Nash and flirt outrageously with him. He would eat it up and flirt right back without missing a beat. Especially with Ivy Reeves, Thomas’ executive assistant. It was so obvious that she wanted a piece of him. Remembering the way Ivy would talk to him in a simpering baby voice and always manage to find some sneaky way to touch him makes me throw up a little in my mouth.
I certainly don’t miss witnessing the way she and the others fawned over him incessantly. So annoying.
There’s no denying that Nash Beckett is handsome but his attitude and the fact that he thought he was so important made him less attractive in my book. Hell, if I had the chance, I’d love nothing more than to knock his ass off that self-important pedestal he’s constructed for himself.
After leaving here in a fit, Nash was quiet on the tech scene for a few months. Then he came bursting out of the woodwork when he announced his own company, N Squared, and since then has developed some successful software and apps.
Nash’s company, however, is nothing compared to the giant that is TB Tech. So I hope he’s having fun tinkering on his pitiful ideas in his small office while I’m helping his father run a multi-billion dollar corporation and paving the way for future generations and new technology.
I replace the frame exactly as I found it and try to ignore the uneasy twist in my gut. Although I normally listen to my instincts, this paranoid feeling doesn’t make sense. I know Thomas Beckett will make sure I’m taken care of and will remain a part of his company.
Of course, he will,I tell myself for what feels like the hundredth time.
I believe he sees me like a daughter, a strong asset and that he’d never throw me to the dogs. AKA his children.
I let out a soft sigh and head back down to my office.
You can trust Thomas,I think. But, if that’s true, then why do I feel like the rug is about to get pulled out from beneath me?
3
NASH
Walking out of my lawyer’s office, I loosen my tie and try not to think too hard about the fact that I just sold my company. Don’t get me wrong– I wanted to sell it and I’ve had the urge to move on for months, but now that all is said and done and I just signed on the dotted line, uncertainty hits me.
Did I jump the gun?I wonder. Hell, too late now so there’s no point dwelling on it.