Page 2 of No Such Thing as Serendipity
“May I?” Nancy pointed toward my hair.
“Certainly.”
Nancy stood and moved from behind her desk. She habitually fussed with my appearance since I often forgot to tend to it during my busy day. Nancy put her fingers in my side part and pushed a strand of hair to the other side. “It’s almost time for a cut,” Nancy said.
I swept my bangs farther off to the side. “Can you make me an appointment? Next week would be good.”
“Absolutely.” Nancy put one hand on each of my lapels and straightened them. “That’s better.”
“I’m surprised I’m able to dress myself since you’re always messing with me.”
Nancy laughed, and then her face grew serious. “You’re the best boss I’ve ever had. You deserve this.”
Never one comfortable with compliments, I waved my hand at Nancy. “You’re just saying that, so I’ll take you with me.”
Nancy winked. “My secret’s out. Go show him what Blake Saunders is made of.
CHAPTER 2
During my walk tothe opposite side of the building, where Terrence’s suite overlooked New York Harbor, I ran through my list of demands.No.I couldn’t call them that.Too aggressive. I needed to remember to refer to them as my asks, not demands.
Language was important, but when had everything become so watered down? With other members of the Fortitude team scurrying through the halls, I refrained from rolling my eyes at the thought. Regardless of what you called it, a pre-owned car was still a used car, unhoused people were still homeless, and an ask was still a demand. Over the years, I’d toned down my blunt delivery after Terrence had received several complaints. Funny, but they’d never reprimanded my male counterparts for the same confident delivery.
I smiled to myself. Although, none of my male counterparts were about to be offered the position of president and CEO of Fortitude, so it had been worth it. As the CEO, I wouldn’t have to play the game any longer.
“Good afternoon, Ms. Saunders. Mr. McClinton is expecting you.” Terrence’s assistant, Dora, greeted me when I entered his suite. I made a mental note to add securing a position for Dora to my list ofasks.
“Thanks, Dora. Can I go on in?”
She held up her finger. “Let me check.” She picked up the phone, and after answeringyesseveral times, she said, “They’re ready for you.”
They?I’d thought the first meeting would be just me and Terrence. Had a board member joined him?
“Is there something wrong?” Dora asked.
I needed to up my game. Showing my reactions on my face would lessen my position during negotiations, which meant a hard time securing myasks.
I shook my head. “No. Not at all.”
I gave Dora an easy smile as I breezed past her desk toward Terrence’s office. Despite everything, I was nervous. Luckily, my biggest tell was a hidden one. My torso sweated uncontrollably, which was why I wore an undershirt to soak up the evidence.
I took a deep breath before pushing open the door to Terrence’s office. He was standing behind his desk, peering out his sixty-eighth-story window. I scanned the familiar office and saw Martin Gillespie, one of the lead attorneys for Fortitude. He sat in one of the high-backed leather chairs positioned in front of Terrence’s desk.
Interesting.Apparently, Terrence wanted to jump into the negotiations.Good.Maybe we could finalize the deal by month’s end, which meant I could be seated by mid-June.
I gave Martin a cool nod. “I wasn’t expecting you to be here.”
Martin fumbled with his folder and didn’t look up. “Terrence invited me.”
As Terrence turned from the window, sunlight caught his profile, highlighting the deep wrinkles around his eyes. The onceyouthful man who often passed for twenty years younger was showing his age. It came on suddenly, or maybe I’d been too busy to notice it until recently. Stress could do that to someone. For the past month, he’d appeared more haggard than usual, which made me glad he was retiring from the high stress game of private equity.
“Blake, thank you for coming.” He pointed to the chair opposite Martin. He’d always dressed impeccably, but his suit appeared baggy on him. “Please, have a seat.”
Okay.He was going to play it formal, probably because of Martin. I could do that. “Thank you, Terrence. I appreciate you inviting me.”
I unbuttoned my blazer and sat on the edge of the large chair, which would swallow me if I sat back. The position made it difficult to cross my legs, so I put my right ankle over my left and turned slightly in the chair.
Terrence sat behind his desk and opened the folder sitting in front of him. He stared down at the papers for several beats before he spoke.
