Big Ben (See No Evil Trilogy #1) - Nana Malone Page 0,43
owned the place, which he did, I really, really liked the job. It was challenging. I had to bring up all my organizational skills and put them to good use.
But however the hell they’d organized things before didn’t make any sense. The folders were difficult to find, I could not locate our?clients, and half of the department didn’t really communicate very well, requiring everyone’s bosses to get involved to make any sort of decision.
Things would be so much better if they just organized cross-functionally. So I put together a report outlining a better way to work. If there were project teams and everyone had a stake in it, then resources would be sorted across teams as well. And for every project, it would be a renegotiation of what team it would end on. Why didn’t they know this?
I also learned that everything was pretty much siloed under each of the CEOs, which was ridiculous, considering they managed one company. And as resources went, that meant if someone was being underused on one side, it was almost impossible to reallocate them.
I’d already started implementing some of those changes. I was pretty sure Ben hadn’t even noticed. Which was fine. I got to do my job and be left alone. I really didn’t want his input anyway, nor did I need his ire. It wasn’t my fault I’d been mugged twice in one week.
After a series of three meetings back to back, I was relieved to finally reach my office again. All I needed was a good couple of hours of uninterrupted work. I’d been digging in so hard in my new role, that I’d been getting home later and later each night.
Granted, Dexter hadn’t exactly been home to notice. Most of the time he texted me to say he was working late. And to be fair, I didn’t even notice that he had texted until I got home and he wasn’t there. Which probably said something.
Like how long are you going to put up with this? It had been going on too long. We needed to have a sit down because really, we were just glorified roommates. My mother hadn’t wanted me to be alone, but I was certain she didn’t want me to be unhappy either.
We would talk at dinner next week. It would be fine. We’d either work this out or realize that we couldn’t. It made my heart squeeze a little. This was Dexter. He’d been there for the toughest parts of my life. I didn’t want to just give up.
And the guilt still ate at me. Everything had changed because of me. And that was a hard pill to swallow.
Looking forward to getting off my feet, I gasped when I saw the bright bouquet of pink roses, complete with baby’s breath. What in the world? They were beautiful. They looked velvety soft, and their aroma already filled my office. But I wasn’t really a roses girl. I was more into interesting flowers like orchids or lilies.?But there was no denying how gorgeous they were.
I placed my laptop on my desk and then I hunted for a card. I found one nestled deep in the nest of thorns. All it said was I’m so proud of you.
The instant welling of tears was unexpected.
Dexter.
God, just when I was on the verge of giving up, he came through. I didn’t even stop to think when I grabbed my jacket. It was close enough to lunch that I could leave early and go say a surprise thank you.
It was a straight shot to South Bank from Soho on the tube, so within fifteen minutes I was walking into the sleek glass and chrome of Mills and Crawford Investments. I knew where Fenton’s office was and managed to deftly avoid it. It was 11:45, so the office was nearly a ghost town with everyone off to lunch.
Good old Dexter, though, was at his desk. “Hey there handsome, are you accepting blow jobs as recompense?”
His head snapped up and his eyes went wide before he shoved up out of his chair. “Olivia. Wh-what are you doing here?”
I smiled up at him as he came around his desk. “Silly, I’m here to say thank you.”
He frowned then looked around me to his door, which I’d closed behind me. “Thank you for what?”
Laughing, I looped my arms around his neck. “For my flowers, silly. They’re beautiful. I was so surprised. I love them though. I know we’ve been disconnected for a while, but—”