Page 54 of Rich and Bossy

“Knock knock.”

I groan, my head falling back as John enters the room. “You know I fucking hate that. You don’t have to say knock knock when you knock on the goddamn door.”

“And you know I know you hate it, which is why I do it.” He flops down into a chair like this is my living room rather than my office. “Classic troll bait.”

“Don’t be a bitch, dude.” I laugh.

It’s a quote we both laughed at to no end, when Jonah Hill says it inGet Him to the Greek, when he’s doing all of Russell Brand’s drugs so he won’t do them. We’ve been saying it to each other for almost a decade.

He laughs back, like it’s the first time he’s ever heard us say it.

Classic.

At least his presence gives me a reason to think about something else. “What’s up?”

“Just wanted to let you know we got the final figures for the quarter ahead of the quarterly report. Everybody is going to be happy. Projections for the holiday season are a solid twenty percent over last year. Which means nobody should fuck with us for a while.”

We hit record profits last year, too. “No shit. That’s great news.” I only wish I felt as great as I should. At what cost did we get these numbers? That’s a shit ton of fucking money. We could take one percent of it, and distribute it to employee benefits, and they’d be the best paid employees in the world. In our industry anyway.

“I have my managers in operations trying to do everything we can to hit the estimates, especially with the holidays coming up like a fucking express train.” He looks at the numbers, studying the information in front of him.

“Oh, and in case you weren’t aware.” He glances up from his report. “We’re going to squash that little annoyance over at the Minnie warehouse.”

He’s doing what? “Little annoyance? Squash?”

“You okay? The fuck?” He stares at me like I’m an alien and shouldn’t look as dumbfounded as I do.

My voice is way tighter than it should be. I should be playing this off better. It’s just this unbelievable rage is firing up in my chest, at hearing Hazel described as a little annoyance. “Just trying to get clarity.”

He grins. “Oh, well, we’re going to shut that little bitch’s mouth, with all due haste.”

I just stare at him, blankly, doing everything I can not to unload on him.

What the hell is wrong with you? He’s your best friend. He’s trying to protect what you built together. Don’t care.

“The union bitch? Jesus, I don’t know her name.” He looks away, like he’s thinking hard about it.

“Hazel?” I growl her name, teeth clenched.

You need to hold it together, right now.

I’d rather him give me shit for knowing her name than hear him call her a bitch again. He has no idea how close I am to being right in his fucking face.

Calm. Down.

“That’s the one. Hazel. Kind of a fucking name is that? Can tell she’s young as hell.” He laughs at his little joke. “Anyway, it’ll be taken care of shortly.”

“I wasn’t worried.”

“You sure?” His laughter is almost uncomfortable now. “Because it’s been keeping me up at night. That chick running her yap up and down the floor.”

If I grit my teeth any harder, they’ll start to crack. Does he not feel the tension in here and not know to drop it or get the fuck out?

It’s a relief when my phone rings.

It’s Bree. “I have Mark Hampton and Dan Walters for you.”

Hampton. Walters. In other words, two of the company’s biggest shareholders, which they own through their hedge fund.

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