Laid and Leveraged (13 page)

Back
in
her
office,
Michelle
was
relieved
that
Roger
had
already
assigned
the
task
of
letting
employees
go
to
another
executive.
Michelle
hated
the
thought
of
laying
anyone
off.
She
glanced
down
her
list.
It
would
take
all
day,
especially
now
without
Becky's
help.
She
winced
at
the
thought
of
her
personal
assistant.
Losing
Becky
had
been
the
most
painful
of
them
all.
Michelle
had
seen
real
potential
in
the
girl
and
relied
heavily
on
her
unfailing
honesty.
If
she
had
only
done
what
Roger
wanted
sooner,
she
may
have
at
least
gotten
him
to
let
her
keep
Becky.
Now
that
things
were
on
such
tentative
grounds,
she
was
afraid
to
do
anything
that
might
upset him.
She
sighed
and
set
to
work.

It
was
nearly
nightfall
when
she'd
finished.
Exhausted,
Michelle
crossed
the
last
item
off
of
Roger's
list.
She'd
done
it.
She'd
made
every
change
that
he
demanded.
When
she'd
gone
through
the
list,
Michelle
had
to
admit
that
some
of
the
ideas
were
really
good,
great
in
fact.
Michelle
had
been
so
hung
up
on
the
things
that
she'd
disagreed
with
Roger
on
that
she
hadn't
even
bothered
to
look
at
the
other
changes
he
wanted
to
make.
She
had
to
hand
it
to
him,
not
only
were
the
changes
going
to
make
Today's
Energy
finally
turn
out
a
decent
profit,
but
they
might
actually
make
the
fledgling
company
big
enough
to
compete
with
some
of
the
real
energy
giants.
Her
dream
of
making
Today's
Energy
a
household
name
just
might
come
true
after
all.
Roger
really
was
a
genius
and
he
did
know
what
was
best
for
the
company.
Did
he
know
what
was
best
for
her
too?
Most
importantly,
did
he
still
want
her
like
she
wanted
him?

Her
door
opened,
startling
her
from
her
reverie.
Roger
Hollins
walked
up
to
her
desk
and
picked
up
the
checked
off
list
from
in
front
of
her.
He
scanned
it
while
she
waited
breathlessly.

“
Very
good.
”
His
tone
was
curt.
He
set
the
list
back
down
and
turned
away.
“
I'll
see
you
tomorrow
morning.
”

Michelle
jumped
to
her
feet
and
scrambled
around
the
desk
to
catch
up
with
him.

“
Is
that
it?
”
she
demanded
to
k
now,
gripping
him
by
the
arm.
He
lifted
an
eyebrow
at
her.

“
What
else
would
you
like?
”
he
asked.

“
W-well,
”
she
stammered,
flustered.
Could
she
very
well
say
'you'?

When
she
didn't
reply
right
away,
Roger
shrugged
her
off
and
headed
for
the
door.

“
But,
”
she
protested.
“
What
about
us,
Roger?
”

He
hesitated,
his
hand
on
the
doorknob.
Something
told
her
that
he
didn't
trust
her
anymore.

“
I've
done
everything
you
asked
for,
”
Michelle
felt
herself
grow
desperate.
“
I
even
apologized.
And
you
were
right.
About
everything.
I
should
have
swallowed
my
pride
and
let
you
take
lead.
Roger
don't
go.
I-I...
”
Should
she
tell
him
she
had
feelings
for
him?

Roger
turned
to
face
her.
That
damnable
mask
covered
his
face
again,
making
it
unreadable.
At
last,
he
pulled
something
out
of
his
pocket
and
handed
it
to
her.

“
Meet
me
after
work
tomorrow,
”
he
told
her
before
leaving
the
room,
shutting
the
door
behind
him.
Michelle
looked
down
at
her
palm.
In
it
lay
a
key.

A
hotel
key.

Hotel
Granduca
was
grand
indeed.
Michelle
felt
a
little
out
of
place
in
the
elegant
lobby
even
though
she'd
stopped
by
the
mall
and
bought
herself
a
sexy
new
red
dress
that
was
so
low
cut
she
feared
her
breasts
would
fall
out
at
any
minute.
The
other
clientèle
were
obviously
wealthy
and
Michelle
avoided
contact
with
them
as
she
headed
for
the
elevators.

“
What
floor,
ma'am.
”
Yes,
it
was
the
kind
of
place
that
had
elevator
operators
and
bellboys
in
red
uniforms
and
gold
buttons.

“
Fifty,
”
Michelle
said,
looking
down
at
her
key.

The
operator
raised
a
skeptical
eyebrow
at
her,
no
doubt
wondering
why
someone
who
was
so
obviously
out
of
her
league
would
be
staying
in
the
penthouse
suite.
He
glanced
at
the
number
on
the
key,
eyes
widening.
He
nodded
apologetically.
In
the
next
minute,
the
mirrored
car
shot
up
the
building
taking
Michelle
closer
to
Roger.