Wilson's Hard Lesson (53 page)

By: Maha Lee

Billionaire Boss in Charge

© Maha Lee, January 2016 – All rights
reserved

Published by Steamy Reads4U

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any
form, including electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the
publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles
or reviews.

This is a work of fiction.  Names, characters, businesses,
places, events, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination
or used in a fictitious manner.  Any resemblance to actual persons, living or
dead, or actual events are purely coincidental.  This book is licensed for your
personal enjoyment only.

This book may not be resold or given away to other people.
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Warning

This book contains explicit content intended for readers 18+
years old.

If you are under 18 years old, or are not comfortable with
adult content, please close this book now.

Lindsay organized her desk as she arrived at work, and then
settled into her chair and leaned back to look over her schedule for the day.
She had a few showings to guide, and then an open house later in the afternoon.
Mentally making note of each property and what it had to offer, she prepared
herself for her day.

Lindsay Baker, at just twenty-three years old, was already
making a successful career for herself in real estate. She was the youngest
person at the firm where she worked, a small locally owned place called Whisper
Realty. She had started working there just after she finished college. Though
she had graduated with her degree in business, she found that she had a real
knack for real estate, and she fell in love with her job.

It was certainly an added bonus that she got to work with
people she had known all her life. The owners were friends of her parents, a
man and woman names Mark and Elaine Mills, and Lindsay had been good friends
with their daughter in high school. They had drifted apart since then, as
people are wont to do, but Lindsay still appreciated the fact that she was able
to retain some of her ties with the family.

Lindsay was very happy with her life, all in all. She did
not live with her parents, but she still went over to their house practically
every day. She rented her own, very nice apartment, which was home to her, as
well as her tabby cat, Abe. She had a very stable routine that she abided by,
and she was very happy with the state of her life.

Lindsay also really loved her job. She got to help people
find a home that they truly loved. It was also a part of her job to acquire new
properties for the agency. Fortunately, she knew how to drive a hard bargain,
and she was often able to drive down prices, and then sell the homes for more
than they had been bought for. Her employers of ten remarked that she had a
talent for real estate. Lindsay wasn’t sure that was possible, but she was
certainly happy that they were pleased with her work.

Lindsay had worked for them for over two years, and in those
two years, the company had really begun to grow. They had expanded quite a bit,
and even then they all seemed to be stumbling upon one another. They had taken
on a few more relators to try and even out the workload, but for the most part
they were all extremely busy. Lindsay certainly could keep up with the demands.
In fact, she relished the constant flow of work.

It seemed, though, that as of late her employers had become
more and more overwhelmed by the sheer success of their business. While this
was good for them financially, they were beginning to feel that their business
had grown beyond what they could realistically handle themselves.

“The truth of it is,” Mr. Mills had said to her one day as
she had lunch with him and his wife at the office. “We aren’t educated enough
to handle any of this. There’s honestly only so much we can do, and we’re
definitely approaching that limit- fast.”

Lindsay nodded over her small meal of a half sandwich and
salad.

“Well, you’re doing a great job so far,” she smiled at them encouragingly.
They smiled between one another gently.

Lindsay had always admired the two of them for their
tenacity as a couple. Along with her own parents, these people were surely one
of the most devoted people she had ever seen. Then again, she had not seen all
that many within the confines of her small town.

“Yeah, for now,” Mr. Mills sighed, shaking his head. “But to
be honest… I don’t think we’re going to be able to stay in the game much
longer.”

Lindsay frowned. She suddenly got the feeling that this
conversation was about to take a serious turn.

“What are you saying?” she asked, looking between the both
of them.

The two looked between one another and gave each other small
smiles.

“We got a big offer to sell out,” Mrs. Mills said, always
the one to get straight to the point.

Paige blinked in shock.

“Really?” she asked, her mind beginning to whirl. “From
who?”

“We don’t really know him personally,” Mr. Mills admitted.
“We just know that he offered us a lot of money to come in and essentially take
over.”

