questioned. I knew who she was talking about, but I wanted to hear her say it.
“You know.”
“Lana are you referring to Nash?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“Lana, he’s the owner. You shouldn’t talk about him like that.”
She rolled her eyes. “Fine, I’ll agree he was nice the last two weeks, but you have to agree he was a royal prick before that. You kicked his ass into shape. If you hadn’t come back, we’d be dealing with a mutiny. I was ready to quit. I’d rather flip burgers than work for him. With the way he was working us, it would have been the same amount of money.”
“I think you’re being hard on him.”
She scoffed. “No. That’s being easy on him. He’s a dick. Like the biggest dick I have ever had the misfortune to meet.”
“He’s got a different management style,” I agreed. “Different but effective.”
“Um, I don’t know where you’ve been, but that man is awful. He has no idea how to run a business.”
I couldn’t believe I was doing this. I was actually defending him. “He is very good at running a business,” I said and held up my hand when she opened her mouth to argue against my statement. “He doesn’t know how to handle people. That’s very different. He makes money. I hate to say it, but he busted his ass to get to where he is.”
She rolled her eyes. “That doesn’t give him a free pass to be an asshole.”
“No, but his position does give him the ability,” I said.
“Are you really sticking up for him?” she asked.
“I am. I mean, I agree there was some stuff he did that was bullshit, but he’s learning.”
She gave me a strange look. “Do you think he’s learning enough to bring our breakroom back?”
I said. “Baby steps.”
“Do you think we can start returning to normal again?”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“He came in, he busted our asses, and made a shit ton of money. He came, he saw, he did. Now, will he go away? He’s not here today and I heard he wasn’t going to be coming in for a while. Is it too early to celebrate?”
I didn’t want to celebrate. I was probably the only one who was bummed he wasn’t going to be in the office. I wasn’t sure what I was more upset about. No more office quickies were certainly high up on the list of downsides. But I was also going to miss getting to spend time with him. Lana didn’t get to see the sexy, flirty side of him.
“Lana you are a leader here,” I started and did my best to sound diplomatic. “People look to you to take their moves. You have a lot of influence and you can really help make this is a smooth transition.”
“What do you mean?” she asked. “What transition?”
“With Nash taking over the business.”
She shook her head. “You are the manager.”
“But I’m not going to be here forever,” I said.
“No! Are you quitting?”
“No,” I said. It wasn’t a lie. I wasn’t quitting right away. “But Nash is the owner, and he does appear to want to have an active role in the business. It will make things easier for everyone if we can ease through the transition instead of fighting it every step of the way.”
“Saige, the guy is a dick. Period. You can give him a hundred excuses, but he’s still a dick. He’s harsh and rude. He looks down on all of us. He acts like his shit doesn’t stink. No one likes him. I don’t see that ever changing.”
I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. I understood where she was coming from. I had to question if my vision was blurred by my feelings for him. That opened up an entirely different set of problems.
“Lana, I have to ask you not to talk like that about him to anyone else,” I said.
“Come on,” she said. “Don’t pretend you actually like the man.”
“I do, actually. I’m not saying we are best friends, but I’ve taken the time to get to know him a little better.”
She didn’t look impressed. “See, that’s the difference between you and the rest of us. He sees you as worthy because of your position. He would never allow us to get to know him.”
“He probably won’t invite you out on his yacht, but—”
“He invited you on his yacht?” she exclaimed.
“No,” I said. “He didn’t invite me on his yacht. I don’t even know if he has a yacht. I’m just