Page 7 of True Colors

There’s a knock on the door, and Erin walks in without waiting for my response.

Dot lets out a frustrated groan. “Your shadow is here.”

It’s obvious Dot doesn’t like Erin, which is fair—Erin doesn’t like her either. Erin has complained enough about Dot and her team during the months she’s been here, supposedly helping prepare the company for me to take over. Remarkably, Dot hasn’t complained once, even though I’ve given her plenty of opportunities.

Dot has a strict work-stays-at-work policy, so when I once asked her about business over dinner at my parents’ place, she glared at me like I’d been caught doing something deeply inappropriate. I felt like a teenager caught masturbating. And no, that’s not hyperbole.

Erin glances between us. “Should I come back?”

“We’re finished,” Dot retorts—though the warning in her voice suggests we’re anything but. She moves toward the door, then pauses and looks back at me. “Luther, you need to decide what kind of leader you want to be.”

When the door clicks shut behind her, Erin lifts a brow, amusement coloring her eyes.

“That looked intense.”

“She’s being dramatic.” I run a hand over my face because Dot, like my parents, has a way of riling me up, making me think, and do that hideous thing called self-reflection.

“She wants me to put Anouk on the Novagene project.”

Erin’s expression goes from amused to annoyed in an instant. “What?” she barks. “No! This is a project your father is going to personally review.”

“I know.”

“And Dot wants the”—she pauses, as if making an effort to choose her words carefully—“least client-ready analyst in the department to handle the modeling?”

Well, she certainly nailed that sentiment.

“She says Anouk is their best.”

Erin nods thoughtfully. “Technically speaking, she is good enough.” Then, after a beat, she adds, “But does that matter if she can’t function in a corporate environment?”

Dot’s words about diversity whispers in my mind’s ear, making my chest tighten.

“She froze,” Erin continues. “It happens, and it’s fine for an internal meeting, but not an external one.”

I want to be fair as a leader. Anouk should not be denied the chance to work on a major project because of a speech impairment she cannot control. But I also want to live up to my father’s expectations. He’s putting a lot of faith in me by sending me from company to company to learn the business. I don’t want to let him down.

“I know.” I pinch the bridge of my nose. I’m getting a fucking headache, and it’s day one.

Dad warned me that being CEO at HelixSphere would be my hardest role yet.

“Luther, this is the one that separates the men from the boys.”

“I know you know.” Erin smiles indulgently. “I can see it on your face, Luther. You want to look like the good guy for Dot.”

I roll my eyes, but she isn’t wrong. I want Dot to be impressed by me, not infuriated as she was, not disgusted as she was.

Damn it!

Erin shrugs. “Let her build the model behind the scenes. The team will review every step, so she won’t make mistakes. And when the time comes, I can present to Novagene and your father. She won’t jeopardize anything.”

Erin always frames things in ways that feel reasonable and professional.

“That’s a good plan,” I say. But the words are hardly out of my mouth, and I wonder if it indeed is a good plan.

I thought leadership meant taking over and charging ahead, running things the way I think best. But as I’m sitting here, doing the job instead of studying it, I’m learning—the hard damn way—that leadership isn’t about being the loudest voice in the room, it’s about constantly interrogating yourself. Your motives. Your assumptions. Your end goals.

It’s uncomfortable as hell—because questioning yourself means you have to confront the possibility that you were erroneous. That you misjudged someone and used your power in a way that did damage instead of good.