Page 47 of Saving Veronica
“Really?”
“Yes, and get this,” Lorna danced in her seat in excitement. “If he found out that anyone told anyone else they could not enter the contest, they would be immediately fired.”
“Holy shit, can he do that?”
“He can and he did.” Lorna jumped to her feet and did a happy dance around the table.
“Oh my god, who was fired?”
“Janis!”
“No fucking way!” Ronnie stared at her friend in shock.
“Way!” Lorna sat back down and sighed heavily. Her expression showed she was in total bliss. “You know I’m Janis’ assistant. Well, I had some downtime and I started working on the contest. Janis was lording it over me that I wasn’t good enough to enter, and she started spouting shit that Finn was really only looking for the executives like her to enter. Then she went on and on about how it was my job to come up with an idea and give her all my information, so she could present it on Friday. She also said if I didn’t do what she said, she’d fire me.”
“Oh my god, what happened next?”
“The whole time she was talking—oh and by the way, she’s still calling me Laura—Finn and Deb from HR were standing directly behind her.”
“No fucking way!”
“Way! It was classic, he fired her on the spot, and Deb waited until she cleaned out her personal items, but that’s not all she said to me.”
“What else did she say?”
“She said that she and Finn had gone out to dinner the night before, and while they were in bed together afterward, they were discussing the little people in the office and having a good laugh. After she said that, that was when he fired her. He also informed everyone—and I meaneveryonefrom the department was standing there watching—he informed us all that he had never gone out with Janis, nor would he ever. He flat-out said she was not his type.”
Ronnie started laughing and it was several minutes before she could get herself under control. She ended up rolling her chair away from the table, and grabbed the towel from the refrigerator handle to wipe up the tears coursing down her cheeks. “Oh my god, I wish I had been there.”
“It was epic.” Lorna grinned.
“So, what happened next?”
“Nothing really, Finn left, Deb waited for Janis to clean out her office, half the stuff Janis threw in a box, Deb took out. She had the nerve to try to take the stapler, tape dispenser, and several other pieces of office equipment.”
“Does she even know how to use them?” Ronnie grinned at her friend as she snorted a laugh.
“I doubt it. But no, nothing happened until this past Friday. We had to sign up with Sarah to give our presentation to the three Larsons and your grandmother.”
“How did it go? What did you do yours on? Who won? What did you win?”
Lorna giggled as she held up her hand to ward off the questions. “The contest was to come up with a solid idea on the normal who, what, where, when, why, and how. Finn wants to have a fundraiser for a local veterinarian, and it was up to us, individually, to tell him what we would do if we were in charge of it. The winner of the contest gets to work side by side with Finn, and together they do the fundraiser.”
“Holy shit, so who won?”
“Two people did.” Lorna did a happy dance. “Me and Marc.”
“Simon’s assistant?”
“Yep.”
“Wow, so what’s this Finn like? Is he someone you would go for?”
“Yes and no.” Lorna sighed. “Yes, because my god, I about swallowed my tongue the first time I saw him. He is gorgeous. And with that dog of his, adorable at the same time. But, no, for two reasons.”
“What are they?”
“One, the no-fraternization rule. I signed it in a heartbeat. Two, because Finn is the exact type of man that Mother always goes for. Though he’s about thirty years younger, he’s the type. What you would call a suit.”
