The CEO (11 page)

“Good, and you’ll probably never meet another. I’m starving, are you?”

“Yes.”

“I could really use a light meal.”

“Let’s go to my place, Sheila. I’ll cook something for us.”

“One meal, then I’m leaving, Ryan.”

“Deal.”

The last time we were at his place, I hadn’t really gotten a chance to take in my surroundings. This time I wanted to make sure to scope out the place. As soon as we walked through the front door, the brown leather couch was to the right in a small living space. A mini wooden coffee table was in front of it and a few feet across the room a TV was mounted on the wall. The kitchen was about an arm’s length away from the TV. It was clean with updated black appliances and two small counters. There was an archway across from the front door that led down a narrow hallway to his bedroom and the bathroom. The place was way too minuscule for me, but if I were a twenty-two -year -old college kid, it would be like home. “I’ll be right back, Ryan.”

I placed my purse down on the couch and took a stroll down the tight hallway. My first stop was the bathroom. I turned the light on and everything felt too condensed in the cramped space. There was a stand up shower with no bathtub, a toilet, and a wooden rack he’d put over the toilet as a make shift storage place. Next I went into his bedroom.

I stood in his bedroom, trying to see if I recognized anything in here from the last time, but I didn’t.
How fucked up was I?

I started to poke around his dresser when a small black book titled “Work” caught my eye. Before I could open it, Ryan called me back into the kitchen. As much as I wanted to look through the book, I didn’t want to pry right now and get busted.

After my brief tour, I went back into the kitchen to play nice. “Something smells amazing in here.”

“I wasn’t sure what you ate post workout, but I figured grilled chicken breast, brown rice, and broccoli would be a safe bet.”

“It’s fine, it looks delicious. You were able to make all of this that fast?”

“No, the chicken was the only thing I cooked right now. Everything else was made before I met with you at the reservoir.” He served us both and handed me a bottle of water. “Enjoy.”

I cut into the first chicken breast and it was tender and juicy. I placed the first bite in my mouth and couldn’t stop. Bite after bite disappeared and tasted better than the one before it as I cleared my plate.

“Thank you, that was really good. But, I should be going now.”

“Okay, would you like a ride home?”

“No, I need to walk this delicious meal off. You did give me two pieces of chicken after all.” He walked over to me and wrapped his arms around me before I left. I pulled away before I did something I’d regret.

Tragedy struck Quinn National that day. Our beloved vice president James Tempura suddenly passed away in his sleep overnight. My dad had never been the emotional type, but I could see the hurt in his bloodshot eyes when he came over to tell me the bad news before work. James had been fairly young, and only in his late forties. He’d always taken care of himself, so none of us had seen this coming at all.

Now in addition to Nat-Co, I had the pleasure of hiring a new VP for the company. James had set the bar pretty high and my expectations for a replacement were even higher. Not just any Joe Schmuck was going to get this position. They’d have a lot to prove before I entrusted part of the company to them.

James’ funeral was short and sweet. Only his immediate family and a few of his coworkers were present.

“Sheila, don’t let your emotions get the best of you. This is sad, but you still have a company to run. Tomorrow you’ll need to start searching for a well qualified candidate,” said Dad.

“I know, Dad, I’m fine. I just didn’t expect this right now. You of all people can understand everything that’s on my plate right now. But, all excuses aside, it’ll be taken care of.”

“Good,” he retorted.

“You should get home, Dad. I’ll be in touch.” He kissed me on the cheek and stepped into his limo.

I found my BMW in a sea of cars and headed to the nearest bar. I texted Ryan to hold down the fort for me until I returned.

I pulled in front of Sam’s Bar & Grille, went inside, and found an empty stool in front of the bar. Nothing interesting was on the TV so I looked at my phone and deleted some old emails. The bartender asked me what I’d like and promptly returned with the birthday cake shot I asked for. I chugged the sweet liquid back and returned my gaze to my phone until an unfamiliar voice grabbed my attention.

“What’s a beautiful lady like you doing here all alone?”

