Page 20 of Bully's Second Chance
To be honest, he wasn’t that much different from when he was a child. He was simply bigger and more alert as a functioning adult. And that helped me navigate him and give people advice on when to approach him with ideas, paperwork, or other things that needed his attention.
And for the first time in my life, I felt like I was where I needed to be.
As I finished up my lunch, I cleaned off my desk. I threw everything away in the trash can I kept beneath my desk so no one could see it, then I slid my headset back onto my head. I had four people sitting on hold with lights blinking at me for the past five minutes, so I afforded myself one more swig of iced tea before I pressed the first blazing red button.
“Layaway International, this is Lily speaking. How may I direct your call?”
The woman sputtered a bit before she barked out her question. “Where the hell is the other girl?”
I blinked. “My apologies, but she was let go a few weeks back. Is there anything I can help you with?”
“I want the old girl. She knew exactly what I needed whenever she picked up the phone for me. I need her.”
I drew in a deep breath. “Well, ma’am, I can help you as much as possible, but you’re going to have to reason with me a bit.”
“No! I won’t reason! I want to speak with Jackson now. Where is he?”
Then, like magic, his office door opened. “Is that Winnie?”
I blinked. “Ma’am, is your name ‘Winnie?’”
She scoffed. “You’d know that if you were the old girl. Where’s Jackson? I need him now.”
I took off my headset and picked up the phone from the receiver. “Yes, it’s her.”
Jax nodded before he took the phone from my hand and leaned against my desk. “Mrs. Cartwright? Yes, hello. Uh-huh. Yep. That’s correct. Her name is Lily. Uh-huh. Yes, I know, I haven’t forgotten. You know you have a permanent place on my sch—hey, you’ve talked, and now it’s my turn. The next time you call, Lily will be prepped to assist you. Yes, I know. No, I don’t care. That’s fine if you’d rather call someone else. Yes, I mean that. Uh-huh. Right. Okay, see you tomorrow for lunch.”
Then, he dropped the phone back into the receiver. “My office. Now.”
I had no idea what in the world to think about his transaction with that woman, but I didn’t hesitate in getting up and marching into his office behind him.
Guess those other people will have to wait.
“Yes, sir?” I asked as I closed the door behind me.
“Lock it,” he said.
I blinked. “Sir?”
His darkened eyes met mine as he sat down at his desk. “Lock it. Now.”
I flipped the lock. “Okay.”
He crooked his finger at me. “Come sit.”
I did as he asked. “What’s going on? Who was that woman on the phone?”
He sighed. “A very old client. One of my first business remodels. Let’s just say she’s the first—and last—client I’ll ever go fifty-fifty with on a business.”
“Ah.”
Tell him. You’re alone with him. It’s time to tell him your decision.
I drew in a deep breath. “Jax, I’ve been thinking a lot about what happened—”
But, he interrupted me. “I know we had a spat when you first started about this being a temporary position until I made up my mind as to what I wanted to do.”
I froze. “Yes?”
