Page 45 of The Guy Who Became My Grumpy Boss

-Peter-

The retreat committee meeting had been a disaster of epic proportions.

Why did people completely lose their minds even after being given clear and concise instructions?

How hard was it to read something, internalize it, and make a new plan? I did this every night and found it quite satisfying.

Apparently, I was one of the only people in the company who felt this way. Everyone else refused to release their stranglehold on the hysteria that had set in and had to be reassured every ten seconds.

I don’t know how Amelia, our CEO, had found out about our retreat committee meeting—I suspected Jessica had something to do with it—but she saved the day when she came in, gave everyone a censure disguised as a pep talk, and then left us with the mandate to make sure everything went off without a hitch.

She’d also threatened to never give us a day off again if the activity went awry, which had finally forced people to focus.

Now, an hour later than I usually stayed at work, I returned from client meetings to find Jessica still at her desk.

She’d taken off her black jacket and had rolled up the sleeves of her cream blouse. The scowl she was giving the screen was blistering enough to melt iron.

“Problem?” I asked.

Jessica jumped. That had been the second time today I’d surprised her. Perhaps it was petty, or something else completely, but startling her was strangely satisfying.

She turned and glared at me. I’d always been a little afraid of her glare, but now I found it intriguing. As long as it wasn’t actually aimed at me. In this case, she was angry at something the computer had done. Or, more likely, what people had sent her.

“Why are you back?” There was more irritation in her tone than I’d expected.

“I still have work to do.” I pointed at my office.

“You usually take it home,” she said as she turned back to her screen.

Normally, this would be when I would stop talking and head into my office, but I didn’t want to walk away from her. Not yet. “What are you working on?”

She shrugged. “Still answering emails about the retreat.”

I frowned. “Still? I thought they’d tapered off.”

“Loads more came in when people realized that they didn’t get to pick their teams.”

Amelia had been adamant about that in our meeting. “Do they know that wasn’t our decision?”

“They don’t care. A bunch of employees are threatening to not come.” Jessica sounded tired. My body leaned toward her, and my fingers twitched to rub her shoulders which were practically scrunched up to her ears.

“Tell them to take it up with their supervisors.” I stepped to stand beside her chair. Not too close, but closer than usual.

“That’s what I keep sending out.” Jessica signaled to the screen.

I read the highlighted text. She’d crafted a much more diplomatic reply than I would have. “People are still giving you trouble?”

“They are.”

My frown deepened. I should have known about this. I should have been on top of it. “Why aren’t these coming to me?”

Jessica glanced up at me with a hard look on her face. “You were with clients, and the last thing you needed was another distraction, so I took you off the recipient list.”

My heart warmed at her thoughtfulness, but my brain iced over at the realization that she’d been trying to do this alone and people had been disrespectful to her when I should have been helping.

In one swift movement, I reached out, touched her screen, and minimized the window she’d been working in. “You’re done.”

“What?” Now her glare was directed at me, but I didn’t care. I took her by the shoulders and gently pulled her to her feet.

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