ago to say he’d be late. Gadd is waiting with his lawyers.”
I tried again. “I respect you, too, Cynthia. Like you said, you’ve been with me for years now, but this doesn’t concern you, and I’d think after the years we’ve spent together, you’d know better than to push me on this.”
“I care about you, so I’d say I should.”
I started walking again, silently passing some of the senior associates as they greeted me. Cynthia kept up with my pace, not uttering another word. I thought she was finally done, but that changed when no one else was in sight and it was just us again.
“Just tell her. It’s not too late.”
I came to another abrupt stop. Ready for it this time, she halted next to me, a little out of breath. After glancing behind me, I pulled her into a small junior associate office and closed the door. Our voices would still carry outside, but at least it would be muffled and there would be some semblance of privacy.
“I’m not going to have this same conversation with you again. This is my last warning.”
“You telling me not to talk about this again is not us having a conversation about it.”
“What the hell has gotten into you today?” I asked, frustrated and not sure how to handle this side of my assistant.
“I told you: the day you made this ridiculous deal, I told you not to do it. This was the stupidest idea you’ve ever had.”
“You think I don’t fucking know that?” I growled, my temper boiling over. “You think I didn’t figure that out the second she went along with my plan?”
“Then what’s the problem? Just tell her.”
“Tell her what, for fuck’s sake? Tell her I basically stalked her and the more I learned about her, the more interested I became? Or should I tell her I don’t give a damn about the property?”
“You didn’t stalk her, Jack. You were trying to help her. She’ll understand when you explain it to her.”
“Trying to help by marrying her? There were a number of other things I could’ve done to help her, Cynthia. Getting married wasn’t at the top of the list—it shouldn’t have been on the list at all. I was being a selfish bastard.”
“Your own gain—”
My voice had risen enough that George, who was just passing by, stopped and opened the door.
“What’s going on here? I can hear your voices from a mile away. Aren’t you supposed to be at the Morrison and Gadd meeting?”
“I’m heading there now,” I gritted through my teeth. “We just picked up a file we needed.”
Frowning at us, George accepted the lie and, giving us a final confused look, walked away.
Cynthia started on me before I could utter another word.
“You had me look into her a year ago. Why did you wait so long to introduce yourself?”
“I’m only going to tell you one more time, Cynthia: if you ever say another word on this subject, I will fire you on the spot and not even think twice about it. I don’t give a damn whether you’re the best or not.”
Without waiting for her to even acknowledge what I had just said, I stormed out of the room and headed straight to the meeting.
By the time the meeting was over, my head was pounding and I was ready to end the day and leave. It was only five PM, though, so I was stuck in my office for a few more hours going through more paperwork.
Cynthia was smart enough to stay out of my sight the entire time. I took all my frustrations out on work and didn’t even think about anything else for the rest of the day, which is why when I ended my last phone call and lifted my head, I was so surprised to see Rose standing just outside my office door, talking to my assistant. Trying to keep my anger with Cynthia in check, I slowly rose from behind my desk and strode toward them.
When I pulled the glass door open a bit too fast, Rose jumped a little, her hand flying to her chest. “You scared me. How did you get here so fast? You were just sitting at your desk when I looked in.”
“What are you doing here?” I snapped, my eyes going from her to Cynthia.
Cynthia gave me a disapproving head shake, which I chose to ignore.
Rose’s eyes widened slightly, and I cursed myself. “I’m sorry. If this is a bad time, I don’t have to—”