Total pages in book: 225
Estimated words: 218500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1093(@200wpm)___ 874(@250wpm)___ 728(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 218500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1093(@200wpm)___ 874(@250wpm)___ 728(@300wpm)
“Well-”
I cut him off, “If it’s too much, I’d give you approval to hire someone to replace me so you’re not covering me. Hire an assistant if you need to, or promote within if you think someone else on the team is capable of helping you run things. I don’t know what the company’s financials are like but I’m sure Derek wouldn’t have bought it if the company was in trouble, so… you’ve got my approval to do what you need to do for the good of the company until we can talk about the direction and what involvement I might have. You’ve been a wonderful mentor and very, very accommodating with these last tumultuous months of my life.” I take a big breath and finish with, “I wasn’t sure if the owners had anything to do with that or if it was all you, but either way I’d love if you’d stay and keep doing exactly what you already do as well as looking after things until I can figure out what my role could be.”
“I would be happy to stay, Chloe. Happy to keep mentoring you. I have a lot of ideas and our previous owners were rather resistant to change. And all the accommodations for you were all me. Because you’re smart, talented, and a good worker, so of course we wouldn’t have abandoned you when things got tough.”
I smile.
He takes a big breath and keeps going. “When you’re ready I’d love to talk about my ideas and a role for both of us that would likely work very well and would give you flexibility if you’d like to focus on other things while still being involved. I’m a signing officer so I can handle everything until you’re ready to talk further.”
“That’s a huge relief, Frank. Huge. Thank you very, very much.”
“My pleasure, Chloe.”
“Okay, so like I said there’s a lot happening here with my husband’s family, so I’d appreciate it if you could keep things running and I’ll be in touch if and when I’m ready to jump back in. I’m just… not ready to make any big decisions right now.”
“You could decide to boost my salary by, say, twenty per cent, and know that I’ll take very good care of your company. Though I’d do that anyway, Chloe. Financials are good so you can afford to give me this raise. And we can talk performance bonuses when you’re ready. ”
I smile. “How about thirty per cent?”
“I like the way you think. I’ve always liked the way you think.”
I laugh.
“Take care, Chloe. Please send your husband my condolences. I hope his father makes a full recovery.”
“Thanks, Frank. I’ll talk to you soon.” I hang up.
“Your husband,” I hear.
Derek is in the doorway of the kitchen.
Our eyes meet. He stands there in a pair of gray sweatpants. Nothing else.
“There’s a lot happening here with your husband’s family, you said. I loved hearing you use that word for me. Love hearing it come from your lips. Love hearing you talk. You don’t talk to me.”
“I made you a cup of coffee.” I gesture to the counter.
He’s looking at me like he wants to eat me alive.
“Frank sends his condolences,” I add.
And Derek’s expression drops, but he reaches for the cup.
“That conversation sounded like it went well,” he says. “Sounds like you and Frank make a good team.”
His phone rings. He sets the mug on the counter and pulls it from his sweatpants pocket, looks at the screen and answers it.
“Eli,” he greets, leans over and kisses the top of my head, then walks away.
I spend the morning in the office upstairs, scanning articles online about Derek’s family. They all talk about Shannon Steele’s extensive modeling career, the few TV sitcoms she was on, and her involvement in charity.
There’s talk of Michael Steele’s success and some history about his family along with each article mentioning a paragraph about Thaddeus Steele being gunned down a while back. All the articles I read from local sources seem like they’ve been approved by the Steele family. Nothing salacious or gossipy, though there is speculation on one article from a New York paper about whether or not the accident was really an accident and pondering about whether or not it’s connected with Thaddeus Steele’s murder.
I decide to send a text message to Grace. I see she sent herself a message from me with my name on it the other day, so I know I’m in her phone and probably don’t need to sign the text with my name.
I’m so, so sorry about your mom. If you need anything, please reach out.
I send a group text message to Maddie and Cor and include Alannah just because we usually don’t leave one another out of the loop when it’s a group text. Though I’m already aware from Lan that they have had some group texts about me lately.