Page 111 of Office Intrigue (Office Intrigue Duet 1)
Rather than wait around to see what happened, I went to the front in time to catch Jordan coming off the elevator. He was once again wearing a suit and I grinned.
“Just so you know,” he said, walking toward me, “I only dress like this for you.”
“I’m honored. But you look amazing. I’m sure your man would be quite pleased to see you like this from time to time.”
Jordan chuckled. “My man is pleased because I say he has to be.”
I didn’t even bother trying to decipher his cryptic message.
“When does everyone arrive?” he asked as he unlocked his desk drawer.
“The caterers should be here by eight and the managers will be here at nine.”
“So, how do you think it’s been so far?” he asked, perching on the edge of his desk.
I shrugged. “I’d like to say it’s been successful. There have been very few issues.” At least that I knew of.
“I agree.” His grinned widened. “And only one manager was fired.”
My eyes widened as I stared at him in shock. “Someone got fired?”
He shook his head slightly as though he couldn’t believe I didn’t know. “Yeah. Misty? Remember the meeting they had?”
“Oh, my God. Why’d they fire her?”
“Because she was harassing you,” he said with a silent but implied duh.
“She was drinking,” I countered. “I don’t think she deserved to be fired for that.”
“Trust me, it wasn’t because she was drinking. As it turns out, she was actually the reason for a couple of your predecessors to quit.”
“Really?”
“Yep. Apparently, she was vying for Landon’s and Langston’s attention, so she was sabotaging the secretaries. I think they figured it out once they overheard her conversation with you.”
“Holy shit.” That was…surprising. I mean, sure, Misty wasn’t a very likable woman and, yeah, I knew she’d been belittling me, but I hadn’t been bothered by it. Well, other than wanting to get away from the hate she spewed. But to fire her? Wow.
“Honestly, I think they were relieved that they finally had a valid reason to let her go. Plus, one of her direct reports will be stepping up to take her position. The guy’s been working circles around her and they’ve been wanting to promote him.”
Part of me wondered how Jordan knew all of this when I didn’t. Then again, he’d been around longer, so he had probably established a good rapport with most of the managers. Which meant they likely shared information with him.
The elevator dinged and we both turned to see who had arrived.
“Good morning, Mr. Snowden,” I greeted Ben when he stepped off the elevator.
His eyes swung from me to Jordan, then back. He didn’t look happy. I wondered if it had to do with the phone call Justin had taken. Not that I got to find out, because he nodded his head briefly before disappearing down the hall.
“Well, we better get the conference room ready. They’ll be here before you know it,” Jordan suggested.
Yep. They would. So we got to work.
•
By the time noon hit, I was exhausted. Both physically and mentally. It had been a fantastic few days, but I was desperate to get back to a normal routine.
With so much going on that morning, there was one thing that didn’t happen.
No text.
Based on the way it had played out, the text should’ve come from Justin, but it never came. It wasn’t until everyone was out the door and I was back at my desk that I realized he had left for the day. No note, no email. Nothing.
Justin had simply vanished.
In an attempt to mind my own business, I got to work, checking emails and answering the few calls that came in. Finally, my curiosity got the best of me and I knocked on Ben’s door.
“Come in!”
I opened the door slowly and peeked inside. He was sitting at his desk.
“What’s up, Luci?” He sounded slightly perturbed by the intrusion and I suddenly felt guilty.
“Never mind.”
I turned to leave, but he called me back.
“I was…uh…just wondering if Justin’s all right. I noticed he was gone.”
Ben’s eyes remained fixed on my face for what felt like minutes but was likely only seconds before he finally answered. “He’s dealing with some personal issues.”
“Oh. Okay.” That was all I needed to know, so I turned and left the office, closing the door behind me.
It wasn’t that I was being selfish and wondering why Justin hadn’t texted me or why he hadn’t bothered to email me. I was simply worried about him. I could tell by his response to his call earlier that something had happened. I merely wanted to check in, to see if there was anything that I could do.
I didn’t. Check in, that was. I decided not to bother him. If he wanted me to know what was going on, I was sure he would tell me.
So, I pushed it all aside and got back to work.
