In a low, controlled voice, he issued the order. “Stay the hell away from me and my office from now on. If I see you anywhere near, I am going to do some bodily harm. Is that clear?”
“Crystal. If you are quite finished threatening me, I have work to do.”
Reginald watched in disbelief as the hated woman picked up the phone and made a call. He stood there watching as her lips curved into a smile. She spoke to the other person on the other line as if he was no longer in the room.
His hands curled into fists as he felt the blood rushing into his head. Turning on his heels, he walked out.
*****
Dragging his fingers through his hair, he sat back in frustration as he tried to make head or tail of the documents before him. The acquisition was new, and the merger with Folsom Foods would be a perfect marriage, but something was missing. And he was going to have to call her.
Scrubbing his hands over his face, he lunged to his feet and went to get a drink. He had been cloistered in the office for the past three hours and was just realizing that he had not eaten since drinking two cups of coffee for breakfast.
He was on his way to the desk when the intercom sounded. He thought about not responding for a few seconds but then thought better. Jabbing his finger on the button, he clipped. “Yes?”
“I instructed the kitchen to send some soup and the ham and cheese sandwich. Additional details about Folsom’s merger are in the drawer to your right. I am assuming you are preparing to have a meeting with their CEO. In this case, you will need to know that Jeremy Cage is an old-fashioned man and will need assurance that his company will be restructured with only his input.”
“How did you- “
“Know you were trying to find a way to ask me that very question? I told you, Mr. Tanner, I know everything there is to know about the people we deal with. Lunch is on the way.” She disconnected before he could respond.
Leaning back in the chair, he closed his eyes wearily. He felt like he had been in a war, and the battle had turned against him. He did not like her but was starting to see what his dad saw in the woman. He was about to reach for the folder when a discreet knock sounded on the door before it was pushed open.
A woman wearing black pants, a suit, and an apron tied around her waist pushed a tray in.
“Ms. Lewis asked me to take this in, sir.” She said politely. “Would you want me to set it up at the table by the window?”
“Yes. Thank you.”
*****
He stopped short when he pushed the door open, staring at the woman before his father’s desk.
“I am sorry for the interruption. I thought you had already left.”
“I am on my way out.” Getting to her feet, she smiled at William. “You have that early breakfast appointment with Seidel.”
“I remember. Thanks, Jacinth. You are going home now?”
“Oh, I intend to.” Without speaking to Reginald, she left, closing the doors behind her.
“What can I do for you, son? Or are you here to say how much you dislike being here?”
“No.” Shaking his head, he walked to the cabinet and poured himself a drink. “Your secretary is – “He shook his head, bringing the drink to stand by the window. “She is very competent.”
Leaning back in the chair, William steepled his fingers and eyed him with an expressionless look.
“I know.”
“She is also damn rude and disrespectful.”
“I know that too.” A smile touched William’s lips. “She is a force to be reckoned with. The first time she came here for an interview, I had several people sitting out in the lobby waiting to be called. It was a hell of a day, and I had problems getting an investor on the phone. My office door was open, and I was on the phone with one of the other secretaries in one of the departments. That young woman just walked in, went over to the empty desk, and started making things happen. She took charge immediately. I had everything I needed in ten minutes to conduct my business.” He shook his head. “She is as sharp as a tack and is not easily flustered.”
Taking a sip of the liquor, Reginald turned to look at the encroaching darkness. It was almost winter, and the leaden gray clouds indicated that it would either rain or they were in for an early winter snow. “I wanted you to fire her.” He murmured, his head still turned away.
“And I told you that’s not going to happen. You said ‘wanted’?”
“Yeah,” Turning around, he gave the older man a grim smile. “She proved herself to be more than competent today after eviscerating me with her tongue. I wanted to choke her to death. I almost felt myself doing so. But then she handed me a lifeline with the Folsom’s merger.”
“And it saved the day.” William surmised, a watchful look on his attractive face. “She does that. So, I am assuming you no longer want a replacement?”
“Oh, I still want a replacement.” He corrected dryly. “Ms. Lewis and I are constantly going to battle because she has this preconceived notion that I am good for nothing and is only on this earth to spend my inheritance as fast as I can.”
Hiding a smile, his father raised an eyebrow. “I am assuming you are going to prove her wrong?”
“I don’t give a damn about her opinion.” He lied. After she had lashed him with her verbal attack, he had gone into his office and sat behind the desk, suffering from the gaping and open wounds of her words.
Everything she had said was dead on. He had never earned a living and was forced to come in on threats of being cut off. Somehow, he wanted to prove her wrong.
“I spent today unsnarling an acquisition with a legal impediment, and I loved it. I never thought I would want to be an investment banker, but I am getting into the spirit of it.”
“You are a Harvard Law School graduate with a brilliant mind. The company could benefit from that.” His father told him quietly.