Page 40 of Without Apology

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Peyton

Great. I’d just told the man who would interview me for the CFO position that I most likely would’ve jumped him by the second date. That was definitely not in the Acing the Interview handbook. Jesus. I’d had to leave before consuming more alcohol and lowering my inhibitions even further. I’d wanted him. Enough not to think about the consequences. At least until my brain had kicked in.

After the twenty-minute drive back home while overanalyzing everything, I had two things which stuck with me later as I lay in bed. One, he’d confessed he’d missed me. That would’ve sounded crazy if I hadn’t missed him, too. And two, his refusal to apologize went deeper than being too prideful or rude. Something having to do with his childhood and father. I recognized, before drifting off, that he wasn’t a man who’d admit either type of thing easily.

The remainder of the weekend, I stayed in my pajamas. My sister and her family were in Houston visiting Kevin’s brother. All I wanted to do was decompress from the busy week and spend time with Cooper. I told myself I wasn’t upset about Friday night with Simon, but the truth was never more evident that he had an effect on me.

On Monday morning I had to force myself to get out of bed since I dreaded another day of audits.

Upon arriving, I stopped off in my office first and caught up with Megan. Then I went upstairs to sit with Russ. He was already seated in the conference room. I looked at the wall, noting it was indeed up against Simon’s office. He could easily hear everything. Not that there was much to overhear. Lots of numbers mainly.

Russ smiled when he saw me. “Hi, Peyton, how was your weekend?”

“Good and yours?”

“It was okay considering it was a working weekend.”

“Sorry to hear it. You still think we’ll finish up by tomorrow?”

“Yep. I think today if you take me through your deferred revenue schedule, we’ll be just about complete. Unless Tom has any follow-up questions.”

Here was hoping not.

Three hours later, I wasn’t so lucky. Tom came in, looking annoyed. “This deferred revenue schedule makes no sense. Are you not capable of putting it into the financial system?”

I instantly bristled at his condescending tone. “I can assure you it has nothing to do with my capability but rather that of the antiquated financial software. It does not handle deferred revenue. So, we keep it on a manual schedule and then upload it month by month.”

He tsked, making me want to chuck something at his head. Luckily for him, I decided he wasn’t worth the life of my cute little wireless mouse.

“Then how do I know if it’s correct?”

“Same way you would if I keyed it into a system. You compare it to the letter of engagement which spells out the yearly or quarterly fee, divide by the number of months, and compare the number with those on the spreadsheet.”

His gaze narrowed at the explanation he shouldn’t have needed from me. If he was a CPA worth his weight, he should get it. But something told me his attitude was more about criticizing me than it was about the numbers.

“What a great exercise for you, then, Peyton. I’m sure you can spend the rest of the day doing just that.”

I shrugged. “I could, but if it’s my key entry and manual spreadsheet you’re questioning, then I wonder why you’d want the same person verifying those numbers.” I’d made an excellent point, and he knew it. Audit 101, asshole. Don’t have the person you’re checking up on also do the verification.

His face turned red. “Fine. Russ, you’re up. End of the day, I want some comparisons.”

Once Tom exited the room, I turned to Russ. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to make more work for you.”

He appeared a bit stunned. “No, no. You made your point, and it’s a valid one. Why does he dislike you?”

I motioned with my finger over my lips to be quiet. “I’ve heard the walls are thin.” I spoke in a whisper. “And to answer your question, I’m guessing it’s because I stand up to him.”

I wasn’t sure if Tom had a problem with women in general, but considering both Simon and Emma didn’t particularly care for him, I guessed he gave equal opportunity to whom he chose to act the prick.

Emma knocked a short time later and asked for a minute. I excused myself, thankful for the break. I’d enjoyed getting to know her over drinks but wondered if she’d bring up her little setup. She surprised me by seeming to pretend it hadn’t happened.

“The interviews will be either Thursday or Friday this week. Wanted to give you a head’s up, so you can clear your schedule.”

A shot of nerves hit me. “Sounds good.”

She gave me a smile of encouragement. “It’ll be fine. I promise.”

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