Page 64 of Boss's Baby Surprise

“Nobody told me that was happening,” I complained.

“Well, nobody told me you were going to show up,” she pointed out.

“But you’re here,” I mentioned.

“I’m here because it is my job to make sure the office is up and running. I’ve been interviewing and hiring a new receptionist and an additional office assistant so that when I take my two weeks at the end of the month and go to Jamaica, I know that phones are being answered, invoices are being sent, payroll has been managed, and projects are properly filed. We aren’t in a position for me to have the luxury of taking off at the same time as everyone else just yet.”

“Is it really so bad?” I asked.

“We’ve been hemorrhaging employees for a month. For a firm this small, it’s that bad, and with Alayna gone, it’s probably worse than that. She did the work of at least three people.”

“Isn’t James managing the clients properly?”

“James has been running this company for years. He’s not the problem.”

“Let me guess, you’re going to say the problem is me,” I quipped sarcastically.

“I’m not gonna say you’re wrong.” I did not miss the bitter tone in her voice.

“When you say hemorrhaging, other than Nick and Alayna, are we really so strapped?”

“Considering that Clarissa left as soon as she graduated, we’re down thirty percent. When there’s only ten of us to begin with, that's a heavy hit.”

“What do you mean, Clarissa left?”

Jenna shrugged. “Just that. She got all of her employment time here applied to her internship hours, and she up and quit.”

I just stared at her for a long moment. It was bad enough that I returned to Chicago and was unable to rely on Alayna to keep me updated. But now I found out that Clarissa had left the firm, and I came back in the middle of a week when everybody was gone…

“Did Clarissa leave her contact information?”

Jenna just shrugged again. “I have her employee files, if that’s what you mean.”

“That’s exactly what I need. Can you get that for me?”

“Sure, but I don’t see how it will do you any good, since apparently, she’s also left Chicago.”

My heart stopped beating in my chest. I couldn’t wrap my mind around what Jenna was telling me.

Everything was going from bad to worse.

When Alayna called and chewed me out on New Year’s Eve, she had failed to mention that Clarissa was gone from the firm, let alone from Chicago.

“Are you certain?”

“It’s what I heard from James.”

“Hasn’t she given you her new address?” I asked.

“Not yet. She can pull her tax forms straight from the online service that takes care of payroll. It’s not like I need to mail her anything.”

“What about her last paycheck?” I asked.

Jenna huffed out a chuckle through her nose. “How much of your business did Alayna take care of for you? We haven’t written checks here for a very long time. Everything is handled by online transfer of funds. We don't even write checks for the small things anymore. Everything gets auto billed through James’s credit card. That way, he has plenty of points to use for travel.”

“You have no way of contacting her?” I asked.

“As far as I know, her phone is still the same. You can always try to call or text her,” she suggested.

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