Page 23 of The Relationship Clause

“No, Junie, this is a contract. You should take it seriously. Did you even read it? Do you have any questions?”

“Nope.”

“The NDA, the relationship clause, the terms, the conditions?”

“It’s all copacetic.”

Copacetic?

I don’t know why, but for some reason, Junie’s flippant answers are suddenly making me doubt her ability to do this job. A small part of me starts to panic. This isn’t usually how I hire my employees. Under normal circumstances, Junie would go through an intense hiring process that would include much thinking, questioning, and comparison of her skills against the skills of other applicants.

This isn’t at all like that. This is…scary.

My mother’s unwanted words are in my head. The secretary is the face of the company. Junie might look the part, but will she be able to act it? Not to mention the fact that I’m counting on her to be able to weasel out any possible moles.

She said she had secretarial experience, and Kiera vouched for her, but what do I really know about her anyway?

My thoughts begin to spiral out of control, and I can’t go on with the contract until I’ve addressed them.

“Do you even want this job?” I ask, my voice gruff and grumbly.

Junie’s eyebrows shoot up. “What?”

“This job. Do you actually want it? Can I rely on you to do what needs to be done? Because if you’d rather go back to serving coffee, I can tear up the contract and we can forget this ever happened.”

Junie’s features settle into something resembling a storm cloud. I swear I hear the rumble of thunder in the distance.

Without another word Junie goes to my door and swings it open. I think she’s about to walk out of it forever, and I’m still not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, but instead of walking away, she sticks her head out and yells across my entire office, “Oh, Billy! We’re ready for you!”

Junie steps back and folds her arms, sending me ice daggers with her eyes while we wait, but Bill’s big head butts into the office as if he’d been right outside the door this whole time.

“Did I hear someone say they’re ready to sign?”

“Indeed we are, Billy.”

“Excellent, June. Let’s all take a seat.”

Great. This is going to be a disaster. I’ve single-handedly dealt myself the future demise of my company, my reputation, and my sanity, to name a few things. I know I’m going to live to regret this day.

I also know, I’m getting a new lawyer.

CHAPTER 8

JUNIE

“Small dark roast, please, and make it snappy.”

Marlee stands across the counter from me, looking unamused at my “snappy” comment, which I made just for her. Her normally pink-tipped hair is purple today, meaning she must have dyed it over the weekend.

It’s different being on this side of the counter. Different, but not unpleasant, especially concerning the new amount listed in my bank account this morning. Seeing those happy little zeros trailing behind the other numbers gave me the biggest hit of dopamine I’ve had in a while.

“Have you found out if he’s a psychopath yet?” Marlee asks.

“All signs point to normal.”

“There’s still time,” she says, looking excited at the prospect.

Instead of making a snotty remark like I want to, I take out my phone. I’ve been trying to get a hold of my dad for a few days with no success. He works as a travel writer which means he’s often in remote places with no service. It can be hard sometimes, but I know he’s happy living his life this way. For some people, it would probably be a strain on the relationship, but it works fine for us.

---