a friendly smile with Mitzy and Muffy. Even though they were not on board with the plan to go public, they’d been nothing but kind to me.
I extended a hand to the leather club chairs in front of my desk. “Please take a seat.” Without a word, they both sat down, their movements almost identical. I showed my teeth in what I hoped was a smile and smothered any thoughts related to Julia, happy hours, or anything that could interfere with me getting this job done.
“Thanks goodness we caught you. We just wanted to check on a couple of things now that you’ve connected with Gail at the foundation.” I could tell they were going with the “kill ’em with kindness” tactic. I didn’t doubt they were sincere, but they were also going way out of their way for these check-ins, when nothing had happened yet. But between them and their asshole brother, I’d pick them any day.
“Anything you need,” I said, with a dip of my head, smile still very much firmly in place.
* * *
Mitzy and Muffy were an interesting pair. They were both “bachelorettes” in their mid-fifties, and nothing about these two women could ever be called average. For one, they were always wearing clothes I’d only ever seen in high-fashion magazines. But what made everything just a bit on the surreal side was that they almost always dressed in different shades of the same color. Mitzy always wore skirts and dresses, hair styled in a short bob that reminded me of that famous fashion lady who ran the Met Gala. Muffy on the other hand went for bespoke pantsuits, her silver hair cut in a no-nonsense crew cut.
Today was apparently blue day. Mitzy was wearing a long skirt in like ten shades of dark blue, and a denim top, and Muffy was in one of her trademark pantsuits, this one navy. I tried not to stare for too long, and waited for them to get on with whatever it was they were here for. So far they seemed set on bringing me over to their side. I would be staying on whatever side got me a promotion and back to New York City at the end of this job.
“Did things go well with the program director?”
The twitch in my eye at the mere mention of Julia was going to be a real fucking problem. “Things went well. We have to hammer out the details, but I should be able to get a sense for the work the foundation does. Mind you, I am not the last word on any on this.” I tried to smooth out any trace of an edge in my voice as I spoke. I could stay on task without being rude. And besides, though the twins and I could’ve been from different planets, I liked them.
I appreciated how invested they were in their company and their people. It was clear Mitzy and Muffy felt a lot of pride in the fact that Sturm’s was a family-owned business; they took that “family” thing seriously. From the first day, they’d been worried about how I was getting on and made sure I got everything my team needed. I was a New Yorker and by nature assumed anyone being nice was up to something, but my spidey senses kept telling me these two were the real deal.
I cleared my throat as they both waited for me to get to the point. “We make recommendations, the board and you decide what stays and what goes.”
“Right.” Muffy rolled her eyes as she crossed her legs into a pose identical to her sister. “We just wanted to make sure things were on track. We know you’re thankfully not in Duke’s pockets.”
I swallowed hard at that. I wasn’t in anyone’s pockets, that was true, but that didn’t mean they didn’t have me by the balls.
Mitzy nodded at what her sister had said and gave me an angelic smile that rivaled the one my two-year-old niece gave me when she wanted a treat. “We also wanted to hear if Phil talked to you about that little thing he seems so worried about.” She said “Phil” like she’d just bitten into something sour, and I couldn’t say I blamed her.
As far as I could tell Phil Brentwood, their CFO, was a bully with a short fuse. “The little thing” was his hard-on for doing away with anything that could put the IPO plans in jeopardy. He couldn’t care less about the