Page 12 of Rebel

I responded mildly, “Well, if you don’t fill out a travel log, I can’t pay for your mileage, which has always been standard operating procedure for Livingstone Electrical. We can both write that off on our taxes, so you should be as eager to do that as I am. The last thing either of us wants is to owe a larger tax burden than necessary come tax time.”

He frowned, “Yeah, I guess all those cents add up.”

My eyebrows shot up because I was struggling to understand what his problem was with tracking mileage. “Livingstone typically has anywhere between three and six employees at any given time. If you add up the mileage to and from jobs, running around to pick up supplies and all the other things you do professionally, it adds up. Why should we forgo the tax credit?”

“I guess you’re right. I should start thinking like a bean counter if I’m ever gonna run my own business efficiently.”

“I’ve decided to go ahead and put you on our company health insurance and you’ll be covered whenever you drive one of our company vehicles. All the work you do through this partnership will be covered by our business insurance, so you don’t have to worry about purchasing your own business insurance if you haven’t already.”

Leaning over the desk, I gave him a stern look because I couldn’t let him think that because I was a woman, I was a pushover. “I’ve intentionally written the partnership agreement with generosity in mind, so I don’t want you coming back to complain later. Whatever we decide today is the deal. No takebacks or modifications. If you don’t hold up your end of the agreement, I will terminate the partnership.”

“There are a couple of things I need in order to make this partnership work from my perspective.”

“I’m all ears,” I told him, eager to hear what I could have possibly left out.

“I want you to be responsible for sourcing and purchasing materials for the Livingstone jobs. I don’t have time for that. It cuts down on my productivity.”

I frowned at him. “How am I supposed to know what supplies you prefer to work with?”

“You ask me. We talk about it. I’ll probably just tell you when I send the estimate.”

“Alright. I suppose I could do that. I did sourcing and purchasing for my father, so I know how time consuming that can be. Was there anything else?”

“Yeah, I want a solid forty-hour workweek.”

I was shaking my head before he even got the words out. “I’m sure that once we get geared up again there will be enough work to go around, but in the meantime, I’ll need to split the Livingstone jobs between you and my one remaining electrician.”

“I’m not gonna waste my time working here when I could be working for myself, while you give all the best assignments to your Livingstone employee. I’m more valuable to your company than he is, because I’m a master electrician and can work circles around him.”

I hated that he was putting my back against the wall on this issue, but if there was one value I learned from my father, it was to respect loyalty. “Harvey Snodgrass has been with our company for twenty years. He’s the one who alerted us that Mark was running the company into the ground. He deserves a fair shake when it comes to hours.”

“I’m sure you’ll figure out a way to make it work, Ms. Livingstone.”

This man was as difficult as he was annoying, and I wanted this meeting to be over as soon as possible. “Is there anything else?” I asked, trying to keep the irritation out of my voice.

“One more thing,” he said with a smile that looked a little smirky. Pulling the big calico cat out of its carrier, he held her up for me to see. “I need you to keep Katy Purry here with you during the workday. She gets neurotic if I leave her alone too long.”

My eyes snapped from him to the cat and back again. “Absolutely not. That’s an absurd request and I don’t know anything about cats. We had a dog growing up.”

He shrugged his broad shoulders. “You got to write a whole bunch of shit into the partnership agreement. I agreed to all of it. You said we would compromise. I haven’t seen a lot of compromise from you thus far.”

“You have got to be kidding me,” I told him, truly in disbelief that he was trying to get me to pet-sit for him.” Can’t you have her kenneled?”

“Nope. There’s no money in the budget for that,” he said so casually that I was almost convinced it must be true.

“How about friends or family?”

“Do you think if I had someone to help me out with my cat, I’d be dragging her to your office? This is something I need, and you promised to compromise.”

Rubbing my temple, I tried to think of a way out of this situation. “I meant that I was willing to compromise on professional issues and I did. I agreed to source and purchase materials for you. That saves you the time and trouble of turning in receipts and waiting for reimbursement.”

“Yeah, but most of that partnership agreement is filled with things you wanted. I can’t help it if my cat has an anxiety disorder and can’t be left alone all day. Plus, it’s not like she’s a dog. You don’t have to walk her or bother with her at all. I’ll put out some food and water and clean out her litter box every evening when I pick her up. She just needs to see that there’s a human in charge. This should not be the big ask you’re makin’ it out to be.”

I sighed, “Fine, she can hang around the office with me during the day.”

The moment I capitulated, he let her down on the floor and she stretched and pranced away to explore her new space. Jesus, I couldn’t believe I just agreed to pet-sit for this man.

“That’s great,” he said brightly and tossed what looked like a pen in my direction. “She likes to play with a laser light.”

---