Lindsay could hardly conceal her horror at the idea. Part of
the reason she loved her job so much was that she was so close with them. If
they were out of the picture, and no longer running the show, she wondered how
very different things would become within the business.

“You can’t be thinking about it,” Lindsay shook her head
vigorously, balking at the whole idea of it.

“We are,” Mrs. Mills nodded her head slowly and gave Lindsay
a small smile. “And in fact, we’ve almost made our mind up about it.”

Lindsay felt her heart sink.

“Don’t worry,” Mr. Mills hurried to assure her. “He’s
promised to keep on as many employees as possible. We made it clear that we
still want the business to maintain its integrity.”

Lindsay could only shake her head. She knew that there was
little chance of their small, family oriented agency maintaining its homey feel
if it was taken over by some large corporation. She was beginning to feel more
and more distressed and upset by the second.

“Have you told anyone else?” she asked, feeling suddenly
very emotional.

“No,” Mrs. Mills shook her head. “We wanted to tell you
first because… well, we feel like you’re family.”

Somehow, those words only served to upset her even more.

“When are you going to tell them?” she asked, fighting to keep
tears from her voice.

“Probably when we come to an official arrangement with our
buyer,” Mr. Mills gave a half smile.

Lindsay tried to keep her emotions out of the picture. She
knew that this was a very sound, beneficial financial move for them, and it was
not her place to try and dictate what they should and shouldn’t do with the
company they had built up together, especially if they felt it had grown to a
level that they could no longer manage. The last thing they wanted, she was
sure, was to see their company grow out of control.

“When are you all going to make it official?” Lindsay asked.

“We have a meeting scheduled with him tomorrow,” Mr. Mills
answered her. Lindsay could hear some of the tightness in his voice.

Lindsay felt her heart soften as she detected the emotion in
his demeanor. This was surely not an easy choice for them, and they had likely
spent a lot of time in thought about it before coming to this decision. She
realized that it must take a lot for them to be willing to sell in the first
place.

“Well,” Lindsay sighed, putting on a small smile in spite of
her sadness. “I really hope the meeting goes well and you can all come to a
reasonable agreement.”

“Me too,” Mr. Mills said, patting her hand affectionately.

For the rest of the day, Lindsay was hardly able to think of
anything but the conversation she had had with them over lunch. She found her
mind drifting and her mood sinking with every passing minute. Some of her
clients even went as far as to ask if she was alright.

If she was perfectly honest with herself, she could easily
say that no, she was not.

Lindsay had fallen in love with her job and with her small
work family. She loved going to work each day and settling into her usual
routine, and now all that was going to change. It was with great relief for her
that the day ended and she was able to pack up her things and drive home.

Once inside, Lindsay was immediately greeted by Abe, who
rubbed his head eagerly against her calves. Abe was always glad to see her, and
he certainly broke the mold for grumpy cats. Abe was the friendliest animal she
had ever met, and she was grateful to have such a steadfast companion to spend
her time with.

Lindsay moved through her apartment to her bedroom. She
decided to take a shower, and took off her clothes to get in. She allowed her
mind to clear as the hot water ran over her body, and she began to feel a
little better about the situation at work. Yes, she had worked for the Mills’
for years, and she was comfortable in her situation. On the other hand, though,
she was still very young. With this change, she could go out and do new things
and see a whole new side of life.

Lindsay did have to admit, though, that the idea of change
was still very unnerving to her. So, she finished up her shower, and dried
herself off, changing into a pair of cotton shorts and a tank top. She grabbed
a blanket from her bedroom and then moved back into the living room, sitting
down on the couch and turning on her television. Abe meowed at her as he hopped
up on the couch beside her, and she gave his head a scratch.

Eventually, Lindsay made herself some dinner and when she
had eaten, she found that she was incredibly tied. The shocking news must have
done more to tire her out than she had originally thought. She turned off her
television and moved back into her bedroom, leaving the door open for Abe if he
decided he wanted to curl up and sleep with her.

