Page 5 of Savage Bosses

Stepping into my cubicle, I place my purse down on the desk. As one of the newest junior designers on the team, I haven’t yet been given an office. I have no problem working my way up the ladder. I knew how this worked going in. Until I start getting clients and proving myself, I’ll be stuck out here in no man’s land. It usually takes up to six months to start getting projects. Unfortunately, I got stuck with Tess as my senior designer. For some reason she is refusing to allow me to add any input or give me designer status for any project.

“Hey,” Mira, my best friend since childhood, says.

Mira is a project manager for the company. We like to refer to her as the money person, she makes sure we stay on budget and on deadline. If Mira walks into your office, more than likely you have just blown through the client’s budget and have some explaining to do.

Mira tosses her long dreads off her shoulders before looking back briefly. “Tess is in a mood. Mr. Johnson wasn’t pleased with her hospital layout.”

I roll my eyes. “I don’t blame him. Did you see that puke green color scheme?”

Mira laughs. “I don’t know why she’s in this green color phase. She did the same thing with the Liverman mansion. Plus, she went over budget by thirty thousand dollars.”

I make a face causing Mira to laugh.

The rapid clicking of heels has Mira looking over her shoulder. I don’t have to check to know that Tess is heading this way. Mira turns back to me with a grimace before stepping to the side.

Taking a deep breath, I prepare myself for Tess. She appears in the doorway of my cubicle. The first four buttons of her white silk blouse are unbuttoned showing off her newly purchased cleavage. Her brown hair is in beach waves down her back, and her pencil skirt stops just below her knees.

“You were late.”

“Yes. I had car trouble this morning,” I say.

“How am I supposed to take you serious as a designer if you’re showing up late to work without a care in the world.”

“Weren’t you late three days ago?” Mira asks Tess while leaning against my cubicle.

Tess turns to Mira and lifts her chin. “I had a family emergency.”

Mira scoffs and rolls her eyes. “More like hungover.”

Tess narrows her eyes at Mira but doesn’t argue. She turns back to me and frowns.

“This isn’t about me. We’re talking about ajuniordesigner, that was late.”

“Once,” I say through clenched teeth.

“Excuse me?” she asks, folding her arms across her chest.

“I showed up late for work once, in the year I’ve been working here.”

Her brow arches. “Once is enough. Don’t let it happen again.”

I count to three in my head. I refuse to lose this job because I cursed my boss out.

Tess flips her hair over her shoulder, before changing the subject. “Mr. Johnson just told me that we have a meeting tomorrow morning with Niccolo Basille. He wants my team to lead the design project.”

“Niccolo Basille the hotel tycoon?” Mira asks.

Tess sneers, cutting her eyes to Mira. “No, the trash man. Of course, the hotel tycoon. He has a new luxury hotel opening up right on the waterfront. I heard the thing is booked out for months and it’s not even finished yet. He wants us to take over the interior design.” She flips her hair over her shoulder again. “This is a big deal and I need this project.”

I bet she does. Her last few projects have been disappointing. Her clients have all hated her first few designs, sending her back to the drawing board. She’s blown three budgets and went over the deadline twice.

“Wait, if the hotel is already being built, wouldn’t he have already had a design team?” I ask.

Tess rolls her eyes. “Does that matter?”

“I’m just saying. Maybe it would be useful to see why the old design team is no longer working for him. It could help us figure out what design he’s looking for or at least rule out whatever they did.”

“We?” Tess sneers. “Your job at the meeting will be to take notes. This is my meeting. Until I agree that you’re ready to take the lead on a project you will do as I say.”

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