“Drowning my sorrows with booze, you?”

“The same. My name is John, John Keegan, by the way.”

“Sheila.”

“Well, Sheila, can I buy you another round?”

“Sure, why the hell not?”

John was gorgeous; he actually looked more like a model than anything else. His short dark hair was tapered on the sides and spiked on the top. Dark stubble perfectly lined his square jaw, his hazel eyes sparkled, and his outfit looked neatly pressed. His white shirt was rolled up to his elbows and his black and gray vest was form fitting, leaving little to the imagination. It was obvious he worked out.

The bartender brought me two shots and handed John a beer.

“So Sheila, what sorrows are you drowning?”

“You first.”

“Well. The company I worked for just let me and my entire division go, due to good ole budget cuts.”

“Damn that sucks.”

“It truly does. I had recently applied for a higher position in the company, so this couldn’t have come at a worse time.”

“Wow, that’s shitty. Well the VP of my company died last week, so there’s that.”

“Wow, that’s equally shitty,” he laughed.

“I know, and if I don’t fill the position soon, my dad will have my ass.”

“Good luck with that.”

John and I talked for hours, until my phone exploded with texts and calls from Ryan. “Shit, I have to go.”

“You take care of yourself, Sheila. If you ever need a friend, don’t hesitate to call me.” He pulled a card out of his wallet and handed it to me.

In my mind I wanted to be friends with benefits, but we’d save that for another time. “Thanks, I’ll be in touch.”

“Sheila, where have you been?” Ryan questioned.

“I was out, calm down.”

“Have you been drinking?”

“Yes
Mom.
After the funeral, I went to the bar. Is that a crime?” Ryan became more and more flustered with every prying question.

“Oh Sheila, what am I gonna do with you?”

“I’ll be fine. So what’s the emergency you blew my phone up for?”

“I’ve got bad news. There was an accident at one of the drilling sites.”

“Are you serious? What kind of ‘accident’ are we talking about?”

“There was an explosion, and two of the workers received second degree burns.”

“How did that happen?”

“I don’t have the full report yet, but once I do you will be the first to know.”

I stepped into my office and tried to collect myself. I expected a minor hiccup to happen around the office, but I was not prepared to deal with a potential lawsuit. The phone rang as I sat away from my desk, staring out the window. I didn’t feel like talking to anyone at the moment, I just wanted the workers who were hurt to recover and either get on with their lives or return to work if they were able to. We’ve never had a serious accident like this before, at least not to my knowledge, and if the first one happened under my command, word would spread fast and my dad would shit a brick.

“Ryan!” I yelled.

“Yes, Ms. Quinn?”

“Call the site and find out what exactly happened right now. We need to get this handled before word gets out. I need any details you can pry out of them!”

“Right away.”

“Shut the door behind you.”

I looked through my phone to find the company lawyer’s phone number; I wanted to call him and give him a heads up before shit hit the fan.

“Hey Lawrence, it’s Sheila. Two workers were hurt during an explosion at one of our sites. I don’t have all the information now, but as soon as I do, you’ll be the first to know.

“So Terrance, what qualities can you offer us here at Quinn National?”

“Well I have a business degree in marketing, and I brought in over a hundred grand in new revenue working for Clyde & Shaw marketing firm.”

“If you were doing so well there, why should I offer you the position here?”

“Because I believe I have a lot to offer. I recently heard you were introducing natural gas here. I believe I can effectively target customers and recruit a large percentage of Massachusetts to convert.”

I didn’t believe a word Terrance was saying. He hadn’t taken his eyes off of my breasts since he walked through the door. I’d done a background check on him the night before and I hadn’t found anything significantly unique about him. I’d also called his previous employer and found out he was fired for reporting false revenue accumulated through the company. So I could have told him to fuck off before he sat down at my desk, but I wanted to hear what bullshit he was going to feed me.

“Thank you for your time, I will not be in touch.”

The look on his face was priceless. He mumbled the word ‘bitch’ under his breath on the way out.