Lindsay had anticipated that she would toss and turn a bit
before falling asleep due to the unfortunate news she had gotten, but much to
her surprise she was able to fall asleep. Her sleep was, in fact, more restful
than she had managed to achieve in weeks. By the time she woke up, she was
feeling incredibly refreshed. She didn’t even have to snooze her alarm before
she rose and began the process of getting ready for the day.

He moved into the kitchen and served Abe his breakfast,
which he ate immediately. He meowed for more, but Lindsay knew that he didn’t
really need it. Then, she began the process of making herself a nice breakfast
of fried eggs. She had eaten, she went back into her room and changed into a
pair of slacks and a nice red blouse, then applied a tasteful brushing of
makeup.

When she was satisfied with her appearance, she gathered up
her purse and keys, and headed out the door. She moved over to her car and
opened the back door, putting her purse and bag down there. Then, she got into
the driver’s seat and turned the key in the ignition. The car, an older model,
sputtered a little bit before finally coming to life. Lindsay breathed a sigh
of relief that her car would live another day, and she pulled out of her
driveway and began her short commute to work.

Upon arriving at the office, Lindsay parked her car and
gathered up her things, then headed for the front door. She took a deep breath
and began to coach herself. She decided that no matter what news they gave
today, she would handle it with dignity and try not to let her emotions get the
better of her.

As soon as she walked through the front doors, though, she
was having trouble keeping her promise to herself. Not far from the entrance of
the office, the Mills’ were speaking with an unfamiliar man in a suit. Lindsay
felt an immediate rush of irritation and sadness.

Lindsay sighed quietly to herself and moved over toward her
desk. She arranged her things and sat down. Soon, everyone was at their usual
place in the office, and the Mills moved to stand at the front, the strange man
beside them.

“Good morning,” Mr. Mills spoke up pleasantly. Lindsay
couldn’t believe how calm and collected he was when she wanted to scream.

“We have an announcement to tell you,” Lindsay finally heard
some sadness creep into his voice. “Though my wife and I have loved every
minute of running this agency, we have decided that at the rate it is growing,
we can no longer continue to manage it.”

A rush of murmurs and whispered traveled through the office.
Lindsay simply looked down at her desk, trying to keep quiet and still.

“It was an incredibly difficult decision,” Mr. Mills said.
“But it is ultimately what we feel would be best for the company. We’ve already
settled a deal.”

There was another rush of quiet comments and noise of
concern.

“Today, we’ve brought in a representative from the company
that had acquired us,” Mr. Mills explained. “This is Scott Reynolds, and he
will explain everything about the change of hands.”

The murmur in the office grew louder.

“We know this is a sudden announcement,” Mrs. Mills finally
spoke up. “And we will be free to speak with any of you about anything once Mr.
Reynolds has explained the details of the acquisition to you. As it is, he is
currently very busy, and he needs to get back to his own work as soon as
possible, so we will go ahead and let him say what he needs to say.”

The office quieted down and waited, and all eyes were on the
strange man. Lindsay took a moment to really take in his appearance. He looked
very young, though still older than she was. He was probably not long out of
college either. His hair was dark and slicked back off his head. His suit was
well fitted, but of average quality. Lindsay vaguely noted that he seemed nice
enough, and that he did not seem to have an overly inflated ego.

“Thank you,” the man stepped up, giving them all a small
smile. “My name is Scott Reynolds, as they said. I am a representative from
Ryan and Davis, and I am in charge of making your transition as smooth as
possible. There are going to be a lot of changes made, and the first of them is
going to be a physical move from here, to our downtown office.”

Again, there was a moment of unrest in the office. Even
Lindsay frowned. Currently, they were situated in a quiet, very calm part of
the city. It was a smaller community within the city, and everyone knew each
other. Downtown was practically an entirely different city. It was clear that
this announcement was not being received entirely well.

“It is going to be a lot different than what you are used to
here,” Scott warned them fairly. “There will be a much higher demand for
business, and you will be working alongside our own team of realtors and
brokers.”

Lindsay could feel the atmosphere of the room change into
something more fearful. If there was already a team of brokers and realtors,
they were all suddenly very concerned about whether they would be keeping their
jobs.