Page 54 of The Guy Who Became My Grumpy Boss

I answered before Jessica could. “We work together. Jessica is helping out with our business retreat.”

“The emergency.” Anna wiggled her dark eyebrows. “How’s that going?”

“We’re here, aren’t we?” I asked.

Anna laughed and motioned us inside. “Normally, I would go on about how your order is going to be a big financial and time burden on our little company, but to be honest, we’ve had a couple of massive issues over the past few months, which is the reason I can accommodate you.”

“We appreciate it,” I said.

Jessica pointed. “Is that a pangolin?”

Anna nodded. “Sure is. We can make anything.”

“For a price,” I added.

“Duh,” Anna said.

We followed her through a door mostly hidden by a shelf of fantastical creatures and into a tiny room she must use for her office. Here the smell wasn’t nearly as potent.

Jessica and I sat in folding chairs, while Anna went around the tiny desk and settled into a creaking leather chair.

Anna got right to it. “So, your CEO has decided she wants a company mascot?”

“She got the idea from someone else,” I admitted.

“Not you.” It wasn’t a question.

“Obviously not.” Anna and I had coordinated at the hospital a few times. She reminded me of my Aunt Mei, and I was fairly comfortable with her.

Anna grabbed a few things from the floor and put them on the desk.

Before us lay a lavender colored stuffed beaver, an axolotl that had the coat of a calico cat, and a red panda that looked as if it had faded to pink in the wash. Each was the length of a football.

“I’ve got five hundred each of these; plenty for what you need. Which one would you like?”

Instead of studying the three options, I watched Jessica, who picked up the beaver and ran her fingers along its fur. She turned it over, looking at it from all angles, then set it down to grab the axolotl. She did the same to the red panda.

Her face gave away nothing, but I could see thoughts churning behind her eyes. After a minute, she looked at me. “Amelia wants a mascot?”

“It was Marissa’s idea, but Amelia loves it.”

Jessica nodded and went back to studying the samples.

“You want them embordered, right?” Anna asked.

“That is correct,” I said. “I realize this is a tight timetable.”

Anne held up a hand. “We can do it. I know enough people who will make it happen.”

She’d told me as much via text the night before, but it was good to verify it in person while she said it.

“Have you sent these to Amelia?” Jessica asked me.

I had. “She likes them all and wanted someone who wasn’t management to choose.”

Jessica bit her lip and didn’t reply.

“What are you thinking?” I asked softly.

---