Page 49 of The Boss

“Excuse us, ladies. Mrs. Coleman.” I nod to her before escorting my assistant out into the hallway. Presley jumps in and does what she does best: damage control between conflicting parties. She’s got everyone laughing within thirty seconds.

Vern has pulled up an old email on his phone. “I can confirm that this is the correspondence between us, ma’am.”

I take his phone and look over the dates. Sure enough, it says Wednesday. Ms. Coleman’s assistant replied to confirm. I would say this was an error on Coleman’s end, but the email her wife shows us definitely said Tuesday. My head hurts.

“Any other emails between us since then?”

Vern hurriedly goes through the sent folder, his face paling. “Yes, ma’am. Looks like there was one Thursday afternoon with the… new date.” He shows it to me.

We both see the same damning detail right away. No, not that the date for Coleman’s appointment is wrong. But the person who signed off on the email was not Vern.

It was Alessa.

My lovely, usually smart-as-a-tack girlfriend and second assistant was the one who sent a follow-up email on my behalf.She was the one who messed up the dates and made sure Coleman showed up on the same afternoon as Moreau.

Alessa. Who isn’t here right now for me to hold accountable.

“Well.” Flushed, I hand Vern his phone back and glance into the conference room. Coleman and Moreau sit on opposite ends of the table, trading jabs and laughing at Presley’s increasingly stupid jokes. My business partner sends me a look that implores me to get my ass back in there and figure something out. “We’ve got some hands to shake and taints to tickle.” I got most of those epithets from my brother.

Oh, Ted would love this. He would also be a bigger blowhard than Presley actually is and smooth everything over with his oozing charm that even getsmesometimes. Guess that’s the one advantage of being a gay man in this line of work. He knows how to be amiable and inoffensive to delicate female egos in ways even I cannot understand.

Hopefully not too well, though…

“Ladies,” I say again the moment I enter the conference room. Both Coleman and Moreau glance in my direction. “I am so sorry for the mix-up. We have located the source of the confusion and can unfortunately say that it came from my office’s end.” I turn toward Etta Coleman. “I know you’re one of the busiest people in America. How can we fix this for you?”

“As much as I wish I could say we’ll come back later, I unfortunately have another important appointment up in Seattle tomorrow. It’s either today or some other week, I’m afraid.”

I grimace, afraid she was going to say that. “Then let me propose that you and my business partner Presley take up the other conference room. We can all reconvene later. Dinner and drinks are on me tonight.” I flash a smile to Mrs. Coleman and Ms. Oduya. “That goes for everyone in this room, of course.” I owe it to Vern, too, for giving him that mini heart attack.Even so, he and I are going to have a long chat about his responsibilities. Such as how it’s his job to perform oversight on anything Alessa does on an administration level. Something was left amiss, and Vern should have caught it.

The Colemans agree to go with Presley. I think I should conduct the meeting with Danica Moreau, anyway. Presley can talk to literally anyone, old money or new. I, on the other hand, work best with those of the same background as me.

I continue to apologize to Danica until she can’t take it anymore and insists that we continue with our meeting as planned. For the next ninety minutes, I pitch what we’re selling, and she talks about how much money she has. That’s the basic gist of what we’re up to, anyway. Nothing super interesting, unless you’re me and think venture capitalizing is fun and games.

The Colemans and Presley rejoin us for the final half hour of the meeting. That’s also right around the time Alessa finally joins us, her tablet in her hand and a skip in her step.

I almost forget what she did when I see her. Shit, I saw her this morning when we left my penthouse, my arm slung around her and trading knowing looks with my driver. She was all over me until we got to her campus and was let out so she could go to her class. I’m sure some pap somewhere clicked a shot of me making out with her, forbidding her from leaving me until I copped one more feel of her ass and stuck my tongue down her throat. The way she acquiesced to everything was the epitome of what I wanted from this relationship.

Ever since Saturday night, our relationship has changed. These past three days have been Alessa and I seriously discussing what we want, both sexually and emotionally. I think she finally realized that I am serious about taking care of her in return for her taking care of me.

And she’s embracing that submissive side of herself she never even knew was there. Which is why she becomes more docile, more agreeable in my presence. No, I’m not out for a hardcore lifestyle with my girlfriend, or any woman I decide to spend the rest of my life with. But I am appreciative of a woman who has a certain personality that jives with mine.

Alessa is to give all of herself to me, little by little. There are jokes about young feminine virgins falling head over heels for the first person they sleep with. I suppose that was me. Oh, fuck it. I know it was me. I had no idea when I seduced her, of course, but since then? I’ve been making the most of it.

I want to kiss her the moment she walks through the door. But this is business. Coleman brought her wife, but they are not making doe-eyes at one another. Shit, they haven’t even reached one year of marriage yet, and they’re showing more professionalism than me right now.

“Allow me to briefly introduce my second assistant, Alessa Penrose.” I motion for her to sit on the other side of Vern. “She’ll be helping Vern take notes.” Then we’re all having a nice, lovely chat.

Both businesswomen glance at me, then at Alessa. Danica Moreau leans back in her chair and smirks as if she’s won another billion dollars. Etta Coleman spares herself that charade by glancing at her wife. She blushes.

Never let it be said that I don’t keep good company.

Chapter 21

Alessa

Iam so embarrassed when my girlfriend holds me accountable for a mishap.

I own up to it. I didn’t do it on purpose, but I own up to it. This was Thursday afternoon, right? It must have been when she made me go to the doctor’s and get tested out of the blue. I was so angry, so irate that by the time I started my actual job, I was liable to subconsciously sabotage some of Julianna’s work. If only I remembered doing it!

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