Her brow furrowed. "I doubt that was it. James has many faults, but a glorified sense of himself isn't one of them."
I will reserve judgment on that.
"He is a man under a great deal of pressure, though. My leaving doesn't help. To be honest, I'm feeling a little guilty, but my staying won't change anything. James is always going to be under a lot of pressure. I can't make that go away. The only thing I can do is what I've always done, which is have his back, anticipate problems and deal with them before they show up, and every now and then, remind him that he's a smart and capable young man. Despite what his father and the board are telling him. You can do the same. That's why I hired you."
"Thank you for your confidence." To be honest, I didn't share her same confidence in me. I couldn't figure out what she saw in my resumé or my interview that made her think I could prop up the CEO or anticipate his every need.
"But you’re no good to him if you can't stand up for yourself, stand up for him, and be the support that he needs."
I nodded in agreement. "I tried to talk to him—"
She shook her head. "He won’t be able to articulate to you everything that he needs. He’s singularly focused on what he needs to do, and so he's going to rely on you to deal with the rest. We have about ten more days to get you up to speed on all the things that you need to be aware of and take care of for him. And I know you can do it. As a law student, I'm sure you've learned the value of paying attention to details. Looking for loopholes. Arguing an opinion."
"I think that's easier said than done."
Her brow furrowed, her eyes scrutinizing me as if she was assessing whether she’d made the right decision in hiring me. Truth be told, I wasn't sure I was up to the job, but at this moment, as I wondered if she was going to take it away from me, I wanted it. I wanted to be everything Mr. Dunsmore needed me to be.
I straightened, lifting my chin, hoping it showed strength. "I believe I can do it."
It took a moment, but she gave me a curt nod. "I believe you can too. I'm going to give you some words of wisdom in dealing with James Dunsmore. Deep down, he's a good guy. He's smart, and he's fair. But sometimes, like today, he can be in a mood. In fact, he's in a mood all the time now. He could end up like that forever unless the board finally decides that he's capable of running this company." She shook her head. "The board is as stupid as his father was. But there's nothing we can do about that. The only thing we can do is assist James in taking this company out of the shame his father put it in and build it even bigger and better. In order for you to do that, you cannot show any fear to him. You'll need to stand up to him when it's needed. You can’t wither like a wilted flower at his tone or if his words seem mean. Hell, half the time, I treat him like a petulant child."
I wasn't sure I could get away with that. As if she knew what I was thinking, she said, "I'm not telling you to do that. If you do your job well, he won't fire you, but at the same time, if you're being assertive, don't be disrespectful. He's disrespected just about everywhere else in his life, so you need to prove to him that you're on his side and that you believe in him."
To be honest, it felt like an awful lot to ask. He didn’t just need an assistant. He needed a shrink and a cheerleader. But I needed this job. Not just to support myself, but to prove that I could forge a life on my own.
"I will make sure that Mr. Dunsmore can prove himself to the board."
She gave me another curt nod. "Good. Now, things did not go well on his business trip, so we need to look at ways to help him find more business opportunities." She reached into the pocket of her blazer and pushed a piece of paper across to me. "The company has a party on Christmas Eve every year, but this will be the first year that James is head of the company. All these people on this list should be invited. Maybe the board is unable to see that James is the capable man he is, but these other businesspeople can. On more than one occasion, James prevented his father from doing something backhanded to each of these businesses. It also won't hurt that his sister and her husband will be coming. Her husband comes from a prominent family in New York, and everyone will look at that in a positive light." She shook her head.
"What?
"What James and Amelia's father did to her is disgraceful, but it's a weird bit of irony that he actually got what he wanted. Amelia's married to Max Clarke. Luckily, his scheme to do so resulted in his going to jail."
My brow furrowed because I had no idea what she was talking about. At the same time, I wasn't sure it was any of my business, considering it sounded like something personal in the family. "Families can be difficult."
She took a sip of her coffee, watching me over the rim of her cup. "It's none of my business, Reyna, but I want you to know that before I hired you, you were investigated."
I flinched, even though I knew I shouldn't be surprised. These days, employers used Google and even hired people to do background checks.
"I don't know the details of what happened, but the fact that you're here and not in California with your family and about to get married gives me some ideas."
I nodded that I understood, even though I wasn't interested in going into details.
"The point is that you can make a place for yourself here. Las Vegas may be known as Sin City, but it has its good attributes too. There are good people, and many of them work here. Even James is a good person. His sister, who will be here for the party, is not that much older than you. She could be a good friend and an ally."
Was she telling me to befriend my boss’s sister as a way to have someone in my corner when he got mad at me? For some reason, that seemed a little backhanded.
"If she knows that you're on her brother's side and doing everything that you can do to help him achieve his vision, she will help you to help him. The two of them are like this." She crossed her index and middle finger together. "They're about as close as two siblings can be."
"It's nice that they have each other." On many occasions, I’d wished I had a sibling. This was one of those times.
"They had a pretty unhealthy childhood, yet somehow, the two of them have come out smart, successful, and decent. But with all this going on with the board, I feel like James might be slipping away from that. He's getting angry and resentful. You're in charge of trying to stop that as well."
When I’d gone over my list of duties as his assistant, almost nothing that she was asking me to do today was on it. But in the end, I recognized that what she was saying was that I wasn't just an assistant. I needed to see myself as part of a team, a team working toward a vision. I actually kind of liked that idea. I would be a part of something bigger than myself, working toward something. Except for getting engaged to Dean, I'd never felt like I was a part of something or working toward a vision.
CHAPTERTHREE
James