Page 76 of The Guy Who Became My Grumpy Boss

So why say it?

“I’ll go get hotel security,” Jessica said. “Maybe they can stop the sprinklers.” Before I could argue, she ran toward the door to the lobby.

As I panned across the room, I saw chaos.

People were trying to stuff their boxes under their ramps. Others were piling cans on top of boxes to keep them dry.

Three people were lying prone on a pyramid of food items as if hugging it. One of the men had his shirt off and draped over the top.

Several people were crying. Someone was wailing, and a bizarre cackling came from the other side of the room.

Tyrell had somehow made it back to the microphone. The screech of feedback filled the air, stopping several people in their tracks. “Come on, guys, don’t panic.”

“But the food!” someone yelled.

“For the children,” another voice added.

An unfamiliar warmth filled me as I realized our employees weren’t worried about their golf holes, but they were worried about losing the food they were going to donate.

I glanced up and found that the smoke had dissipated some, but the bulk of it was clearly headed toward a detector.

Jessica had disappeared into the lobby.

Marissa was trying to push herself over to me. “Peter! We need to go!”

“You should get out of here.” I frowned at her. “Where’s Lance?”

She glanced around. “I—I don’t know.”

Another lie, but there was no good reason to call her out on it right now.

Someone else needed to take care of her. One of thecommittee members jumped when I pointed at him. “Dan, take Marissa out of here.”

He stopped mid-step, turned, and looked at me with wide eyes.

“Into the lobby.” I gestured to the door Jessica had gone through.

The man nodded and took a step toward Marissa but stopped and covered his ears when the smoke alarm finally went off.

Neither wail nor screech adequately described the sound, and I completely agreed with the horrible face Dan was making.

The din from the employees had died down but came back in full force as people screamed and threw themselves over boxes.

There were more people without jackets and shirts than not, and that included women.

This was going to be an HR disaster.

Jessica and I would never be asked to be in charge of anything for the company again.

Which, to be honest, didn’t sound like a bad thing.

I somehow heard the gurgle of water over the cacophony, and my eyes were drawn back to the ceiling.

I doubted I could actually sense the liquid coming through the pipes or the switch as the sprinklers began to turn, but I knew it was going to happen and held my breath.

Chapter 23

-Jessica-

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