Page 63 of Convenient Rivals

Oscar preened at the thought of getting special treatment. He gave Gregory a quick kiss and then turned towards the shower. He squealed – yes squealed – when Gregory smacked his arse cheek. The sting almost made him come on the spot, but he wanted to save it for when Gregory was on his knees with his mouth open.

“What are you smiling about?” asked Claire.

“Sorry?” he said, startled.

“You were looking off into space with this contented smile on your face.”

“Oh... just daydreaming.”

“About?” she probed, with a glint in her eye.

“None of your business.”

She laughed. “Fine, let’s talk about the plan for this week, shall we?”

Ugh. He’d much rather talk about Gregory, but that was personal, and something he wanted to keep to himself. It was something just between the two of them. What it was between them, he still wasn’t sure, but the way Gregory had looked at him last night, and his open affection this morning... Oscar didn’t want to get his hopes up, but could Gregory feel the same way?

“You’re drifting again.”

“Sorry, I’m here. Talk me through the plan.”

She smiled and shook her head, before talking him through all the people the third-party contractor they’d appointed was going to interview, the slew of documents he needed to review, and the timelines for his investigation. The regulator had given them a month to submit their report, and a week of that had gone already. Daniel’s firm had written a brilliant letter for Oscar to submit, and they were awaiting a response from the regulator.

Once Claire had been through everything, she left him to it. How she’d found the time to take this on as well, when she was in the middle of the year-end accounts, was a wonder. The woman was his superhero, and if she ever threatened to leave, he would not be above begging.

“Sir... I mean Oscar, do you have two minutes?”

“Of course, Josh. Come in.”

Josh wasn’t the most outgoing person, but he was efficient, organised, and could read Oscar’s mind, anticipating his needs. That worked both ways. Josh was upset about something.

“I came to give you this.”

He handed over a piece of paper. Oscar’s heart sank, and he hoped it wasn’t what he thought it was. He opened the perfectly folded piece of paper and saw the words “letter of resignation” at the top.

“Sit down, Josh.”

Oscar was gutted. Josh was the best executive assistant he’d ever had, but if he was going on to bigger and brighter things, Oscar would be happy for him.

“I won’t lie and say I’m good with this,” he said, holding up the paper. “Tell me about your new job.”

“Erm...”

“What’s wrong, Josh? Is it a competitor?”

“No, no, nothing like that. I erm...”

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but if there’s something I could fix here, I’d like to know. Is it more money?”

“No, no, you pay me loads.”

Loads was an overstatement. He paid Josh his value, like he did all his employees. He never wanted to be the boss who only paid people what they were worth after they’d quit.

“I just need to take some time, that’s all. Nothing you’ve done.”

Oscar sat up. “Hold on. Do you have a new job to go to?”

Josh shook his head.

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